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| OHCC LIVING | APRIL 2024 | 45 Racquet Club President Bob James recently announced that OHCC Realtor Patti Smith would be the official sponsor of the Racquet Club for 2024. Patti has been very active in the Racquet Club for years, including eight years as Club Vice President. Her generous support allows us to raise the bar for over 20 events this year, including the popular Summer Chill event. President James added, "I am always amazed and grateful for the amount of community support this Club receives." Our members are looking forward to clear skies and dry courts after too many washouts during the first quarter of the year. spring is here! And while many of our diehard players persevered throughout the wet winter, action at the courts is definitely picking up. 2024 Beginner pickleball classes are continuing — four free 90-minute sessions for residents – and they fill up quickly. Paddle tennis players are increasing in number thanks to Bill McGrath's efforts, with a dozen or so new players. And more tennis mixers such as the one mid-March may prove to be key to getting more players back to our courts. New 2024 Board members, Harvey Bernstein and Robert Kelly, have been joined by recently-appointed Felicity Swerdlow to oversee the wide array of activities the Racquet Club sponsors on and off the courts. We've expanded far beyond daily play and tournaments to monthly pickleball socials, warm weather special events that don't require court shoes, and a side sport — "challenge cornhole" — that provides an opportunity for us to interact this year with members of other OHCC clubs in a quasi-competitive way. How hard is it to toss bean bags anyway? The first of our big three tournaments — men's doubles — is April 18 with intermediate and advanced players going after bragging rights for the year. Play will culminate with a one-game playoff for each division and it's sure to draw a crowd. We're very happy to report that several of our pickleballers who play competitively outside OHCC are returning home with tournament medals. Allison Wright scored the first medal in her life – a gold at that! – in a Vista Pickleball Club Tournament; Richard Rogstad and David Levine teamed to bring home gold themselves. Congratulations! Check us out at our website at ohccracquetclub.org. Questions? Email the Help Desk at ohrchelp@gmail.com. Written by: Ann Rike Allison Wright snags her first-ever medal — and it's pickleball gold! Patti Smith's 2024 sponsorship of the Racquet Club is Bob James' latest game winner. David Levine & Richard Rogstad captured 5.0 gold at Vista pickleball tournament.