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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | JULY 2015 43 Table Tennis If anyone thinks that ping pong is a sport only for the young, Gene Dwyer dispels that idea fast. Gene has been playing with our ping pong group ever since its inception back in 2008. At that time he was a young 83 year old. Now, he is a young 90 years old, turns 91 in August, and is still going strong. Gene was born in 1924 in Massachusetts. Gene has lived a very interesting and active life. As a very young man, he served his country during WWII. He was in Patton's army and saw brief combat in France and Germany. In civilian life he worked for many years as a salesman for a company that as kids we all loved, Hostess. During that time Gene stayed active. He is an all-around athlete but his best sport is golf. He played with a 2 handicap and was so skillful that one of his scorecards recorded a low 68 shots. During his playing career he had three holes-in-one. One of his proudest accomplishments came in 1954 when he was awarded the top trophy for winning the prestigious Ponkapoag Golf Tournament. In 2006 Gene, along with his wife Sandy, moved into Four Seasons from Orange County. Since moving here, besides playing ping pong, he has been busy and involved in the poker club where he is known as a great player. In table tennis he can hold his own with players 20 and 30 years younger than himself. When asked what the secret is to a long life he replied, "Choose your parents carefully because good genes, healthy living, and proper exercise will go a long way towards giving you a long life." Gene Dwyer is living proof that no matter what your age you can play and enjoy ping pong. If you would like to join Gene and others who are looking for a fun way to exercise and keep healthy, and whether you are a beginner or expert, we would love to have you join us. You can find us in the aerobics room Monday through Friday at 10:30 am and Saturday at 11 am. Please contact Niles Sundstrom at (951) 572-5119 or Alan Chan at (951) 769-4202 if you have any questions or need more information about your Four Seasons ping pong group. ~ Niles Sundstrom What fun paddle tennis has been the last few months! We had a successful dinner/dance called the All Sports Association Party (ASAP) on May 16 that was a huge success. The ticket sales were more than 220 and it was hosted by the pickle ballers. The dinner was catered by Tacos and Beer, a local Mexican restaurant, and the food was the best. Desserts were donated by some of the club members and there were more than could be eaten. Entertainment was provided by D.J. Harry Rouse, 'The Hit Man', who did an excellent job. There was dancing, door prizes and just a great group of Four Seasons sports people. Thank you to all the sports clubs for their participation and hard work; the tennis, ping pong, paddle tennis, pickle ball, ballroom dancing, line dancing, horseshoe club, bocce ball, golf, and pool for fun groups. And of course, thank you Cindy Graves with Euclid Management who did a great job, working so hard to make sure our night was special. On a separate note, an invitation from Sally Wolfe at Sun Lakes was extended to our Four Seasons women's paddle tennis players for a play date on June 7; there were six Four Seasons ladies who attended and I must say they were all in good form and played their best. There was an informal coffee and donut mixer after at the Sun Lakes Veranda with all of us making plans to play again soon. The random draw mixed doubles tournament was June 13. Results will be published at a later date. The awards for this tournament will be given at the Fourth of July event hosted by our Homeowners Association. Starting in August, this article will be written by Hailu Kinde. It's been my pleasure to write these articles but it will be nice to get others' perspectives on paddle tennis play. For now as always, good play, good times and good exercise. ~ Diana Johnson Ali Paddle Tennis With intense concentration, Gene Dwyer keeps his eye on the ball, ready to put it away for the win. Below: Fun play date at Sun Lakes Above: After the play date Four Seasons residents with the Sun Lakes participants. Four Seasons residents include Lovey Cooke sitting stripped blouse, Marilyn Sarchett, Mo McGowan standing far right, Jan Pilkinton next left and Padoo Peralta middle wine color blouse and Diana Ali, photographer.

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