Rossmoor Tennis Club

located in Walnut Creek, California

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Fri, Mar 29, 2024

Recently, Rossmoor Tennis Club (RTC) was asked to remove various tournament plaques and service awards from Dollar Clubhouse.

The plaques date back to 1975 and, seeing all the names and dates, started a discussion about who among current and retired club members might be the most senior.

Club President Dave Blanchard sent a note to current club members and there was a flood of responses from members stating when they joined, who might have more “seniority” and relating wonderful tales of club history and activities.

Among the many surprises was S.Y. Huang, who is still living in Rossmoor. He joined the club in 1987, over 30 years ago. He says he enjoyed hearing his female tennis friends call him “Sigh.”

Marie Hoge, a club member since 1993, has roots dating back to the club’s beginning in 1965. In 1995 she married Charley Hoge, who formed the club in 1965, and was its first president. Hoge fought to get the first tennis courts built in Rossmoor, in part by noting that the Rossmoor developer’s advertising materials showed courts that didn’t exist.

Marcia Perry, another early club member, is still a Rossmoor resident. There is a plaque that shows Perry winning a tournament, partnered with Art Kaiser, almost 30 years ago. Perry has been a very active member over the years playing, coaching and most recently being the MC for holiday tennis tournaments.

Many members who are still playing joined about 20 years ago. Among them are Joe Potozkin, Al Schwartz and Mary Kay McClure. Potozkin continues to play and is the most consistent spectator at men’s team matches. Schwartz is like a walking history narrator for club activity in the last 20 years and remembers when the club sponsored two USTA teams.

McClure, who joined the club in 1999, is another great historian and has contributed much to the club, organizing social events, serving on the board and playing on the team that won the Northern Cal USTA Senior Women’s championship in Alameda in 2010.

Kerin Baker, another active member, kept scrapbooks with photos and history of members going back to the ’70s. These can now be seen on the club’s website at www.rossmoortennis.com.RTC President Reviews Club Memorabilia

She is justly proud of it.

Blanchard’s simple question revealed that RTC certainly has a long rich history, not only of tennis but picnics, dinners, dances and fun dynamic people. Much of it is captured on the website under the “About” tab.

Sadly we lost one of those dynamic people on April 1 when Barbara Schwartz passed away unexpectedly. Schwartz served on the club’s board as treasurer for the past nine years. She played on the Buckeyes’ women’s team for many years and helped set up lunches for their tournaments for the past several years. She had many friends in the club and will be greatly missed.

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