Rossmoor Tennis Club

located in Walnut Creek, California

Text Size
Tue, Mar 19, 2024

RTC History --- 1986 thru 1990

1986 History

This year saw the RTC collecting used tennis equipment of all kinds for Las Lomas High School because due to Prop 13 schools athletic programs were suffering for lack of gear.   Wimbledon used yellow balls for the first time because of TV coverage so the trend continued.   A white sign with green lettering "Tennis Courts" was erected to point the way to the courts hidden by the many buckeye trees.   Concern with court courtesy led to a weekly rule of the week in the Rossmoor News.   Exchanges were held with Oakmont and Crow Canyon.   The Lob, Smash, and Volley Construction Company (members of the club) put in a new foundation for a new tennis shack and a new Prince ball machine was put into use at Parkway Court Number 1 and was extremely popular but the court was locked from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m

On October 26 they held a Halloween tournament and "The Court House" was christened this year.

1987 History

Two cocktail parties, a picnic at Lakeside Park and a Christmas dinner dance were held.   Ann Sutherland, recent member, won the Women's Sunday Social tournament.   Linda Van der Meer gave lessons to new players on Tuesdays and Fridays. "Open Tennis" expanded to Wednesday afternoons.  Wilson Turner installed jacket hangers at the courts to do away with piles of jackets littering the benches.   Sam Schiffer showed films of club tennis matches at a May cocktail party. Sports Unlimited of Lafayette came by on June 9 with a collection of rackets so members could try them out. The store also provided balls for open tennis and coupons for the purchase of shoes. Budd Dybiewicz contacted The Villages in anticipation of establishing exchanges and the Berkeley Tennis Club signed up for a different type of exchange—one where teams were made up of members of both clubs. Heather Farms also came to play. Betty and Steven Loeb chaired the wild card games—Steven is the man for whom the service award was begun. Art Kaiser earned enough points to qualify for the top eight NCTA 65s singles players.



1988 History

The March 2, 1998 issue of the Rossmoor News talked about the club's Spring Volley Frolic Saturday to be held on the 5th chaired by Patty & Gene Cairns. No sign-ups, just come along with your brown bag lunch and join in! The first party of the year was to be the gala on March 25 at the Dollar Clubhouse with food provided by the members. Announcement was also made of the Wild Card play on March 10. Twenty-four members were the needed quorum.

Shirley Douglass and Mary Watson chaired the Women's Social Tennis Day on March 19 and later in the year Barbara May was welcomed to the club. Steve Loeb spent hours renovating "The Shack" by clearing, cleaning, sanding, and repainting it. Now you know what led to the establishment of the Stephen H. Loeb Memorial Service Award later called the Service Awards.
(pic of Steve in 1988 book)

Later in the year tennis was played at the courts by exchange students sponsored by Rotary International. The men ventured to the Lagunitas Club in Ross. Another match was played at The Villages where a plaque was donated by UDC Homes, the developer of both Rossmoor and The Villages. A trip was also planned to the Cow Palace in September to see a Super Series Event in the Worldwide Nabisco Grand Prix Circuit with a prize of $59,5000 for the singles winner. Old tennis balls were distributed to Las Lomas High School.

1989 History

Every member of RTC was a member of USTA and the club paid dues to that organization.

Drop-in tennis was introduced at the request of advanced and intermediate players. Thursday afternoons were set aside for this program.

Fun Day, with red, white, and blue decorations to honor Presidents' Day was chaired by Shirley Douglass and Mary Watson.

This year saw the club's mixed doubles round robin weekend held in August. This ended with a potluck at Gateway on the Sunday, August 20 with dinner and awards and the introduction of line dancing.



1990 History

At the holiday party held at Hillside Clubhouse 2 bachelors of the group, Ancil Scull and Bob Altman, did a buck and wing and sang 2 duets with straw hats and canes.    Members were awarded trophies for the year: Jim Hazen, Ed Rubiero, Mary Watson, Bill Wollman, Karen Parrish, Art Kaiser, Marcia Perry, Barbara May, Jim McCort, Joan Felger, Peter Sih, Herb Anderman, Bernie Brill, Jim McCartney, Tomoko Lesowitz, and Marty Smith.   Helen Boell was awarded the Sportsmanship Trophy, Steve Loeb being the winner last year and the person for whom it was named.   This is the award to the people making outstanding contributions to the club.