Webmaster

Dear members,

I hope all of you have experienced minimal impact from the recent weather events. I grieve for our neighbors here and across Vermont and elsewhere who are suffering. 

Rain, heavy at times, continues to menace the Mad River Valley this evening and hopefully will not result in additional damage to our community and infrastructure. Mad River Tennis Club fared remarkably well mostly due to good luck and partly as a result of some proactive action some of us took along with our ongoing effort to prepare and maintain the courts as well as possible. 

At dawn today we discovered that Route 17 was severely damaged close to the club entrance. Thankfully the club’s driveway, which the Board was already planning to repair, was not terribly altered from the way it was before recent events. The courts, although they appeared undamaged from the sidelines, suffered from undermined lines in many places and sediment-buried lines in others. I was able to make repairs to most of these issues between rain showers this afternoon and early evening, but the surface is still very soft and vulnerable to damage from use by anyone who engages in starting, stopping, or turning as part of their tennis technique!

I am optimistic about the possibility that if Friday dawns and continues to be dry, warm, and best of all sunny, then the courts could be playable by the afternoon and coming weekend. 

Please be a conscientious partner in the club. Before you play at MRTC, make sure that any sudden and energetic starts, stops, and turns you make do not make a measurable indentation in the playing surface.  Perform this test around all the baselines, service lines and net of the court you plan to play on. Have a great match when conditions are favorable.  Make an effort to repair any noticeable damage, and, when you’re done please sweep the “whole court” – which means all the way to the fences or grass on all the ends and sides and between the courts. Evenly distributing and smoothing surface material in this way is valuable maintenance and not merely an aesthetic preference.  

Thank you for your consideration.

Woody Dugan
Volunteer Court Custodian

Thank you to all the members who have referred new tennis enthusiasts to our Club. In the last five years, membership has grown steadily, almost doubling. This year the net growth is roughly 10%. One aspect of our Club that we value and wish to maintain is the ease of making court reservations, so we approach growth cautiously and see how court usage plays out each year–thus the importance of signing in at the courts.

We are closed to new members for 2024. Feel free to introduce people to our Club as guests and encourage possible future memberships.

The weekend weather is looking more promising each day, cross our fingers. We’re going to close the courts on Sunday morning and would like some member help.

Please reply if you can help with closing, pulling up lines and removing nails (gloves and pliers helpful), packing and storing lines and nets, and putting away remaining furniture. We are not going to worry about the leaves this year. Woody will be leading this effort Sunday morning at 9:30am.

What a great season we had!

Darlene

Hi All, not meaning for you to be informed too many times about our upcoming Spring workday. I have installed a new notification system in our website and sent the old post again by accident. So, the goal of this post is two-fold:

First, to inform you of more detail about the annual Spring workday scheduled for Saturday May 13 at 9:00 at the courts. Work includes bringing the furniture out, repairing fences, getting the watering system operating, a bit of gardening clean-up, etc. It should take about 2 hours. Rain date is the 14th. All members are welcome. Please let Geordie know if you can make it. His email is [email protected].

Second, IMPORTANT, to ask you to reply to this email. Website notifications, like a newsletter, are notorious for being spam filtered. This will be our main way of contacting you once I know everyone is receiving it. PLEASE simply reply to this email to let Darlene know you received the notification, no words needed.

The annual spring workday is scheduled for Saturday May 13 at 9:00 at the courts. Work includes bringing the furniture out, repairing fences, getting the watering system operating, etc. It should take about 2 hours. Rain date is the 14th.

All members are welcome. Please let Geordie know if you can make it. His email is [email protected].

Second topic: this is a new post notification system. PLEASE simply reply to this email to let Darlene know you received the notification. No words needed.

Saturday the 13th at 9 o’clock with a rain date of Sunday the 14th at 9 o’clock.

Please contact Geordie if you are able to help.