Webmaster

Dear Tennis Friends,

Tremendous thanks to the many members who arrived yesterday to lend their energy and talents to preparing the club for the coming tennis season. Kudos to each of you for finding your way with enthusiasm and proprietary spirit to wherever you could be helpful. Together, our goals were accomplished, and unforeseen needs and challenges were met and dealt with effectively.

All of us are very grateful.

Dear Tennis Friends,

Join us to help get the courts ready for play in May. Work day May 7 with the rain date of May 8. (Call or text Geordie 802-793-5316 if any questions.)

Time 10:00am.

We need the following:
– pickup truck to move furniture
– 4’ or more step ladders
– torch
– adjustable wrenches

Projects will include priming the pump, sprinklers, fence work. May expand but start with these.

Those who would like to do some garden touch-up, please bring your own garden gloves, hand tools (spades, garden forks, clippers), maybe a rake.

Please let Geordie know if you are coming and what you will be bringing so that we don’t end up with 10 of everything.

And you are welcome to bring a beverage to enjoy after we’re done working. It should take no more than two hours unless we expand it.

Thanks,
Geordie
(via Darlene)

 

https://www.madrivertennis.com/
There will be a Member-only section to the website this year. You will receive further instruction.

 

 

Dear Tennis Friends,

Thank you to those who have sent in your memberships! The two piles I have gone through were a breeze having everything together. Now for a little more heat and less breeze outdoors.

A note to those who have requested electronic registration and payment: The Board considered this option and decided to stick with the paper method, at least for now. The platforms that accept payment generally require a real person to set it up, not a “role” such as [email protected], i.e. the service is tied to a person in the organization. That person will get a 1099. (Changing that person is a pain in the arss, been there, done that.) I helped one sports organization become an official non-profit 501c7, and that cost $600 to the feds at the time. So, unless someone wants to explore options further, we are not making this kind of a change in the near future.

A reminder, the Club has substantial expenses early in the season. Please take a moment, if you haven’t already, to print your membership form, fill it out, write a check, put both in an envelope and mail to the address at the top of the form. Thank you for your assistance in streamlining our accounting. We’ll be sending out to past members and people who have inquired shortly. And a reminder to carry that pesky cash or check with you when you invite guests. We are still on the $15-in-the-envelope guest payment process.

No change to target opening day. There have been supply chain issues in tennis court material as well, so cross our fingers.

A separate email will go out about workday next Saturday May 7.

Thanks,
Darlene

 

https://www.madrivertennis.com/
There will be a Member-only section to the website this year. You will receive further instruction.

Dear Tennis Friends,

We are getting closer to outdoor tennis season at the Club!  We are aiming to have the Club open this year by Memorial Day.

Please print the attached membership application at your earliest convenience and mail with payment. The Club has substantial expenses early in the season. This notice has been sent to 2021 members and will be sent to other past members and inquiries in about two weeks.

Men’s Doubles will again be Tuesday and Thursday evenings and will use Playerlineup.com for individual scheduling. Last year’s access will still work. If you need access, contact Geordie Hall <[email protected]>.

We will be having a workday May 7 (or 8th as weather alternate). This is also a great way to meet people. Please let Geordie know if you will be available to help. He will provide further information about what to bring.

Please join us in remembering our friend, Suzanne Meier, on May 30th at 10 am at MRTC. Refreshments will be available.

Thanks,
Darlene

 

https://www.madrivertennis.com/
There will be a Member-only section to the website this year. You will receive further instruction.

Dear Returning and Prospective Members,

Renewing members: please send in your membership application and check ASAP, by next Friday 5/28.

Numerous factors have resulted in substantial new membership applications this year. We are hoping to accommodate all returning members and new members in the order received.

Prospective members: we appreciate your interest in MRTC! We are evaluating how many new memberships we can accept. We anticipate being able to respond to everyone by June 4, hopefully sooner, if we can approve your membership this year. We will hope to offer you membership next year if we cannot accommodate everyone this year.

We are still working to determine opening date which is generally early June.

The Club lost a dear friend this year. Suzanne Meier passed away this Spring after an illness. Many of us remember her as a spry, spunky, cheerful gal integral to the organization of our club and activities. She organized the ladies round robin for several years. We will miss her energy, sense of humor, commitment to tennis and to the Mad River Tennis Club. If you would like to donate to a permanent gift in her honor, please make out a check to the Mad River Tennis Club and mail to Pat Amann, PO Box 875, Waitsfield 05673. Suggestions of how to honor Suzanne are welcomed; please share your thoughts with Pat.

Thanks! See you on the courts,
Darlene
Secretary/Membership

 

Photo credit Darlene, top two; Woody, bottom four.

If you have any maintenance concerns, these should be directed to Jay Kearns or Ken Amann.

Note: Geordie Hall has rejoined the board.

Tennis Friends,

Please understand that the lengthy emails I send are a balancing act with the intention of not sending too frequently. Kind of ironic that there have still been numerous emails since in prior years there were few mass communications. Chalk it up to the good fortune of having new members. Please make the time to absorb the information.

CALENDAR

There has been some confusion about the workings of the Google calendar. The website link takes you there, but then you need to login and make sure you use it correctly. I strongly advise you review the process first on a computer where you can see a weekly view rather than daily as on the phone.

The biggest problem reported is that if you have more than one calendar, you can inadvertently post on the wrong calendar. Your posted “event” (reservation) needs to be the same color as the other tennis reservations, which is currently white font on gold background. When you are creating your reservation, there will be a dropdown to choose the desired calendar. When looking at the larger calendar view, there are checkmarks on the left to select the calendar on which you want to post.

Some have had trouble using their phone to make a reservation, likely because you are seeing a daily view on a small screen and cannot verify what you are doing. I will not spend the time to coach on use of phone, but will note that the “Calendar” app on Woody’s phone allowed him to access the tennis calendar as well as his personal calendar; this will only be the case if the email address you use for Google is also set up in your phone. I was invited to download an app when I attempted to use the web version on my phone, and you may be, too. So if you use an app or browser on your phone, again, choose the right calendar when you post your reservation.

Lastly, I had asked people to send me their preferred address for the Google calendar since many people have multiple addresses. If you can’t get in, you may not yet have been added. Please test NOW to see if you have access so it won’t become urgent when you want it. I’m hoping to take the weekend off from administrative tasks.

Regarding reservations, the standard reservation is for a single court for 1.5 hours. See the rules in the shed for deviations, shorter and longer times, and when people are waiting. If you need two courts, the second one must be reserved by a different member. If you have a preference on which court, specify. If you are reserving between others, check the length of their reservations and make sure there is no overlap.

VISITS

We originally requested to record your play on either the Google calendar or on the sheet in the shed. We are amending that request so that ALL visits, all members, guests and visitors, should be recorded on the sign-in sheet in the shed. $15 guest fee can be dropped in the slot in a labeled envelope, envelopes provided.

WETNESS

Although several Board members and volunteers take care of the courts by watering and rolling, we count on each member to use good sense and care as to when the courts are playable and in what condition you leave them. There are “rules” posted in the clubhouse which remain accurate (except for the guest fee which needs to be updated, $15). If your footprint leaves a depression, the courts are too wet to play. One member offers “If you step on to the sideline of the court and you can see any shoe imprint more than a light silhouette of your tread, it is too soft to play and will dig up the court.” A sign may occasionally be posted indicating the courts are too wet to play. Anyone is welcome to make a note on the Google calendar if they observe the courts being too wet to play. However, the courts are essentially self-serve and there may not be someone available to inspect when they are ready to play again, so the judgement is yours.

SWEEPING

I will be the bad guy here. I have personally observed about four times in the last two weeks sloppy sweeping and brushing. When you are done, please look at the courts and see if they look inviting–like you would like them to look when you arrive to play.

MEMBER LIST

The member list is available in the shed.

This post was edited for clarity in the Google calendar section on 7/22/20.