Penny Petersen

The Canadian-American Tennis Social was held Saturday, January 26, at the Cottonwood tennis courts. Participants numbered 120, with 36 Canadians and 73 Americans. Lots of friendly rivalry filled the day, complete with a parade down past the courts and onto Court 1, where Canadians were positioned on the south side of Court 1 and the Americans on the north side. Each team had a mascot (dog) leading the march. The ceremony was highlighted by each group singing their national anthem. Ernie Soczka was superb directing activities over the PA System.

A spectacular lunch was served to 140 people. The desserts highlighted the meal: American apple crisp with ice cream and Canadian butter tarts. The meal was planned by three Americans: Lynn Cox, Peg Onken and Susan Aparicio and three Canadians: Helene Mein, Bonnie Livingston and Sylvia Page.

Because there were more Americans present, some gamely donned Canadian jerseys and played for the Canadian team to make up for the lesser numbers. Mary Ann Rice kept track of players and scores – no small job with 120 people wanting to know where to go and whom they were playing. After all that tracking, the American team won by four points.

The next tournament, the Mixed Doubles event, will be held February 11-16. Due to deadline dates, the results will be reported in the April Splash.