August 2003

Dear friends:

When I was in gradeschool, my mother gave me two books by Munro Leaf, then a popular author of books for children: Manners Can Be Fun and Grammar Can Be Fun. You may have read them too. For me, the oldest child in a neo-Puritan household, the notion that doing what you should be doing could be fun was a revelation, a revelation I have held on to through the intervening years. Our Club rules are community manners, and following these rules can be fun, fun for us all.

Please respect the court reservation rules, particularly the rule about when courts can first be reserved, and don’t ask the staff to take an earlier reservation.

Please wear shoes that are kind to our courts. We’ve had more court repair from shoe damage than usual this summer.

Please remember that a nonmember may be a guest no more than four times a month (regardless of the number of members whose guest he/she may be that month) and no more than twice a month in prime time.

And, perhaps most important, please do not ask the staff person on duty to fill in for a missing player or to serve as a hitting partner. The staff wants to be accommodating to members, but when on duty they have responsibilities to all the members – keeping the courts in good condition, attending to the grounds, and answering the telephone, for example – which they cannot do while playing with a few members. Because we hope and expect that members will respect this rule, we have reinstated the ability of the staff to charge the stated fee of $20 per hour to serve as hitting partner while not on duty. And, just a reminder, the hitting partner does not give lessons. Our Club professional, Rick Rose (617-492-6289), and assistant professional, Keith Warner (617-285-7136), are available for lessons.

Manners can be fun; grammar can be fun; rules can be fun. Tennis is fun. Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Dick Harter