Another year has passed and financially the club is in a good position to proceed with our projects.
During the financial year we had applied for Government Grants to replace court 1 and 2. I'm happy to advise that the Grant application was successful.
The rebuilding of the courts should start late October and weather permitting, they should be ready for the new year. The surface will be similar to courts 4 and 5. We will need members to help prepare the courts, once a time line has been established, I will send out communication with this information and I would like members to contact me on 0404 212 591 who are happy to volunteer their time to help.
Another exciting renovation is for the Barbecue. We are going to be updating the Barbecue in the near future to a dedicated electric barbecue. The council has also agreed to replace the fence on court one and this will be done once the courts are completed, hopefully by Christmas.
I would like to thank the Committee on their contributions to the club, especially Cheryle Lavender who has stayed on supporting the club by continuing to help in the Secretary role and Membership, even though she had resigned from the positions 18 months prior.
Glenn has a number of positions and has done them well under the circumstances. Peter Ampt as Treasurer has done a great job since he has been in this role. Peter Sardi as Vice President is always ready to give a hand. Daryl Kennedy for helping out the juniors with the barbecue and shirts. Reighan Paterson and Colin Baker have also joined the committee and have been helping in the area of social activities such as the Christmas Party and being involved in the meetings etc.
Special mention also to Rory Quinn who has been do the shopping for the club and Ben Marlborough who has done an outstanding role as the junior coordinator.
Big shout out to Topline Tennis for their contribution to feed juniors into the club.
Before I open the positions, I would like to present three members with a life membership at Research Tennis Club in recognition of their contribution to the club.
Jo has had a long association with the club making the following contributions.
Peter Sardi who has been a member of the club since 1996. In this time, he has been the Tuesday night coordinator, on the committee as vice president for the last 7 years and in 2009/2010 was one of the major contributors in the rebuilding of courts 3, 4, 5 & 6.
Esko has been a member since 1994 and in that time, he has always been a member you could call upon if there were any jobs required around the club. He was a major contributor when the courts were being built, not only doing the coordinating off the trades but also getting in there himself and getting his hands dirty.
As mentioned above, Courts 1&2 are being rebuilt and again he was the first to put his hand up to help. It’s almost like they are his own courts.
Without the combined contribution from Peter and Esko, we would not have the facilities we have today.
Not only have these 2 members been instrumental with rebuilding the courts but also with the shaded area in front of court 2 and the concreted area behind court 1.
I have only mentioned the larger projects they have been involved as I could go on for some time. Last of all I would like to thank all the loyal members of the Research Tennis Club as without all your support, we would not be the club we are today.
It has been a great 12 months and I am looking forward to the next 12 months and seeing the Tennis Club evolve with all the exciting plans we have.
Michael Paterson
President – Research Tennis Club
