By James Zug
The USCTA’s 23rd Annual Dinner was a fantastic, if remote reunion for the game of tennis in America.
Nearly a hundred members from across the country attended the Zoom call. After much conversation and admiration of the special Annual Dinner commemorative coasters, President Jim Zug welcomed everyone. He started the meeting with a moment of silence in memory of the friends who died in 2020. They included: Howard G. Cushing, Jr., Robert G. Forbes, David B. Ford, Sr., O.J. Heestand, Daniel J. McSweeney, C. Rodney O’Connor, Arthur B. Whitcomb, Jr., Donald M. Wilkinson, Jr. and Charles R. Williams.
Zug introduced professionals from every club in the U.S. Giving a tour of the tennis landscape, they spoke about how the pandemic had affected their clubs: Tony Hollins at the Tennis & Racquet Club, Mike Gooding in Newport, Barney Tanfield at the Racquet & Tennis Club, Dave Christensen standing in for Tim Chisholm at Tuxedo, Neil Smith for Georgian Court University, John Lumley at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia, Ivan Ronaldson at Prince’s Court, president Michael Sullivan of the Aiken Tennis Club and Steve Virgona at the Racquet Club of Chicago.
Leaders dilated upon the two new court projects, in Charleston and Washington, that within weeks hopefully will cross fundraising finish lines. And Ryan Carey, tech wizard, helped the USCTA leverage the online community. He organized a word-cloud formation exercise, via Mentimeter. Every person on the Zoom call had the opportunity to input the word that most describes tennis. The result was a lovely word cloud.
As tradition, a big part of the Annual Dinner was the auction. Ted Goneos beautifully organized the auction, which was in this pandemic year done online. Two dozen people donated a total of forty lots. Seventy people bid two hundred and forty-four times on lots. One lot (Napa wine) attracted thirty-two bids (and was sold twice), while another (a tennis board game) received twenty-six bids. Much interest also surrounded usual lots (Howard McMorris’ flat in London), historical books (donated by Adam Inselbuch) and outings on seven golf courses and new ones like former world champion Howard Angus hosting a day at Queen’s.
The totals: the USCTA collected $29,000; the new court in Washington $29,000; and the national sponsorship program 17,000 (from twenty-one supporters). Thus, in a new format in a challenging time, the auction raised a remarkable total of $75,000.
Thomas Jefferson was the keynote speaker for the Annual Dinner. Many U.S. presidents have had small-ball athletic skills: Abe Lincoln played fives; Teddy Roosevelt installed a lawn tennis court at the White House, a court enjoyed by John Kennedy and George H.W. Bush; and the current president, Donald Trump, played varsity squash at Fordham. But the breaking news of the Annual Dinner came from Thomas Jefferson himself.
He appeared live from the library of Monticello. He spoke movingly of his time as minister plenipotentiary to France and how he very well might have been present at the historic Tennis Court Oath on 20 June 1789 at the start of the French Revolution. Therefore Jefferson is the patron of International Tennis Day, annually celebrated on the 20th of June.
Jefferson revealed his love of tennis even more on the Zoom call by presenting an examples of tennis ball lettuce. It is a variety that he began planting at Monticello in 1809 and today is considered the origin of Boston lettuce.
