Goodbye to our Co-President

Nancy - we will miss you. You have been such a pleasure to know, always upbeat, happy and positive as the Co-President of the women's tennis at HEB. We wish you well, we wish you happiness, and most of all...we wish you everything you deserve in life.

Determined to Play!

Photo: Left to right: Jan, Tricia and Carol.

Never let it be said the ladies of HEB tennis are wimps! Here are three of our players who turned out for a match at the Railbender Tennis courts located in Parker soon after a snowfall. Temperature was hovering around 40 degrees, but they still played.

Snow in the Rockies

If the temperature hovers around 50 degrees, you will find HEB ladies on court. One day last week, we cleared the courts of snow, allowed the sun to get to work, and then we played three sets of great tennis. It was one of those fabulous days in the Rockies when the sky is blue, the sun was warm, and the mountain range was covered in snow - just perfect! A passer by kindly took this photo. L-R: Carrie, Carol, Nancy and Liz.

September Host

A very big "thank you" to Joy B. who kindly hosted the September Thursday sessions of our Eagle Bend Tennis Club. You did a great job Joy...and we are all very thankful. Have a wonderful winter and we'll see you in the Spring.

Two Captains

Photo courtesy: Nancy B.

Anita P. (left) and Carrie S. celebrate the end of the tennis session with members of their two teams. We all had a delicious supper at the Eagle's Nest Restaurant. Carrie said "We've had a great season and we'll be be even stronger next year."

We thank you Anita (senior) and Carrie (super senior) captains of our USTA teams.

Impromtu Gathering

An impromptu gathering for all those tennis players who answered their phones and could make a date at Nemmie's house were not disappointed. Within a few hours' time, she made sandwiches, shrimp and dips, cookies, nuts and other treats. None of us could believe she had brought so many goodies together in such a short time. Thank you Neemie!

USTA 3.5 Ladies' League

The USTA 3.5 ladies at Heritage Eagle Bend did very well this year achieving 2nd place in their league. During a wonderful brunch last week at Jan R.'s house we celebrated the end of the season, "relived" many of the matches we'd played...and had a great time.

Several of our ladies leave for a warmer climate (and to play tennis) during the winter months. We wish them farewell and look forward to seeing them in the spring of 2010!

Our Coordinator for August

A big "thank you" to Carrie S. who coordinated the Thursday morning for the month of August. Great job Carrie! We really appreciate your efforts.

Note: Tennis on Mondays and Thursdays will be begin at 9:00 AM!

Doubles Partners

Doubles partners Joanne P. (left) and Jean D. (right) stopped for moment before their match recently so I could snap this photograph. Joanne and Jean are partners on the Senior 3.5. USTA team. It's been a real treat to watch our 3.5 team play, especially at home with our new viewing area.

Friday Night Lights - The Two Nancy's

Not many people turned up for the Friday Night Lights a couple of weeks ago, but the two Nancy's at HEB didn't let it spoil their fun. The night lights came on and everyone enjoyed the beautiful evening.

The Marines Come to HEB

During our regular Monday morning session of tennis, we heard the distinctive sound of the Marines' marching song and realized a golfing event was being held at Heritage Eagle Bend. There was a lot of hustle and bustle, media coverage, etc. and then almost a 15 ft Marine appeared out of nowhere. Not being the shy types, our tennis ladies went to investigate. Two Marines kindly posed with our tennis players. (Lynne N. and Jenny L.)

Thursday Morning's Host for July

Many thanks to Neemie for hosting the Thursday morning tennis sessions for the month of July. She did a great job and we are all very grateful and appreciate her hard work.

Our Thursday Morning Tennis Host

Thanks to Anita, we had a great month in June. Anita used a method that's sometimes used in Arizona, especially when you have more players than courts. She was able to take up to 20 players substituting an extra player on each of our four courts...and it worked out very well. Thank you Anita for volunteering for the whole month of June. We all appreciate your efforts.

Breakfast at Wimbledon

Photo courtesy: Nancy B.

On July 5th, twenty+ members of HEB tennis club enjoyed a typical English breakfast and watched the men's finals at Wimbledon on a big screen TV. The Eagle's Nest Restaurant did us proud and served scrambled eggs, potatoes with onions and peppers, link sausage, bacon, grilled mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, strawberries and cream, toast, orange juice, coffee and tea - and it was delicious. It was great fun watching the last day of Wimbledon with our tennis buddies.

Nancy B.

First Ever - Friday Night Under the Lights

Our first ever Friday Night Under the Lights went really well. The weather was kind to us considering how changeable it has been recently. About 24 members attended the event, each playing 8 games before rotating with a different group of four. There was no real order to the event. It was "just turn up and play" and it seemed to work great! Some members arrived later due to work schedules. Most people stayed until almost 9:00 PM and enjoyed the beautiful evening under the lights at HEB.

New Shirts Anyone?

Our Co-President, Nancy B. has been busy trying to organize new tennis tops for our USTA leagues. Up until this point, the team members have each been responsible for purchasing their own tops in the designated colors. Consequently, we've had a variety of pinks (and golds when we had a HEB gold team). This year, we're thinking we'll have matching shirts with the HEB logo embroidered on the top left-hand shoulder. We'll let you know if we can get a resonably sized group interested in doing that.

Summer Kickoff Mixer and BBQ

The weather cooperated on May 31st for our Summer Mixer. About 30+ people participated, and we were able to keep four courts occupied for three hours. Having worked up an appetite, everyone moved towards the Eagle's Nest Restaurant where a fantastic BBQ was served on the patio.

Intermountain Senior Sectional Championships

Hi everyone...the following came through in an email from USTA and I decided to post it on our blog.

This year's Intermountain Senior Sectional Championships will again be held in beautiful Steamboat Springs, Colorado at the newly renovated Tennis Center. The event will be June 12, 13 & 14.

Click here to register.
Bring a player who's never played and get a free can of Wilson US Open tennis Balls. Lodging Partners with discounts are listed on the tournament website.

Registration deadline is June 5, 2009 (not May, 27 as listed in CTA Book). Draws and Times will be posted on TennisLink, Tour ID#: 257207509. If you would like to play doubles but do not have a partner, write need partner in applicable line on registration and click division desired. This year, players may register for up to 3 divisions (no 2 MXD). Matches will not begin prior to 8:00 AM, 6/12. Come see us in the 'Boat.

Coordinator for May

Jenny L. has been our coordinator for the month of May, and what a great job she's done. She's had her hands full because so many HEB players have turned out each week - sometimes 16 players or more. To organize fair play, she uses a pack of playing cards. Each players takes a card and, depending on the suit goes to a specific court with three others players. After about 40 minutes of play, cards are again selected and the process begins again.

Thank you Jenny!

HEB Court Repair Update

Over the past several years, HEB has done patchwork resurfacing of our tennis courts pretty much twice a year, and the results have been dismal. The courts look good for a brief period and then deteriorate rapidly, with bubbles, and irregularities. Management decided that enough was enough and hired a hydrologist to check out why this was happening, and ground water seepage was determined to be at blame. The question to be answered was where this water was coming from, landscape maintenance activities (best case) or underground water source (worst case). It has been studied and appears to be from landscape activities, so a fix should be pretty straight forward. Next step: install a french drain around the courts to divert water and then fix the courts.

By Friday of this week a second set of tests will be done on the courts to make sure that there isn't any significant water build up between the surface and the concrete pad below. So far it all looks good. If the next test comes back OK, then the bad areas on the courts will be patched (concrete) so the courts will be safe and playable for this season, and a real resurface will be done in the fall (probably October). This will allow us to play this season and have great courts next summer.

One other note: we have received an OK to put in a viewing area outside court 1.
This will include a flagstone pad and a couple of benches. The windscreen (lower
section) will be removed and bushes will be trimmed or removed so that folks can sit and watch play on courts one and two. This will be in the area between court one and the putting green. Completion date (at least this is what I have been told): Mid May.

Chuck Strauss, Co-President.

Tennis in May

Sixteen ladies turned up for the first scheduled tennis of the year on Monday, May 4th. It was a glorious morning and everyone was pleased to put winter behind and look towards summer.

There are sign up sheets for the Monday and Thursday tennis at the gazebo next to the courts. Jan R. will be hosting the Monday tennis sessions throughout the year, but Thursday tennis will have a different coordinator each month (we still need two volunteers!) Once again, check out the bulletin board at the gazebo for more information.

Summer Kickoff Mixer and BBQ

It's that time of year again for our annual Summer Kickoff Tennis Mixer and BBQ. The Mixer is scheduled for Sunday, May 31st, with tennis from 1:00 - 4:00pm. It's a little earlier in the day this year, so maybe we can avoid the late afternoon winds and rains. We will have a BBQ on the Patio at the Club House immediately following the tennis (BBQ from 4:00 - 6:00pm).

Everyone of all levels is welcome. We will have Mens Doubles, Womens Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. This is always a fun, social event and a good way to kick off tennis at HEB. Non tennis playing spouses/significant others are welcome to attend the tennis as spectators and to attend the BBQ.

The tennis is free and the BBQ is $12/person. You just pay for the BBQ that day. The menu will be: BBQ Pork Sandwiches, Chicken Breast Sandwiches, cole slaw, iced tea & lemonade. There will be a cash bar available.

Please sign up on the "indoor" tennis bulletin board in the hallway behind the pro shop. We hope to see many of you there again this year.

Ron & Gail Hedy
Social Committee

USTA Leagues

Even though our "Super Senior" teams have yet to start their matches, we already need to think about forming our "Senior" teams. Teams need to be formed by June 12th and matches start the week of July 20th.

Sign up sheets are on the outside "gazebo" bulletin board. There is not a big hurry in signing up, but the next time you're near the tennis courts, you might want to get your name on the list.

Good luck to all the Super Senior teams next week for their first matches.

Gail Hedy

Update - Court Repairs at HEB

HEB management is working on a long-term fix for our courts. As you may remember, in years past, the courts have been resurfaced twice a year. Due to ground water influx, the repairs would usually last a whopping 3 weeks max and the surface problems would be back. Something, clearly, needed to be done. A study was conducted to determine why ground water was seeping under the courts. The initial study determined that (good news) the problem is flow from normal landscaping activities for the grounds and putting green. This can easily be stopped by installing a French drain around the courts, and that will be done.

More study work, however is being done to determine the extent of the courts’ problems. If there is a barrier between the concrete slab and the courts’ surface, then, after the French drain is installed the courts can be resurfaced and we will have very playable courts that should remain that way for some time.

If, however, this is not the case then we have a major problem and the courts will have to be torn out and start over. That’s the worst case scenario and will cost big bucks, and likely not happen this year. The tests on the courts were done yesterday, and the guys doing the work don’t think we have a major problem.

Once this study is done, and if we don’t have to tear out the courts, resurfacing can be done almost immediately and we should be back in business by mid May. We will keep you posted, so please check back periodically for updates, or call Chuck @ 720-318-7598.

Last Day on the Beach

Shari sent this photograph of her last day in Florida before returning to Colorado. Since coming back, Shari has been waiting for the weather to improve so that she can get back on the tennis court - our weather is NOT obliging!

The New Board

Eagle Bend Tennis has a new board. From left to right: Nancy B (co-President), Liz W. Secretary, Carol C. Treasurer and Chuck S. (co-President).

Be sure to check out the bulletin board at the gazebo for more information as our new co-Presidents will be making a few changes. Leagues are forming and our members are getting excited about our teams for 2009.

Notes from Naples

(Courtesy photo: Shari S.)

Shari says "Hi" from Naples, Florida. She said the weather has been great for tennis - playing 3 times a week, but they are in the middle of a drought just like Denver. Although the temperature will soar to 83 degrees this week, it has been the coolest winter she had seen in 8 years.

Shari is looking forward to seeing everyone soon.

Indoor Mixer at Monaco

(Photo courtesy: Al B.)

Our first Mixer of 2009 went well at Monaco. Twenty members and guests of HEB members participated and everyone had a great time. Each couple brought a plate of food to share with others, and they also brought their favorite drinks - we stayed until the club closed.

Thanks for the photo Al!

Pint Size Tennis

On a recent trip to Scotland, I heard the tell-tale sound of a tennis match on the other side of the hedge. I just had to investigate and imagine my surprise to find pint sized tennis courts for children. They were public courts and very busy with little people rushing back and forth as they played the game we all love so much. Needless to say, I found it fascinating and watched them play for a while and took this photo (with permission from Mummy) of course.

Determined Ladies

Winter has been kind to us this year and some of our tennis ladies have taken full “advantage” (sorry about the pun again) of the weather and have been able to play during January and February. Seen in this photograph are: (Left to right) Donna, Violet, Janice and Nancy. The photograph wa taken on February 5th on a rare warm and wonderful day and a great time was had by all.

Chipping Away!

Four ladies from our tennis club were so determined to play tennis last week...they took to ice picks and shovels to clear the ice off the court. They were rewarded with at least two days of glorious sunshine in the middle of January, and were able to take "advantage" (sorry about the pun) of the weather.