Fox Meadow’s Centennial Celebration

As part of its centennial celebration, the Club honored thirty-seven members who were winners of APTA titles, as well as the founders of paddle. From front, L to R, are winners or their representatives: Forest Carver, Louise Raymond, Babs Price Naylor, Ted and Madge Beck, Killy Kilmarx, Sally Auxford, Do Deland, Susie Wasch, Molly Ware, George Harrison, John Ware, Ruthie Chalmers, Laurie Nelson Ackermann, Zan Carver, Jr., Lois and Dick Hebard, Walter Close, Berkeley Johnson, Jr., Ed Raymond, Bob Brown, Ann Brown, Laura Parker, Jim Carlisle, Bob and Ollie Kingsbury, Bill Koegel, George Schmid, Marie Walker Plant, and Peter Moore.
As part of its centennial celebration, the Club honored thirty-seven members who were winners of APTA titles, as well as the founders of paddle. From front, L to R, are winners or their representatives: Forest Carver, Louise Raymond, Babs Price Naylor, Ted and Madge Beck, Killy Kilmarx, Sally Auxford, Do Deland, Susie Wasch, Molly Ware, George Harrison, John Ware, Ruthie Chalmers, Laurie Nelson Ackermann, Zan Carver, Jr., Lois and Dick Hebard, Walter Close, Berkeley Johnson, Jr., Ed Raymond, Bob Brown, Ann Brown, Laura Parker, Jim Carlisle, Bob and Ollie Kingsbury, Bill Koegel, George Schmid, Marie Walker Plant, and Peter Moore.

Fox Meadow Celebration - Part 1
Fox Meadow Celebration - Part 2 The FMTC Centennial Committee - Ware, Close, Evans, Harrison, Adams, Fuller and Balzac. The flag was made by Betty Rule. The FMTC Centennial Committee - Ware, Close, Evans, Harrison, Adams, Fuller and Balzac. The flag was made by Betty Rule.

FMTC President Charlie Evans honored thirty-seven Club members who had won APTA National Championships; Nex to him are all-time winners Madge Beck and Dick Hebard. Molly Ware and Do Deland received awards for their fathers, Blanchard and Cogswell FMTC President Charlie Evans honored thirty-seven Club members who had won APTA National Championships; Next to him are all-time winners Madge Beck and Dick Hebard. Molly Ware and Do Deland received awards for their fathers, Blanchard and Cogswell.

In the fall of 1981, Charlie Evans, president of Fox Meadow Tennis Club, proposed to the Board of Governors that the Club celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1983. He recommended that the Club publish a book about its history, and that it should try to host the 1983 APTA national Men’s Doubles championship, at which time it would honor members who had won national titles. Lastly, Evans suggested holding a party for past and present members sometime in 1983. The board approved the recommendations, and appointed Walter Close as centennial chairman, and John Ware as the editor of the centennial book.

In January 1982, a planning committee met at the Evans’ house to further plan the centennial activities. The ideas and enthusiasm expressed at this meeting heavily influenced the direction that the celebration took.

Walter Close subsequently named a formal Centennial Committee that included Janet Fuller, George Harrison, Bob Adams, Bob Lee, John Ware, Dick Balzac, and Charlie Evans.

At Ware’s request, Diana Reische, author of Of Colonists and Commuters, a History of Scarsdale, agreed to write a book about the first 100 years of Fox Meadow.

Walter Close’s committee decided to have a cocktail-buffet party at the Club on the evening of June 18, followed by a luncheon, ice cream social, tennis matches, and skits the next day.

The APTA declined to hold the Men’s Doubles championship at Fox Meadow, but decided to hold the Senior Men’s Doubles at the Club on March 5-6, 1983. On March 6, the Club’s Awards Committee, made up of Walter Close, Anne Evans, Janet Fuller, and Charlie Evans, honored the game’s co-founders, Fessenden Blanchard and James Cogswell, as well as 37 Fox Meadow members who had won national platform tennis championships.

One of the gratifying things about preparing for the centennial, according to President Evans, was the involvement of most of the Club’s members, whether through contributing to the centennial history or working on the awards ceremony or party. Evans was impressed by the way the Club worked together on the project, ”showing the integrity and respect for others which is the hallmark of Fox Meadow, on or off the court.”

Symbolic of the Club’s centennial year, as well as the self-help principle upon which most of its activities rest, a flag made by member Betty Rule was raised beneath the American flag in front of the clubhouse.

Source: Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983