Fox Meadow’s “do-it-yourself” tradition is born

FMTC’s do-it-yourself spirit was never more in evidence than during the heyday of ice-skating, which began at FMTC in the 1930s.

Mole Ware recalled: “In the thirties and forties, for many young people and for two transplanted Bostonians—Fess Blanchard and Jimmy Cogswell—an important part of the Club’s appeal in winter lay in action on the skating rink. In the thirties, the rink skirted the portable paddle courts. Later, in the forties, the skating area was expanded and the large Victrola brought down from the porch to stand on the ice by the tennis backstop. Strains of Viennese waltzes and German polkas wafted over the paddle courts while my father and Mr. Cogswell taught ice dancing to anyone brave enough to try.”

Before the prevalence of indoor rinks with their ice-making equipment, readying an outdoor rink for skating was a labor of love, seemingly always done in the frigid cold of the night. At Fox Meadow, numerous people undertook this chilling task. Marian Van Norden Frohlicher recalls that her late husband John Van Norden and Henry Eaton got up at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. to freeze the courts. Do Cogswell Deland tells of the times her father stood at the courts, hose in hand, drenching not only the tennis court but himself as well. When he had finished, both the court and his face were covered with ice.

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

An early notice from the Paddle Committee. Hyson lived next door to the club at 15 Wayside Lane.

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