Greetings Members,

The election results are in and the Board of Directors met on May 20, 2009 to validate the election results. The final count was 84 yes and 2 no. The merger is approved.

I met with Jim Norris and advised him of the results of the election. We have agreed that the merger will become effective July 1, 2009. Rogue Valley Country Club’s attorney will prepare the written agreement for approval by the RVCC Board of Directors on May 28, 2009. The SOTC Board will then meet to review the agreement and vote to accept it or modify it.

Jim Norris and I are working on transition issues. I am gathering personnel records, policies, contracts, lists of assets and other information to be provided to RVCC to help with the change in management come July 1st. SOTC Treasurer Dan Kellogg is working on financial issues, such as member loans that will need to be paid off before the merger, key deposit refunds and how we will collect keys that have been issued, and paying all bills that are due prior to July 1, 2009.

I received assurances from Jim Norris that there would be few, if any, operational changes until after September 15, 2009. Current hours of operation and access on weekends will continue.  

SOTC will be requesting the assistance of an attorney to review agreements and assist in the dissolution of the SOTC Corporation. The dissolution will not be complete until after the merger takes place and the Oregon Corporation Division is satisfied that SOTC has complied with all requirements and paid all creditors.

As we work through the process of merging the clubs, I will make information available on the website, by email and on the clubhouse bulletin boards. The SOTC Board requests your patience and support while we work through the business of merging and ensuring that you continue to have a great place to play tennis.

If you know of anyone who is interested in joining a tennis club, let them know that now is a great time to make their move. Until July 1, 2009, there will be no initiation fee to join SOTC / RVCC as a Social Member with tennis privileges.

Thank you for voting. The future looks great. Sample the benefits of Social Membership at RVCC; there are several coming events to kick off summer, get more information in the office. 

Play Well!

Mike Sweeny, SOTC Board President

Lithia Championships Big Success

by Rich Hansen 

Over 100 competitors converged on Southern Oregon Tennis club the weekend of Jan. 30 through Feb. 1, 2009 for the annual Lithia Tennis Tournament. The Tournament Director Andris Olins called it a very successful, fun and profitable weekend for the club. He also modestly took credit for the sunny weather for the Sunday finals. Remember the near blizzard conditions last year?

Of the six singles events, four SOTC Members were finalists and two won the singles championships. Ed Moffatt defeated Rosie Rosenthal for the men’s 3.5 singles title. Lew Thompson was a finalist in the 3.0 singles. Chris Clouse won the women’s 3.5 singles title.

In the six doubles events, five teams from SOTC qualified for the finals and two won doubles championships. Mari Ann Chaney and Sue Etling won the women’s 3.5 championship. Chris Clouse and Ed Moffatt defeated Jill Waldron and Mike Sweeny for the 7.0 Mixed Combo first place trophy. Bradd Berdelman and Matt Duncan were finalists in the men’s 4.0 doubles and Larry Henderson and Mike Sweeny took home runner-up gifts as finalists in the men’s 3.5 doubles.

Lithia’s Import Central proved to be a fantastic tournament sponsor with colorful banners and two shiny BMWs parked at the entry to the club. Rumor has it that they still have a few cars left and will make great special deals for SOTC tennis players.

The club never looked better than it did during the tournament. Windows were washed; lights and courts were cleaned, thanks to an anonymous donor, staff and tournament volunteers.

Players were treated to snacks and water at no charge throughout the tournament, compliments of efforts of Alicia Ryland-Nation and anonymous donors. Champions received engraved plaques suitable for display in the finest trophy cases and finalists received tennis towels donated by Anne Duncan, Thanks Anne! They were beautifully embroidered with the tournament name. Andris received outstanding assistance in running the tournament from Jill Waldron, Debra Vallarta, Marlene Riegel, Alicia Ryland-Nation, Dan and Lynn Kellogg and Mike Sweeny.

January was a very productive month at SOTC. The club is getting a good cleaning thanks to a very generous member who is paying approximately two thirds of the total cost of $1,600 for the contractor. The work should be finished this week. It has already made a very noticeable improvement on the courts.  

Many thanks to Andris Olins, Jill Waldron, Debra Vallarta, Marlene Riegle and Alicia Ryland-Nation for their efforts in helping to put on a “high quality” Lithia Championships Tournament. Lithia Motors Inc. was great to work with and deserves our appreciation for continuing to support this annual event. Their financial support allowed SOTC to produce a tournament that we can be proud of and that generated much needed revenue for the club.

I have been told that there is a lot of buzz around the club regarding our status and what is going on with a future consolidation with Rogue Valley Country Club. The club’s status is unchanged. We are operating within our budget month to month. Through the use of volunteers, cost cutting and leaving the Director of Tennis position vacant, the club is surviving, but not thriving.

Our discussions with the Rogue Valley Country Club are continuing. They have declined to merge or consolidate with SOTC at this time. We are continuing to meet with them and discuss other ways that the two organizations may be able to work together to improve SOTC’s financial future and improve operations and services. I cannot predict what will be agreed to; I can tell you that Rogue Valley Country Club wants SOTC to remain open and financially stable. They would experience a significant financial loss if we could not continue operating. Please be patient, the Board is working diligently to resolve this matter. I will keep the membership informed, and as always, I am available to discuss club issues with any member, just give me a call. No major changes to club status or operations will be made without advance notice to, and approval of the membership.

I’ll close with another “Thank You” to Laurie, Dustin, Andris and Gail. Their loyalty and hard work are greatly appreciated by many members and the Board.

Enjoy your club and play well!

Mike Sweeny

Women's 3.5 USTA Team Meeting  

We are hoping to have a meeting on Saturday, January 24 at 10:30 am for anyone interested in playing on a women's 3.5 tennis team this coming season.(March to June approx) We would like to figure out who is playing, if we will have 2 teams from SOTC, etc. Please mention this message to anyone you think might be interested, new members, etc. If you can't make the meeting let me know.

Seline

Happy New Year!

Just in case you thought you missed it, there was no message from me last month. I apologize if there was any concern regarding a lack of communication from the Board.

We finished 2008 with many positives. We are continuing to operate within our budget. We have been able to either schedule or complete some important maintenance and repair items. We are making progress in our discussions with RVCC regarding our future relationship with them. We are planning the Lithia Championship Tournament for January 30th and there are many positive signs of life in the membership.

It was wonderful to see the clubhouse and courts being used during the holidays. On Christmas Day, a group played tennis and held a potluck brunch. The success and popularity of that event led to a similar event on New Years Day. Both events had over 20 members and guests in attendance. The tennis was fun and the food and beverages were great. I hope that we will continue to use the club in this way and that we will be able to get the word out to more members in advance. We don’t want to limit participation in such events to any one group of members. 

I need to add a few reminders to members about club policy and court etiquette. Glass containers are not permitted on the courts. Consumption of alcoholic beverages is allowed only in the clubhouse lobby. This is a liability issue for the club. It may not have been rigorously enforced in the past, but we ask for your cooperation and adherence to this policy. We want everyone to be safe while using our facilities.

Court etiquette is not well defined when it comes to players on adjoining courts deciding if the court curtains will be drawn. When there is disagreement regarding the curtains being open or closed, players should politely discuss their preference and reasons. Safety should be the overriding factor. If a match is in progress on one court and the players are willing to accept that stray balls may interrupt their play, their preference should prevail. There are rules of play that allow for the interruption of play by balls from other courts. The key word in this paragraph is “politely.” 

With the arrival of cold weather, we have had some complaints about it being too cold on the courts. We are trying to reasonably accommodate player’s requests for heat to be turned on and at the same time conserve our natural gas usage. Utilities such as gas and electricity become one of our largest expenses during winter months. We will turn the heat on by request for short periods during peak playing times. Please remember to turn off lights when you leave a court and there are no members ready to begin play.

I want to end this message with a huge THANK YOU to all the generous members that have donated money, time and talents to the club during 2008. Member loyalty is critical to our club during difficult times and our members are the best in the valley!

Enjoy your club and play well in the New Year!

Mike Sweeny

Board President

IMPORTANT ONLINE SCHEDULING INSTRUCTIONS 

As many of you have noticed, our online scheduling vendor seems to be having technical issues that make it difficult for us to see the calendar in order to schedule courts.

Laurie spoke to their technical support and they gave her the following work-around:

• From our sotennis.com home page, click Online Court Reservation, as usual.

• On the On-line Scheduling System, enter your Login and Password.

• On the left-hand side of the Welcome screen, you will see a "Select Court" drop-down box. Click the down-arrow to open the drop-down box, and select "No preference." The calendar should then open.

• Make your court reservations as usual.

We apologize for the inconvenience. Hopefully, our vendor will correct the problem soon, making the work-around unnecessary.