NEWSLINE STORY

published September-October 2016

All Packed Up from the World Tournament

By Jerry LaBrosse, 4^th Vice President, Charter Communications Director

We have another successful World Tournament in the books, and what a great tournament it was! I can’t recall one that ran any smoother than Montgomery. It was a pleasure working with the staff at the Multiplex. Many thanks go out to Kay McCreery and Tom Bush, and all of their helpers. And many thanks go out to our own NHPA members who come early to help with the set up. Ron Smith and Roger Vogel were there the whole time and we greatly appreciate that.

If you attended this event, I’m sure you have drawn the same conclusions about the area that many others and I did. The people in Montgomery were very welcoming and friendly wherever I went. The wide selection of food options was fantastic, and we found a few local places that served real southern dishes. Did any of you try the catfish at Martin’s Restaurant? Awesome!!

Montgomery is rich with history, and the downtown area is very well marked with historical landmarks. We did the Segway tour to see some of the sights near the river as well as downtown. If you’ve never ridden a Segway, I advise that you try it someday. It’s a blast!

I’d like to give you an update on the condition of the equipment. As you know, the portable courts have been in service since the WT in York, PA in 2008. This equipment has serviced nine world tournaments. In the past 3 years, we have replaced some of the boxes and a few front bumper pads. We lose a few pieces each year due to the rough nature of handling this type of equipment. The stakes are doing fine, and we couldn’t be happier with the service we’re getting from all of our portable courts and the electronic equipment too. So, the state of our equipment is sound, but aging. There will come a point where replacement will have to happen, but we’re years away from that, and we are closely monitoring the condition each year.