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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1993-03-24, Page 19Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, March 24. 1993 — Page 19 Local squash court has generated much enthusiasm by George J. Brophy The Lucknow Squash Club was formed in 1988 after the completion of the renovations to the Lucknow Arena which included the instal- lation of a state-of-the-art squash court. Squash is a game played on a four -walled court with a small hollow hard rubberball and a round headed racquet. The game probably originated in the late 19th century and has become a popular game both in North America and in Europe. There are national and international associations and tour- naments. In the past, the, game has been primarily associated with colleges and universities but the last approximately 20 years has found a popular following in the general community. o It was with this in mind that Walter Arnold, a long time resident of the Village of Lucknow and a member of the Lucknow Lions Club, urged the inclusion of a squash court in the Lucknow Arena renovations spearheaded by the Lions Club in the late 80s. Walter had taken up the sport when he found himself working in Kincardine for the Bruce County Housing Authority. Because of the supervisory position he held, he was looking for an activity which would provide competition and exercise in a short period of time. He found his .sport in squash and was involved in the addition of the Christopher Health Club in Kincardine of two squash courts. As. a result of that experience and his involvement on both the fund raising and building committees of. the Lucknow Lions Club in Luck- :. now and local municipalities when the Arena Complex was being developed, it fell to Walter to play the role of advocate to have included the excellent .squash :facility we now have available to us.. As all will'°remember, the ne;w developments at the Lucknow. Arena in the late 80s were fully discussed -and debated long into the night on. ' many occasions both privately . and in public forums. It was as a result of the strong ar- guments presented by Walter that ultimately the squash court was included in the overall project. PLAYCON of Kitchener was asked to adapt their squash court product to the particular con- figuration of the local building and they succeeded in building an ex- cellent court with glass back court wall ideal for spectator viewing. This is the only glass walled court in the area and is the envy of both the Port Elgin Racquet Club and the Christopher Health Club in Kincar- dine. The new facility engendered great enthusiasm and as- a result the Lucknow Squash Club was formed, After a slow but sure development of membership, the Club is now in full flower and bookings are ex- ceeding all expectations and indeed have literally doubled in the last year. Tournaments are now regular- ly held together with clinics and training sessions. The Club was very capably managed by Ian Montgomery for its first four years of existence and in the fall of 1992 the present executive of Wendy Herbert, Mike Goetz, John Mayer and Tom Pegg was put in place. An observation made by the executive is that there are many people now .playing squash, both ' men and women, who had never seen a squash court or had 'an op- portunity to participate in the sport, until the facility was built in Luck - now, The executive feels that the game is competitive and at the sametime provides a cardiovascular workout which is second to none. The game indeed sells itself. . The executive is very much PORTS i. Interested in extending the use of the court so as to include school activities and training sessions for younger people. They urge all interested persons to give it a try. If it is played between personsof similar experience and talents, it can be a competitive sport for any player. - Walter Arnold says that the brin- ging of the squash court to Luck - now is of great personal satisfaction to him and it gives ,him great pleasure to see on t.he court the results of his efforts. Alas, Walter has himself been required ,to give up the game because of os- teoarthritis in his hips, but every once in a while when browsing through a store and seeing squash racquets for sale, he instinctively reaches out to try the new racquets and it is only with great regret that he puts them down and concedes 'that his personal playing days are over. The Village of Lucknow owes a a tat debt to Walter Arnold for the inspiration he had in bringing this modern facility to our com- munity. Editor's note: is the first of a regular monthly' column on the sport of squash. If you are interested in getting involved give any one of the executive a phone call. Like bees to honey these participants In the Education Foundation for Foreign S udy hungrily gathered around the maple taffy pan at Bill and Suzanne Robinson's maple products business. The students are on a year long exchange. From the left, Bill Robinson, Francine Savage of Australia, hosted by a Lucknow family; Ulrike Ehiing of Germany, hosted by a Port Elgin family; Cristina Gambrill, Australia, Marl Heikkinen of Finland, and Georgina Inwood of Australia, all hosted by Walkerton families; Irene Goh of Australia, hosted by a Kincardine family, and Petra Kraus of Germany, also staying with a Walkerton family. (Pat Livingston photo) h Dry Extraction FIRE RESTORATION 1 o CARPET CLEANING / \ Solace • A Division of 682130 Ontario Limited LEANING ALL FLOORS, WINDOWS, WALL • AND CONTENTS Ralph & Fern Vilbert RFIL3. UCKNOW '• (519) 39.5-347 /392.6669 R. ELLIOTT Painting Affiliated with. Teeswater Paint Shop • Residential•Commerclal Interior 8t Exterior . 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