The Place to Be for “TEA” & Tennis
Submitted by Fran Pavelko, vice chairman:
HospitaliTEA is our SpecialTEA - The Place to Be for “TEA” & Tennis
Tradition Remains at the HospitaliTEA Tent For the 109 th year.
The BeauTEA and PossibiliTEAs for another great year are endless.
TEA –Talk –Tradition and HospitaliTEA go hand in hand, under the
TEA Tent and on the courts. That is “LOVE” at “The Ojai.”
Over 130 gracious ladies volunteer to serve TEA and cookies, and
welcome players, parents, and the faithful locals to “The Ojai.” The
BeauTEA of “The Ojai” event is enjoying Tennis, TEA and Tradition.
The “TEA Tent” is the nicest tradition of “The Ojai,” comments Ruby Morrison, who has served as president, secretary and board member. Ruby now holds the prestigious title of “Director Emeritus” and adds with pride, “It’s so beautifully done and such a nice surprise to people. Some say – we’re the Wimbledon of the West.” During the course of the tournament, approximately 1,500 cups of TEA will be poured and over 10,000 cookies will be served.
This year’s chairperson, Sandy Herman, a native of Ojai, knows what it takes to orchestrate such an elaborate undertaking. The first meetings are held in January, and organizing a total of 130 ladies is not an easy task. It’s an honor and privilege to be asked to be vice chairman, and this year Fran Pavelko holds that position. Together, along with Ruby Morrison, Lynne Pierpont and Vivian Perrett, they have handpicked the day hostesses and their assistants.
The day hostesses are: Liz Hermes, Jane McCarthy, Sue Burr, and Carly Lucking Ford. Their assistants are: Susie Carnes, Lucy Lucking, Wendy Hilgers, Ginger Morgan, Donna Purvine, Stacey Boyd, Carol Hall-Mounsey, Mickie Butterbaugh, Linda Law, Susanne Wilson, Barbara Haggerty and Brenda Farr.
For more than sixty years, members of the Ojai Valley Garden Club grace the TEA Table with daily fresh floral arrangements. This year, Vickie Mahan will arrange Thursday’s flowers, Alisa Varney Friday’s flowers, Virginia Hill Saturday’s Flowers, and Cathy Sheeler Sunday’s flowers.
For the past 109 years Libbey Park has been host to the oldest amateur tennis tournament in the country, lovingly dubbed “The Ojai.” Over the course of the four day event, Ojai is lodged with tennis players and enthusiasts, in anticipation of tennis matches. It wouldn’t be the “The Ojai” if not for the “Tea Tent.”
I recently spoke to our local historian, David Mason, who told me he was a ball boy in days gone by, for Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly and Darlene Hard. After the matches he would walk by the refreshment booth and see the lovely ladies with hats and gloves pouring Tea and serving cookies on beautiful silver trays. He would admire the cookies, but never had any, thinking they were only for the spectators. The refreshment booth has since been replaced with our Tea Tent, but the cookies and tea remain. We invite Mr. Mason, the community, and you to join us for the tradition of tea and cookies.
Tea is served from 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Sunday.
SAVE THE DATES! 109th Annual “The Ojai” Thursday April 23 -- Sunday April 26, 2009
High SocieTEA in our CommuniTEA
For more information about The Ojai®, call (805) 646-7241 or visit www.ojaitourney.org.
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Comments (3)
Stop TEAsing us!
Comment #1 Posted by: Trixie | April 14, 2009 10:35 AM
TEA hee, hee...
Comment #2 Posted by: Anonymous | April 14, 2009 10:56 AM
BeauTEAful!
This brings TEArs to my eyes!
Soon Libbey Park will be TEAming with TEAny cups of Tea...
(Forgive me Lisa, the child in me could not resist!)
Comment #3 Posted by: Suza | April 14, 2009 10:54 PM