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SHORTLINE |
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Summer, July 2005
| Event | Location | Dates | Days |
| USHA "Share The Passion" Tour | Tori's Station | July 18th | Monday |
| Columbus 3-Wall Tournament | Columbus, OH | August 13th-14th | Saturday-Sunday |
| Michigan 3-Wall State Singles | Detroit, St. Clair Shores | August 13th-14th | Saturday-Sunday |
| USHA National 3-Wall Championships | Maumee, OH | September 1st-5th | Thursday-Monday |
| Annual GCHA Golf Outing | Greencrest Golf Course | September 16th | Friday |
| Annual Fall Meeting and Member Appreciation Night | Athletic Club @ Waycross | October 17th | Monday |
| Greetings Handballers: Hope each of you is enjoying the delights of the Summer season. Since the last SHORTLINE, much has occurred. The USHA National Masters Singles Tournament and the Caples Memorial 3-wall Tournament were successfully completed. The National Masters (Journey to a Great Tourney) brought great prestige and honor to the GCHA, The Athletic Club at Waycross, and the Greater Cincinnati area. Just ask Vern Roberts, Jr., Executive Director of the USHA. Ralph Weil, won the age 75 Division championships at both the NST and the National Four Wall in Houston, Texas in less than 3 months. Our collective hats are doffed to Ralph for this great fete. The Reds vs Atlanta game was attended by 30 handballers/friends. Reds lost but it was an enjoyable and memorable event. See the article enclosed. Sadly, we lost a friend – Jim Groom passed away. The future looks inviting with the annual Golf
Outing scheduled in September. On July 18, at Tori’s Station in Fairfield,
OH, Tom Sove, representing the USHA Development Committee will present
information on the “Share the Passion” campaign to faithful and loyal
Greater Cincinnati handball players. See the letter in this SHORTLINE
for details. Hope to see many of you at these events. |
 GCHA Board President George Lehocky at the Reds Outing |
Finally, be sure to visit often the GCHA website, www.gcha.org, to get the latest information on planned activities/tournaments. Very best regards. George Lehocky, President – GCHA Board |
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| Another Cincinnati Legend Passes Away |
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One of the GCHA's true "characters of the game" passed away in May. Jim Groom was a longtime member of both the GCHA and the Central Parkway YMCA. Jim was the driving force behind the annual parties at Tina's, as well as many trips to Keeneland. He'll be missed. |
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Ralph Weil: |
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In April, Ralph won the 75+ division at the USHA National Masters Singles in Cincinnati, defeating New York's Sonny Schaefer in a tie-breaker. Ironically, Ralph also faced Shaefer in the Houston finals, and also won in a tie-breaker. "Houston was a lot easier though," explained Ralph. That match only lasted one hour, instead of the two hours we played at Waycross." |
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Thirty handball player and friends attended the Reds titanic battle with the Braves on June 17 at Great American Ball Park. Because of the GCHA’s reputation for enjoying the “spirits,” raucousness, and ribaldry, the group was seated in the special section called the Moon Deck in right center field cordoned off from “respectable fans.” We had the first 3 rows and you got a good look at two potential hall-of-famers, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Andruw Jones, who each played center field. Jones hit two homers that night. Low light – Reds lost. Not too shocking this year. |
 Grant Kirby |
High lights. All in attendance enjoyed the evening/weather/camaraderie. One special event did occur. Dan Smith, a friend of Bob Burkitt’s, caught a baseball hit in our section by an Atlanta Brave. Talk about chaos when a ball is hit near you!! It was a grand slam shot – the first for the player - and the ball was apparently special to him. So much so, a Red’s representative came to Dan in the next inning and told him the player would like the ball.
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What would he take for it? Dan declined the offer - saying he wanted to show it to his family. Later Bob Burkitt shared with me that Dan is trying to return the ball to the player through the good offices of Sean Casey, who lives near him in Mason. Don’t you just love happy endings? |
 Skip Dixon, George Morano |
| Thanks to all who attended, especially the “posses” of Grant Kirby and Jim Simon. No – Tony C. or Jerry Rouse were not in attendance. Other fans included Greg Fite, Jack Dean, Jack Prather, John Love, Glenn Laque, David Kent, and D-Dawg. P.S. I’ve been going to professional baseball games for over 50 years and this was the closest I’ve ever come to a ball hit in the stands. I even had my glove. Go figure. It was exciting. Later, we had a glimpse of ourselves on the Sports reported on T.V. that night. |
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Every donor who donates at the Blue Ash Collection Center on Hunt Road during this promotion will receive an anniversary t-shirt and an invitation to the Anniversary party to be held on Friday, July 15 from 11a.m. - 2p.m. at the Blue Ash Recreation Center, 4433 Cooper Rd. Thanks, and remember to use the GCHA handball code -- HDB. Remember: HDB |
| Lots of sun, temperatures in the low 90's, no breeze and high humidity caused players to rename the Bob Caples Memorial to the Caples "Rain or Roast" 3-Wall tournament. Despite conditions, though, the competition and cameraderie made for a great event. The Open was indeed a wide-open event, as perennial favorite Casey Mayo was tied up with work obligations. His father, Ray, though, managed to keep the title in the family by defeating fellow Columbus player Steve Dykes, displaying his tireless determination in a two-game final. Earlier in the day, Ray had teamed up with Detroiter Joe Ivy in the finals of the Open Doubles. Their match against Cincinnati's John Allen and Dayton's Bo Bauer went to a tie-breaker, but then ended 11-0 as Allen and Bauer got as hot as the cement in the third game. |
 Gref Fite and Open Champion Ray Mayo (foreground) watch a match, while Dave Smile and Tony Cianciolo stay in the shade |
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One of the big stories of this year's tournament was Chris Seal's slam in the A-division. In the first match on Sunday morning, Chris won a match in convincing 2-game fashion, defeating another up-and-coming Cincinnati player, Greg Fite. Immediately following that match, Chris teamed up with Trey Hiance in the A-doubles against veterans David Kent and Pat Lunn. It was a long and hard-fought match, but the youngsters eventually wore out the older team in three games, continually digging balls from the front court and retreiving shots from deep on the apron. In
the 50-Singles, Bob Bardeau repeated his
championship performance for the second year in a row, this time defeating
Cincinnati's Paul Baker. |
A special thanks to tournament director George Lehocky, and our sponsors (George was also a sponsor) for helping the GCHA put on a first-rate tournament.
Major Sponsors
Juice Plus (George Lehocky)
Spraying Systems (Glenn Laque)
Sponsor Glenn Laque (left) catches up with Detroit's Joe Ivy
before Joe hits the heat and the court
GCHA received the following email from Steve Dykes in late June. Information and an entry are posted here. "Attention all: Columbus is having a tournament. We’re rather happy to do so. It’s the same tournament we’ve been having for thirty years. We hope a lot of you will attend. Come out and play! Saturday, August 13th and Sunday, August 14th." |
Paul Baker is again taking on the monumental task of organizing the Annual GCHA Golf Outing. This year's date is set for September 17th at the Green Crest Golf Course, and the sign-up deadline is Friday, September 2, 2005. Information and on-line entry form are available.
GCHA Annual Fall Meeting and Membership Appreciation Night
| This year’s Fall Meeting and Membership Appreciation Night is scheduled for Monday, October 17th at Paul Baker’s Athletic Club @ Waycross. Courts will be available starting at 4:00 pm for those who would like to play before the meeting. Food and drinks will be served during the meeting, which begins at approximately 7:30 pm. |
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