How green is our grass? And how great does our club look?
Wonderful to have some good weather, an excellent groundsman and an early start to the grass court season. This is when SLTC really comes into its own!
Perfect timing too for the imminent start of our Gary Greenwood competition. If you haven’t yet entered, there’s just about still time. If you’ve temporarily been on another planet and somehow missed the other communications, quickly go to the Gary Greenwood section of our website to read all about it and to get your name down.
You don’t have to be any good to enter. I’m playing – which says it all, really.
As always, lots of news to ‘share from the chair’ this month.
Let’s start with the shed. Oh no, not the shed. Let’s start with one for the ladies. On Tuesday May 20th from 6:30pm, Louise Knight (a former club member) will be in the clubhouse selling items from the up-and-coming ladies tennis brand 'Lucky in Love'. Bright colours and free flowing, bold designs are the brand’s signature. A world away from Nike and Under Armour. Tennis tops, skirts, dresses and accessories will be available in a variety of colours and sizes to try on – and buy.
The grass courts (hopefully) will be in action for ladies night and the bar will be open! Sounds like a great evening. That date again – Tuesday 20th May.
Go on then. I know you only read this to find out what’s happening with the shed which is battered and old and being slowly strangled by foliage. It’s on its very last legs and overdue for replacement.
I’m sure you will be relieved to know that a new one is at last on order and scheduled to be in place the first week of July. Hooray! It took a while to get the relevant planning and other permissions, but we got there in the end.
So that it doesn’t stick out like the proverbial sore thumb in what is a conservation area, it will be painted a dark green.
We now also have a definite date for the painting of the clubhouse, which will start on 25th May. And the colour is? You guessed it. Green!
There’s a theme developing here.
There may be some restrictions on use of the clubhouse for a few days while it’s being painted, but it will be worth the wait. New pictures, trophy displays and lighting will follow.
We’ve recently had an internet connection set up in the clubhouse which members can now access with a password. Look out for the password on the club noticeboard. Oh, OK then. It’s ShrewsburyLawn2025.
Talking of passwords, or rather passcodes, the codes to the court doors and for the door to the clubhouse are changing this coming week. The new code will be 1805 – the year Nelson won his famous victory at Trafalgar.
Yes, I know Nelson died during the battle. No need for any of our star players to lay down their lives for the club but we’ve seen plenty of notable and hard fought victories across our teams so far in the summer leagues.
2025 is shaping up to be another winning season. COME ON THE LAWN!
On a practical note, car park stickers will be available this coming week. A separate communication will go out confirming collection. We will not be mailing or hand delivering them this year.
I’m ending this month’s update with a thank you to everyone who has volunteered to manage the club sessions. These seem to be going very well so far although we could do with some more ladies to attend the Thursday and Saturday sessions to even things up a bit.
There are a few gaps opening up on the Thursday and Saturday schedules going forward. Please take a look at the Help Out section of the website, add your name if you can, and do your duty.
The club can’t function if everyone turns a blind eye, even if that worked for Nelson.
Enjoy the grass and see you soon. Green is the word,
Jeremy