By Darlene Jackson

Newtown Tennis Association president Hugh Lavery and NTA vice-president Bob Gabor announced this week that the 2001 Newtown Open Tennis Tournament flyers will be in the mail this week. This – along with the previous Saturday night tennis party that drew some 30 people – are the first moves of the new season for the NTA.

The president and vice-president hope to continue promoting all established programs and put special emphasis on building a stronger youth participation in the sport.

Mr Lavery, a Newtown attorney, is an avid tennis player with his wife, Jan, and two children, Hugh III and Kaitlin. The family was featured in The Newtown Bee sports section last January for their commitment to the sport of tennis.

“I want people out there playing and enjoying tennis,” said Mr Lavery. “I would like to see a youth league, a summer league, and hope to promote family fun in the sport. I would like to see greater Newtown participation in the Open, in the Stroock Tournament, the Coopersmith Youth Tournament, and in the Berlingo competition.”

Mr Gabor is also at the head of a tennis family – playing along with his wife, Stella, and their two children. Mr Gabor will be at Mr Lavery’s right hand, doing a lot of the computer work that Curt Logan did for the last administration. Both Gabors are from New York City and work for IBM in Southbury. They moved to Connecticut 10 years ago, spending two of those years in Danbury before moving to Newtown.

Mr Gabor – who has played tennis for some 20 years – said he worked as a security guard in order to get to the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament the last year it was played at Forest Hills.

The Gabor children are also athletes. Ashley, 13, a seventh-grader at the Newtown Middle School, plays soccer, baseball, and is on the Newtown Torpedoes age group swim team. Michael, 10, a fourth-grader, plays basketball and baseball.

The NTA opened its season on Saturday, March 10, at 8 pm at the Tennis Club of Trumbull. There was a lot of tennis, food and fun for NTA members and guests and it provided a good start heading into the next event, a Women’s Social Tennis night, to be held on Friday, March 30, from 7:30 to 9:30 pm at the Middlebury Racquet Club. Cost is $8 and reservations need to be made with Elizabeth Lynch by March 20 at 270-9072.

Space is limited for that, so reserve a spot early. Also, participants are asked to bring an appetizer or dessert for after tennis.

Now is the time to join the NTA to be included in all of these events and many more planned for the spring and summer. Cost is just $10 for an individual, $15 for a family, and $7 for junior players (See form above). Make checks payable to NTA, enclose the form, and mail to P.O. Box 3432, Newtown, 06470.

For any other information, check the NTA website at www.ntaweb.com or watch for this column.