Alumni Relive Tennis Lore in Forest Hills

St. John’s University offered alumni an opportunity to tour the historic West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, NY, to showcase what the borough of Queens has to offer, as part of the Grand Alumni Homecoming Weekend on June 2.

The venue, with its Tudor-style clubhouse, was the premier site for the US Open Tennis Championship, which moved to nearby Flushing in 1978. Still active as a tennis and cultural hub, alumni and friends toured the facility and grounds as Jamie Bonter, a program coordinator, shared its 126-year history.

Margaret Menger ’70Ed recalled the first time she visited the West Side Tennis Club almost 60 years ago. The day was August 28, 1964, when The Beatles landed by helicopter on the grass courts. “It was the most exciting thing,” she said. “We were in the next-to-last row.”  

Mrs. Bonter was impressed. “There were 16,000 people at the concert, and she was one of them. The stadium was only supposed to fit 14,000 people, but they squeezed in an extra 2,000.”

Susan M. Damiani ’87CBA, Director of the Office of Gift Planning, introduced three of the University’s tennis players, including sophomore Jessica Livianu. “This year St. John’s won the BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Championship for the first time,” she said. “Then we went to the first event for the NCAA. Unfortunately we lost, but at least we get to say we lost to the champs.”

Junior Andrei Crapcenco, captain of the men’s tennis team, and his teammate, sophomore Igor Maslov, talked about their own experiences and invited alumni to watch them play at the US Open in Flushing and on the Queens campus tennis courts during the year. “This year we lost in the semifinals to the winner, Marquette University,” Andrei said. “But we won the BIG EAST Championship in 2014, 2015, and 2016. We have three players on the first BIG EAST team and one on the second BIG EAST team, and hopefully we’re going to do better next year.”

The event, which included a brunch after the tour organized by the University’s Office of University Events, brought back many old memories for several alumni. Barbara A. Kirk ’72C and Geraldine D. Salvani, Esq. ’68L realized that they not only now live in the same county in Los Angeles, CA, they also graduated from the Bronx (NY) High School of Science.

This was also the first time they attended an alumni event since they graduated. Ms. Kirk was glad the University scheduled a full weekend of activities during Grand Alumni Homecoming Weekend, which gave her the opportunity to return to Queens.

“So many memories are coming back,” she said. “When you are away and do not have those connections, and you do not live in the area to remind you, things are forgotten,” she said. “I certainly hope to return to the Queens campus in four years for my 50th class anniversary.”

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