An article in the Sports section of the New York Times last week evoked a great memory of September – 1983 – Moraine Country Club – and a Mardelle Berry brain-storm!  The NYT was reminiscing about the Billy Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs battle-of-the-sexes-tennis match in 1983. Mardelle got the idea of a local reenactment.  “We’ll get Becky Landis and Paul Granzow on Sunday afternoon at Moraine, and we’ll invite everyone we know, and…”

So, one of the gals decorated a tennis shirt for Becky with two, round sequined circles in two strategic female sites, and nobody knew what Paul was up to.  Sunday arrived bright and sunny. Crowds of tennis ‘fans’ arrived.  A nervous Becky arrived – but no Paul arri- ved!  

Sometime after the tournament time of two PM the biggest over-the-road-semi-tractor pulled into Moraine with air-horns blaring.  The semi barely fit between Moraine’s stone entryway.  Bob Tormey climbed down from the driver’s side. He untied a ladder strapped to the front grill and took it around to the passenger side.  He set up the ladder, opened the door and great fan-fare, out climbed Granzow wearing lace garters, etc.  

The ‘match’ was memorable – so much so that nobody there remembers who won – well, probably Paul remembers.  Oh, and as a side bar:

Did you know that Billy Jean King was married to Larry King at the time of their 1983 ‘match’? Billy Jean is credited with getting equal play and equal pay for women tennis players with her win over Bobby. Their match was watched on TV by 90 million people.

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MODA (that’s ‘STYLE’ in Italian) certainly offered a lot of ‘IT’ on Wednesday afternoon at the Dayton Art Institute. Elana Bolling and Denise Hale co-chaired an unbelievable afternoon of High Tea and  High Fashion followed by a private viewing of ‘Diana’s’ fashions – all for the benefit of the Vanguard Concert series – now entering it’s 45th season at the DAI.

With the committee Elana and Denise pulled together – a sell-out-and-enthusiastic-crowd was a sure thing: Marion Wright, Maggie Zimmer, Cathy Black, Leslie Carson, Renee Handel, DeDe Longstreth, Nora Newsock, Rita Price, Liz Blattner, Debby & Lynn Gildenberg, Penny Haddick, Judy Gottman, Winnie Cleavenger, Jan Kurdin, Corrine Matusoff, Loretta Weber, Stacy Yarger, Carole Taylor, Kathy Ungerman, Kathy Glass, Anne Davis, Pattie Edmonson, Joey Thiele, Kay Sokol, Joan Siebenthaler, Marian Schuster, Joann Ringer, Alice Saidel, Allyson Danis, Ruth Finke, Midge Prigozen, and Susan Sauer, Martha Shaker. Penni Meyer.

Elan’s, in Fountain Square, staged the style show and whatta impressive, professional presentation it was – thanx to Julie Shone Baker. And, of course, the hit of every such show is the final ‘act’ where local black-tied ‘gents’ escort ball-gowned ‘ladies’ up and down the runway. Dr. James Apesos, Jim Deuser, Larry Glickler, Robert Matusoff, and the biggest ham-bone of them all Dr. Burt Saidel brought down the house with his runway pizzaz!  

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The opening event of the ‘Mozart Festival’ was the free-to-the-public concert at Christ Episcopal Church on First Street last Tuesday evening. The sanctuary was filled with at least three hundred people to hear Jania Fialkowska on piano and the string quartet of Lucas Aleman, Kirstin Greenlaw, Sheridan Currie and Andra Padrichelli. Kathy & Phil Scardon and Judy McCormick and…

were part of a most appreciative audience.

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On their way out of the dining room at Dayton Country Club last Saturday evening  - and carrying their ‘doggie bag’ boxes – Tom & Lois Maher stopped at a table long enough to give a fellow ‘39’er’ the latest anti-Bush-bash. “Come on…we’re already late!” Lois kept saying. Tom explained: “We’re chaperoning the Senior Prom at the DAI this evening…” As they rushed for the door someone shouted:  “Yeah, but who’s chaperoning Tom?”

Marti & Harry Ebeling came in for dinner. “We’ve just been to the dedication of the new Pi Beta Phi House at UD,” said Marti. “It’s a beautiful house…twelve girls will live there…it’s been a big project and all of the alumnas are thrilled…’

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Stuart McDowell called us the other day – so enthusiastic about the upcoming production of “Annie Get Your Gun” (we’ll have more on that later) – and to tell us that the Arts Gala held a couple of weeks ago raised $100,000 for the WSU Theatre Scholarship Fund! Mind you, that was after all expenses were paid. Wow! Over 600 people attended.

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