Pilgrims and
Indians |
11-17-2004 |
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New
Canaan, CT
Last year, in an effort to "Grow the Game" in New Canaan,
we ran a small round-robin tournament on Thanksgiving weekend...we
called it "Pilgrims and Indians." The idea is this: Indians
are the experienced veteran paddle players and the Pilgrims are
the novices...mostly tennis and squash players that have never played
paddle. We throw the names of all the Pilgrims into a hat and the
Indians pick a partner to play with...always pairing up a seasoned
paddle player with a novice. view
more about this event
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To promote the event, we shamelessly stole a story
off the Internet and modified it to fit our theme. (In the story,
FYI, Mead Park is where our town public tennis courts are; the
Racquet Club refers to the indoor tennis club here in New Canaan.)
If you are
looking for an introduction to Platform Tennis contact:
New Canaan Platform Tennis Advisory Group
P.O. Box 301
New Canaan, CT 06840
E-mail: ncplatformtns@optonline.net
The
Story of Thanksgiving
The
Pilgrims who came to Waveny were originally members of the Puritan
tennis sect. They had earlier fled their home of Mead Park and
ventured first to the Racquet Club seeking refuge from the approaching
winter. There, they experienced acceptance, but eventually became
disenchanted with the indoor way of life, thinking it ungodly.
Seeking a
better life, these tennis separatists embarked on a new journey—a
pilgrimage into a new, but not wholly unfamiliar looking, territory.
This new land was much smaller than their native land; the ground
was very coarse and was surrounded by 12-foot high sturdy wire
fence. Thankfully, many of the laws and conventions were similar
to their homeland and the Pilgrims’ skills, many of which
had been honed since childhood, were applicable in the new land.
The Pilgrims
first set ground at Waveny on November 25th, 2004. Their first
attempts at survival in the new surroundings were devastating.
Initially, it was feared that not all of the Pilgrims would endure
in the new land. However, with patient guidance from the Indians,
they adapted for the winter, celebrating with a splendid cornucopia,
bountiful with ale.