Officials are considering adding three more pickleball courts at Tasker Park in Peconic.
“We left room there in case we needed to expand,” Supervisor Scott Russell said. “The popularity has exceeded the three courts.”
Pickleball, which is played with a paddle and whiffle ball, combines elements of tennis, badminton and pingpong, and has become common in recent years. READ
Funding from 2019 federal Community Development Block Grants will be used for upgrades to bring the Tasker Park playground in Peconic into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. READ
GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Mattituck High School graduate Kate Freudenberg won the women’s singles final in the Bob Wall Memorial Tennis Tournament at Tasker Park in Peconic Saturday morning.
Rain interrupted play in the Bob Wall Memorial Tennis Tournament Saturday morning at Tasker Park in Peconic. Only two of the four scheduled matches were completed before tournament director Jim Christy called a weather-related time out. The courts were too wet to allow for safe play, he determined.
Before the rains came, recent Mattituck High School graduate Kate Freudenberg defeated Rosemary Krocke of Cutchogue, 6-2, 6-3, in the women’s singles final. Freudenberg, who will enter her freshman year at Villanova (Pa.) University this fall, was simply too steady for her older opponent.
The men’s 50 and over doubles final was hotly contested and featured numerous intense exchanges at the net. In the end, Tom Cahill and Ed Lee prevailed over Rich Chizever and Bob Lum, 6-4, 6-4. In Chizever’s estimation, the match slipped away “because we made for unforced errors than they did.”
Chizever’s men’s 50 and over singles finals versus John Czartosieski was postponed due to the rain, as was the men’s open singles final between six-time defending champion Chris Ujkic and seven-time past champion and last’s year’s runner up, Steve Paskiewicz. Weather permitting, those matches were to be contested at the Tasker Park courts later in the day Saturday or, failing that, Sunday morning.
The Wall Tournament is sponsored by Times/Review News Group of Mattituck. Proceeds from the event help fund a $1,000 tennis scholarship, which this year went to women’s singles champion Freudenberg.
CYNDI MURRAY PHOTO | Southold Town’s Reichert Family ADA Playground will officially open to the public on Thursday.
After three years of work it’s time to play. The Reichert Family ADA Playground will open to the public on Thursday. The playground is the first in Southold to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act – allowing greater access for the handicapped.
The new playground, located on Peconic Lane, will feature adaptive swings, play centers and picnic tables.
“It is a great thing,” said Nancy Foote, of the town’s department of public works. “We are delighted to see it finished.”
Mattituck resident Karly Taplin-Lucarelli got the ball rolling three years ago when she pitched the project at a parks and recreation department meeting.
“I thought it was important to have an ADA park in the community I grew up in,” Ms. Lucarelli said. “Play is important.”
A special education teacher at Just Kids Early Learning Center in Cutchogue, Ms. Lucarelli said the physically impaired children in her class motivated her to build the town’s first handicapped accessable park.
“My husband and I wanted to be able to bring our daughter to a playground where she can interact with children and adults with a wide variety of disabilities,” she said. “We feel it is important to be understanding and compassion at a young age.”
The ribbon cutting ceremony will be held on Thursday at Tasker Park on Peconic Lane in Peconic.