Upcoming Events

DATE	EVENT	COURTS	TIME
Oct. 5 · Mon.	Women’s EBWT 50+1	3, 4, 5, 6	9:30 a.m.
Oct. 14 · Wed.	Men’s SMIL League	1, 3, 4, 5, 6	11:30 a.m.
Oct. 17 · Sat.	Villages Tournament	San Jose	—
Oct. 23 · Fri.	Women’s EBWT 65+	3, 4, 5, 6	9:30 a.m.
Oct. 28 · Wed.	Men’s SMIL League	1, 3, 4, 5, 6	11:30 a.m.
Oct. 29 · Thurs.	New Members Welcome Party and Dinner	—	—

Times shown as — were not provided. See event invitations for details.

Drop In Tennis

Tuesday & Thursday: 9:00–10:30 a.m. • Sunday: 8:30–10:00 a.m.

Club Notes

Drop In Tennis Drop-in tennis on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday continues to be well attended, now sometimes filling 3 or more courts.

Women’s Teams The women's teams are practicing every Monday at 9:20 a.m. For information, contact Becky Reiss or Pat Baughman.

Newcomers’ Welcoming Party October 29. See the President’s Corner for details.

Villages Tournament RTC players travel to the Villages on October 17 for the semiannual event.

Court Update David Hickey announced there is a new windsock for the courts.

President’s Corner

Mary Benin | RTC President

October Highlights

September was a busy month. While the Stargazing event was cancelled due to wind, several other events took place that were well attended and enjoyed by all. September 13th approximately 45 people attended a viewing party for the US Open Men's Final and they not only enjoyed watching the match with their tennis friends, they enjoyed delicious tacos and cake provided by the club. September 26 featured both a Wildcard tournament and the last BBQ of the season, which had an Oktoberfest theme. See the pictures and summary of this fun event elsewhere in the newsletter.

Villages Tournament

October will feature the historic Villages Tournament with our team visiting the Villages in San Jose on October 17th. So far we have 6 women and 8 men signed up. We need 12 men and 12 women, so if you haven't signed up yet and are available to play, please sign up. We always need subs as well as players so we need lots of men and women to sign up. Go to your Membership App on your phone and then Events and click on the Villages to sign up. The Villages players are good and enjoyable both on and off the courts, and the post-match luncheon is always delicious, so sign up if you can. We always have lots of people driving carpools, so don't let the distance bother you.

New Members Welcome Party

October 29th we will have a Welcome Party for new members. We will have a gourmet pizza dinner with both new members (members for 2 years or less) and established members (members for more than two years) invited. Details will be provided in the Event invitation. It will be a delicious and fun event for all, so stay tuned for the invitation.

Looking Ahead to November

Please mark your calendar now for two events in November. On November 14th we will have The Third Times the Charm - Stargazing Event. We are hoping for clear skies and no wind this time. November 18th is our last General Meeting for 2026, we will be electing new officers. The board has a great slate of candidates:

Vice President — Rick Sterling

Tournaments — Becky Reiss

Maintenance — Todd Mangini

At the meeting, in addition to these candidates, for each position, those in attendance may nominate themselves or someone else. The members in attendance will then vote on the candidates for each position. We need a quorum, so please come to the meeting if you are available.

Mary Benin
RTC President

Oktoberfest

Seventy-five members of the Rossmoor Tennis Club gathered on September 26 for an early Oktoberfest celebration and the final barbecue dinner of the season. The festivities were organized by Shrey and his husband, Stan, and featured clever banners, lively polka music, and bratwurst.

Left to right: Shrey Trivedi and Stan Birkin.

Remembering Joe Potozkin

Joe Potozkin, a longtime member of the Rossmoor Tennis Club and its oldest member, died in September at the age of 100.

Joe stopped playing tennis in his early 90s at the urging of his children, but he continued to follow the men’s team and could often be seen watching its matches. He was kind to all the players and always encouraging. Joe was loved by his fellow club members and will be greatly missed. Below is an article written by Dave Kern last year and published in the Rossmoor News.

Joe Potozkin Celebrates His 99th Birthday

By Dave Kern | Reprinted from the Rossmoor News, 2025

Joe Potozkin, the oldest living former member of the Rossmoor Tennis Club men’s team and 25-year resident of Rossmoor, celebrated his 99th birthday on January 23. A group of his tennis buddies gathered recently to help him celebrate with champagne and a birthday cake.

Joe is featured as one of the Rossmoor men in Eric Anschutz' 2014 book "November Song, Stories of Sixteen Well-Lived Lives".

After his early years growing up in the Bronx, Joe joined the US Navy in 1943 and served in World War 2 in the Pacific. After the war and while getting his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education at City College of New York, he met his wife Shonny who was attending Hunter College . They have two offspring, Amy, the former casting director at Berkeley Rep, and Jerome, a successful dermatologist in Danville.

Besides teaching middle school, he also served as principal and vice principal, retiring after 36 years of service.

Joe’s sporting life is notable: he was a champion welterweight boxer in the Navy (winning the Navy’s Pacific Theater welterweight championship) and at CCNY (and even sparred a few friendly rounds against Sugar Ray Robinson who thought Joe was good enough to turn pro). He coached basketball, was an accomplished softball pitcher resulting in his induction into the National Softball Hall of Fame, and was an excellent tennis player and a valuable member of the Rossmoor team.

He doesn’t play tennis anymore but does drop by the Buckeye courts to watch his old team compete. YES, Joe has truly experienced a well-lived life.

Joe summed up his life in “November Song”: “For me being happy comes from interacting with family.