Happy Landings the
Landings Yacht, goLf & tennis cLub
VOL. 37 NO. 6
ISS IN THIS
Another Seabreeze Publication
Happy Landings on line www.LandingsYGTC.com
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Volunteers Made it Happen!
See LTA History page 1 How Are We Doing?
See Financial Report page 3 How Low Can You Go?
Landings LTA History: A Remarkable Journey By Jim Willis The birth of the LTA (Landings Tennis Association) and its remarkable impact on Landings tennis began in the late 1980s when Landings residents Karen and Craig Reitan began organizing the Landings Spring and Fall Classic tennis tournaments and recruited Landings residents to participate in running the events. Coincidentally, at that same time USTA District Director Hank Jungle was seeking a community with adequate tennis facilities and volunteer capacity to host a national clay court junior tennis tournament. He observed the effective organizational skills of the Reitans in forming and leading these local tournaments and approached them with an extraordinary offer. The Landings was given the opportunity to host a mammoth tournament which came to be known as the Florida Open. This happened at a time when the country was experiencing a
substantial economic downturn. Sales of properties everywhere had collapsed, and the Landings developer was forced to suspend capital funding necessary to complete the improvements for tennis facilities. This meeting between Hank Jungle and the Reitans was before developers of the Landings sold the amenities (golf, tennis, and marina) to the community. In consideration of the USTA offer, the Reitans pulled together a group of Landings residents for the purpose of managing the Florida Open, in concert with the USTA. This founding group approached the Landings Board, who gave their “full speed ahead” voice of support. They believed this to be an excellent opportunity to raise the funds needed to complete improvements for the Landings tennis complex. They were confident the dedicated and committed group of Landings volunteer leaders and workers were up to the task.
Craig and Karen Reitan The first Florida Open at the Landings was hosted in the early 1990s, and each year the funds raised from this event were reinvested back into the tennis program. Twenty-five years later, over $800,000 of capital improvements had been generated by the Florida Open (in today’s dollars, $1.34 million).
Happy Landings’ New Masthead
See LLGA News page 7 Summer Meeting Schedule
See Chess News page 8 Habitat Women Build
See Sponsor Thanks page 8 Happy Landings
JUNE 2024
By Kathy Striggow You may have noticed the new masthead in this month’s newspaper. When the Landings Communication Committee met to determine the winner of the Green Book Cover contest, there were two photos that tied in number of votes. The committee decided to use one of those two photos for the Green Book Cover, and the other to replace the masthead in our monthly newspaper. Congratulations to Lighthouse resident, John DeMarco, who submitted the photo that has now become the new masthead for Happy Landings! According to John, he took the photograph on or about May 2, 2023, during the final stages of reconstruction of A dock, and more specifically, during installation of the floating docks. The drone used was a DJI mini 3 pro, equipped with GPS-managed flight capabilities, and a 4K stabilized camera. It
This funded the rebuilding of all courts to Har-Tru court surface technology, plus adding one new court (our current Court 4), replacing the two hard courts (courts 11 & 12) with Har-Tru, installing pavers throughout the entire tennis complex, and constructing shelters, benches, seating areas, and the canvas overhang on the tennis porch. The birth of the LTA was the result of several key volunteer leaders seeing the opportunity to generate the funds necessary to complete our Landings tennis program. Along the way, the Florida Open established the Landings’ reputation as a national leader in tennis. Today, of the founding group of the LTA, only Karen and Craig Reitan of Riverside are still with us on campus. We still see Karen out there on the courts enjoying the game of tennis she dearly loves. Landings LTA History on page 4
in Michigan for 42 years. The firm employed several associate attorneys, paralegals, and administrative staff. Sandy worked as a registered nurse until she transitioned to medical sales.
features avoidance-controlled flight and a comprehensive range of advanced functionalities. The drone’s camera settings were as follows: ISO 100, focal length 1.7 at 1/1250 of a second. He utilized a panoramic setting of 180 degrees to capture both the Cape Coral bridge on the left, and the south end of the Landings on the right. John and his wife, Sandy, have resided in the Landings community since 2014. Initially, they lived in Windjammer for two years before moving to their current residence in Lighthouse. They also maintain a second home in Castle Rock, Colorado, where they spend their summers. The PRSRT STD DeMarcos have US POSTAGE two children: PAID C h r i s t o p h e r, FT MYERS FL PERMIT 751 who resides in Chicago with his wife, Bethany, and Kelly, who lives in Colorado. Prior to John’s retirement in 2014, he practiced law
Happy Landings’ New Masthead on page 2