Hope Kerr, (left) former APTA Treasurer with Ginna Ohlmuller giving the "thumbs up" and Carolyn Tierney both former APTA Executive Directors at "The Office" in Montclair, New Jersey.

A REUNION AT “THE OFFICE”

By Charles E. Vasoll

“We” finally got together. “We” are some of the former officers, Executive Directors and the independent contractor that were the brains, eyes, ears, hands and feet of the APTA for most of the fifteen years starting back in 1988. It has been said that history repeats itself and the analogy fits the current circumstances of the governing body of the sport of platform tennis very well. Here’s what happened and how it is coming around again.

The first comparison is the most ironic. I was elected President of the APTA in 1988, the first Long Islander to hold the post. Mark Fischl, the current President, also resides on Long Island. We both were elected to the position after only one year’s service on the Board of Directors. We both inherited similar circumstances with the position of Executive Director of the Association. In 1988, the post was vacant because the Board had terminated the person having the title. In 2003, the Executive Director “retired”. (so they said.)

As each of our terms began, there was considerable difficulty with the communication with the membership. At the outset of my term, the newsletter from the APTA, incidentally titled “Platform Tennis News”, was under fire for not being delivered in a timely manner and not providing news of interest to the majority of the membership. As Mark Fischl took the helm, “Platform Tennis Magazine” and the web site of the Association was under siege.

I was “lucky”, “blessed” (or whatever term you want to use) to convey the importance of the selection of Ginna Ohlmuller as the APTA Executive Director when I began my tour of duty as President. Ginna did it all! It was a “part time “ job to which she gave more than “full time”. When she resigned, principally to care for her son, David, following an accident in which he was seriously injured, Carolyn Tierney followed in that same manner. Although I am not as close to the current situation, I suspect that Marjorie Hodson is very similar in this aspect. Both Ginna and Marjorie, I believe, began from “scratch”. Ginna did not have any substantive contact with the APTA office before accepting the position and neither did Marjorie, although she was on the Board of Directors. The membership lists that Ginna started with were on Addressograph plates with the contractor who printed the newsletter. The list was not up-to-date resulting in persons who had not paid dues receiving the newsletter and those who did pay, often did not get the publication. Marjorie had a much better list on a computer to start but the membership list has to be updated each year with many, many changes. She is very dependent upon information coming from leagues and they are not always timely.

There is a difference in the position of Treasurer. Hope Kerr was the Treasurer during my term and Jim Shapiro holds that position now. Although both Hope and Jim are new to the title of Treasurer the similarity ends there. . Hope was a real “hands on” Treasurer. She made the deposits, wrote the checks and kept the records mostly before the computer age. Jim Shapiro must rely on the Executive Director for most of this work as he resides in Boston. Hope Kerr visited the office in Upper Montclair and later in Montclair on a daily basis.

In actual fact, the senior part of the team for the APTA administration was Donna Miller. She heads a “virtual office” called “Above & Beyond” which provides space and all the needed office administrative personnel and services to a number of clients in a building in Montclair. It had been a perfect fit for an organization like the APTA. It eliminates staffing problems for the highs and lows of the administrative year besides making use of expertise that is otherwise difficult to find and hold. Donna served the APTA from about 1985 to last year. She was the principal voice of the APTA on the telephone in its office in Upper Montclair. Later she established “Above & Beyond” and the APTA office moved with her to new quarters. Now, the APTA has moved to new quarters in the residence of Marjorie Hodson. It is yet to be determined if this new location, without a support group, can have the monetary savings expected and still perform adequately for the membership.

After meeting at the office of “Above & Beyond” in Montclair and talking about old and new times, Hope, Ginna, Carolyn and I headed out for lunch. Unfortunately, Donna Miller could not join us. We found a restaurant, oddly enough called “The Office”, and ate and chattered some more.

I am happy to report that the gals are doing well. Hope has done some exotic traveling, Ginna continues playing our sport and is excited about her new grandson (via son, David) and Carolyn has lots of grand kids to keep up with also.

As the clock in the photo reminds us, time marches on!

Donna Miller, Carolyn Tierney, the author, Ginna Ohlmuller and Hope Kerr get together again at "Above & Beyond", the former headquarters of the American Platform Tennis Association.

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