The Lower Shore Table Tennis Club is a program established by the Lower Shore Parkinson’s Support Group with generous assistance provided by Crown Sports, the Rotary Club of Salisbury, and the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore. Individuals supporting our start-up efforts included William P. Hearne, Jr. and Terry & Rosemary Greenwood; and additional support was provided by Royal Plus, Inc. and Royal Plus Electric, Inc. in Snow Hill, MD, and equipment suppliers Butterfly North America (tables, barriers, paddles & balls) and Newgy, Inc. (Robo-Pong Robot and balls). We are extremely thankful for both their encouragement and financial generosity.
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Our frst key step in organizing the new table tennis club was finding an affordable location. Not only did Crown Sports Center welcome us with open arms, they offered very affordable space for our use. Crown's owner, Bill Hearne, Jr., also donated our first table! We were off and running to find the rest of the pieces we needed to make the concept viable. |
82,000 sq. ft. under roof and 10.5 acres of outdoor fields
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(The Lower Shore Table Tennis Club is usually set up on the blue"Sport Court")
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THANKS TO ROTARY, OUR PRIMARY BENEFACTOR
The most important and challenging step in any startup operation is typically finding financial resources that are sufficient to acquire the necessary equipment (and/or personnel - but we're all volunteers) to launch the effort and sustain it's growth and development. The Rotary Club of Salisbury, Maryland, with the enthusiastic leadership of incoming President Dan Williams and strong support from the Club's Grant's Committee, took our project to heart and submitted it to the Rotary District 7630 Grant's Committee for major funding.
The size of this grant was sufficient to purchase the initial assortment of equipment necessary to get the table tennis club started. Simply put, this committment "sealed the deal" and made the Club a reality. Rotary's motto is "Service above Self", and what really appealed to the Rotarians was not just the fact that this program would provide free, fun and therapeutic exercise to individuals with Parkinson's disease, but that our support group intended to open the club to the general public as well. Table tennis is an excellent form of exercise for everyone and we want everyone to have access. (Learn more about the value of table tennis under the "Exercise Therapy" tab The Rotary Club of Salisbury, Maryland, was established in 1920, and is the second oldest club on Delmarva behind Wilmington, DE. It currently has about 100 members. Our special thanks goes out to Rotarian Terry Greenwood and his lovely wife Rosemary for their unsolicited and extremely generous gift! |
Rotary's motto is "Service Above Self", but it may be best known around the world for the Four- Way Test, that has been translated into more than 100 languages.
The Four Way Test: Of the things we think, say or do;
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Additional funding was provided by the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore through their "Small Grants Program". With more than 30 years of service to the Lower Eastern Shore helping connect "donors who care" with "causes that matter", the CFES has made grants exceeding $50 million! Thanks for your support!
(Learn more at: www.CFES.org) |
Two good companies, one great family. Run by brothers whose father has Parkinson's disease, these two gentlemen continue to show their strong support for the PD Community. Whether inviting our support group to share the proceeds from their annual golf benfit, to donations for our Party for Parkinson's, to taking a key sponsorship position to help launch our Club - we thank you!
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We are very fortunate to have benefitted from the assistance and generosity of Butterfly North America, headquartered in Wilson, NC. They offered a competitively priced equipment package of tables, court barriers, rackets, balls plus a bunch of good free advice.
The Club tables are teriffic for quick setup and breakdown with the nets staying in place throughout, simplifying relocation to and from storage. The full one inch top offers a solid and consistent bounce, and will resist warping better than thinner tops. We are gratefult to the group at Butterfly NA/Martin Kilpatrick for their support. |
You've heard of R2-D2 of Star Wars fame. Well meet Robo-2050, our top-of-the-line programmable robot, thanks to the generosity of the folks at Newgy Industries. This tireless trainer can feed balls with a variety of speeds, spins, directions, and time intervals, all of which may be randomized. It can deliver a certain number of balls or feed them for a certain period of time, even continuosly if the player can return shots that are captured by Robo's net and then recycled! It has been a big hit for kids' events, training & drills, and it creates a highly aerobic & fun workout. Thanks to the team at Newgy.
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