Trivia Questions & Answers

1.  Who has won the most mixed titles?

It’s a tie! Rusty Sampson and Pauline Smith have each won the mixed 6 times, but never together.

2.  Which private tennis court became a club court and in what year?

Princeton Tennis Club began in the late 1940’s and early ’50’s when Dan Hart, Joe O’Connor, and others who approached the Sturges family (today the Crowley Court) about using their clay court. The Sturges family was only in Princeton for one month during the summer, therefore, this group agreed to do all the court set-up, maintenance, and the closing of the court in exchange for being able to use it. They even had lights installed with a meter run by quarters.

In the early ’60’s some of this same group and others, Al Howe, Bill Claghorn, Carl Apthorp, helped the Bice family build a single court perpendicular to Goodnow Road on some of their wet and rocky lower land. When the Bice’s decided to move out of town, this group became more formalized with the name PTC, and they purchased the land and court from the Bice’s. The surface was a bit novel at the time. It was called rock dust, and they got it from Norton company as a useless byproduct. A few years later (1965), the membership had expanded and two courts were built parallel to the road. The fill used for building the original Bice court came from the widening of Hubbardston Road from Princeton Center to Allen Hill Road.

3.  Has the same team ever won in multiple years?

Yes, Amy Fitzgerald and Jack Novia won the mixed together in 1995 and again in 1999.

4.  When, where, and why did tennis first start being played in Princeton?

According to “Princeton and the High Road” by George Bumgardner, during the boom times of the 1870’s tennis was introduced to the people of Princeton by a wealthy fabric manufacturer from new York name William Langley. It was played on the smooth (for Princeton) grass in front of the Wachusett House Hotel was located on the south end of the common where the Dingman Park is today. The players used concave English rackets and the net was a string with multi-colored tassels tied and dangling down from the string.

5.  Has the same person ever won 2 events in the same year?

Yes – 10 times so far!

• Alfred Whitney won the mixed with Gen Abbott and the men’s with Bill Densmore in 1953
• Mike Kraft won the mixed with Nancy Littlefield and the men’s with Dennis Moore in 1955.
• In 1972 Jud Goodnow won the mixed with Sydney Camp and the men’s with Fred Trafton.
• Margaret Trafton won the mixed in 1973 with George Parker II, and the women’s with Lynn McNair.
• Geoffrey Parker won the mixed with Louise Hotaling in 1976, and the men’s with William Morgan.
• In 1977 Jim Perry won with Heidi Goodnow in the mixed and with Dennis Pomerleau in the men’s.
• Terry Hart won the mixed with Betsy Johnson and the men’s with Herb Maynard in 1978.
• In 1985 Darlene Paradise won the women’s event with Priscilla Foresteire and the mixed with Rusty Sampson.
• Pauline Smith won the mixed and the women’s events in 1989; her partners were Steve Recupero and Steffanie Catanese, respectively.
• Lorene Washburn won both the women’s and the mixed events in 2000 with Caroline Brooks and Larry Sigler as partners.

6.  When, how, and by whom was Pine Hill Swim and Tennis club get started?

Pine Hill’s beginning was much like that of PTC. A group of tennis players contacted the Russell family and “rented” their single court, which was located next to Mirick Road by helping them out with his court maintenance.

When the Russell’s decided to sell the Claghorn’s bought the court and adjacent land (some 15 acres), and then in turn sold the court and half the land to a group of 5 families which wanted to form the Pine Hill Swim and Tennis Club. They solicited members, collected a bond, and as they say, “the rest is history.”

7.  Have family members ever won in the same year, while not playing together?

Yes – 7 times thus far!

• Mollie Guiles won the mixed in 1950 with Van Eghen, and Phil Guiles won the men’s with Alfred Whitney.
• In 1956 Bob Whitney won the men’s with Jay Goodnow, and Alfred Whitney won the mixed with Adore Bice.
• The Goodnow family had a monopoly in 1971: Jud Goodnow won the mixed (with Donna Howard) and the men’s (with David Hall), and Heidi Goodnow won the women’s with Judith Riberio.
• In 1974 Tim Goodnow won the mixed with Rosalind Waters, and Heidi Goodnow won the women’s with Betsy Hall.
• William Morgan won the men’s with Geoffrey Parker in 1976, and Edie Morgan won the women’s that same year with Tracy Loysen.
• In 1991 Geri Novia won the mixed with Steve Tiarks, and Jack Novia won the men’s with Bud Brooks.
• In 2004, Wayne Lilley won the men’s with Richy Bisk, and Helga Lilley won the women’s with Lorene Washburn.

8.  What might be considered a trade mark of keeping Princeton tennis going all these years?

One trade mark to Princeton tennis has been getting the young people of the town to play at an early age. Many people have been involved with this activity through the years, but key people seem to have been Ted Densmore, Dan Hart, and now Terry Hart.

Ted worked primarily with the children around Russell’s corner, while Dan was the first to work with children from all over the area. He gave tennis lessons in many neighboring towns and in the school gym on Saturday mornings. He was constantly striving to make tennis available to the young and not so young of Princeton.

Today, Terry, Dan’s youngest son, is continuing the family tradition by providing tennis lessons twice a week during the summer months. He also works tirelessly to maintain the Dan Hart court behind the Prince of Peace Church in order that the young people of Princeton will have a place to play tennis. We all owe these people out deepest gratitude, because it is people like this which make Princeton such a very special place to live and return.

9.  Who had the most consecutive wins?

Alfred Whitney won the men’s event from 1949 – 1953.

10.  In what year, did Princeton have more working tennis courts per capita of population than any other city or town in Massachusetts, and where were these courts located?

In 1957 Princeton had more working tennis courts per capita of population than any other city or town in Massachusetts. (At that time, many of the more well-to-do families in town were only here for the summer, so we can imagine their income was counted elsewhere in the state.)

These courts were (*** no longer in existence or usable):

The Dan Hart, yet to be named such
Sturgis/Johnson/Crowley – 45 Hubbarston Rd.
Bice – now PTC
***Garfield/Huck – Mirick Rd.
Iron Horse Farm – Gregory Rd.
Russell – Pine Hill Swim & Tennis
*** McInerney – Old Colony Rd.
*** Parker/Rauh – Rhodes Rd.
*** Allen – Thompson Rd.
*** Densmore/Cary – Merriam Rd.
*** Bullock – Bullock Lane
*** Peabody/King – Sterling Road
*** Guiles – Houghton Rd.
*** Nye/Whitney – Brooks Station Rd.

11.  Who has won the most women’s titles?

Pauline Smith is the undisputed winner here with 11 women’s titles: 1975, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2010

12.  The Labor Day Finals were play for many years on the Bullock Court. Which other courts have been used and why were they moved from the Bullock Court?

In 1965 the finals were moved to the Thayer/Whitham/Gwinn/Patten/O’Brien court location on Gregory Road, which was originally a cork court and latter converted to stone dust. This was done for two reasons: first, the participants felt that because all the preliminary rounds were played on clay, then the finals should also be played on a clay court; and secondly, the Bullock courts asphalt surface was in need of great repair.

Over the past years the finals have been held at the Dan Hart Memorial Court besides the Prince of Peace Church in the center of town and at the private club courts of Pine Hill and PTC depending on weather and court conditions. Many thanks go to Terry Hart and his volunteers for maintaining the Prince of Peace court.

13.  Who has won the most men’s titles?

That would be Rusty Sampson, with wins in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2002, and 2008

14.  Have family members ever won together?

Yes! This started in 1946 with Aggie and Chris Littlefield winning the mixed. In 1949, there was a family sweep – Vera McElroy and George McElroy won the mixed, and Alfred and Bob Whitney won the men’s. Alfred and Bob Whitney also won the men’s event together in 1952, and Alfred and Howard Whitney won together in 1951. In 1968, Julie Greene and Marshall Greene won the mixed together.