Shuffleboard Club member celebrates his decade with the club as well as 86th birthday

If residents happen to run into Sal LaScala, wish him happy birthday. He turns 86 on Oct. 10. LaScala has been a Shuffleboard Club fixture as a consistent and well-liked player for the past 10 years. He and his wife moved to Leisure World from Anaheim Hills, and he started the sport right away. He said the club was very cliquey when he first arrived, with some excellent players, but far fewer of them. Although he has some challenges now, it doesn’t stop him from league play and playing bocce as well. He is very careful on the courts and learned all the proper procedures of setting up and cleaning up as soon as he started playing the game.

The club appeals to him because it’s convenient, with a pretty open concept of letting people play when they want to, adding, “I can come here anytime, except in the summer.” He’s made lots of good friends through his membership, and because of his endearing soft spoken gentle way, he’s brought lots of friends and neighbors into the club.

The three things LaScala likes best about shuffleboard are, “it’s a game where you have to think, the more you play the better you get and the more strategy and new ideas you employ, and my fellow players.”

A certified CPA with a career in finance, he and his wife celebrated their 61st anniversary over Labor Day. Their three children are either near or far away. He has grown children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren that hail from Huntington Beach, San Antonio and St. Louis. He describes his wife as a homebody who lets him do the things he enjoys. She comes to the shuffleboard social activities. The format for Shuffleboard Club articles in the LW Weekly will change slightly with this edition. All-game winners will be listed together by league rather than by team, and scores for all three leagues for the previous week will appear in the next week’s edition. In the past, the scores were split between weeks.

Sept. 23 Tuesday evening league: Team Sally and Harold tied 6-6. Team Karen surpassed Team Sue 9-3. All-game winners were Sal LaScala, Karen Mendon, Heather Moore, Patrick Reagan and Jesus Sosa.

Sept. 25 Thursday afternoon league: Team Lynne beat Team Micki 8-4. Team Karen prevailed over Team Jack 7-5. All-game winners for all four teams were Roger Bennett, Susan Hopewell, Doris Morton, Jack O’Brien, Zoe Pickett and Karen Powell.

Sept. 26 Friday morning league: Team Shel bested Team Patti 8-4. Team Carol and Team Rod evened the scores 6-6. All-game winners were Lee Broadbent, Anita Giroud, Doris Morton and Harshad Patel.

—Barbara Gardner