Member Milly Larsen, a woman of many talents
SHUFFLEBOARD CLUB
The annual Shuffleboard Club Turkey Shoot is Wednesday, Nov. 19 at the courts from 3-5 p.m. Sign ups are available at the courts. It is suggested that participants bring finger food to share with fellow club members.
Milly Larsen has been playing shuffleboard long enough that she remembers when the membership was huge. There were 10 on a league team instead of the six members today, and league play consisted of three games instead of two games. She explained that the courts were very different then, newer and more polished, so that she and her good friend Richard Ryles, now deceased, could singlehandedly set up all six lanes the night before league play. She remembers one player who had a notebook and wrote down all the idiosyncrasies of each court and which strategies worked best on each so he could perfect his game. She remembers fondly all the great people she has met playing the game.
Larsen describes herself as always having been athletic, playing volleyball well into her twenties as a young mom, and that tradition has carried into her later years as she now enjoys pool and bocce in addition to shuffleboard. Larsen has lived in Leisure World for 30 years but worked for nine of those years as an accountant at the El Camino College bookstore in Torrance. She has two grown children, ages 61 and 65, who are each about an hour away.
Larsen is also a musician and played the violin and viola in an amateur quartet that played at weddings, cocktail hours, a dog show and once at Trader Joe’s. After she retired and stopped playing music because of neck and finger issues, she was looking for something to do and found the Shuffleboard Club and thought she’d try it out. Her sweet nature and quiet competence on the courts are noticed and appreciated by every team member.
Tuesday, Oct. 28 results:
Team Bob upset Team Karen 7-5. Team Sally bested Team Sue 8-4. All-game winners were Roger Bennett, Sandy Derouin, Sally Fowler, Sue Gary, Susie Kim, Karen Mendon and Sue Rotter.
Thursday, Oct. 30 results:
Team Lynne upset Team Micki 8-4. Team Jack conquered Team Karen 8-4. All-game winners were Marilyn Blackmun, Susie Kim, Mary Lund, John Mount and Ellie West.
Friday, Oct. 31 results:
Team Patti upended Team Shel 8-4. Team Carol beat Team Rod 7-5. All-game winners were Roger Bennett, Steve Edrich, Sal LaScala, Kay Mount, Harshad Patel and Linda Peters.
—Barbara Gardner
