Hi, I'm Catherine White, Executive Director of the New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce.

And today is an exceptional day in New Rochelle as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the New Rochelle Racket Club.

Excellent.

So often our role is to help promote and uh let everybody know about a new business.

But sometimes it's almost more important to let people know about the longstanding businesses in our city.

And this is a perfect example.

So to celebrate that, we've got a number of special guests that I'll say in order of how they walked in the door, kind of.

So we have, of course, with us, Mayor Yadira Ramos Herbert.

We have Congressman George Latimer.

Deputy Commissioner of Economic Development, Jorge Ventura.

The small business manager for the city of New Rochelle, Mariana Hussafai.

The City Council rep for this district, Al Tarantino.

From Westchester County, we have with us Westchester County legislator, Terry Clements.

And the constituent services office associate from Shelley Mayor's office, Luis Ocha.

Of course, as always, we have Fire Chief Andy Sandor.

And several members of the Neurochell Police Department.

But more importantly, we wouldn't be here today without the actual members of the New Rochelle Racket Club and their managing partners.

So of course I'd like to introduce Blake Stuchin.

He is the managing member.

His mother Marcy Stuchin, who is the widow of Miles Stuchin, former managing member of Neurochell Racket Club.

And the COO Valerie Ferrara, who helps every day with all the operations, and who I always turn to when we've got an issue going on.

Okay, so now to just say a few words of welcome, I'd like to call up Mayor Yudira Ramos Herbert.

So it's today is really fun for me because I get to combine two of my favorite things.

I am an avid tennis lover.

I'm a New York Junior tennis league kid, and as a point of personal privilege, my first boss, Scott Daly, is here today.

When I was one of the tennis teens at IS238 back in the 90s.

So I did not know he was going to be here, but the universe conspires in your favor sometimes, and this is a really special moment for me.

But to be the mayor of New Rochelle and to be at an event celebrating 50 years of this institution, and I'm going to call it that because it is indeed an institution for us of building community health, friendships.

I mean, I know that so much of my leadership potential came from playing sports and being on courts, maybe not as nice as these in Queens, but very similar to these here.

So thank you for sticking with New Rochelle.

It can't be easy to run a small business, but we are so grateful for all of the effort, the blood, sweats here, the vision and the commitment to bring the community together on these courts, and I'm just thrilled to be here to celebrate with you.

I've been able to play on these courts.

Maybe I have to start making more time to be here a little bit more permanently because y'all are doing a great job with these locations.

So thank you, New Rochelle Racket Club.

Thank you, Mayor.

And I'd like to call up Congressman George Latimer now.

I'm talking with uh my friend Al Tarantino, the councilman for this area, and uh we were reminiscing a little bit because some of us remember 50 years ago very well.

Many of you have no idea 50 years ago.

Uh and I do remember the first time I saw this building.

I was driving, I grew up in Mount Vernon.

I was driving back to Mount Vernon with a buddy of mine.

We'd been up, I think, to Mamarinick.

We're coming down Palmer Avenue, and the great insight that a 22-year-old kid was, well, what the heck is that?

I don't know.

You know.

Well, that's a strange looking building.

Well, here we are, 50 years later.

And it's turned out to be uh an anchor in bolt of recreation uh and athletics, and then also something that makes Neurochelle very proud.

And and as the years went by, I remember before I left Mount Vernon to live elsewhere in the county.

We thought, boy, we'd really like to have something like this in our town.

And I bet there's a lot of towns that wish they had this.

But to the families that have made this business work, a lot of things have changed over 50 years.

Uh everybody's into pickleball today.

There was no pickleball 50 years ago.

Racquet ball, I think was probably the rough equivalent of the hot sport.

But the business has survived, and it's great that you celebrate that and celebrate the people that helped make it survive.

Congratulations.

Okay, thank you, Congressman.

And now I'd like to call up Al Tarantino to say a few words.

Thank you, everyone, for being here today.

Um, as George just said, um, you know, we go back a long time.

Uh I do in this neighborhood.

I lived right on Acorn Terrace.

Uh I was a newly married uh person at the time, and uh I remember my landlord saying to us, you know, down the street there, you know what they're trying to do, they're trying to build tennis courts in our neighborhood.

And the neighborhood got together and were opposed to it at the time, uh, of course.

Um, but then it ended up coming to fruition, and uh they cohabitated together for for many years.

And I was standing there talking to George, and the irony of the whole thing is is that many of those people that oppose this uh are no longer around here.

Uh, but this building is still here and prospering and and flourishing, and I want to congratulate you for 50 years, and hopefully you'll get another 50 years.

Thank you.

Thank you, Al.

And now with a few words from Westchester County government, we have Westchester County legislator Terry Clements.

Welcome all.

On behalf of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, I'm proud to be here to congratulate you on 50 years of success.

This is amazing for health, well-being, and community.

And I really appreciate everyone being here and your hard work and all the people that work here and work with the community.

Thank you for your efforts over the year.

I know some of you haven't been here for 50 years, but you get to celebrate with us.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much, Terry.

So now I'd like to call up first Marcy Stuchin.

She is the widow of Miles Steuchen, former managing member for Neurochell Racket Club.

Thank you, everyone.

What's amazing is I knew all those people who first started it 50 years ago.

Uh thank you all for being here.

My father-in-law, Bernie Steuchen, was a real estate developer.

He and my mother-in-law Jackie raised their sons, including my late husband Miles, less than a mile from this building.

The club was built by a group of partners who I'm honored to have known Bernie Livingston, Harold Marcus, Dan Losseter, and of course my father-in-law, Bernie Stuchen.

It was the last project that Bernie ever built.

It has always had a special place in the hearts of my family.

After he died, and for the next 40 years, I watched my husband Miles dedicate himself to this club.

He was involved in many businesses and was fortunate to experience a great deal of professional success.

He was an entrepreneur, built a successful legal and finance career, served on the boards of many companies, and supported numerous charitable causes.

But through everything, he always came back to Pine Brook Fitness and the Neurochell Racquet Club.

He played on these courts.

My children played on these courts, my grandchildren play on these courts now.

Over five decades, this club has been the backdrop for birthday parties, tournaments, friendships, and countless ordinary days that have become lasting memories for other families.

Our family is lucky to be part of that story, but we're part, we're far from alone.

Generations of families throughout New Rochelle and Westchester have grown up here together.

Today, as we celebrate 50 years, I feel proud not only of our family's involvement, but of the entire community that has sustained and strengthened this club for half a century.

And now it gives me great pride to introduce someone who represents both our history and our future, my son Blake Stutchin.

That was really fun.

Thanks, everybody.

Thank you, mom.

Um thank you, Catherine, for putting this all on.

Thank you all for being here today and for this recognition.

Being honored for 50 years in business is something that we are deeply proud of, and we're grateful to be a part of a city that, as Mayor said, values and appreciates local institutions like ours.

And since we're honoring big numbers today, in addition to 50, and hopefully some of you have seen some really fun facts that we have scattered about the club.

Here's another one that we really like.

1,419,835.

That's how many hours of tennis have been played on these courts since we broke ground in around 1974 and opened our doors 50 years ago.

And the truth is it almost didn't last at all.

As my mother said, and as I learned today from how controversial this project was getting built originally.

He was 26 years old.

One of the first decisions that he made was to hire Pat Steets as general manager of the club.

Dad used to joke after that that he didn't have many decisions left to make because for the next 40 years, Pat made so many of them, and they were almost always the right ones.

And I just, in particular, wanted to know the history of this club isn't complete without recognizing Pat's many contributions.

Pat's son Mike is here today.

Please just give him a warm round of applause.

Everybody, we're so grateful.

Oh, thanks, Mike, right here.

Thank you.

With with his youngest son, who, by the way, is our future and newest tennis member.

So we now apparently go all the way to just a few months old.

Pat was also instrumental in bringing Val to us and hiring Val in 2015, who continues to do such a wonderful job as many of you know leading the club today.

Val, along with the entire Pinebrook Fitness and New Rochelle Racquet Club staff is the reason that this place feels like more than just a tennis club.

It feels like a community, and like every community, it's made up of its members who each have their own stories.

As for mine, uh I grew up here.

I had my fifth grade birthday party here.

I met one of my best friends when I was 11 in our junior program on court three.

I joined the board here in 2017.

Three years later, uh my father died, and I became managing member.

At the time, the club was really strong.

The courts were full.

I worked with the leadership team to put together a really thoughtful multi-year plan.

We thought we had everything figured out.

It was January 2020.

Our five-year plan worked for five weeks.

When COVID hit, like so many businesses, we faced real uncertainty.

We could have shut our doors for good.

But we made a promise to our members, to our staff, to our community, that after all these years in New Rochelle, we would do, frankly, what all of our great coaches train all of our tennis players to do.

Never give up, try hard, do your best, keep building.

At the time, we had 93 people here on the payroll, from our management team to the hourly staff who answer phones, help with administration, everybody who helps keep operations running smoothly every day.

In the beginning, we didn't know when we'd be able to open again, but I'm proud to say that throughout that entire period, as days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months.

One because it's the right thing to do, but two, because we knew that here in New Rochelle, this commitment that we show to our own team would in turn continue to support so many loyal members, people who come through our doors, they know how important it is because we are a local business.

And when we reopened, we did so safely, and now six years later, we are stronger than we have ever been.

Today, our community ranges from players as young as three years old to members in their 80s, many of whom have been playing here with multiple generations.

We have more than 500 players enrolled across 55 programs.

Our coaching staff represents 11 different countries.

In the past five years, we've restrung more than 1,100 tennis rackets.

We've recycled more than 32,000 tennis balls.

We've saved 44,000 plastic bottles through our refill stations.

Last year alone, 216 tennis balls got stuck in the lights and on the air conditioners.

How you're gonna double check that math, I'm not sure, but we feel really good about the analysis we did to get to that number.

But the real measure of this club is not in any of those numbers.

It's as my mother said, in the generations, in the families that have made the New Rochelle Racket Club and now the broader Pinebrook Fitness a part of their lives year after year.

More than anything today, I want to thank all of our members, all of the staff members and team members that have been a part of this club's journey in the past and continuing in the present.

You are the club.

Your loyalty, especially during the most uncertain moments, is something that we will never forget, and we will always think about in everything we do.

Fifty years is an extraordinary milestone.

But what excites me most is not just what we've built, it's how we continue to grow.

Today we offer not only world-class tennis programs, but also the Rock Club, our 20-year-old rock climbing gym just downstairs, and our fitness facility, the studios, with lots more to come.

We are committed to investing in this club in our programming and in continuing to serve the new Rochelle community for the next 50 years and beyond.

Thank you all for coming today and for being a part of this story, and here's to the next 50 years of the New Rochelle Racket Club Thank you so much, Blake and Marcy.

Now I have Glenia Rojas from the Universal Chamber of Commerce with a quick little presentation.

Blake and Marcy, if you want to step up.

So I'm very proud of you guys, and um thank you for behalf of the um chamber of camber.

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

My name is Lorraine Alexander.

I am from the Co-op City Tennis Club.

And this organization has been good enough to give some of my kids tennis scholarships to get them better so that they can get a college education.

On behalf of the Co-op City Tennis Club and the New York Junior Tennis League, we present to you this plaque, which Scott Daly from the New York Junior Tennis League League is going to read.

Come on over.

Yari mentioned it that she was from the New York Junior Tennis League.

She played when I first started.

She started down there.

We've kept in contact all these years.

And I do it because of what we do for the kids in the community in New York.

And I'm sorry, forgive me.

There we go.

I'm not used to this.

You know what I mean?

Um, but in any man, throughout the years, we've had partnerships throughout the city, mostly in the city, but New Rochelle has always been a foothold for us.

Because right over the border in the Bronx, Miss Lorraine here, she's an institution.

And we couldn't do this in the off-seasons without the help of the tennis club.

So I just want to tell you, thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.

Being with New York Junior Tennis League, but this is we were all in this for the same reason, and I want to present this plaque.

Ms.

Lorraine wants to present this plaque to the new New Rochelle Racket Club with sincere appreciation for your ongoing support, generosity, and steadfast commitment to young athletes, not only of New York Junior Tennis League, but of Co-op City Tennis Club.

Congratulations on 50 years.

So what about anyway?

All right, so Marcy Blake, Mayor, Lorraine, step up to the first.

Okay.

Thank you.