“I’m pretty tough but I almost cried,” is how Harry Clark described being surprised by his tennis team with a party on this 90th birthday. The party was at Chula Vista on his birthday, June 26. He often goes in and works with the staff scheduling the two tennis teams he organizers. He was called in that day to go over scheduling and upon entering the recreation center, he turned the corner and lining the hallway on both sides were members of his tennis team with tennis racquets in the air forming an arch for him to walk through. That was the part that nearly brought Clark to tears.
Clark has been in involved in tennis since moving to The Villages in 1995. He runs two leagues, doubles and men’s 65 and over.
“I started the 65 and over when I barely met the requirement, still at it after all these years,” he said.
Clark earned two gold medals in tennis in the Senior Games and will now compete in the state finals in December in Clearwater.
“I wouldn’t be here except for The Villages,” said Clark, crediting all the activities available here for keeping him active. “The call it America’s Friendliest Hometown, I think they should change that to healthiest hometown. When I go back home to northern Kentucky no one over 40 wants to do anything.”
During World War ll Clark enlisted in the Navy at age 16 skipping his junior and senior years in high school.
“I never went to a prom or any of the typical social stuff you do when you are young, I guess that is what made this party really thrilling,” he said.
In anticipation of his upcoming 90th birthday, Clark said he told his tennis buddies, “Hey, I’ll provide the beer let’s get together.” No one really took him up on his party idea; now he knows why.
He and his wife Carol live in the Village of Del Mar and will celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary on July 21.
