COMMUNITY18 l August 15, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW

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National Night Out starts at City Hall

Sammamish residents came to the city’s annual National Night Out kickoff Aug. 7 and enjoyed a festival atmosphere. Law enforcement officers were on hand to meet the community and show off some of the equipment they use to keep the community secure.

Marc Kalenkovich (left), 7, of Sammamish, prepares to stand on a balance ball while being supervised by Circus Cascadia entertainer Cousin Bill.

Youngsters scamper around to explore the inside of the King County Swift Water Rescue unit’s ‘cataraft.’

Kevin Forrester (left), Washington State Patrol senior trooper with 23 years of experience, shares a high-five with Brody Conner, 2, of Sammamish, as his parents Ashley and Brad look on.

The Eastlake High School varsity Cheer Squad, Sammamish Police school resource officer Ken Williams, and the school mascot, Wolfie, pose for a team photo.

Joanna Puthoff, city of Sammamish facility coordi-nator, cooks hot dogs on a barbecue grill for the fami-lies attending the National Night Out community party at Sammamish City Hall.

Youngsters get to climb through the passenger cabin of Guardian One, King County’s Bell 407 patrol helicopter, after it sets down on the field in front of the Sammamish Library.

Photos by Greg Farrar

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By Lillian O’Rorke

In a friendly practice game of tennis Aug. 9, Lucille Barnard of Sammamish began to toss the ball up to serve when she was prompted that it was the other team’s turn.

“That’s what we call a senior moment,” said Linda Mate and all four players on the court laughed it off.

Barnard and Mate are mem-bers of the Super Senior Tennis Team, whose players are all over the age of 60. But don’t let that number fool you. The super seniors are a team to be reck-oned with and are set to com-pete for the national U.S. Tennis Association title next April.

“We are there to win the game

and to make it fun - but mostly to win,” said Barnard. “It’s just a wonderful thing to see how everybody just loves it and takes it seriously.”

The super seniors earned their place on the national stage ear-lier this summer when the team won the Tennis Association’s Sections in Sunriver, Ore., June 22. Through the entire tourna-ment, the women were unstop-pable, capping off their winning streak by besting Portland 2-1 in the championship match. But the win was bittersweet. The restruc-turing of age categories by the Tennis Association means that next April will be the last time many of the sports oldest play-ers will be able to compete for a national title.

“We have worked hard, and so have others, toward that goal,” said Suzanne Dodd, a member of the super seniors who turns 69 next month. “And now they have taken that goal away.”

The ladies compete in the over 60 category but next year the U.S. Tennis Association is changing its brackets to 55 and over and 70 and over. While the 55 and over teams will have a national cham-pionship, no national program is planed for those in the over 70 group.

“It’s like they are throwing us away or something,” said Barnard, who is 70 years old. “We pay our dues and our money and we deserve to compete also.”

According to the Association’s

website, www.usta.com, the cur-rent “age groupings seem out-dated in today’s spread of league participants.” This last year there were about 24,100 players over the age of 60 in the association. By moving the bracket down by five years, the association esti-mates that the 55-plus category will grow to 66,300.

For the local super seniors the change means splitting its current team into two different pots, with several of its members planning to compete in both cat-egories. Dodd is one of those who plans to play in both age groups but said she doesn’t expect she’ll make an appearance at future nationals when many of her com-petitors will be 14 years younger.

To voice their dismay, the team plans on writing letters to the association, but in the mean time they’ve got nationals to train for.

“Most of us have been playing for several years and what keeps us going is the good physical workout and team camaraderie,” said Dodd. “You push yourself.”

The team practices several times a week, fitting in games whenever and wherever possible. The women have also begun les-sons once a week with a pro to learn moves like spin serves and drop shots.

“This has been an amazing team,” said Dodd. “We’ve been really supportive of each other. There has been no conflict. We are there for each other.”

Photo courtesy Lucille BarnardFresh from their win in Sunriver, Ore, the Super Senior Tennis Team celebrated earning the 2012 Pacific Northwest Section Championship. Based out of Robinswood Tennis Center in Bellevue, the team includes three Sammamish residents, Lucy Zapf, Joan Zintak and Lucille Barnard. Other teammates from around the area are Linda Mate, Susie Pochop, Suzanne Dodd, Marcia Skewis, Geri Aslin and Lois Mustonen.

Photo by Lillian O’RorkeLucille Barnard of Sammamish returns the ball during a practice match Aug. 9

Super Senior tennis team will play for national title

By Dallas Cross

The annual salmon fish-ing season will open in Lake Sammamish beginning Aug. 16.

There will be a daily limit of four salmon, of which an angler may retain up to two chinook or king salmon and complete the catch limit with other salmon species.

Silver or coho salmon may be part of the catch. Sockeye salmon must be released so barbless hoods are required.

Of course, the smaller kokan-ee salmon are still illegal to have in one’s possession and must be

released.All fishing is closed within 100

yards of the mouth of Issaquah Creek. You will find that area well-surrounded by a parade of trolling boats.

To park at the Lake Sammamish State park boat launch you must have purchased a Washington State Discover Pass. If you launch your boat there, you will pay an additional $7 launching fee using the pay box at the ramp.

Because the feeding portion of these salmon’s lives is over, you either have to appeal to their instinct to bite what once was

food, or trade on their aggressive nature.

The former is touted by those who use bare, red, size 4/0 hooks trolled behind a Dodger flasher.

Herring or smelt fished behind a flasher are also used to catch these salm-on. Rigging should be the same as one would use in salt water.

For both types of lures, savvy fishers use commercial scent attractants. There are some krill scents that work well here, espe-cially on bare hooks.

You also see folks jugging from a drifting boat with a variety of lures, such as Point Wilson Darts or BuzzBombs.

The best fishing is all day but the catching is mostly early in the morning, when the fish school up at shallower depths. Start out fishing at shallow depths and vary down until you

connect. A fish finder can help, but

varying the depth until you get a strike is the tried-and-true way to work the lake.

Slow to medium trolling speed is standard. Usually you will join a line of trolling boats and to pre-vent fouling yours or their lines you should match that speed.

The kings have been in the lake for some time now, but you will connect with bright silver, fresh sea-run salmon from time to time. The dark ones should be considered for return or may be satisfactory for smoking.

Reach Dallas Cross at FishJournal@aol.com or www.fish-journal.org. View previous articles and comment on this column at www.SammamishReview.com.

The Fish Journal

Salmon season opens tomorrow on Lake Sammamish