Library’s Tennis Classic furthers renovation goals

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The Locust Valley Library’s inaugural Tennis Classic brought together people of all ages on Aug. 26. The library kicked off an afternoon of tennis on its courts under sunny skies, to the delight of area residents.

“We wanted to do a fun, stress-free event while bringing the community together for some fun on the courts,” said Kathleen Smith, the library’s director.

The Tennis Classic also helped support Campaign 2020, the library fundraiser created to help it meet its goal of revitalizing the building with modern technology to better connect with its community. “We would like to improve the library and get some renovations done to bring our library to the 21st century,” Smith said. “We don’t have any intentions of raising taxes, so we want to get the community involved to help us collect money.”

On the courts, everyone worked on their swings, and did drills to sharpen their skills. Tennis instructor Steven Abbondondelo taught participants how to serve and return, how to volley and how to hit from the baseline. But most of all, he wanted them to have fun.

“I try to make sure that whatever games they play against each other, it has some purpose,” Abbondondelo said. “It’s our first year, it’s a nice day, and I couldn’t ask for much more.”