2015 Season Recreation Highlights

By:  Jonathan Bellingham, Recreation Manager and 3rd Generation Family Member

Glenn Austin calling BINGO

Every summer part of the Capon experience includes spirited contests for guests looking for both sporting and puzzle-solving fun. This past June, July and August, we had a few modifications and additions to the regular recreation mix. Not surprisingly, any change provided much fodder for front porch chatter.  One notable addition was my rec assistant for the season, Kyra Kenney.  Kyra served as the first full-time female recreation helper, following in her father's footsteps from when he was rec assistant at Capon almost 30 years ago.  At the other end of the spectrum, 3rd generation Capon family member Glenn Austin used 2015 as his "farewell tour".  He is set to retire at the beginning of the 2016 season.  Most guests encountered "Mr. G" either at the first tee on the golf course or as the regular Wednesday and Sunday night Bingo caller. It will be hard to replace his experience, calm demeanor and gentle humor.

Besides all the usual antics and anecdotes, here are some of my top recreation highlights from 2015:

REROUTED RUNNERS:

After 28 years running the same route, the 2015 Capon One Mile Race followed a somewhat simpler and safer course.  With less downhill racing, times posted 20-40 seconds slower overall than previous years. Still... just as many participants came out for this fun run.

Race participant Bryan Wolf cools off with some refreshing Capon Water

Fastest times for 2015:

Male: Austin Riddaugh 5:37 August 18th

Female: Eliza Hoover* 6:10  July 21st

*This 11 year old competitor left Capon at the end of her week and participated in National Junior Track & Field Championships!

THE CAPON WATER CURE REVEALED:

The 2015 edition of Caponchase Adventure (a code-cracking treasure hunt) returned to its roots both literally and figuratively.  Besides focusing on the 250th anniversary of the discovery of the famous spring, its style, format and difficulty harkened back to the first series 8 years ago.  While this challenging puzzling quest meant very few teams solved it completely, all three of the final summer weeks had one team with perfect results:

1st August week: Donna & Katie Katterman, Courtney & Leah Golden
2nd August week: Cathy Fisher, James & Brooke Steele, Chris Fox, Kendal Marking
3rd August week*: Bailey Ham, Emily Ferdon, Will Ervin, Sallie Permar, Fiona Gannon
*This last summer week had the fastest completion time of 2 hrs 37 minutes.

DISC GOLF FUN:

The New Disc (Frisbee) Golf course enjoyed instant popularity with a doubles "best throw" tourney.   During the grand opening May 29-31, twin brothers Kit & Tim Ravenscroft set the best mark of 8 under par with a score of 19.  In mid July, father/son duo Colin & Connor Callaghan tied that record.  In the last tourney of the season, David Miller scored the first "ACE", with a hole in one throw off the first tee with an excited crowd celebrating this amazing achievement.  Later in the October, Rob Tombes scored the second documented 1-throw, this time on hole number two.  Who will get the next one in the 3rd?

PICKLE-WHAT?

Capon managers Tom Austin and Jonathan Bellingham try their hand at pickleball.

The most unheard of sport in 2015 was Pickleball.  With an unusual name and unfamiliar format, this doubles wooden paddle/wiffle ball activity was slow to catch on.  While only a few summer regulars climbed the hill to the upper all-weather court to try this cross between badminton, tennis and ping pong, fall guests enjoyed the indoor version set up in the Meeting House for rainy day fun.   James Fischer & Leah Wingeart of Henderson, NV especially enjoyed this fast-paced volleying sport.

A BINGO PROPOSAL

Besides the usual fabulous prizes given away at Bingo, on August 19th, Gabrielle Dowell took home the most treasured.  Her boyfriend Kenny Flynn had arranged to have a diamond ring placed in the surprise box and for Gabby to be the lucky winner.  Then, in front of 250 of Gabby's closest family and friends, Kenny pulled out the treasure, got down on one knee and proposed.  Not a dry eye remained in the Meeting House after this creative demonstration of love.

WHAT'S COMING NEXT IN 2016?

Stay tuned for some more exciting additions to the recreation fun next year.....