Story & Photos by Steve Shay

An organized group of nearly 50 tennis buffs, many over age 90, meet regularly in the warmer months at the Solstice Park Tennis Courts, 7400 Fauntleroy Way SW, one mile north of the Fauntleroy Ferry Dock in West Seattle. The casual group does not meet all at once and has no name, but does have a group of email addresses to keep each other updated.

Today, Nov. 7, was a bit chilly for playing, but nearly 20 showed up to honor Leon Harman, who help found the courts 50 years ago. A bench was made in his honor that will remain against the fence inside the courts.

Tom Leahy, a longtime West Seattle resident, was asked to build the bench. At the gathering, Leahy and others passed around a folder of original letters mailed to and from the Park District to petition for the tennis courts. Also in that folder is a West Seattle Herald article dated Feb. 27, 1964 with the headline, "TENNIS COURTS PLANNED" referring to those in Solstice Park.

Harman is 92, and a retired engineer for City Light. Also at the gathering, his son Mark, a retired arborist and Leon's wife, Elaine. Leon and Elaine's other child, Vicki, lives in Idaho and couldn't attend.

Also attending were West Seattle go-getters, Cal Bannon, 93, his partner Flora Belle, and her daughter, Joan Fry. The West Seattle Herald has featured Bannon and Flora Belle doing some fancy moves on the dance floor here:

http://www.westseattleherald.com/2011/02/15/news/unstoppable-west-seatt…

"Cal is my dad's best buddy," said Mark. "They were childhood friends."

Mark added that his dad "courted" his mom on the tennis court there.

"My dad met my mom playing tennis on Lohman Beach." (Lohman is about a half-mile northeast of Solstice Park.)

Said Bannon, "Leon and I fished up in the Duckabush River, by the Hood Canal near Brinnon. We tried to go every Labor Day. It was the best day because the river was low."

"It's overwhelming," said Leon of being surrounded by the crowd who honored him at the tennis courts. "It's very pleasing. The secret to longevity is having good friends, and a good family."