Salisbury Mayor James Ireton, Jr., invites the public to the 2009 Jack Purnell-Chris Thomas Memorial Tennis Tournament at Salisbury University. Mayor Ireton will open the Tournament and serve the first ball at about 9:50am on Wednesday, August 19th. Matches are played from 10:00am until 9:00pm each day, Wednesday, August 19th through Saturday, August 22nd. The finals will be on Sunday, August 23rd, beginning at 1:00pm. Attendance is free.
The Chris Thomas Memorial Tennis Tournament once was an annual event held each summer at Salisbury University. The tournament was a tribute to Chris Thomas, a graduate of Salisbury University and a member of the college tennis team, who died of cancer in 1982 at the age of 27. Money raised through the tournament originally benefited cancer care at Peninsula General Hospital Medical Center. The first tournament was held in 1982, and it grew each year afterward. After a break from 1995 to 2003, committee members from the Chris Thomas Memorial Tournament joined with the family of Jack Purnell along with local teaching pro Chris Robbins to once again establish professional tennis in Salisbury. The Jack Purnell-Chris Thomas Memorial Tennis Tournament was revived in 2004 at the Salisbury University Tennis Center, with the funds raised benefiting Coastal Hospice. Jack Purnell, who was born in Salisbury, was a lifelong devotee of athletics. He loved tennis, and was still playing tennis two months before his untimely death due to cancer in July 2002.
“Growing up in Salisbury in the 1970’s, everyone played tennis,” said Mayor Ireton. “I played my first tennis tournament on the courts where the Purnell-Thomas Memorial Tournament is played. A big thank-you goes to the organizers, the sponsors of the tournament, and to Salisbury University for continuing to remember the legacies of both Jack Purnell and Chris Thomas. Best of luck to all the players this week.”
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