PENN TWP— This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Butler Country Club, and the tennis program plans to recognize it with a bevy of celebratory events at the courts June 22.

Part of the celebration are the courts themselves.

Some of the club's 220 tennis members contributed $240,000 for the installation of four state-of-the-art clay courts. New fencing, lights and landscaping were added as well.

"It's a major upgrade, something we're really excited about,"said club tennis pro Whitney Snyder. "We were trying to think of a good way to celebrate 100 years, and our old courts were made of cement and had developed some cracks in them.

"What better way to celebrate how proud we are of the program than renovating the facility?I asked the president of the country club for permission to write the members a letter seeking donations and he gave it to me.

"I followed up those letters with phone calls. Our members were more than generous,"Snyder added.

He said 70 members contributed to the new courts. All members who contributed time and money to the construction of the new courts will be honored during a reception ceremony at 5:50 p.m. June 22.

Other activities are planned before that time.

From 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., a parent-child round-robin tournament will take place. Any member of the club's junior tennis squad can team up with a parent to participate.

"All players will wear white clothing and use wooden rackets to recognize the history of the sport,"Snyder said.

From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., four tennis pros — Anders Bergvist, Rashid Hassan, Mike Kopp and Jeff Layman — will play an eight-game exhibition match.

Bergvist is the tennis pro at Allegheny Country Club, Hassan is owner of Club 4 Life in Monroeville and Layman is the club pro at LakeVue in Valencia.

Kopp was tennis pro at Butler Country Club in 1983-84 and now is the pro at Midtown Tennis Club in New York City.

Dave Barnes, longtime Butler High tennis coach and the club's first pro in the 1970s, will be on hand as well.

At 5:30 p.m., a 20-minute video titled "Butler Country Club Tennis:20 Years in 20 Minutes," will be shown on a big-screen TVoutside.

After the recognition of court contributors is completed at 5:50 p.m., returning former BCC head and assistant tennis pros will be recognized and presented a gift by the club.

"We have five former head pros and 40 assistants from over the years,"Snyder said. "They've all been invited back. More than 20 of the assistants are coming and at least two of the former pros."

A musical concert on the golf driving range from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. will cap the day's festivities.