RTA is sponsoring an Arthur Ashe Birthday Blast on Wednesday, July 12th at Battery Park. We hope the event will accomplish two main goals: (1) Introduce tennis to city kids. (2) Create greater awareness of Arthur Ashe and what he accomplished both in the U.S. and abroad.
This birthday celebration will not have cake and ice cream, but will have tons of kids and tennis balls! Arthur Ashe Birthday Blast (AABB) will provide free tennis lessons to children 8-16 years of age. We will have an information table with representatives from providers of low cost or free tennis lessons and flyers from tennis programs.
Sir James Thornhill is a Richmond native who grew up in Jackson Ward and is an artist who is passionate about memorializing African American heroes through murals in public places. Sir James plans to unveil an awesome Arthur Ashe Memorial Mural the evening of the AABB! The mural will be painted at the entrances and within the tunnel under Overbrook Rd. A bouncing tennis ball will grace the wall of the tunnel and trace Arthur Ashe’s life and achievements. For more information on Sir James Thornhill, please visit www.sjtgai.com or http://www.wix.com/sirjames1/sir-james-web
The AABB will have music, light refreshments and prizes with two VIP Citi Open tickets for a drawing too. If you have not visited the historic Battery Park neighborhood, this is a great opportunity for you. The neighborhood is on the move. HGTV recently aired a program called “Richmond Rehabbers” that featured a renovation in the Battery Park neighborhood.
AABB needs volunteers to succeed. Please visit Sign Up Genius website and volunteer. Here is the link, http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090d49aaaf283-arthur. You can also search for the AABB page at http://www.signupgenius.com using shimagro@gmail.com as your search term.
Arthur Ashe Birthday Blast
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
6-8 pm
Thursday, July 13th, 6-8 pm
Battery Park courts
Free tennis lessons for children 8-16 years old
Unveiling of Arthur Ashe Memorial Mural
Music, refreshments, prizes and fun!!
