Helping to celebrate the July 28 grand opening of the two newly reconstructed tennis courts at the community center were (L-R) Frankie Jarchow, Bill Hennessy, president of the Cook County Tennis Association, Cook County Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk and Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux.
In 1991 David Wheaton won the Grand Slam Cup in Munich, beating Michael Chang in straight sets. That same year he beat Ivan Lendl in the third round of Wimbledon, then beat Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals before being knocked out by Boris Becker in the semi-finals. He reached the No. 12 world ranking for Men singles players in 1991, his top year in an illustrious professional career that spanned 13 years.
On Wednesday, July 3, Wheaton, with his wife Brodie and their 3-year-old son made a guest appearance at the unveiling of the two refurbished tennis courts at the community center and Wheaton played tennis with members of the Cook County Tennis Association (CCTA).
Rod Wannebo, a CCTA board member and coordinator of the tennis court reconstruction project, introduced Wheaton to a nice gathering of young and old tennis players and fans.
Wheaton, who has a cabin in Lutsen and whose parents honeymooned on the Gunflint Trail 62 years ago, gave a brief accounting of his years as a competitive tennis player. He started playing tennis at 4, he said. His grandfather first learned to play tennis at the age of 65 from a book and passed his love of the game on to his only daughter, Mary Jane, David’s mother.
Former tennis pro David Wheaton shakes hands with Pete Summers after the two hit balls for about 10 minutes. Summers, who just graduated from high school, will play tennis next year at Lake Superior State University in Sault St. Marie, Michigan.
By ninth grade Wheaton was the Minnesota state boys’ tennis champion. He played one year at Stanford, helping the Cardinals win a national collegiate championship and then went pro.
But Wheaton said he wasn’t the only tennis player in his family. “I was the youngest of four and at age 47, I am quite a bit younger than two brothers and sister who are are 55, 58 and 61. They were all great players. They won state championships and played for the University of Minnesota and helped win Big 10 championships. I think my sister was the individual Big 10 champion.
“If my parents would have known what they had learned about the game by the time I came along, I think they could have helped her and she would have been a good pro.”
On Wednesday, under a bright sun and blue skies Wheaton first took the court with Pete Summers. Summers, who will be a freshman at Lake Superior State University this fall, advanced to the Minnesota state tennis tournament this past year. The two engaged in long rallies, hitting the ball with good pace. After 10 minutes Wheaton stopped and asked the other CCTA members to come out onto the courts and start playing doubles, and he promised to rotate in and play with them.
When Summers was asked about Wheaton’s groundstrokes he replied, “He’s so tall he hits the ball at crazy angles. He wasn’t hitting the ball nearly as hard as he could have, either.”
Still, it was a thrill for this up-and-coming tennis player to hit with Wheaton who still looks like he could give a good pro a run for his money for at least one set, maybe two.
Today Wheaton makes his living several ways. He is a columnist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, a radio host of the Christian Worldview, a weekly, nationally syndicated radio program that airs on 225 stations, and he is the author of books, one titled My Boy, Ben about his beloved yellow lab, and is a much sought after motivational speaker.
Long path to court improvements
If David Wheaton was the star of the day, the two newly redone tennis courts weren’t far behind. Finding funds to complete the work was a difficult challenge.
The bid for the two courts was $121,300 and the county signed a contract with Fred Kolkmann to supervise the construction for $8,000 plus $4,000 to design, develop the bid package and oversee the bidding process. The total project was $133,300.
On February 9, 2016, the Cook County Board of Commissioners signed a contract with Dermco- LaVine Construction Company to reconstruct two of the five courts at the Cook County Tennis Complex by July 31, 2016. The goal was to have the courts ready for play by the CCTA Fisherman’s Picnic Tennis Tournament in early August and the mission was accomplished with time to spare.
The two new courts are surfaced with NovaProBounce instead of asphalt, and should last longer than asphalt in northern Minnesota’s cold climate.
In order to raise funds CCTA representatives appeared before the county commissioners and the Grand Marais City Council on numerous occasions and wrote grants.
At the end of the day the CCTA had raised enough funds from a handful of partners to complete the work.
Money came from several sources: $60,000 came from the county’s 1 percent recreational funds; $24,300 from the county; $17,000 from the city of Grand Marais; $10,000 from the CCTA; $10,000 from the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Northern Division; $7,000 from the USTA; and $5,000 from the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation.
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