collected about 25 students. They range from senior citizens and retirees down to elementary-school kids such as Alex Lee-Boulton, a fifth-grader at Britt David Magnet Academy who’s been working with Jerry for several months now. “I like the speed of it—it’s different, and
it feels great smashing the ball,” Alex says. “Because I played regular tennis, I had this bad tendency to follow through with my strokes and bring the paddle back across my head. Mr. Jerry got onto me about that, but he’d try to say it nicely—it really helped
me. He’s taught me well, and I like how much he loves the sport.” The big challenge, says Alex’s mother,
Alice, is finding the time to play: Right now, the space for Jerry to give lessons is only available from noon to 3 p.m., and Alex doesn’t get out of school until 2:30. Jerry says he’s working on finding a bigger space, but he could use some help. “It’s hard to get kids or working men
and women in there during those hours,” he says. “We need a place where we can be open in the afternoons and evenings. I’d
have to get an old warehouse and convert it, but I don’t have those kinds of contacts yet. “One of the things I have on my ‘bucket
list’ is I’d like to do for table tennis what Colonel Sanders did for chicken,” Jerry declares. “And there was a lot of chicken around when he did that, so I’m sure he didn’t do it alone. I need to attract some people who know more about manage- ment than I do. I’d love to open a place and have it open 10 hours a day, seven days a week. I’m the type of guy who can get it up and running, I just can’t be there 10 hours a day running it.” He does have to leave some time to
play, after all. “If I have the right guy on the other side of the table,” he says with a chuckle, “I can put on a pretty good show.”
Jerry Klein teaches table tennis les-
sons at Northside Rec Center from noon to 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays. Contact him at
jerryklein@knology.net or 706.561.4151. C
50
Columbus and the Valley
JUNE 2013
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