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TENNIS VETERAN TO BE HONORED AT KIMERY PARK TENNIS FACILITY DEDICATION

A dedication ceremony for the George Caristianos Tennis Facility will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 15 at Kimery Park, 331 Kimery Lane. The public is welcome to attend. The event is sponsored by the Greater Hot Springs Tennis Association and the Hot Springs Parks & Recreation Department.

“Coach” Caristianos, 86 years young, has dedicated his life to the growth and development of tennis. A Hot Springs resident since 1925, he began playing tennis at the age of six on the dirt courts at Whittington Park. A graduate of Hot Springs High School, he earned the City Tennis Championship in 1939 and the AIC Tennis Singles championships in 1942 and 1947 while at Henderson State Teachers College.

“Coach” provided free tennis lessons over the past 50 years at Central and Southwest Junior High schools, Hot Springs High School, the YMCA and the Hot Springs Boys and Girls Club. He coached the HSHS tennis teams for 34 years without pay, taking his teams to tournaments and sharing his love of tennis. He sponsored free tennis camps for more than 100 participants.

Caristianos helped compile a history of tennis for the Hot Springs Country Club’s 100-year anniversary celebration. A former city alderman, he served under Mayor Dan Wolfe as chair of the city’s Recreation Committee, and helped promote tennis activities at Jaycee Park as well as the city’s Chattanooga, Whittington, Linden and Kimery parks.

In 1960, “Coach” helped develop one of the first tennis associations in Hot Springs. He helped raise money for new nets at city tennis courts, and helped re-surface the courts at Kimery Park. Through the Oaklawn Lions Club, he partnered with Joe McClard and Bill Crutchfield to help fund the construction of the tennis courts, previously located on Airport Road.

A retired major with the U.S. Army and Army Reserves, Caristianos is also a 2007 inductee into the Arkansas Tennis Hall of Fame.

“Through his actions over the years, he has been a good representative for tennis through his interaction with young people, a good influence in general on youth, and, by extension, a good ambassador for the City of Hot Springs when competing in other parts of the nation,” said Ned Skoog, president of Hot Springs Friends of the Parks.

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