I don’t know about you all but it feels like structures are spontaneously generating all over town. First a sculpture on the AIC lawn, and now a ping-pong table at the high school. Remember that last fall a large black cat also appeared outside of the high school. Cue creepy Twilight Zone music.

Oh fine, none of it is creepy, and the latter two are actually cool class gifts. As everyone knows, I am a fan of the Class of 2020 gift Wildcat statue and enjoy it when it gets dressed up for holidays.

And now, not to be outdone in cool factor, the Class of 2021 class gift has arrived on campus–as far as I can tell without any fanfare except for the endless “ticky-tacky-ticky-tacky” of a ping pong ball on its hardscape surface. There is literally no place on campus now where you are safe from being hit by a projectile of some size–from baseball at the northwest corner, to disc golf through the Wildcat Woods, to the usual lacrosse, soccer, and tennis balls and softballs, we now add ping-pong balls which are kept in a plastic container near the table along with racquets.

Last week while walking the K9 ranger to pick up an Owlet at track practice, there was a great match going on, complete with laughing fans. Such a fun way to blow off steam.

The Owl contacted Jana Hinton, who was one of the parent advisors for the Class of 2021, and this is what she had to say:

“The table was voted on by the Class of 2021 Officers with help from the parent and faculty advisors–we didn’t think we would have the funds but were able to pull it together right after graduation,” Jana explained. “Once a company was selected and the design approved by the school, the order was placed.” 

The goal was to have the table ready by Thanksgiving 2021 but production took longer than expected and the table was delivered a few months ago. The Grounds crew had to wait until the weather warmed up to install the table.

Jana added “I’ve heard [that the table] is already being used which is wonderful. We hope the high school students (and all community members) use it for many years.”

The Owl appreciates the location near enough to the pond to make it accessible to all, and not close enough that you lose every single ball into the drink. And it is located close to the Athletic Trainer so Rizz can fix all the strained muscles from smashing cross-court ummm smashes.

A little-known fact is that a certain Physics teacher at the high school is a ping pong master. Perhaps someone wishes to challenge him? Not. Me.

Thank you, Class of 2021! The Owl is absolutely charmed by your gift.

Below please find a HIGHLY DETAILED map of the Weston HS/MS campus with the location of the ping pong table more or less marked. Go ‘cats.