St. Mary’s County Tennis Association donates $550 to defray Dorsey Park light costs

Alan Torrell, president of the St. Mary’s County Tennis Association, presented a $550 check to the St. Mary’s County Department of Recreation and Parks on Dec. 17 to help defray electricity costs for the Dorsey Park tennis-court lights.

The donation came during the advisory board’s regular meeting. Torrell said the association has partnered with the county on resurfacing and facility improvements and previously contributed toward lighting costs when the lights were installed. Torrell introduced several association members attending the meeting, including Brian Abel, Doug Velas, Jean Marie McDougall, Joanne Lytle and Regina King, who leads local United States Tennis Association (USTA) league coordination.

“We held a tournament and the board voted to give a portion of that tournament money back to the county to help defray some of those costs at Dorsey,” Torrell said when presenting the check. Association members said the payment comes from recent tournament proceeds and emphasized the group’s long-standing volunteer and fundraising role in local court maintenance and programming.

Recreation staff accepted the check and thanked the association. No formal county vote or allocation was recorded in the meeting minutes tied to the donation; the exchange was presented as a customary community partnership contribution.

The county and the association have collaborated previously on court resurfacing and youth programming, and association representatives said they will continue to support local tennis opportunities.