FIVE DAYS, FIVE GOLF COURSES
The Zeysing family lived on Bluffton Road where the Waynedale Pizza Hut now sits. Bill Zeysing was the head of the family and also coached the Fiddes Moore team in the Elmhurst Little League. In thirteen years Bill never had a losing season. The Zeysing family moved from Waynedale to Kansas City back in the 70’s and Bill continued his coaching career by coaching girl’s softball. After the first year he accumulated another 10 years of winning seasons.
Bill’s oldest son Gary was a graduate of EHS, Class of 65 and after high school he joined the Army. After his honorable discharge he ended up in Kansas City with his family. He started an Insurance agency that he continues to operate to this day.
Gary wanted to get together with some of his old Waynedale friends and he invited Errol and Darrel Dunn to join him in Florida for a golfing holiday. The twins, Errol and Darrel, used to live on the southwest corner of Church Street and Bluffton Road and both are now retired from Dana Corporation. Errol lives in Columbia City and Darrel lives in North Fort Wayne. They invited me along and in early March we set out for Tampa.
We decided to fly out of Indy early Thursday morning. We made reservations at the Airport Days Inn for a park-n-fly. The drive to Indy was uneventful until we neared Indianapolis and started looking for the Indianapolis Airport Expressway. We couldn’t find it, so we stopped and asked directions…twice. And still we could not find the expressway. We called the Days Inn and they told us the new name of the road is the Sam Jones Expressway. I do not know who Sam Jones is, but his name will be forever cursed by travelers trying to find their way to the Indianapolis Airport. In spite of the endless driving around Indy looking for the missing expressway, we were in good spirits and anxious to get to Tampa for a little fun and relaxation. Gary brought three of his friends from Kansas City and we met at the Wingate by Wyndham in north Tampa about noon Thursday, March 5. We unpacked our clothes and clubs and headed for our first round of 18 holes.
The Tampa Bay area has been experiencing drought conditions since last October and water rationing is now in place. The dry conditions have hardened the golf courses, which allows your ball to roll a long way. This can be a good thing, if you hit the ball straight, but if you happen to hit right of left, you may end up next to an Alligator in one of the many half-full ponds throughout the course. The courses have names like Heritage Harbor, Lexington Oaks, Walden Lake, and Pebble Creek and they are woven through gated communities where real estate is at a premium. Houses line both sides of the fairways and the golf paths often wind in between luxury housing which has allowed developers to maximize space. You are not just golfing on a course you’re golfing through a neighborhood.
It was great talking with Zeysing and re-hashing our formative years living in Waynedale in the 50’s and 60’s. And it was refreshing to get into some much appreciated warm weather.
Any Waynedaler’s wishing to contact Gary can Google him up at “Gary Zeysing Insurance”
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