Jinny and Howard Longee of Pleasant Hill sit adjacent to the coffee table display case that Howard designed and constructed to house the impressive collection of many of the medals Jinny has won in senior table-tennis matches over the years.
Pleasant HillRamblings
Jean Clark
Chroniclecontributor
Jinny andHoward Longee are prime examples of their philosophy of keeping physicallyactive in everyone’s senioryears. Although Jinny didn’t enter competitivetournaments until she herself was older, she had played table tennis (pingpongto some) for fun since she was old enough to hold a paddle. Before playingcompetively, she took lessons and foundshe had to unlearn some of her habits inorder to follow the legal rules. She finds it such a good sport to keep acutementally and physically. Hand-eye coordination is so important in table tennis.Howard and Jinny have introduced PleasantHill neighbors to the game ofPickleball. Pickleball is a sport that is a combination of tennis, badmintonand pingpong on acourt smaller than a tennis court using a solid paddle and awhiffle ball. It is moderately strenuous but not as much astennis. They sharethe Uplands’ tennis court with the Tennis Club scheduling different times.
For thelast 17 years Jinny competed in the Huntsman World Senior Games held in St.George, Utah, and last yearwon the gold medal in women’s singles, doubles, andmixed doubles. This summer Jinny came home with a gold and twobronze medals inmixed doubles, doubles and singles table tennis from the National SeniorOlympics held in Birmingham,AL. These Olympics are held on odd years indifferent places around the country. Seniors qualify for the different eventsonthe even years. Her mixed doubles’ partner was Dwain Kitchel from Knoxville.She also won gold medals in singles andmixed doubles at the recent TennesseeSenior Olympics in Franklin, TN. To keep her skills sharp she plays with agroupfrom Kingston, at the Fair Park Senior Center in Crossville, and withfriends in Pleasant Hill.
The Longeescame to Pleasant Hill from the foothills southwest of Denver, CO; which is at anelevation of 7300feet. The Cumberland Plateau averages 2000 feet, so they havecome down to live among us. For four years they werefulltime RVers and still planon spending winters in a RV park in Arizona. Before traveling the tabletennis tournamentcircuit, Jinny raised three children, was a social worker,office manager, and church organist. Howard has three childrenand was anelectrical engineer who worked in the aerospace industry and in businessmanagement, including a hybridvehicle start-up company in California. Neitherare strangers to Tennessee. Jinny attended Maryville College to complete adegree in social work. Howard worked for eight years in Oak Ridge.
Theyare enjoying their home on Evergreen Place on the shore of Lake Laura inPleasant Hill. Howard has a well-equipped professional woodworking shop set upin his new basement workshop. Over the years he has made severalmuseum-qualitypieces for their home.They are bothrenewing their skills at the bridge table with the twice-monthlyCommunityBridge group and like to play cribbage. As advocates of keeping activephysically and mentally, they fit in wellin Pleasant Hill becoming involved inthe many pursuits available here.