MARCIA AND PETER WAHLMAN
DAVIS WAHLMAN AND TEDDY VALLOS
Peter, who works for H.D. Fowler Company, also recalls the various ways in which he used the Club throughout the years. “It was a big deal when it opened. There wasn’t an athletic club on the Eastside. A lot of our friends we grew up with joined, and it was a big deal,” he says. “I remember the father-daughter dances and being here with the family on weekends; it’s a great meeting place. I also used to entertain clients because I’m in sales. We’d play racquetball or have some drinks and a bite to eat. It’s been a big part of our lives.” Three of the six children in the Wahlman brood have since followed in their parents’ footsteps and maintained a membership. Daughter Lindsey Vallos, age 31, and her husband Steve, age 31, bounced around from state to state throughout the years to keep up with Steve’s job as a professional football player, but Lindsey says she has always kept up her membership and visited as often as possible. Now that Steve is retired in Seattle and they have
32 | august 2015 reflections
three kids of their own (Teddy, 4, Lucy, 3, and Gigi, 7 months), Lindsey says she loves passing down the same memories she has of summer tennis camps, listening for frogs at the bottom of the pool during swim lessons, going to social events and occasionally indulging in a milkshake from Splash. “We embody a lot of the things the Bellevue Club promotes. We’ve even used the hotel to get away. And the spa is relaxing. The kids do ballet and turbo tots. I really feel like we’re good at dabbling in a little of everything,” Lindsey says. Steve, who is currently enjoying some time off to “just be a dad right now,” says promoting health and wellness with his family is extremely important to him. “The kids make friends, and that’s great too. We’ve really found a community here,” he says. He also enjoys defending his undefeated record in racquetball against both his brothersin-law Evan and Davis. “I guess I need to find some stiffer competition,” he jokes.