The annual Cherry Bowl volleyball tournament took place in Cherry Grove, at the court behind the Grove Hotel and abutting the defunct Monster/Bay Leaf/Tides, on August 1 and, for the first time in recent memory, the Grovettes, the Grove team, led by Captain Sue Panzer, lost to the Copettes, the Suffolk County Police Team. The afternoon was filled with what Sal Piro, calling the games, called “nail-biters,” but final scores were, in game one, with Cherry Queen Lavinia Draper throwing out the ceremonial first ball, Copettes 25, Grovettes 7; in game two, when the Grove rallied, Grovettes 25, Copettes 18; and in the tie-breaking third game, Copettes 21, Grovettes 15. When the score in the deciding game reached 20 to 14, the Cherry Tarts, the cheerleaders, staged a brief sit-down strike on the Copettes’ side of the net.
Veterans of the first games, in 1984, and still participating, were flag bearer Paul Jablonski, leading the opening parade, and Grovette Mark Atten. Doreen Rallo served as referee and Denise Harbin was the scorekeeper. Porsche inaugurated the afternoon with the “Star Spangled Banner,” assisted by DJ Chuck McTague, and sang “Oh, Mickey” between the first and second games, as the Cherry Tarts assembled into a pyramid, with Lavinia at the top. The Suffolk County Police Emerald Society Pipes & Drums corps played “God Bless America,” “Over Here,” “When the Saints Go Marching In,” and “Amazing Grace” between the second and third games, as the Suffolk Police helicopter buzzed overhead.