Highland Lakes Pickleball

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Highland Lakes Pickleball Picnic 4-30-2013

Yesterday, we held our annual Pickleball picnic before all the snow birds left for up North. We had a great group of people who came to enjoy the food as well as the friendship and we also lucked out on the weather. It was a beautiful day! In the photo below is Ron Eversole with his wife Garnet. Ron is now the new chairman for the Pickleball group. He is a wonderful guy and I'm sure he will do a wonderful job as chairman of the Pickleball group. Congratulations, Ron! The group picture is at the end of this post.

Meet our new Chairman Ron Eversole with his wife Garnet!

Hey, can I have another burger?

Oh, Oh, Irene has her camera again.

Ron, great job coordinating the picnic!

Girls, were taking a group picture! C'mon down!

Drink up Marvin!

This is the chatting table.

Do we have any Decaf coffee?

Bob must be gone to get desserts.

Dig in, guys.

Al, we don't give out doggie bags here.

Hey, is this the garbage barrel were suppose to use?

I just love picnics.

Did anyone kiss the cook?

How are those burgers coming, Manny?

This all looks so good!

Yes, I'm looking for the dessert.

Meeting new people.

Socializing with friends.

Billie Bob - Billy Bob or is it Billy "Bob"?

Harry's waiting on those burgers.

Burgers are ready!

She just loves to smile.

Burgers & Dogs - Hmm good.

Now folks gather around.

So nice to see Gerry & Anita at the picnic.

Well, I didn't catch Dyan with her mouth full of food.

But, I did catch these guys.

I'm waiting for Hugh to arrive.

Lot's of good food.

We had quite a big crowd at the picnic.

Mabel & Dick, we are glad to have them join us at the picnic.

Group Picture of all who attended the Pickleball Picnic om April 30, 2013

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Good Afternoon,

I thought you guys would be interested in this email I received from Pickle-ball Inc's. This is the company that I purchase our Pickleballs from and it looks like they have a new paddle coming out. They told me I could put it out on our Blog to inform players of what's new at Pickle-ball Inc.

I hope you’re enjoying your week. First and foremost, I want to sincerely THANK YOU for your continued support of Pickle-ball® as a sport and particularly Pickle-ball® Inc. as a brand! As the Reseller Representative it is my honor to inform you first about Pickle-ball® Inc.’s newest paddle the ‘LEGACY’. Our team here at Pickle-ball® Inc. couldn’t be more excited about the newest addition to our product line!

Design:

· All paddle faces are yellow – Choose from 4 colors of edge guard and artwork (Blue, Red, Green and Black)

· The island shown on the paddle is the outline of Bainbridge Island (WA) where we invented Pickle-ball in 1965.

· The star on the island indicates the location of the very first Pickle-ball® court ever made and it is a court that Pickle-ball® Inc. still owns to this day.

Material:

· Proprietary paddle material contracted, designed and built specifically for Pickle-ball® Inc. (fiberglass faces with the traditional honeycomb core)

· New oversized shape is our largest hitting surface ever – larger than Champion

· New shape is specifically designed to create a more balanced paddle that reduces fatigue for longer play

· Better balance, increases paddle speed and decreases reaction time to oncoming shots

· New ‘featherweight’ edge guard reduces perimeter weight while still protecting paddle corners

· New ‘contour cap’ is tapered and shaped to reduce grip tension for longer play

· New handle profile is contoured and blended for a more natural grip

· Comes with Gamma cushion grip

· Weight 7.5z – 8.2z (Red, Green, Black)

· Weight 7.8z – 8.5z (Blue only)

· PN’s:

1. Black – P1400LCYBK

2. Blue – P1400LCYBU

3. Green – P1400LCYGN

4. Red – P1400LCYRD

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Highland Lakes Inter-Community Play has a strong turnout. .

Highland Lakes Pickleball has just finished it's second week of Inter-Community play with a great turnout from Royal Highlands, Pennbrooke Fairways, Spanish Springs, Plantation, Hawthorne, Legacy & and Water Oaks. This has been a fun time for everyone involved. We get to meet new Pickleball players who play at different levels of the game and this has proven to be very challenging for everyone involved and we all have fun playing the game of Pickleball.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of seeing Doug Benedict again, grandson of Ed & Carolyn Stein from Hawthorne. He visits with his Grandparents every year at Hawthorne. Doug loves to play Pickleball and joins us in our Inter-Community play when he is here. He wants to get all the Pickleball play he can possibly get during his vacation. He is a very good player and flies around that court and he rotates in just like everyone else. Welcome Doug! Below are some pictures of Doug.

Pennbrooke Fairways

Royal Highlands

Plantation

Hawthorne - "Doug with his grandmother".

The Serve

The follow through

The Return

I Love this game

Friday, June 8, 2012

June 1st was the start of Pickleball's Inter-Community Play at Highland Lakes

Highland Lakes Pickleball has started their Inter-Community Play with 7 different communities on June 1, 2012. The communities are Hawthorne, Legacy, Pennbrooke, Plantation, Royal Highlands, Spanish Village and Water Oaks. We have finished our first week and we had a great turnout. We had 10 to 16 Pickleball players from these communities come to join us in some fun games on each given day. We have some established Pickleball communities joining us and we also have two communities who do not have access to play Pickleball at their community. We welcomed Royal Highlands and Spanish Village to take part in our Inter-Community play for the summer months. With Inter-Community play we get to meet some nice people from different communities and have fun playing Pickleball.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Highland Lakes Pickleball Outing 4-23-2012

Here it is nearly the end of April and we are finally having our Pickleball Picnic. We normally have it at the end of March and the weather is usually very nice and warm, but this year we had it nearly at the end of April and the weather was a little chilly. We had a sunny day but a little breezy, quite unusual for the end of April. We would like to Thank everyone who helped by bringing a dish to the picnic and those who helped by supplying food for the picnic. Thank You to Cal for helping us cook on the grill. Thank You Ruthanne for helping to orgagnize the tables and all of you who came by to help us set up and those who helped us put everything away. We had a great crowd with lots of good food and lots of fun with our friends. Thank You Irene for taking the pictures as you can see they came out great. It was nice to have Bob Cuenin with us this year because he's usually in Costa Rica at this time of the year. A big Welcome for Karen Orman who came by with her husband Bob to be with her friends and enjoy some of the food. It was so nice to see her there because she has been hospitalized for many weeks and we are all glad she is finally back home. A Welcome to Cindi's friend "Wayne" who was able to join us this year. It was nice to see Heidi, Ryan & Jason. Heidi is visiting her parents Cal & Irene Blenis with her two sons Ryan and Jason and we were glad they could join us at the picnic.

PICKLEBALL CODE OF ETHICS

Every person involved in pickleball as a participant, official, volunteer, representative of the USAPA or spectator pledges as follows:
I will not engage in unsportsmanlike conduct or encourage others to do so. I will not engage in any behavior that would endanger the health, safety or well being of others. I will not engage in the use of profanity. I will treat others with respect. I will exhibit fairness and honesty in my dealings with others. I will not flaunt my position. I will not use USAPA records or materials for personal gain. I will observe the Golden Rule of doing unto others as I would have them do unto me. The above Code applies in all situations that relate directly or indirectly to pickleball play.

About Pickleball

Whether you have terrible hand-eye coordination or are a racquet sport pro, you will have fun playing pickleball.If you are a novice: The net is set at 34", lower than tennis, and the paddles we play with are solid (composite, graphite, or wood). It is easier to hit the ball where you want it to go in pickleball. We play with a 3" plastic ball similar to a wiffle ball.If you play any sports: You can learn pickleball in less than 5 minutes and start having great rallies, good exercise, and a lot of fun.If you are a tennis player: Pickleball is faster and more fun than tennis. The rallies are longer than in tennis. It can even help your tennis game, especially at the net. The strokes are the same as tennis.

The History of Highland Lakes Pickleball Group

It has already been written about how Pickleball was invented by a U.S. Congressman from Oregon but nothing has been written how it started here at Highland Lakes.
It was introduced by George Hastings around 1993. He posted an ad in our small newsletter asking for people to come out and see what it was all about. As I recall myself and my wife Marie Falcon and Kathy Hart showed up. At that time we only had two courts with thin black lines that you could hardly see from the other end of the court. In time we were able to get better outline courts and were able to increase the courts to four. Through "word of mouth" and advertising we had full courts with as many as eight to ten people waiting to play. We devised a plan of "musical chairs" for people to move up in line to play. In time George Hastings moved back up north and others had to take up the banner of keeping Pickleball going. Our equipment at first was not great. Small thin poles to hold up a flimsy net. Through meetings with the Board of Directors and Reps of Tennis players (since they had an inside court) we were able to get the equipment that we have today. We can write about Pickleball but until you come out and see what it's all about and play it, you won't know just how much fun it is. Come on what are you waiting for?
Joe Falcon