5/7/2022 Good morning Pickleball Community! I hope everyone is doing well. I just thought I'd send you a few updates on the courts, mention several items pertaining to pickleball, and ask your thoughts on two items. Court Updates: Optimist Park: - I drove by there yesterday and they have the new retaining wall built, the ground leveled, and the blacktop down for the courts. I'm not sure if there is anything they have to do prior to putting the fencing back up and painting the courts, but I would guesstimate that those courts may be ready for play within three weeks. Westmont: - The last time I was there the gate latches hadn't been installed yet and I don't believe the loose fencing had been fixed. Hopefully within the next two weeks that will be taken care of. Sam Gunn did fix the gate so that it now opens outward. Prior to him fixing it, it opened inward, sometimes just randomly on its own. Thank you Sam!!! - As you know, in a previous discussion with Mark Seaman (Recreation and Sports Tourism Director for the City of Hickory), I asked if we could get some benches for inside the fence at the Westmont Courts. I was expecting the typical green benches that have the back and seat two or three people. This week they delivered two long (maybe 15' to 20' each) skinny silver benches to the Westmont courts. While they weren't what I was expecting, I believe they will actually work better than the ones you typically see at tennis courts. They will allow more people to sit down compared to the other benches and Ron Raymond made two excellent points: they don't stick out from the fence very far at all (like the other benches would have) so they don't protrude into the courts/playing area much, and if you want to lean back the fence is behind you to allow you to do that. It's very nice not to have to bring your own seat to the Westmont courts. - Mark Seaman is still working on getting wind screens for the Westmont courts. - As I believe I mentioned in my last email, there is now a portable bathroom at the Westmont courts. I know it's not ideal, but at least there is an opportunity to use the bathroom at that location. I'm thankful that Mark Seaman and the City of Hickory understood our need for at least some type of restroom at this location. - Also in regards to the Westmont courts, I just want to say how incredible it is to see how many players use those courts on a daily basis (25+ players at times). When I was trying to help convince Mark Seaman and the City of Hickory to make Westmont 6 pickleball courts instead of just 2 pickleball courts and a tennis court, at one point, for a very brief second, it did cross my mind: what if they make it 6 pickleball courts and then all the courts aren't used? What an idiot I was!!! So thankful, ecstatic, proud, excited, etc. to see how many of you use that facility on a daily basis! It just shows how incredible the growth of pickleball has been in this area over the past year and how much people love this sport! But even more important, I believe it shows how unbelievably amazing pickleball players are: so welcoming to new players to the sport, inviting new players to the sport, and being such incredible people that you want to be around them day after day, hours on end! So thank you to each of you for all you do to make pickleball such a booming success in our community!!! A big congratulations to all of you who competed in the Senior Games this past week! I don't have a list of all the winners in each division, but congrats to each of you who medaled! And thanks to everyone who participated and represented the pickleball community so well!!! Random Pieces of Information: - As someone who is currently having knee problems and hates bending over, I was looking for a way to avoid having to bend down to my pickleball bag (that I sit on the court) every time I needed to get something. So while at Walmart a couple weeks ago I went searching for something that would let me hang my pickleball bag on the fence, allowing me to get items from my bag without bending down. So for around $2.35 I bought the item in the picture, attached it to a loop on the back of my pickleball bag, and can now hang my bag on the fence wherever I play. It works incredibly well and serves two purposes: it allows me to be lazy getting items out of my bag and it keeps my bag from taking up actual court space. I'm not telling anyone to go spend your money and do the same, just thought I'd share my inexpensive way for me to be lazy - Pickleball participation has grown 39% in the US over the last two years. I would say it's grown at least 125% in Catawba County! - Reminder: if you use the code CRFoothillsPA during check out when purchasing items from PickleballCentral (whether online or over the phone) you get 5% off your order. Over the next couple of weeks the Parks, Recreation, & Sports Tourism of Hickory is going to have several Public Input Meetings, giving the public a chance to offer feedback as to what the desires of the citizens are in terms of recreational needs and amenities. The plan they are currently working on is a ten year plan taking into consideration the recreational needs of Hickory through the year 2033. While I do communicate with the Director of Recreation and Sports Tourism (Mark Seaman) often, I may still go to one of these Input Meetings so I can reemphasize the tremendous growth of pickleball in our community and express what we feel are needed facilities and amenities over the next ten years. Mr. Seaman is aware of the following desires: - Windscreens for Westmont - Permanent restrooms for Westmont - Lights at Westmont; but as I mentioned in my last email, I believe the courts at Optimist Park may be the first to receive lights...mainly because fewer courts means fewer lights, and electricity is already available at those courts (both mean lower cost for the city) - As I told Mark Seaman when they converted Westmont into 6 pickleball courts, our pickleball community is extremely thankful for everything the City of Hickory has done for us over the past year, but in the future I envision a single facility that has at least 16 pickleball courts, all with lights. The problem the city may run into with that is a finite amount of land within the city for those courts and parking. So while I mentioned this to Mark, and I'll mention it to those at the Public Meetings if I go, I plan to also find out who is in charge of Recreation for Catawba County and see if they have any plans in supporting the growth of pickleball in our area. So my questions for you are: - In the next ten years, what do you feel will be needed from the City of Hickory to help support our pickleball community? - If I go to one of the Public Meetings, do you trust me to speak on behalf of our pickleball community concerning our ten year vision? If you prefer someone else to do it, I promise, it will not bother me at all! As a teacher I can talk to 12/13 year olds all day long without a bit of anxiety, but speaking to adults is a whole different story. It's strange, when I start my emails I always envision them being relatively short...but they always turn out extremely long! My apologies!!! Thank you for all you are doing (and have done) for the pickleball community in our area! While I may have some title, you all are the true Pickleball Ambassadors in our community - you are the ones that draw people to the sport and keep them playing the sport because it's such incredible fun to be around each of you! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!!!