Below, please find a flyer describing the upcoming family friendly event at the Gilmore Car Museum. Rotarians, families, and friends of Rotary will have exclusive access to the Museum between 5:30 pm and 8 pm on Thursday, August 15th. Individual tickets are $10 and include Museum admission, hamburgers, hot dogs, custard, and ice tea/lemonade. Clubs are encouraged to enjoy the fellowship with their own membership, potential members, families and friends, and Rotarians throughout Southwest Michigan. DGE Mark Odland also promises the weather to be a perfect Summer evening.

 

Tickets can be purchased through DACdb:

 

Register Now for the Rotary Event at the Gilmore Car Museum

 

Thank you!

Our meeting for June 14th was quite unlike any meeting I have previously attended. We met at Patriarche Park for box lunches and a little bit of pickleball. Those who had not expressed an interest in learning to play pickleball gathered at the pavilion. Those who signed up to learn to play reported to the pickleball courts. Fortunately, the weather was perfect for a meeting such as this!

 

Since this editarian was in the latter group, I can’t say for sure what transpired at the pavilion. I am certain that box lunches were enjoyed and that there was conversation and laughter around the tables. I do have a bit of a summary from Sue Mills, who organinzed the meeting.

 

 

Sue Mills, Chair of the Day and one who has been very much involved in the Pickleball Project in Patriarche Park welcomed the members of the club who were not playing pickleball to the Rotary Pavilion in Patriarche Park. She indicated that the East Lansing Rotary Club had been very involved with the fundraising and the development of the pavilion several years ago. They also were instrumental in the development of the Children's Play area in the park and spearheaded major fundraising for it. Our club donated $2,500 to that project and our Club name is on the permanent plaque at the entrance to the play area. Both the EL Club and our Club each gave $5,000 grants to the Pickleball project at the South end of the park and thus became Court Sponsors with their names each on a court. Court Sponsors will also be identified on the permanent donor sign which will be placed at the entrance to the pickleball courts later this year.

 

Sue then gave a brief history of the development of pickleball in the greater Lansing area much of which can be attributed to Gary Beaudoin who was the instructor working with our Rotarians over on the courts today. Gary is the person behind the development of pickleball in the greater Lansing area starting with classes offered through Hannah Community Center in the winter of 2020. Players then moved the popular game outside in the summer by placing portable nets every morning on the courts and taping and then later painting lines on the 50-year old cracked tennis courts at the park. It was so popular, Gary, who also served on the EL Parks, Recreation & Arts Advisory(ELRA) Board suggested ELRA build permanent courts at the park as there were no permanent pickleball courts in the tri-county area. The City developed a plan for a Sports Court Complex which included a tennis court, 8 pickleball courts and a full-sized basketball court with 6 baskets. They applied for a MI Natural Resources Trust Fund grant and received $300,000 which the City needed to match.

 

The City then invited in the pickleball players to review the plans. The pickleball players indicated that the sport was growing so fast that we needed 10 courts instead of eight. We also wanted individual fencing around each court with would then require walkways with individual entrances to each court. ELRA told the pickleball players if we could raise $100,000 those items would be added to the plan. At that time the pickleball players didn't even have an organization. Within a short period of time we wrote Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws and applied for and received an IRS 501c3 designation so we were ready to begin fundraising. The organization is the Patriarche Park Pickleball Association (PPPA). The PPPA applied for an MEDC grant and if we could raise $50,000 in 60 days, it would be matched 1:1 by the MEDC. We kicked off the campaign January 1, 2022, raised over $50,000 in the two months and got the match.

 

The project was put out to bid in April of 2022 just as the effects of rising costs due to COVID were happening and bids were almost 20-25% over budget. Sue told of cuts to the project and more fundraising but ground was finally broken in August of 2022 and the Grand Opening of the courts was held in June 2023 just one year ago. Since ELRA first started working on this project pickleball courts have been built in Meridian Township, DeWitt Township, Delta Waverly and Holt to name a few. But there are still no outdoor pickleball courts in the City of Lansing.

 

The Patriarche Park Pickleball courts are great to play on and they are very busy. It has been a wonderful project in which to be involved and will be a wonderful community asset for years to come.

 

Following questions, Rotarians were invited to go to the pickleball courts to see what they had helped to build, to see how the game is played and to watch fellow Rotarians who were learning the game and having fun.

 

 

Those who were interested in playing went directly to the courts, where our boxed lunches had been thoughtfully delivered. As people finished eating, they grabbed a paddle and began just hitting the ball back and forth to get a feel for that aspect of play.

 

At approximately noon, our instructor, Gary Beaudoin, gave the shortest of introductions to the game, covering serving and scoring of the game. With that, we broke up into four groups, with Kurt Guter, Pat Hanes, Cam Gnass and Linda Lynch each assisting a group with their first pickleball games. There was still a lot of instruction during the games which was provided by Gary and his able assistants.

 

Those who came ready to play were Barb Whitney, Ben Rathbun, Cathy Andrews, Dan Aylward, Hari Kern, Heather Kim, Janet Lillie, Jeff Crippen, John Person, Julie Pingston, Linda Lynch, Pam Miklavic, Terry Terry, Todd Gute and his Rotary exchange student Sophia, and Uma Umakanthan. When other Rotarians came over to see the courts, we picked up some additional players including President Nick Heriford, Chris Swope and Bill Frysinger. (My apologies to anyone else that I may not have seen playing!)

 

The players had a lot of fun and several have expressed an interest in more playing opportunities. Thanks to Gary Beaudoin for his instruction and tips on the court; Kurt, Pat, Cam and Linda for assisting Gary; Sue for making all of the pickleball related arrangements; and Cathy Andrews for making sure we all were fed! There was no official adjournment for this meeting – at least not on the courts.

 

At the bottom of the Rotogram is a pickleball schedule at Patriarche Park.

 

Email for Linda Lynch:  linda.j.lynch@gmail.com