All-Member Meeting and Potluck

Today (October 1) was the first all-member meeting since pre-Covid times. We had a fun Round Robin to start, followed by the official meeting and then a delicious potluck. The weather cooperated and gave us plenty of sunshine for this lovely fall day. Here is a brief summary of the topics discussed:

• Pickleball Basics class: Thanks again to everyone who has participated in this during the summer. It’s been a fun addition to the club, helping newer folks to pickleball have some time to focus on learning the basic strokes. Time and date hasn’t been set yet, but we’ll be looking to set aside some time to do this indoors as well during the winter.

  • Note: Cathy got lots of requests for this to continue if possible, so there will be a class this Monday, Oct. 3 at 9 am (outdoors). Sign up on Court Reserve to let her know you’re coming!

• Indoor play:

  • We have times and dates from LPRD for our indoor play for this year. The times are now listed in Court Reserve (with “LPRD Indoor” in the name) and you can sign up for them. In past years, as the mornings have turned cooler, groups have sometimes elected to start out indoors in the mornings and then move outside once it warms up. We expect that for the next month or two there will be a mix of indoor and outdoor play.

  • There will be occasions when our “regular” times indoors get bumped by other activities at LPRD. The online schedule on Court Reserve will always be updated to show these changes, so please always double check (and sign up!) online before going there to play.

  • Flooring: due to a family tragedy, the contractor who is fixing the flooring did not make the progress expected in September. We expect the work will start back up soon, but will mean that some courts may be unavailable at times for play depending on the flooring work.

• Board Member Elections:

  • There is a proposed change to the by-laws that will be sent to the membership for approval.

    • Currently the by-laws read: “Terms of office shall be one year, from May 1st thru April 30th each year…Election of Officers will take place in the month of April of each year.”

    • Proposal will be: “Terms of office shall be one year, from Sept 1st thru Aug 30th each year…Election of Officers will take place in the month of August of each year.”

  • The reasoning for these changes is that currently the board changeover happens at a very busy time for the club (summer season, tournament preparations). With 4 new board members this year, it was a steep learning curve with little time to come up the ramp. The proposal will allow the changeover to happen at a less busy time, so that new board members have time to come up to speed and settle into the job before the busy season. If approved, this change would be effective immediately, meaning the next elections would take place in August 2023.

• Courts are paid off! We’ve mentioned this before, but still want to continue to thank everyone who helped make the courts happen, with your time, loans, and financial donations.

• Huge growth in our club — we were at 102 members in early May, now up to 171… err, 172 as I think someone joined today!

• Central Oregon Pickleball league: Following the success of the Women’s 3.5/4.0 league this summer, the league is expanding next year to have 3 divisions. Currently, our club plans to participate in all three, so consider if you will be interested in playing. The league will go from mid-May to late-July. Our team captains will be:

  • 3.5/4.0 Men: Mike Williams

  • 3.5 Women: Deb Mountjoy

  • 4.0 Women: Cathy Hundley and Ruth Neufield

• Outdoor Courts:

  • Winter court prep: Mike Patzer will be asking for some help to get the outdoor courts ready for winter. Plans include taking down 4 nets since the winters are pretty hard on them and we rarely (never?) need more than 4 when we are able to play outside in the winter. Mike’s also looking to patch some cracks around the net posts in the courts, looking for suggestions from anyone with experience in this.

  • Also, there are some new motion detecting lights up around the court for improved security, and signs added from LPRD regarding liability. There was a question about the club and its board members in cases of liability. We are a non-profit social club under LPRD, so our understanding is we are covered by their insurance.

  • There are first aid kits and cold packs in the shed in case of injury. Please use them if needed.

• Annual memberships:

  • In the past, memberships in our club were always good through the end of the year (Dec. 31), whether you joined Jan. 1 or Dec. 1 of that year.

  • Now that we have a better system for tracking this sort of thing (Court Reserve), we have made the decision to move to a rolling membership system — your annual membership ($50 per person, $100 per family) is good for one year from the day you pay. This goes into effect today (Oct. 1, 2022).

  • Everyone who is already a member will have their membership expire on Dec. 31 of this year, but whenever you renew it next year it will be good for one year from that date.

  • Court Reserve will notify you when your membership is about to expire. You can pay your membership fee online via PayPal, mail a check to our member-at-large, or pay by cash or check to any captain at the courts. These methods are outlined on our club membership page.

  • You will also still need to sign the LPRD Waiver form each year. The current one is linked at the bottom of the membership page. We’ll have to get a new one from them for 2023.

• 2023 Frontier Days Tournament Leadership:

  • Tournament Director: Cathy Hundley

  • Registration and Operations Mangers: George Shrum and Whitney Smith

  • Ref Coordinator and Tournament Consultant: Jim Price

  • Sponsorship Coordinator: Mike Patzer with Mark Hower

  • Volunteer Coordinator: Karen O’Cull

  • We noted that one of the ways we’ll be asking members to help out with the tournament will be housing refs. Offering housing will be one of the keys to getting plenty of refs for our tournament while keeping our costs down, so consider if you might have a guest room or two available June 21-25, 2023.

• La Pine Pickleball Ambassador: Mark Hower was awarded this title to recognize his efforts this summer to welcome new members to our club. Mark is at the courts almost every morning getting them ready for play and greeting anyone new to help them figure out how to best get involved in playing. Thank you Mark!

• Feedback from the members:

  • One member wanted to remind everyone that this is their club, and they should expect us to hold regular member meetings and vote on expenditures over $500. Others stated that they entrusted the board by voting for them and want the board to be empowered to make decisions; it isn’t practical to get timely voting from a large group of people. There is a balance to be struck here, and the board members are open to any feedback you might have.

  • In general, people were happy with the return to having an in-person meeting for the whole membership and there was positive feedback about the current level of communication with the club.

  • There was a request to have the bathrooms (not just port-a-potties) open when we’re playing outdoors. All captains should be able to access the key and open the bathrooms, but they also must make sure to lock them before they leave, even if there are still others playing. There was an issue this morning where the key/lock wasn’t working and the bathrooms couldn’t be opened first thing, but were opened later.

  • Jen and Rick Toso wanted to thank everyone in the club for supporting their Pickleball Planet business. They also had some special pricing on items out for sale today. After a busy summer at lots of tournaments, Jen is back in town for a while and will work with Cathy on setting aside some of the indoor court time for her to run some clinics for those interested.

  • In the past, there was a requirement for people to get rated ahead of indoor play season. Currently, there are no plans for that for this year. If you are interested in getting rated, you can go to Widgi or Pickleball Zone for CORE, Mike M. at PZ for IPTPA rating, play in tournaments to get a USAPA rating, or enter your results in DUPR.

Mark Your Calendars…

… for our next all-club potluck! We’re planning to do the next one on Sunday, Nov. 6, since we have 12 pm - 6 pm on Sundays available for our club indoors at the LPRD building. The potluck will be at 2 pm, so that people who want to play ahead of eating can play from 12 pm - 2 pm, and people who want to continue playing have plenty of time available after the potluck.

Sunriver-La Pine Rotary Club

The local rotary club recently invited our club to come and give a presentation. Mike and Cheryl Patzer and Cathy Hundley went as our representatives and told their members about the sport of pickleball in general and about our club in particular. The audience was very interested and asked lots of questions. We have some prospective new members out of the group.

The Rotary Club has given thousands of dollars for the improvement of Finley Butte Park and other areas of La Pine over the years. We are fortunate to have such great support from our neighboring communities.

Treasurer’s Report

Total funds as of 9/26/22: $ 12,345.71

• General Fund $ 7,466.25

• Tournament Fund $ 4,879.46

  There are some new expenses being submitted for reimbursement, including:

  • Purchased a club-owned pressure washer (one was borrowed from a club member in the past)

  • Pop-up canopies: To provide more shade during the tournament next year. Got some on discount at the end of the summer from Bi-Mart.

  • Chromeboooks: 2 were bought from Costco during back-to-school sale ($150 each). These will be used during the tournament for check-in desk and otherwise as needed.

Tournament Results and Upcoming Events

In September, Prineville hosted their annual tournament, and from the pictures they posted online, it looked like a lot of fun! Also, Jen Toso from our club brought home a bronze medal in the 4.5 Women’s Doubles division with her partner Carol Knapp. Congrats Jen!

Monday 3.5+ Paddle Battle Schedule

We've continued to have lots of great turnout for the 3.5+ Monday night Paddle Battles, and plan to continue to hold them as long as the weather allows. We are having to move them earlier and earlier to stay ahead of the sunset. As shown on Court Reserve, for the month of October we are planning to start at 4:30 (Oct. 3, 10, 17) and then 4:00 (Oct. 24, 31). Please pay attention to the time each week and be there and ready to start on time.

September New Members

Lance Kinsler, Darla Kennedy, Julie Carson, Cheri Martinen, Jim Gratreak

Welcome to our club — looking forward to seeing you on the courts!