 A Message From Our President  Hello all, How about that sunshine? What a nice few weeks we’ve had for pickleball. I hope you have been able to get out and hit the ball while enjoying the warmer spring weather.The Board meeting this month was productive. Here are the highlights of what PTPC is up to. ● Lynn Pierle reported to the board as chair of the strategic planning committee. The committee (made up of Eric Seder, Susan Green, Lynn and me) met six times to prioritize our goals as a club and to write a draft of what we propose for the future of our club. Board members suggested a few changes to the draft and at our next month’s board meeting we will finalize the plan and most likely vote to adopt it. Once it is adopted, you will be able to read it online at our website. If you want more information about the plan, please contact one of the committee members. ● Jim Geren, our membership chair, reported that we have 5 new members. Our board members came up with an idea to have a list of volunteers available to help the new members get started and to welcome them to our club. Please see Jim Geren’s notice in this newsletter to sign up. ● Eric Seder, our facilities chair, reported that Jefferson County Parks and Rec is moving along with the planning for the 2 new pickleball courts at the Courthouse. We hope they will have them completed for play this summer. ● Jim Dow, our court-ops chair, reported that he replaced the lock on the high school storage box and that the old code will work to open it. Also, Jim repaired one of our torn nets. The board works hard to keep our club going. Don’t forget to thank our board and committee members for the work that they do to maintain our sites and equipment, and for all the effort they put into planning for the future of our club. I am heading to Palm Desert this week to participate in a 2 day clinic put on by Tyson McGuffin.I will let you know how it goes and I will write a short review in next month’s letter. There are so many new camps opening up right now. If you are interested in more information about some of the camps to choose from, I would be happy to talk with you about the camps that I have researched. Tip of the month- When in trouble, buy yourself some time with a dink. I hope you find yourself out in the sunshine playing pickleball. Mary  Beginning Pickleball Instruction: Volunteer teachers and new players We are looking for PTPC volunteers to introduce interested members who have little or no experience playing pickleball. The most commonly asked question by new members is “How do I get started?” As chair of the membership committee I hope to maintain a list of interested volunteers to match with 2-3 new pickleballers on an off-and-on basis. Volunteer teachers and new players who are interested, please shoot me an email with your request, time preferences and a short note explaining your pickleball and other racquet sport experience. Thank you, Jim Geren Membership Chair jtgeren@gmail.com  A refresher to us all who have already seen this and to those who have not, enjoy! The history of how the game of pickleball was invented with Co-Founder Barney McCallum. Click here  Top 10 beginner pickleball mistakes that can be fixed. click here  Port Townsend Pickleball Ambassador Lynn Pierle Lynn Pierle has been the Port Townsend Pickleball Ambassador since May, 2019. So what does that mean? What does a pickleball ambassador do? Ambassadors are affiliated with the national organization of pickleball, USA Pickleball, and “are volunteers who have pledged to promote the sport of pickleball and the USA Pickleball in the local area that they represent,” according to the USA Pickleball website. Basically they work with communities to introduce and grow the sport of pickleball. When Lynn first applied to be the Ambassador, she was asked to explain what she hoped to accomplish. First and foremost, she saw the need to organize the current pickleball players in the area into a formal club. The club, she thought, would galvanize the players to support common goals, like increasing the number of places to play pickleball. It would present a unified force for negotiating with public entities, like city and county governments, and private non-profits. Within a couple of months, in the summer of 2019, Port Townsend Pickleball Club was established and received its non-profit status as a 501c3. Lynn remembers its germination, a breakfast meeting at a local restaurant with now President Mary Critchlow and District Ambassador Kathy Thomas. A Steering Committee was formed, and soon after, it morphed into a Founding Board of Directors, which manages the Club and its activities. The membership has grown into more than 100, in spite of the pandemic. Initially, Lynn served as the Board secretary because there was a need there. In 2020, she stepped aside as an officer but remains on the Board as Ambassador and serves in an advisory, non-voting role. The work of the Board is still just beginning as the pandemic has slowed the Club’s operations, and Lynn looks forward to the Club’s continuing efforts to grow pickleball in the county. Lynn sees her job now as helping where needed. She recently headed a committee to develop a Strategic Plan for the Club which she hopes will be approved by the Board next month. She maintains her close ties to the Club, for as she views it, “The Club’s goals are also my goals as Ambassador.” Most pickleball folks don’t even know that there is a local Ambassador in Port Townsend and East Jefferson County. In addition to offering organizational support to PTPC, Lynn brings mediation and facilitation skills to the table. She has been a volunteer with the Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center as a mediator since 2007. She is happy to offer her help in resolving conflicts in the community. “Fortunately,” she said, “I haven’t seen much need for this among the picklers. They’re a pretty agreeable bunch.” Click here to read Lynn's bio  Are you unsure how to rate yourself? Tyler Loong helps break it down on the Pickleball Skill Ratings Meanings. Click here for more understanding.  Ready for fun and adventure? Enter the Pacific Northwest Regional Championships presented by Selkirk. Registration Opens: 04/15/21 Closed: 06/16/21 Click here for more info.   Quote: "Age is no barrier. It's a limitation you put on your mind." - Jackie Joyner - Kersee If you have any suggestions for what you would like to see in our monthly newsletter, or if you have some fun photos of you and your friends playing pickleball you would like to share, please send an email along with your photo to ptpickleball@gmail.com  To keep up with our current news and playing times, please visit our website at www.ptpickleball.com Follow us on Facebook
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