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Full Day at Chicken N Pickle

Posted on March 9, 2026 by Ching under Community.

I invited my Leadership Wichita classmates to a gathering at Chicken N Pickle last month for our first Leadership Wichita get together of 2026. Our class met in 2014 and, believe it or not, we are still in tough and getting together twelve years later.

Huge thanks to Chicken N Pickle for hosting our group and providing sliders and drinks for everyone. They even gave us a bunch of BOGO Sunday brunch coupons.

It was nice catching up with everyone.

We also had our first Court Side Crew social of 2026 that same day so we decided to just hang around. Court Side Social is an opportunity for Chicken N Pickle staff, ambassadors, Kids Crew, and NET-work members to get together. No one else signed up except for mom and dad so it turned into a family affair.

Huge thanks to Debbi Wright for playing with us.

We made good use of the our free court all things considered.

We have not yet set a date for the next Leadership Wichita gathering but the next Court Side Crew Social is next week, on March 16. I hate seeing courts go to waste so I am hoping for a much better turnout. Anyone want to join us?

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Dawn’s 60th Birthday

Posted on February 10, 2026 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.

We held a surprise birthday party for our dear friend Dawn Hazlewood last month at TapNPaddles. It was actually Jeanette Santo’s idea. Dawn was volunteering with Girls Growing the Game on Sunday so we decided to have a surprise pickleball party immediately following so she would already be there.

As (bad) luck would have it, we ended up with a snowstorm that weekend and events were getting canceled left and right. The 3G event was also canceled so now Dawn was not going to be there and we needed to figure out a way to get her to TapNPaddles without giving the surprise away. Janelle Lindeman invited Dawn to play pickleball from 4-6 PM (the same time as her surprise party) and, thankfully, she accepted. We were actually concerned about her saying no and then we would have to fess up and tell her about the surprise just to get her there. We joked about just kidnapping her if need be. LOL.

Anyway, it all worked out great and she was none the wiser. Almost everyone still came, despite the weather that weekend, and we had a great time celebrating our lovely friend. Check out this YouTube short for the highlights.

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A Couple of Pickleball Tourneys to End the Year

Posted on January 6, 2026 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.

I closed out the year by playing in a couple of fun pickleball tournaments at Chicken N Pickle and also helping my friends Zach Nguyen and Susie Ternes with their first Miracles and Mentors Pickleball Tournament benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Youth Horizons.

Matt Rochat and I played in the Friendsgiving Tournament as Smash Ching Pumpkins.

Bo Tolbert and I played in the Ugly Sweater Pickleball Tournament as Tolbert and Erne.

Teamed up with Zach Nguyen and Susie Ternes to host the first ever Miracles and Mentors Pickleball Tournament, which Susie ended up winning (LOL) along with her partner Jordan Sparks.

Jamie Lynch and Krysta Crawford took second. Sarah Berry and Fernando Martinez took third.

1st – Janelle Lindeman and Devin Hansen
2nd – Scott Knox and Karen Fox
3rd – Evelina Le and Justin Kongmanychanh

It was a great turnout for a first fundraising tournament and I think everyone had a great time. We may have to do this again next year.

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Halloween Pickleball at the Park

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.

Halloween fell on a Friday this year; however, since TapNPaddles closed early that day, we ended up gathering at Seneca Park, our old pickleball stomping grounds. It’s probably been almost two years since I last played at Seneca. Now that we have many indoor options, people are mostly playing inside rather than at the public parks. I really don’t know who play regularly at Seneca park anymore. The nets look dilapidated and the courts were full of debris. I think it was different when we were playing there regularly because the players would regularly sweep the courts or bring their leaf blowers and stuff. Though the courts looked largely neglected, it was still a great place to gather on Halloween night — at least until sunset because there are no court lights at Seneca Park.

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4K Members Celebration

Posted on November 7, 2025 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.

Guess what. The Wichita Pickleball Facebook group finally surpassed 4,000 members. We held an event at TapNPaddles to celebrate. Thanks to Cameron Ventling for the idea!