Wichita Pickleball Patches
Posted on March 15, 2021 by Ching under Community.
As you know Gregg Smith has been the primary fundraiser for the “Light Up Edgemoor” effort. He has been selling t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, and even hosted benefit tournaments with the sole purpose of raising money for lights at the park. This year he came up with the idea of selling “Wichita Pickleball” patches for $5 each. They are fabulous patches and well-made. The only complaint I’ve received is they are sew-on rather than iron-on.
I’ve sold a few of these for Gregg to help with the fundraising effort. I paid $50 for 10 patches and Gregg gave me one for free — to keep or giveaway to a junior pickleball player or someone else deserving. I decided to keep my free one and put it on my Vulcan tour bag so I can promote Wichita Pickleball everywhere I go.
I couldn’t figure out how to iron it on so I decided to sew it on myself. Not bad for someone with limited sewing skills, right? It really wasn’t that hard so I don’t know what people are complaining about. I think it was just an easy excuse to not buy one. However, I did get a roll of iron-on patch adhesive so I could give some free to those who have purchased patches but don’t want to sew them on.
Brian used the iron-on patch adhesive to jazz up his new travel backpack but the corners were loose so he had me sew the corners down for him. Maybe the iron-on method is not the best way to go? LOL.
Gregg is also selling a sticker version of this same design for those who would rather not sew or iron anything. He’s always coming up with with these fundraising ideas. I often get asked how much money is needed and how much money has been raised so far and I really have no idea. I just help support the cause by buying whatever it is that they’re selling or even helping sell things sometimes. Gregg has all of the details. After at least three years of solid fundraising, I have to believe we are getting close. I hope this is the year that we finally get lights!
You can help us speed up the fundraising effort by sending a donation to the “Light Up Edgemoor” effort directly to the city of Wichita. Here’s the check needs to be made out to and the mailing address for which to send it. Please remember to write “Light Up Edgemoor” in the check’s memo field so they know that your donation is specifically for this purpose.
The Wichita Parks Foundation
PO BOX 3439
Wichita, KS 67201
Thank you to everyone who has bought something, made a donation, helped sell things, supported the tournaments by playing or volunteering, or contributed in some way. You’re making a difference and helping us get closer to our goal. Next time I see Gregg, I will be sure to ask for an update.
Until then, let’s keep playing. See you on the courts! GNG.
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Dinner at Oak & Pie
Posted on March 12, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Here are some pictures from our last dinner at Oak & Pie.
Meatballs and Oink Baby pie are our usual there.
I had the drink of the week – Mermaid Mimosa – because I always like to try the new drinks they come up with.
This strawberry shortcake dessert tasted better than it looked.
That’s all for now. Until next time. GNG.
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Women’s League at Nahola
Posted on March 11, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies.
The women’s league at Nahola started last weekend. This is only my third league ever at Nahola and my second time with this specific one. I was really bummed last month that I was out of town for the league tournament because I felt pretty good about the progress I’d made. I had a rough first week and worse final week but win-loss rate was pretty good overall.
I felt really optimistic about the tournament. It was unfortunate that I was at the PPA Arizona tournament and wasn’t in town to play in it.
This time around I’ll miss one of the regular weeks but will be in town for the league tournament which is on April 17. I’m really excited because, even though there is some tough competition in this league, I feel good about my odds of winning. The main thing will be to get teamed up with a good partner and the way to do that is to have an excellent win-loss record.
Here’s the sheet from the first week. I’m off to a better start this time than the last time. In the previous session, I had more losses than wins that first week. But it was my first time playing in this league and there were women in the league who I’d never met or played with before. This time around, I know everyone playing and I know what to expect a little better.
I was really proud of my performance on this first day. I won four out of my five games. And on the only game that I lost, we lost 12-10, so it wasn’t a blow out. We even had some match point opportunities. For Melissa Burgess and I to get 10 points against two higher level players (Greta Siemens and Pam Palmer), who were certain to win 99% of the time, was one of the highlights of the weekend for me.
Here’s a pic of some of the girls warming up. On the far end you have Karin Koch, Erica Lopez, and Lesli Toubassi; and on the near court are Tricia Every, Melissa Burgess, and Teri Farha.
It was a beautiful day and Erica and I had somewhat coordinated outfits so we had to take a picture. Several people took advantage of the perfect weather to play outside at Seneca Park. Jenny (Cole) and Greta actually went over there to play after we were done with our Nahola league.
As for me, I had to go a VASA group fitness team meeting at Fuzzy’s after league and then I had to fill in for my friend Brooke with Debbie’s mixed group at Chicken N Pickle from 3-5 PM. After my CNP game, I stopped by Seneca Park and found a few people still there including the guy visiting from Joplin (Brandon Funk). I got to play one game with them.
It’s been a while since I had the opportunity to play pickleball at three different locations in one day. Spending an entire day (besides teaching my Aqua Zumba class in the morning) playing pickleball is definitely my definition of a great day!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Until next time. GNG.
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Buy Us Some Coffee
Posted on March 10, 2021 by Ching under Blog, Community.
I’m experimenting with a new service called Buy Me a Coffee as a way to get a little bit of revenue from the blog. As you know, we kind of phased out our weekly coffee chats over a year ago when I really started getting into pickleball because we no longer had time to devote to it. Well, we are thinking of bringing it back for a limited audience. I’m still trying to figure out the logistics but I’m thinking that starting a BMC coffee club would be a step in this direction. Once we know how many people are looking for this content, then we can get to work on it.
We will also start posting members-only content (blogs and pictures) on our BMC page so you may start seeing fewer posts here and on social as we move our activity to the new platform. We always welcome your feedback so let us know if you have suggestions or ideas. Stay tuned because changes are coming.
Until then, you may click on the little coffee cup in the corner of the “Give us some love” button on the right. GNG.
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The Pickleball Librarian Visits Wichita
Posted on March 9, 2021 by Ching under Hobbies.
I finally had the opportunity to meet one of the famous pickleball personalities I’ve been following on social media. Andrew Evans, aka the Pickleball Librarian, and his friend Colleen Mendoza came to visit Wichita on his birthday weekend. Chicken N Pickle was completely booked that day but I was able to get us (Andrew, Colleen, and I) a couple of hours of court time at Riverside and then scheduled open play at Seneca Park immediately after.
I invited Dave New to be my mixed partner that day since we are playing together in the Chicken N Pickle mixed competitive league this session. We played several games (best 2 out of 3 games to 11 is my preferred format) and I got to play at least twice with Dave, Andrew, and Colleen.
After mixed at Riverside, Andrew, Colleen, and I went to Seneca Park for open play. I was amazed at how many people came out considering how windy it was that day. I think we had enough players for three courts and some spares.
It was great to finally meet the famed Pickleball Librarian and we had a lot of fun playing. I look forward to playing with him again on his next visit.
Here’s a video we made that day about Playtime Scheduler. As you can tell, it was very windy that day!
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