The Journey has Been Long and Fruitful

                                                                         Photo courtesy of Sue Hepler

 With all the equipment in motion, you could barely hear a sound, the voice of the doubting Thomas has been silenced.

A Dream Being Fulfilled beyond Our Expectations



As the sole pickleball representative, I arrived at the courts at around 11:30 PM, the office called to advise that the work would be underway around midnight and that I was invited to the site. Sue and Don Hepler arrived shortly thereafter with camera and video in hand.  I wished I could have shared this moment, with some of our early pickleball players who worked tirelessly to grow the sport and to convince Palm Creek that this sport was the future.  Those far more deserving to be there than me.  The groundwork was laid long before many of you reading this even knew of Palm Creek Pickleball.

Just before my time in 2002 the club was formed and the first set of 4 courts "facing the wrong way" sprung into action.  Some of these members are still at Palm Creek.  Wayne Kennedy and others had Ken Reese spend an unquantifiable number of hours drawing blue prints as how to add new courts, which included moving a park model and many other amenities.  Palm Creek Management could endure the "noise makers" no longer and after a lot of club member diligence gave us courts 5-8 and turned courts 1-4 to face in the right direction.  By comparison courts 9-12 came with little effort.  The commitment of many club members poured the foundation. Nancy Brentano and Dick Walker by training new players, the warm welcome from Wayne and Sharron Kennedy to new players at the courts, Mary Duncan always looking to create "fun" at the courts and at the happy hours, Ted Duncan starting the " Shoot Out", Tom and Jeanne Gearhart endless of hours of organizing and assisting, bringing Round Robin sheets up to the office and saying "see".

We thank every club officer, every round robin captain, every person who helped maintain and improve our courts, every member who welcomed and trained new players every volunteer who in some way contributed to making Palm Creek Pickleball a premier destination.   

We thank Jim Dawson and Palm Creek Management and Ownership who has turned a dream into a reality.  Jim hired the best team possible and has personally supervised every step of the process.  Jim reviewed "every" step with us and answered every question last night, as we stood amid the bugs drawn to lights and the bats swooping down for dinner.

Jim advised that we had "a perfect night for concrete". The humidity was high and the wind was still.  We witnessed the precision of 13 cement trucks enter and leave to pour approximatley 143 yards of cement (approzimately 107 tons), leveled by a single "Screed" (as shown in picture) in a single night with a crew of 8 men.  

Don and Sue Hepler have documented every step of the entire process and also update regularly on their Blog current events at Palm Creek

If you are unfamilar with this Blog, now is the perfect time to take alook and see all the work in progress.

Palm Creek Resident Blog