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Chesterfield Pickleball News
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September marks just the beginning of some great fall pickleball opportunities. In this issue of our newsletter:
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Labor Day Celebration – Rockwood
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Member of the Month – Joan Shumaker
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Honoring the Namesakes of Our Parks - R. Garland Dodd
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Planning your Play During League Season
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Shout Out to Parks Managers
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Labor Day Celebration – Rockwood
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Come join us for the annual PCCC Labor Day gathering at the Scott Pickleball Center in Rockwood Park. The socializing and rotational play start at 8 AM Monday September 2. This is a great time to mix with PCCC players you may not yet have met and share a string of games. Visit the snack table, and optionally bring along a treat if you’d like. Once the courts fill up we often scale back the winning score to 9…or 7…to provide everyone with lots of opportunity to play and meet others. See you there!
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Survey on Court Use – Please participate
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Pickleball players love the game, but may despair the wait at popular court times. As more and more residents discover the fun, fitness and fraternity of local pickleball we find that courts aren’t always available.
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PCCC wants to hear from YOU in regards to your thoughts/feelings about current court availability and interest in new courts for future play.
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Can you please devote 3 minutes to completing the survey that can be accessed through this link, and let your voice be heard? PICKLEBALL SURVEY. We appreciate it.
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A QR Code will be posted at the courts for the convenience of non-Club members who do not get this newsletter. Please encourage them to take 3 minutes to complete it.
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Joan Shumaker – Member of the Month
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Let’s hear it for Joan Shumaker, our PCCC September Member of the Month! There’s no limit to the time and dedication Joan has devoted to Chesterfield Pickleball over the years – welcoming new players, keeping things organized, and mediating any issues that arise. A fine player herself (with a wicked lob!) Joan currently devotes hours each week as court ambassador at Harry Daniel (Ironbridge).
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Joan was also an early league coordinator for PCCC, along with her friend, Frankie Giles, creating a great experience for both the Women’s Advanced Beginner/Intermediate and a Mixed League at Scott Pickleball Center/ Rockwood and CTC-Hull. Their leagues always included refreshments often provided by Joan, as well as some of her volunteers. She is a great organizer.
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In addition to all that, Joan and Frankie resurrected pickleball at Bon Air United Methodist Church a number of years ago. At that time it was sponsored by Chesterfield County. Because of their efforts, they were able to form a deep relationship with the church administration and parlay that group it into a very successful independent group of pickleball players. They offer special times for various levels of players, some instruction, and lots of fun rotational open play opportunities.
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It’s Joan’s warm smile and friendly welcome to players new to the courts that captures the spirit of PCCC participation. At Harry Daniel, she fosters a fun sense of community with her recognition of holidays and birthdays, and keeps an eye on court conditions and first aid preparation to keep players safe.
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We are so grateful for caring volunteers like Joan who keep pickleball in Chesterfield a positive experience!
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A vehicle break in occurred at Harry Daniel Park recently. This is cause to remind players at all parks to lock their vehicles and leave valuables at home or take them with you to the court. A camera has recently been installed at Rockwood and perhaps Parks and Rec will consider that for our other parks but there is no better security than an ounce or two of prevention.
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Honoring the Namesakes of Our Parks - R. Garland Dodd
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Our thanks to Holly Angel, Executive Assistant in County Administration for providing this information. Many of you may remember her as our wonderful Admin. Assistant to the Director of Parks and Rec and our “go to person” for many years.
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Some of Chesterfield’s newest outdoor pickleball courts are located at R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks. Located at 201 Enon Church Road in Chester, Dodd offers 8 outdoor courts with lights.
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This rich community park was renamed to honor R. Garland Dodd in July, 2000 for his many years of service to the County. Mr. Dodd served as the Chairman and Board Member of the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors. He was instrumental in the establishment of Historic Henricus Park and actively involved in the initial stages of construction of Route 288. Additional highlights of his many years of service include guiding the development of the County and School’s centralized computer system and construction of key county buildings including five fire houses and the Courts building.
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Dodd Park has historical significance, as the land was the southern end of the Union position during the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. History buffs will enjoy this video about the park emphasizing the Bermuda Hundred and highlighting the fortifications today. Dodd Park features a system of trails which includes a floating boardwalk through a freshwater tidal marsh.
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Planning your Play During League Season
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To get on the courts during the Autumn league season of Sept – Oct, always check the PCCC calendar first. There are limited open courts during league play at every park, but you may want to adjust which location you visit to find the most open. Of course the most courts will be available at locations where leagues are not scheduled. Other options include:
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Schedule your play before or after leagues play. Most evening leagues run 6:00 - 9:00 pm. There are always at least 2 courts open at CTC and 1 court at each of the other locations during reserved league time. Also check our Facebook page to see what additional courts have become available that evening. The league coordinators will post this information if they know it ahead of time
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Always check the Calendar so you won't be disappointed if you arrive and the courts are not all available. The PCCC calendar is on our website, http://chesterfieldpickleball.club, on Facebook at Chesterfield Pickleball Group, and Chesterfield.gov. Paper copies are posted at the CTC and HD kiosks.
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Shout Out to Chesterfield Parks Managers!
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In closing, I would just like to make a shout out to the Parks Managers for Chesterfield County Parks and Rec. We had two issues which interfered with playing that were reported to them last Monday morning (different parks.). They promptly fixed one and began working on the other. The men's room urinal is still not working properly at RW (it leaks when you flush it) but we are trying to get that fixed, too. So give it up for Chesterfield Parks and Rec!
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