Proposed Pickleball Courts
Below is Mike Poellet’s rendering of what the proposed courts would look like.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the Pickleball Board at vgcc-pickleball-board@googlegroups.com.
Hello from our new President!
On Sunday evening April 5th, we quietly transitioned to our 2020/2021 pickleball year.
I was hoping to have a bigger event, but the San Jose Symphony was Dr y sequestered, and the fireworks were canceled because of the rain.
Our club is special. We’re going to have a great year.
I’m very grateful to serve with a super team of our members who have volunteered to serve on the board, and/or as committee chairpersons.
Construction of our new courts are going to be delayed along with the rest of our lives. We’ll keep you informed as to the progress of events to obtain approval to construct the courts.
My goals for the year are simple:
Continue to support the fundraising and publicity activities related to the construction of the new courts
Provide a smooth transition for play on the new courts
Provide a welcoming, friendly atmosphere for our players, especially for our new players.
Offer a variety of tournament and social opportunities for our members
Provide instruction and assistance for new players in our sport.
There is no way I can adequately express my appreciation for our members who made the club such a great success last year. Larry Martinson in his message thanked the key players who made last year such a great success. I can only second his praise.
I want to again recognize and thank Larry Martinson for his outstanding year, and of course, we would all be lost without Anahid’s
support and assistance.
Larry Martinson was an outstanding president. He was the right man for the job at the right time.
Stay safe. Be healthy. Say Hi as we pass on our daily walks.
Bill Pomeranz
Welcome to the New Club Officers!
ELECTED OFFICERS
President Bill Pomeranz
1st Vice President Terry Holmquist
2nd VP and Secretary Anahid Gregg
Treasurer Betty Olsen
Tournament Director Sheryl Ruth
Social Director Cheryl Heusser
CHAIRPERSONS
IT/Web David Cook
Publicity Linda Eige
Membership Ginny Spencer
Ass’t Secretary Kathi Ashby
New Courts Project Manager Garry Gray
Court Operations Jim Valenti
New Courts Fund Raising Garry Gray
Club Activities Fund Raising Anahid Gregg
Player Introduction and Instruction Mike Walias
Past President / Advisor Larry Martinson
Farewell from Outgoing President Larry Martinson
Today April 5th. Sunday was to be the final meeting of our fiscal year and the election of our new officers/social. So it’s my duty and honor to pass the gavel to our newly elected President Bill Pomeranz and his board on this special day. Even though we are not allowed to gather in person, I do want to recognize this in writing.
I would like to thank my 2019-2020 club board. Going into my year as President, my goals were:
1. Maintain an active vibrant Club and grow the membership by 35 members. Thanks to my membership chair Ginny Spencer, I believe we came very close to achieving that goal.
2. Achieve a successful community vote on the Pickleball new courts project. This goal has been delayed do the Coronavirus but we are confident still that once we are able to vote, it will be passed. Our past president Garry Grey continuers to be the pulse of this project goal.
3. Continue to raise funds via EVF to build the courts. Again Garry Grey who is also a member of the EVF board has been very inspirational in obtaining EVF matching funds to our club fundraising.
4. Have the 2nd annual Pickle Up July 16th-Aug. 1, 2019. Thank you Joe Spada for chairing that very successful project. We obtained a lot of new members as a result of this program.
5. Continue to support our Pickleball Web Site. Thanks to David Cook assisted by Anahid Greg, our website has expanded into a very newsie wonderful website where you can enjoy article content, pictures and also sign up for up coming events.
6. Continue to have club fundraising projects. Thanks to Anahid Gregg and Sheryl Ruth, working alongside EVF, raised over $5,000 on a very Fun Pickleball Prohibition Speakeasy and Casino night. Everyone had a Blast at this very successful party/fundraiser.
7. Have Pickleball Club articles in every edition of the Villager. This would have been an almost impossible goal to achieve but thanks to Linda Eige, we had articles in at least 75% of the Villagers newspaper. She did a phenomenal job with great pictures and articles through out the year.
8. Hold three fun and successful tournaments. Sheryl Ruth our tournament chair would have reached this goal if we could have had our final tournament yesterday which had to be canceled due to our Sheltering in place. She created some fun new takes on tournaments and we all were winners because of her hard work.
9. The Casino night took the place of our goal for a 2nd annual Holiday Club members party and I want to thank Robyn and Sheryl our social Co-Chairs for making this a very successfully social year for our members.
10. Maintain our borrowed tennis courts 5 & 6. Frank Houghton was our maintenance guy with the special yellow tape making sure the courts looked sharp. It’s a lot of work and you did a great job Frank.
I also want to thank my Vice President Bill Pomeranz who was always there to run a meeting in my absence. He also took the newbies from the Pickle Up program and got them playing every Sunday morning. He will be a great President moving forward. Thanks to my secretary Kathi Ashby and her assistant Anahid Gregg for always making sure we had the proper minutes from each meeting. Betty Olsen my treasure who always paid our bills on time and collected and kept track of our dues and accounting. Thank you Betty. David Cook who not only is our web guy but also gave reports from the Pickleball Ad Hoc committee at our board meetings. Mike Walias is the best Pickleball teacher in our club and he did another great job teaching our new prospective members on Wednesdays and Fridays at 1:00 P.M. Thank you Garry Grey for being my advisor and sounding block when I needed it through out the year.
Finally, I would like to thank a person that I would have given the MVP award for the year! Anahid Gregg (Ms Pickleball) does literally everything for our club. She always has the clubs best interest in mind and isn’t afraid to take charge when she sees something needs to be done to better our club. You are the most energetic and talented volunteer I have ever worked with and you make us a better club!
I now Pass the gavel to our new President Bill Pomeranz and his board!
PIckleball Has Been Shut down
Pickleball has been postponed until further notice.
Watch: I Just Want to Dink with Somebody
Pickleball Courts Project – Update
Designs are released to view!
Upcoming Events
VOTE RESULTS: FOR = 1101, AGAINST 418. THE VOTE TO BUILD THE PICKLEBALL COURTS PASSES!!
The Pickleball courts opened on June 8th on a limited basis. See the new rules and make a court reservation!
PB Courts Key Dates:
Bids returned: April 17th
Club Board vote on funding: May 26 – Club Approves funding Project subject to Membership Vote
Membership Vote Ballots Distributed – starting May 30th
Membership Voting Period: May 30 – June 29th
Video “Roundtable Meeting” in lieu of Town Hall Meeting: Now Playing (below) and on Resident Portal (and Channel 27 starting June 9th)
Club Membership Vote results: June 29th
VOTE RESULTS: FOR = 1101, AGAINST 418. THE VOTE TO BUILD THE PICKLEBALL COURTS PASSES!!
Pickleball – A Great Sport For Seniors
Is Pickleball the Perfect Sport for the Pandemic?
Pickleball Courts Planning Permit Approved!
Great news! At a public hearing this morning the City of San Jose Planning Department approved the planning permit for the new Pickleball Courts!
Almost 50 Pickleball members and supporters attended the Planning Department hearing at City Hall in support of the of the permit application. Our Project Designer, Mowat, and Garry Gray, past club president, spoke to the key design elements and the history of the club and the courts project. One resident from outside the Villages expressed a concern about noise, but the City planning staff noted that the design meets the City standards for noise and will only operate during daylight hours. Mowat noted that the area has been zoned for over 30 years for uses like tennis courts or other outdoor sports, longer than the houses nearby. After careful deliberation the Planning Director ruled to approve the permit.
Next steps are for Mowat to develop a detailed cost estimate to be taken to the Club Board. With Club Board approval, then a membership vote will be scheduled. Then hiring a builder and construction begins.
Thanks to everyone who came to City Hall early this morning to support the project! We are finally making great progress and on our way to having new courts.
Pickleball Prohibition Speakeasy & Casino Night
The Villages Cotton Club(house) was packed on Halloween night with 1920’s glamour. Flappers, stars and gangsters danced the night away. Bankrolls were cashed in for chips at “Pickle’s Place” and there were rumors of bootleg cocktails.
A great time was had by all at the Pickleball Prohibition Speakeasy & Casino Night, organized with the joint efforts of the Villages Pickleball Club and the Evergreen Village Foundation. An event of this size requires many hours of planning and many volunteers. A huge thank you to all that made this successful fundraiser happen!
Check out all the photos on the Photos page!
Our pickleball club is a supportive and inclusive group. Come join us. We play on tennis courts 5 and 6, the smaller pickleball courts are marked with yellow tape. The wonderful Mike Walias volunteers his expertise every Wednesday and Friday from 1-1:30 to introduce and instruct new players on the basics of the game. No need to sign up, just show up! Wear comfortable clothes and court shoes.