by Carol Doughty
Bill Gohn, the Convenor for Port Perry Pickleball, and his wife Pat, (See photo.) once again hosted a summer party at their house for the Club. Ninety-one people attended this fantastic fun time of eating, drinking, playing lawn games, talking, moving lawn chairs from place-to-place where there was shade, canoeing on the river at the back of his property, and a short business meeting (the best kind).
At this meeting, it was announced that Bill has some volunteer helpers to help grow Port’s Pickleball Club to an even greater club. Bill has been the Convenor for approximately 4 years and the club has grown dramatically in numbers and increased from 1 day (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) to 2 1/2 days of play. Bill , along with other volunteers, have introduced an Instruction time for Beginners, suggested play times per rating group throughout the day, use of the basket paddle rotation system, a Level 3 Mixed Ladder, a Level 3.5+ Mixed Ladder, as well as an annual golf tournament, annual barbeque, and annual fun pickleball tournament. This Club is also a PAO club which means that every player is a member of the Pickleball Association of Ontario.
In 2013, Bill also introduced an award for the person who contributed to the promotion of pickleball. This year, members chose Bill as the recipient. As one of the presenters said, “This is long overdue”. Besides convening the Port venue, Bill has served on the PAO Board as the Treasurer for 2 years, continues to serve as its financial advisor, participated in many PAO workshops for children and adults in which pickleball was introduced, and generally added a lot of laughs with his joie de vivre attitude on and off the court.
Please see the photo:
On the left, Joseline Sikorski, President of the PAO and member of Port Perry Pickleball Club and Mike March, Port member, present Bill with his well-deserved award for promoting pickleball.
PORT PERRY, ONTARIO, HAS A NEW BOARD
Welcome to the men and ladies who will lead Port Perry Pickleball Club for the next year (and beyond).
See photo: From left: Gary Falkenham, Lynne Doucette, Lou MacDonald, Bonnie Lebovic, and Bill Gohn
