Discovering The Mature Lifestyle Coloring book craze spreads to Calvary Cooperative. Page 5
Arts & Recreation
April 21, 2016
April Issue
BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
R. Kent Knutson is the quintessential man for all seasons. During his lifetime, he has been a singer, actor, dancer, author, teacher, coach, and director of more than 230 plays, and he isn’t finished yet. For the last three years, Knutson has been artistic director at the Old Log Theatre in Excelsior. Before that, he plied his directing skills at Anoka, Blaine and Minnetonka high schools for 39 years. Along the way, he also founded community theaters in both Blaine and Minnetonka. Knutson claims his work ethic came from growing up in New Ulm, where he was a member of the class of 1970, active in choir, band, athletics, theater, and speech. With a singing group called “The Menagerie,” he traveled all over the country. “I was hooked,” Knutson said. He subsequently continued his affinity for performing at the University of Minnesota, where he worked with Frank “Doc” Whiting, long-time director of the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, prior to Knutson’s graduation in 1974. And then he became a high school teacher, tennis and swimming coach and drama director. “I loved working with kids,” Knutson said. “I adored coaching. In my years of
R. Kent Knutson, artistic director at the Old Log Theatre in Excelsior since 2013, previously was a teacher, director and coach at Anoka, Blaine and Minnetonka high schools for 39 years. He also founded community theaters in both Blaine and Minnetonka.
teaching, I found that kids need someone to touch them on the shoulder, to tell them they’re respected and that they belong.” Memories of past productions abound, but his favorite was “Les Miserables” at
Minnetonka, a show he took to Scotland, Knutson said. “There were 72 of us on the plane, going to perform at the Fringe Festival in Scotland,” Knutson said. “We had standing room only at all our shows there.
People from all over the world saw that play. Everything clicked. It did a whole lot for my kids.” He has, of course, directed the favorites — “Music Man,” “South Pacific” and “The Sound of Music” — during his career. But, Knutson said, “I love to do shows no one else is doing.” When he directed community theater, he enjoyed having some of his former high school students come back to perform in his summer productions. He had a chance to direct both his son, Robbie and his daughter, Katy, in a play together prior to his daughter’s untimely death in 2010, at the age of 22. His wife, Deb, senior vice president of human resources at Medica, was a choreographer for Knutson’s shows in Blaine and Minnetonka. “We have quite a family,” he said. “My kids grew up in the theater.” At the Old Log, Knutson took over from Don Stolz, who died in 2015, at the age of 97, after owning and managing the theater from 1941-2013. The 76-year-old theater, the oldest professional theater in Minnesota, often is cited as the oldest continuously operated professional theater in the United States. “Don was an icon,” Knutson said. “Don did a lot of straight shows and British farces. They were good solid shows.” MUSICALS - TO PAGE 3
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Page 2 Our Life • Thursday, April 21, 2016
Mighty Wurlitzer has a loyal following at the Heights Theatre BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER The Heights Theatre in Columbia Heights often features old movies that are classics for young and old. But in addition to the movie attractions, it’s the theater’s Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ that draws crowds. “The organ is played on a regular basis every Friday and Saturday night for about 20 minutes before the start of the 7:10 film, and usually before every classic film event we have here,� said Tom Letness, the theater’s owner. The organ has 16 sets of pipes and also boasts a glockenspiel, xylophone, chimes, piano, and marimba, as well as an assortment of rhythm percussions and original theater pipe organ sound effects such as train whistle, bell, and birds. The section that currently plays is housed in the former dressing room on the right side of the auditorium. The organ’s “voices� include tuba, trumpet, post horn (the loudest stop), strings, clarinet, and a variety of other organ voices to fill out the ensemble. “All of our organists have come here through the local chapter of the American
Theater Organ Society, and most, if not all, gans. He comes by his interest in music honare members of the organization,� Letness estly. “My mom played the bassoon and said. piano in high school, and my dad was interested in music,� Copeland said. “They were Ed Copeland Ed Copeland has played the Heights or- both university professors.� Harvey Gustafson gan for nine years, every Saturday evening Harvey Gustafson has been playing the and most Thursday evenings for special organ for movies, silent films and other shows, he said. “I play my own program unless there is special events at the Heights Theatre since special music for the show,� Copeland said. it opened. When a silent movie is scheduled, Gus“I’ve done a lot of maintenance on the ortafson prescreens the movie on DVD to gan, too.� Copeland got his mechanical training make notes and decide appropriate music at a vocational school. His background to match the movie’s scenes and moods. He has degrees in organ and church muincludes 35 years of pipe organ service in tuning and repair, plus years of work as a sic from St. Olaf College, and he has both an video technician and in stage production organ and a piano at his home. Gustafson taught music for 25 years at the MacPhail and managing. His work in repairing organs is reward- Center for Music in Minneapolis, and has ing, Copeland said. “It’s nice when you start been an organist at a variety of churches. Gustafson currently is the principal orwith an organ that’s fallen into disrepair, to fix it and make it like new,� he said. “It’s ganist and pianist at Temple Israel in Minrewarding to see the looks on the peoples’ neapolis. “I’ve been playing by note and by ear faces in the congregation.� “I do enjoy playing the organ,� said Co- since I was 13,� Gustafson said. “I didn’t peland, adding that he and his roommate take regular lessons. My preference is clashouse a collection of eight player pianos, sical music. My father played by ear, and my five pump organs and two manual pipe or- mother played by note.� Tom Neadle One of Gustafson’s students at MacPhail, Tom Neadle of Golden Valley, has played the organ on Friday nights for the last 15 years at the Heights Theatre. “I play my own program,� he said. Neadle has played since high school, first taking private lessons and then studying at the University of Minnesota. He also plays the organ at the James J. Hill House in St. Paul two Saturdays a month.
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Story of the Heights Mighty Wurlitzer According to an Internet account, the
Heights Theater originally had a small Robert Morton pipe organ installed in 1927, but that organ was removed in 1936 when the theater was remodeled. The current organ began its life in 1929 as the WCCO Radio studio organ, back in the days when WCCO had studios in the old Nicollet Hotel at Washington and Hennepin avenues in downtown Minneapolis. It was then a three-manual instrument with 12 ranks of pipes. In the 1960s the organ was sold to a private collector and eventually purchased by the Land O’ Lakes Theatre Organ Society in 1998. “Soon after, a deal was struck with the management of the Heights Theater to install the organ, thus making the Heights the first movie theater to have a functioning pipe organ since the downtown Minneapolis Radio City Theater closed its doors in 1958,� the website says. The Heights Theatre was constructed in 1926 by Gluek Brewery heir Arthur Gluek as a prohibition real estate venture. “Built in the Beaux Arts style of the last century, the Heights Theatre building was a simple neighborhood movie house showcasing local talent in stage plays and amateur vaudeville acts,� the website says. “The Heights has survived at least three fires, one bombing and ‘The Big Blow of 1949,’ when a Fridley tornado twisted the tower sign.� Tom Letness and Dave Holmgren bought the Heights Theatre in November of 1998. An orchestra pit was discovered under the floor where the mighty Wurlitzer theater organ now rises for Friday and Saturday night concerts. The Heights also has a grand piano in the lobby and an upright piano in the auditorium connected to the organ.
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Ed Copeland has played the Heights organ for nine years, every Saturday evening and most Thursday evenings for special shows. (Submitted photo)
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Our Life • Thursday, April 21, 2016 Page 3
Musicals FROM PAGE 1
But the Old Log didn’t have any musicals during the last 10 years, and Knutson plans to change that. New owners Greg and Marissa Frankenfield have remodeled the theater with new wiring, plumbing, bathrooms and a classic restaurant. The theater has been altered to add 200 extra feet to the stage, he said. “Our space is limited, but the theater is as nostalgic as ever, with its 13 acres on Lake Minnetonka,” Knutson said. “I’m going to do some big musicals,” he said. “We’re dancing like crazy. We have to try and attract some younger audiences. We’re trying to target the audiences who have always come, and then expand that a little bit. We’re doing shows that will appeal to families and also college kids.” This summer, he’s looking forward to the Old Log’s musical, opening June 16, of “Million Dollar Quartet,” the story of a one-time recording session in 1956 that brought together rock ‘n’ roll singers Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and
Kent Knutson
Jerry Lee Lewis. “We’ve got the first rights in this area,” Knutson said. “It’s already cast.” He’s planned the Old Log’s play list for next year and the year after, he said. “We try to be two years out,” he said.
The Old Log also does children’s matinees during the holiday season. He doesn’t cast himself in any of the plays, but, Knutson said, “every once in a while I walk on, like Alfred Hitchcock.” He admits that abundant energy keeps him going. “I’m Norwegian,” Knutson said. “I’ve never known a short day. I don’t know when the sun goes down.” He attends almost all the performances of the shows he has directed. “I like to greet everybody at the front door,” Knutson said. “Don Stolz wanted this to be a place for family and friends, and we are trying to continue that.” He credits his own upbringing with his energetic outlook. “Everywhere I looked, there were successful people around me who opened doors for people and watched them walk through,” Knutson said. In his 2015 induction ceremony into the New Ulm Independent School District 88 Hall of Fame, Knutson was cited as an award-winning director and producer of more than 200 shows, and published writer of original works. During his 39-year career as a teacher
in Blaine, Anoka, and Minnetonka high schools, “he impacted the lives of thousands of students,” the program said. “Many of his students have gone on to earn their own awards and have their own successful Broadway, television, and other performance careers.” “Under his guidance, the Minnetonka Community Theatre has grown to include a summer musical in which hundreds of actors and families participate in outdoor theater,” the program said. In addition to the New Ulm Hall of Fame, Knutson has been inducted into the Minnesota State High School League Hall of Fame and has received numerous awards, including the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education from Governors Perpich, Carlson, and Ventura; Commendations from the Guthrie Theater in 1996, 1999, and 2000; Certificates of Excellence for Promoting Fine Arts Education from the Department of Education in 1996, 1999, and 2001; and the Teachers Recognition Award in Theatre from the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program and the U.S. Department of Education in 2011.
Color me creative – let the artist inside out to play It’s a craze. Adult coloring books! Who would have “thunk” it? Bookstores everywhere are selling out of coloring books for grown-ups and all the paraphernalia (e.g., crayons, pencils, markers, etc.) that goes with them. People of all ages — especially seniors — are embracing coloring as a rediscovered outlet. There are now coloring classes for adults. Many senior living communities also boast coloring clubs. Coloring has become a social event. I even tried it myself and enjoyed it — for a while — which is surprising since I had an unfortunate experience with crayons as a little boy. (See “Digression” adjacent.) So why is coloring catch-
Guest column ... by Bob Ramsey ing on today? Advocates claim it is both a relaxing and a challenging activity that is good for your physical health (e.g., reduces blood pressure) and mental well being, It also sharpens your fine motor kills and provides a sense of calm accomplishment. But mostly, I think it satisfies the universal impulse to create something. There is no age limit on creativity. And it’s not reserved for the extremely talented or artistic. Regard-
lless of age or ability, we all w want to find a way to exp press our creative selves. I see it all the time among elders. (Remember Grandma Moses?) For example, my wife immerses h herself in creating miniattures and centerpieces. I dabble in writing. I also have friends 60 and older who tap dance, sing in performing groups, play in a band, make one-of-akind jewelry and write poetry. And I recently read about wildlife painter, David Maass, who is still winning awards at age 86. The truth is that seniors may be creaky; but they’re still creative. Obviously, part of “vital aging” is letting the artist inside out to play, create,
design — or just color. If reside in St. Louis Park. He 922-9558 or by e-mail at you want to revisit or revive can be c ontacted at 952- joyrammini@comcast.net. the creative aspects of your life, you might enjoy Elizabeth Gilbert’s recent book, Big Magic. As it turns out, shoebox. As I entered creativity is a renewable rethe classroom, all source. One day in kin- the kids stopped and As Maya Angelo exdergarten, I thought I stared. Finally, one plained, “You can’t use up heard the teacher say, girl asked enviously, creativity. The more you “Tomorrow, please “Is that big box full of use the more you have.” bring a box for cray- your crayons? We only So there’s no excuse. Go ons.” I didn’t know have these little boxes.” ahead and create whatever why the teacher need- Yikes! I was mortiyou want. ed so many boxes; but fied — caught emptyDon’t worry about what handed. I didn’t ask. others think. Please yourBut I survived. That That night, the only self. Be weird. Have fun. wasn’t the only time in box my mother could It’s good for you. And you find was a large shoe- my life when I showed don’t have to stay inside the box. So the next day, up with an empty box lines if you don’t want to. I proudly pranced to while everyone else school bearing my was fully equipped and Bob Ramsey is a lifelong edlarge (but empty) prepared — Shades of ucator, freelance writer and kindergarten! an advocate for “Vital Aging.” He and his wife, Joyce,
Digression
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Page 4 Our Life • Thursday, April 21, 2016
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Our Life • Thursday, April 21, 2016 Page 5
Coloring book craze spreads to Calvary Cooperative BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Jeanne Leer, who lives at Calvary Center Cooperative in Golden Valley, got an idea in November 2015. Why not start a coloring book group? The idea took off in January 2016. And unlike many New Year’s resolutions, it has been picking up steam ever since. At 11 a.m. each Thursday, residents who like to color gather in the ninth-floor Skyline Room to color together. The first meeting drew 24 people. As the intricate pictures are completed, residents have been treated to easels full of the coloring group’s work in a variety of locations in the building. “When we first started, I went to Barnes and Noble with some money from our Activities Committee and bought two coloring books and pencils,” Leer said. She picked up two more packages of colored pencils at Michael’s. Pages were taken from the books and passed around, so everyone had something to work on. Now, three months later, almost everyone has his or her own books and pencil sets. The group includes one male, Elmo Alexander, who said he’s taken a couple of art classes. “He does beautiful work,” Leer said. Leer said she knits and plays the piano in her free time, but she still enjoys having a friend come to her home and color with her. Noting that her daughter purchased a
Barb Bailey says she’s partial to using yellow and orange colors together. (Photo by Sue Webber)
Calvary Center Cooperative’s Coloring Group meets once a week in the ninth-floor Skyline Room. (Photo by Sue Webber) coloring book for a daughter who is working on her doctorate degree in physics so she can take a break occasionally,” Leer said, “You need something to scale down once in a while.” At Calvary Cooperative on a recent Thursday morning, Wilma Taute sat with a huge box of pencils, pens and brushes. “I bought them many years ago, but never gave them to the grandchildren,” Taute said. Now she shares them with Elmo, she said. Pearl Olafson, who just celebrated her 100th birthday, said she enjoys the chance to color with her friends. “Living here has helped me,” she said. “I’m so grateful.” Beth Potente worked on coloring the area around a message that said “Peace Be With You.” “It’s fun to come here and see your friends,” Potente said. “When you get started doing a picture, you just don’t want to leave. It really grips you.” Pat Skogman, who was working on coloring an owl, said she got all her supplies at Michael’s. “You can find them all over,” she said. Skogman was experimenting with shading two colors together, finding it a delicate process. She uses a 50-piece set of colored pencils. “I start on the outside of the picture and work in,” she said. Barb Bailey, who said she is partial to using yellow and orange together, finds it easiest to start with one color in the mid-
dle of a piece and work toward the outside. “You learn as you go,” she said. Bailey said she found a coloring book at Walgreens that came with its own pencil set. She encases each of her colored pages in plastic covers. “We did some coloring at the Women’s Club state convention last August in Little Falls,” said Bailey, who now colors at home and glances up at the TV set periodically. Clarice Anderson, the president of Calvary Cooperative’s board of directors, also enjoys coloring with “her Calvary Center
family.” A 19-year resident, she noted that her parents lived at Calvary originally. “I inherited their apartment,” she said. Laura O’Halloran, manager of the Barnes & Noble store at the Eden Prairie Mall, said the popularity of coloring books began “well before the holidays, even last summer.” “It’s just absolutely exploded, not only in the number but also the variety of coloring books,” O’Halloran said. “It was the go-to item during the holidays. People absolutely are loving it. They can’t get enough of it. It’s a way to de-stress, unwind and do something creative. It’s a tactile, hands-on way to relax.” The store carries a wide range of coloring books, from some very simple books in the children’s department to very complex and ornate designs. There are books titled “Color Me Happy,” and “Color Me Calm.” “There is literally something for everybody,” O’Halloran said. “You can get into something so intricate. The ‘Secret Garden’ book was one of our top sellers over the holidays. You see women buying them more then men; we see a lot of teens and kids buying them. It’s kind of a social thing. You see people in cafes getting coffee and then sitting down to color.” Although markers – some tipped and brushed -- pencils and crayons are displayed near the books, O’Halloran said colored pencils are the tool most often requested. Gel pens and also metallic-colored pencils are available. “You need a fine tip for most of the books,” she said.
Elmo Alexander (in the orange shirt) uses a large set of pencils, pens and brushes Wilma Taute brings each week. (Photo by Sue Webber)
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Page 6 Our Life • Thursday, April 21, 2016
Passion for old films and movies becomes Richfield man’s career BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Bob DeFlores grew up in Hollywood, the only child of parents who were performers in movies, radio and nightclubs. He lived next door to Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, and went to school with David and Ricky Nelson. His aunt Iris appeared with Johnny Weissmuller in the Tarzan series, and his aunt Gladys worked as a secretary for Harold Lloyd. In 1953, when he was 17, DeFlores began collecting old films and movies. “Over the years I’ve found a lot of rare films and helped to preserve them,” he said. “When you grow up like that, it gets in your blood. It’s what keeps me alive. I like history.” His collection now numbers 6,000 films, which he shares through film programs for TV stations and organizations throughout the country that are looking for footage for documentaries, tributes and TV specials. Since 1977, DeFlores has provided film for 250 documentaries and 40 biographies, he said. “Movies are art,” he said. “They paint pictures in your mind.” A resident of Richfield, DeFlores came to the Twin Cities in 1969 to work as an art director for Ellerbe, a Minneapolis architectural film. “KSTP found out about my huge archives, and I would be on TV once or twice a month with something unique or rare,” DeFlores said. He left Ellerbe in 1977 to devote full time to pursuing his passion for finding and preserving rare films. His work takes him all over the country. “It’s mind-boggling what’s happened since I left Ellerbe,” he said. His specialties are early musicals, jazz and big band movies. Among his collected movies are some of the early Bing Crosby films. In 1976, DeFlores donated “Swing with Bing” to be shown at the Bing Crosby Golf Tournament in Pebble Beach, California. Crosby had lost his copy of the 1937 movie and hadn’t seen the film for years. As a result, Crosby invited DeFlores to his home in 1977 and subsequently arranged to make copies of other films available to him. DeFlores has remained close to Crosby’s family since then and now is the official Bing Crosby family archivist. Films from DeFlores’ collection have been used in tributes to a variety of stars in addition to Crosby, with whom DeFlores become friends. DeFlores also has assisted many other celebrities in completing their film libraries, including Ginger Rogers, Eleanor Powell, Shirley Temple, Tex Beneke, Buddy Rogers, the family of W.C. Fields, Loretta Young, Frankie Carle and Phil Harris. “Anytime you have film of an actor, it opens doors for
Bob DeFlores, a Richfield resident, grew up in Hollywood and has spent much of his life collecting old films and movies. (Submitted photo). you,” he said. “They invite you to their house, and the next thing you know, you’re a friend.” Over the years, DeFlores estimates he’s found and preserved at least 1,000 movies. “I have one of the largest jazz collections in the country,” he said. Many of the 6,000 films he owns are stored in a limestone quarry in Kansas; others are housed in a cool basement in downtown Minneapolis. He has worked with CBS and NBC, and supplies the Grammy Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors with rare footage. DeFlores has lectured on film preservation at schools and at one time toured the nation’s colleges with the grandson of W.C. Fields. He has donated a large portion of his collection to Normandale Community College in Bloomington, where the film is transferred to digital formats. According to the college’s website, its DeFlores Film Project is dedicated to helping DeFlores “make his ar-
chives accessible for educational as well as entertainment purposes. “We are doing that by developing unique educational material that can complement and supplement existing academic curriculum for higher education and advanced high school programs,” the website said. The college also plans to create an oral history consisting of DeFlores’ personal commentary about the background of the films he has collected. In 2000, the Normandale Community College Foundation presented DeFlores with their annual Community Connection award in recognition of his efforts to preserve the history of film. His favorite movie, DeFlores said, is “Arsenic and Old Lace.” “But you can’t beat ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’” he said. “I also love ‘You Can’t Take It With You.’ It’s a gem. I tend to like the old days. I still like to go to movies that have a good story.” DeFlores routinely stays up until 2:30 a.m. watching old movies, he said. “I grew up with a lot of the old actors,” he said. “They were family.” He recalls things like Ronald Coleman’s voice. “I liked his voice,” DeFlores said. “He was British, charming and elegant. I also liked Dana Andrews.” DeFlores’ films are shown at special programs at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, or Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. “I used to do a lot at the Walker Art Center and the Women’s Club,” he said. “It brings back a lot of memories to people of old fashions, old times and actors,” DeFlores said. His current classic film series at the Chanhassen runs at 3 p.m. on Sundays, as follows: • May 8: “Great Comedy Shorts,” including Buster Keaton, Our Gang, Bing Crosby and W.C. Fields, plus a vintage cartoon. (Chaplin and Keaton are silent films with music tracks; the rest are talking comedies.) • Aug. 14: “Legends of Jazz,” with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, George Shearing, Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie and Miles Davis. • Nov. 6: “Ladies of Song,” featuring Bessie Smith, Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, Helen O’Connell, Rosemary Clooney, Helen Forrest, Sarah Vaughan, Margaret Whiting and Dinah Washington. Each program is followed by dinner at 4:30 p.m. DeFlores will be on hand to comment and answer questions. Cost of the show is $12. Dinner, priced at $15, is optional. “I’m still working and keeping active,” DeFlores said. “I do a lot of lecturing. It’s a passion. I tell young people that if they have a passion, to draw or take photos, to develop it. At some point, they can step off into a full-time job doing that and be happy the rest of their lives.”
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Our Life • Thursday, April 21, 2016 Page 7
Pickleball continues to grow in popularity with seniors BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Pickleball is a game that has nothing to do with jars of dills, and everything to do with a growing sport for senior citizens. It is a racquet sport that combines elements of badminton, tennis, and table tennis. Two, three, or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball, similar to a wiffle ball, over a net. Amber Jacobson, community services specialist in the city of Burnsville, said pickleball has been a popular sport with senior citizens for the last few years. Any age can play, and it’s taught in the schools, according to Jacobson. “It came from the folks who go south for the winter,” Jacobson said. “It’s popular there. It’s less intense than tennis. You use half a court, the ball is lighter, and you don’t run as much, though you still get a good workout.” Burnsville has several special outdoor pickleball courts: four at North River Hills Park and two courts at Neill Park. “They’re tennis courts, painted for pickleball,” Jacobson said. Indoor pickleball space is available through the YMCA and Burnsville Community Education, she said. Steve Jensen, activities coordinator for ISD 191 Community Education, said indoor courts are reserved for pickleball at different times. Classes for beginners begin in June. “They bring their own balls and paddles,” Jensen said. “We’re trying to find more indoor space. It seems to be the hot thing for elder adults to be doing.” Robin Jones of Eagan, a two-year player who calls herself “a young senior 55,” says her pickleball friends are in their 60s and 70s. “The sport is absolutely growing,” Jones said. “I like it because it’s not a hard ball like tennis. It’s a smaller court, so there’s not as much running around the court. It’s all underhand. It’s easier on the body, more mellow. There’s a lot of eye-hand coordination. To me, it’s great exercise.” The Eagan YMCA supplies balls and paddles, Jones said. But, she added, “Everybody buys their own because there are different grades of balls. The short-handle paddles are compact, not like tennis rackets, and they range from $60 to $150.”
Pickleball has become a popular sport with senior citizens in Burnsville. (Submitted photo)
The net is lower for pickleball than it is for tennis. (Submitted photo) She and her husband, Richard, are actively involved in getting more dedicated outdoor pickleball courts in Eagan, Jones said. “The community center has indoor courts, but not enough times,” Jones said. “We need more times and venues. There’s a lot of talk about using old tennis courts, but they’re too big; they need to be scaled down.” Jones said she first heard about the game seven or eight years ago from a neighbor. “It wasn’t big here,” she said. “I’ve always had it in the back of my head.” As a YMCA member in Eagan, she said, “I asked them to tell me how to play, and they gave me the rundown. It’s easy to learn in about 10 minutes.” Jones plays three to four times a week, mainly at the Eagan YMCA in the wintertime. “I like to play outdoors in the summer,” Jones said, noting that it’s usually a matter of showing up at a court and finding people there to play. “Indoor places have designated times to play,” she said. She notes that the “whole social aspect” of the game finds players going out to lunch or dinner after they play. “I’ve got a slew of new friends,” she said. Jim and Donna Blomquist of Burnsville both play pickleball: at home during the summer, and in Florida and Arizona during the winter. “We first heard about it in Arizona last year,” Donna said. “It was a popular game with seniors there. But it’s not just seniors who are playing. A lot of younger people play in Arizona, too.” Last summer, she noticed that Burnsville offered a fourweek class at River Hills on Wednesdays. “We jumped on it,” Blomquist said. “It was a really well done class with about 20 people.” The Blomquists enjoyed the class so much they emailed the rest of the group, and they plan to continue meeting on Wednesdays. “We have yet to play indoors,” she said. “Some people play at the YMCA, but we go south in January.” She and her husband played two to three times a
week in Florida. “The courts there are always available,” Blomquist said. “When we got to Arizona in February, we found it was a lot more popular there than in Florida. The courts are marked for pickleball, and that’s a real advantage. It’s a good sport for seniors, but you meet people of all ages.” Jerry Maas of Eden Prairie, who is involved with the Southwest Metro Pickleball Club, has taught the sport for four to five years. “We went to Arizona to visit my sister, and they got me started,” Maas said. “I’m more than slightly addicted. I have eight or 10 paddles.” Maas was one of six people who started the Southwest Metro group five years ago. Today, it has 360 members. Whereas there were one or two metro area courts in 2010, there now are 115 outdoor courts and others indoors, he said. Maas now is an ambassador for the USA Pickleball Association. “The culture is different,” Maas said. “You set up a place to play and the hours, and people just show up. It’s more a social occasion than anything else, and the senior community really likes that. It gets people off the couch.” About Pickleball According to an Internet account, pickleball started during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at the home of then-state Rep. Joel Pritchard who, in 1970, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the state of Washington. He and two of his friends returned from golf and found their families bored one Saturday afternoon. They attempted to set up badminton, but no one could find the shuttlecock. They improvised with a wiffle ball, lowered the badminton net, and fabricated paddles of plywood from a nearby shed. Although some sources claim that the name pickleball was derived from that of the Pritchards’ family dog, Pickles, other sources state that the name came from the term “pickle boat,” referring to the last boat to return with its catch.
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Page 8 Our Life â&#x20AC;˘ Thursday, April 21, 2016
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