Woman’s community involvement started with love of sports

By alex guerrero alex.guerrero@albertleatribune.com

Margie Barber is the treasurer of the Albert Lea Pickleball Club, where she also serves on the board of directors. She is also involved with her church, does private tutoring and teaches classes at Riverland Community College. Her involvement in the community started with her passion for sports.

“I grew up on a farm with four brothers, so I did what they did — played football or baseball or any sport there was,” she said.

So when she saw pickleball was starting up in Albert Lea, she called a friend who was part of the pickleball group. He invited her to a meeting and asked her to join the board of directors.

“Now I teach pickleball, have been for several years,” she said.

She called it an addicting sport, and said it was a more fun way to get exercise than riding a stationary bike or walking on a treadmill. She plays at least four or five times per week.

Prior to joining the group, Barber had never heard of the game, but described the game as “wonderful.” And after playing a couple times, members asked her to serve.

“I think that’s because I had computer experience, and they wanted me to be able to do the minutes and put together things for the tournaments that we were having,” she said. Her favorite aspect of the game was the people, and noted the satisfaction in helping others. She also teaches the game on Thursday evenings through Albert Lea Community Education classes. In addition to her roles in pickleball, Barber serves as financial secretary at United Methodist in Northwood. Her work involves spreadsheets.

Prior to joining United see BarBer page 6