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May 2013
On the Internet at www.LaMesaCourier.com
Volume 3 – Number 5
Pickleball Play in INSIDE THIS ISSUE Collier Park By Gina McGalliard
Santee Surprise East County destination provides an ideal getaway for lake lovers. Page 6
Mind for Music Local music teacher Evans Kontopols inspires and challenges students to reach their potential. Page 7
Everyone’s heard of tennis, paddleball, ping-pong and squash – but have you heard of pickleball? Pickleball, which has been steadily gaining in popularity for several decades, is a game played indoors or outdoors on onethird the size of a tennis court with perforated balls and lightweight paddles. Invented in 1965 in Washington by Congressman Joel Pritchard and his friend Bill Bell, the game was named after Pritchard’s cocker spaniel, Pickles, who had a habit of chasing stray balls. The first pickleball tournament was held in 1976, and in
ings in Collier Park. La Mesa residents Justine and Tim Frazee even serve as San Diego’s East County ambassadors for the USA Pickleball Association. The couple learned about pickleball from Tim’s mother, a former professional tennis player. Knowing the game was popular among seniors, however, and wary it was simply a watered-down version of other racquet sports, it took them almost a year before they tried it out themselves. But that changed on a trip to Tucson, Ariz. “We were there for five days,
Players interested in joining La Mesa's East County group can meet at Collier Park on Palm Avenue Wednesday and Friday mornings until 11 a.m. 1984 the USA Pickleball Association was formed. By the '90s, pickleball was being played all around the country. The game has earned a devoted following in La Mesa, where players meet to battle it out on Wednesday and Friday morn-
La Mesa Named Tree City USA for 33rd Year
By Genevieve A. Suzuki
and played four out of the five days we were there. We were hooked right away,” said Justine. “Because it’s a lot easier [when] you’re playing on one-third the size of a tennis court, and it’s a much more easier game to play than tennis.”
For the 33rd year in a row, La Mesa earned the distinction of being a Tree City USA, an honor bestowed upon the city by the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management. La Mesa achieved Tree City USA recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board department, a tree-care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita, an Arbor
See Pickleball, Page 2
See Tree City USA, Page 5
La Mesa Journal
HOA President Hits the High Note By Genevieve A. Suzuki
Jewel of a Lady Historical View introduces the author who coined La Mesa’s motto. Page 12 NEWS TIPS (619) 697-2500 x124 Editor@LaMesaCourier.com
ADVERTISE WITH US (619) 697-2500 x140 Sales@LaMesaCourier.com
Lillian Palmer
Lillian Palmer seems like the sweet neighbor next door as she walks her dog, Sparky, a scruffy adopted pound pooch she affectionately calls “Sparkalicious.” Palmer, a svelte redhead, waves happily to her fellow residents in her Baltimore Drive townhome complex, politely inquiring about events in their lives only a friend would know. Because she serves as the president of her homeowners association, it’s not surprising that she would be on a first-name basis with at least half the neighborhood. It’s
hard to believe, however, this organized HOA president is a crooning, sensual diva in her other incarnation. And yet it only takes a few minutes in Palmer’s presence to realize what a force the lady is. A true entertainer, Palmer can vamp like Vivian Leigh in Gone with the Wind one minute, perform a scene from Hitchcock’s Rebecca the next, before suddenly dropping a funny line from an old Cheech & Chong film. Palmer said it all started at the family See Journal, Page 9
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