Gift to Gutzwiller Memorial, Thanks to Pickleball in the Park

COMMUNITY NEWS

Gift to Gutzwiller Memorial, Thanks to Pickleball in the Park

Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club hosted their inaugural “Sunday Funday: Pickleball in the Park” event on May 22 in Aptos — which led to a $1,000 donation for the Sgt. Gutzwiller Memorial at Willowbrook Park.

Laura Grinder and Kendra Cleary, co-presidents of the club, and Rotarian Dr. Arthur Dover presented the check on Sept. 19 to County Park Friends, the nonprofit coordinating the donations.

Twenty pickleball players from novice to intermediate gathered at the newly renovated and resurfaced courts at Willowbrook Park to raise money for Capitola-Aptos Rotary’s two main programs: Local scholarships and community grants. The community grant funds raised from this event went straight to County Park Friends.

Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club had donated $50,000 for the Willowbrook Park renovation in March 2022, and thie latest gift is part of the ongoing efforts to support areas in Santa Cruz County for children of all abilities to play safely.

“I think the best part about our Sunday Funday was there were a few local community members who were just strolling by on their morning walk, and they recognized us from our previous efforts when we raised $140,000 to build LEO’s Haven back in 2017, so they came over and just made a donation to help with our efforts that day!” said club co-president Kendra Cleary.

“Thanks to the ongoing support by the Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club and other community organizations we are only $95,000 away from reaching the Memorial funding goal!” said Mariah Roberts, executive director of County Park Friends.

“I hope community members and other local nonprofits see our gifts made in honor of creating a memorial space for the community to gather, and they are inspired to make a donation of their own!” says club co-president Laura Grinder.

Capitola-Aptos Rotary considered their inaugural pickleball tournament a huge success, both that the pickleball players had a great time and that the club

Photo Credit: Rotarian Mardelí M. Padilla Chávarry

From left: Laura Grinder (co-president), Dr. Art Dover (service project chair) & Kendra Cleary (co-president) of Capitola-Aptos Rotary Club with Jeff Gaffney (parks director), Kim Namba (administrative services manager) and Michael Hettenhausen (park planner) of the County Parks Department.

was able to support the Willowbrook Park renovation in memory of Sgt. Gutzwiller.

“Pickleball Donation” page 14