Editor’s note: Kathy Schmidt submitted the photographs.
Resident Kathy Schmidt was dismayed in early June 2019, when she saw unused tennis courts atop the hill in Kelly Park, on High Street, Morrison, IL. “That’s such a mess!” she thought. She took her disgust and a plan to correct the “mess” to City Administrator Barry Dykhuizen. Schmidt envisioned transforming derelict tennis courts into four, smaller, Pickleball courts.
“I asked him, ‘If I weed wack and clean up, will [the City] make it a Pickleball court?'”
Dykhuizen agreed to purchase paint and tennis court nets to divide the Pickleball courts. He and Schmidt agreed volunteers would paint the court lines; maintain the courts; erect a “Morrison Pickleball Courts” sign, if desired. This will become a three-season, daylight venue, offering four courts for up to 16 players.
This new sport venue bounced several steps toward completion in six days, from June 8 through June 13. Schmidt requested volunteers to help her on Saturday, June 8, to eliminate the “mess.” It took “three-to-four hours,” she estimated afterwards. Moving wet, muddy leaves, limbs, and Maple tree “helicopter” seeds required brooms, leaf blowers, rakes, a string trimmer, and shovels. Steve and Jean Eggemeyer, Chris Osborn, Roger and Jan Stuart, and Stephanie Vavra helped Schmidt clean the courts. Osborn is at left, and Jan Stuart is at right.
On Tuesday, June 11, Schmidt and the Stuarts returned to gather and transport the final leaves, both inside and the outside the fence. On Wednesday, June 12, Schmidt met with Mike Shears of Sterling, IL, at left below, and Tim Vanzuiden of Morrison. The next day, Thursday, June 13, she scraped peeling surface patches; Shears taped lines to lay out the courts.
A further transformation occurred Thursday morning and afternoon, June 27. Andrew Snyder, owner of Agent Clean Exterior Cleaning, and his team spent nearly five hours power washing away dirt and mold and and cleaning the surface cracks. Their labor was donated. Snyder stated he “like[s] to do little projects for towns.”
Schmidt offered this thank you. “A huge thank you goes to Andrew Snyder, owner of Agent Clean power washing business, for their contribution to the cleanup of the Kelly Park Tennis/Pickleball Courts. Snyder and his team donated many hours on a hot Thursday afternoon, cleaning off the court surface with a Sodium Hydrochloride product, to remove mold and grit from years of leaves on the court. What was once a grey court is now a two color, red and green, just from the effects of cleaning.
“We greatly appreciate their gift of time and talent in preparing the courts for use. Please support this business when you are looking for power washing needs.”
The next step is painting the court lines. Contact Kathy Schmidt at keschmidt77@gmail to volunteer or make a donation toward the purchase of nets, paddles, and wiffle balls.
