Now that the weather has started to warm up, we decided to take advantage of it by getting out in the community and take a drive around town to see what’s happening.
On Sunday April 2, 2023 we drove by the Shenandoah Tennis Courts where we saw volunteers repainting the blue lines on the four Pickleball Courts. Pictured Left to Right are; Kirk Comer, James Petit, Brian Petit (James's Dad) and Eric Benson an Assistant Coach of the Page County High School Tennis Team.
The volunteers purchased the tape and brushes. The paint was left over from the former Page Valley Community Tennis Association. It took them 8 1/2 hours to prep, tape and paint the lines. Needless to say, they all were sore the next day from all the bending!
The Tennis Courts are owned by the Town of Shenandoah. The volunteers saved the Town $2,000 in material and labor cost on this line painting project.
Pickleball has become very popular sport in Shenandoah. Since its inception, the number of people playing pickleball has grown each year, and after 2010 pickleball started being mentioned as one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. Shenandoah pickleball enthusiast have been contacted by people visiting our area looking to play pickleball. They once even had two professional pickleball players contact them while staying on the Shenandoah National Park.
See our related article on pickleball:
http://shenandoahnewz.com/sports/351-pickleball-comes-to-page-county
Kirk Comer removes tape after blue paint has dried.
Aerial photo of Shenandoah Tennis Courts taken by Charlie Jenkins.
On Tuesday April 4, we happen to drive by the Shenandoah Tennis Courts. We saw members of the Page County High School Girls Tennis Team practicing on the courts. During the tennis season, they practice on the Shenandoah’s courts each day Monday thru Friday unless they have a match scheduled.
History of the construction of the tennis courts.
In August of 1970 the Shenandoah Town Council voted to permit the construction of two
tennis courts on town property across from the Shenandoah Community Center since the
center property had been found too small for the courts.
In October 1970 The Shenandoah Town council authorized buying and installing about 350 feet of two-foot drainage pipe under what will be the tennis courts at the Shenandoah Community Center. The project could cost $1,500. The planned community center got another boost his week, Mayor U. S. Rinaca reported, when contractors removing the old Va., 602 bridge over the Shenandoah River promised to dump dirt and stone from the old abutments on the tennis court site. The town had expected a long delay in filling the area.
In other newspaper clippings we found: The Shenandoah Women’s Club received $85,500 grant from the Department of Housing and urban Development for a 5,000 square foot assembly hall and tennis courts. They also added a connecting building with meeting rooms, a kitchen and a reading room. Land for the Community Center was donated by Norfolk and Western Railway and land for the tennis courts was provided by the town.
