There are three important upcoming events at Franklin Creek in the very near future. The first, and arguably most important, is Together For A Cure, which is an LWGA event to raise money for cancer research and patient care. Registration for the pickleball tournament is opened till April 7th. Click here to register. The tournament takes place on Saturday, April 13th, so if you are not playing, come and watch some excellent and very competitive pickleball. The tournament uses a bracketed round robin format, and features a reception, which anyone can attend for a donation of $23.Â
For those unfamiliar with TFAC, it began as a woman’s golf tournament, but now includes men’s golf, court sports, raffles and a live auction. Not only is it fun, the various activities raise a lot of money for cancer research, and all the beneficiaries are local, including Mercer School of Medicine, St. Joseph Candler Foundation and the Stephen D. Hollenberg Memorial Patient Assistance Fund. Everyone at The Landings has been touched by cancer, whether it is a friend or a relative. As yet, there is no universal cure for cancer, but each year seems to bring us closer. Please support TFAC. It is an extremely important event.
The annual 1965 Pickleball event is being held on Tuesday the 16th to honor the game’s invention on Bainbridge Island in the summer of ’65. This casual event, complete with music from the era (Some of us are still old enough to remember the tunes) and the inevitable costumes is great fun. Play or spectate - whichever you choose - it promises to be a memorable evening. Finally, the summer league begins on May 7th. Unless you are headed to cooler climes this summer, don’t miss the opportunity to sign up.
Some loyal readers might remember that this column ran an article in May 2023 titled Mall Ball? You Gotta Be Kidding Me! The article was a tongue in cheek jab at the news that Bed, Bath & Beyond, which had recently declared bankruptcy, might well see its former stores turned into indoor pickleball courts. To date, the Bed, Bath & Beyond on Abercorn is still vacant, but, if you are looking for indoor opportunities to indulge your passion when Mother Nature isn’t cooperating, there will be indoor pickleball courts in Savannah by mid-May. That’s right, Tampa Bay Pickleball (TBPB) is opening a six-court indoor facility at 4201 Meding Street in downtown Savannah. As exciting as that might seem, it won’t be the world’s biggest indoor pickle joint. That honor belongs to the facility with twenty-six airconditioned courts that opened in the Macon Mall in December 2023. Largest or not, the TBPB courts offer Landings picklers a rainy-day option. Does this mean that abandoned Bed, Bath & Beyond space might finally become a pickleball Mecca? Apparently, we’ll have to wait and see.Â