Jersey County Pickleball raises funds for TreeHouse Wildlife Center at Halloween Tournament
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By Steven Spencer
Submitted photo
Jersey County Pickleball hosted their Halloween Tournament last week. The tournament sold out this year with 16 teams competing while raising money towards a donation to TreeHouse Wildlife Center. First place in the tournament went to Dennis Knight and Mike Gourley, second place went to Ashton Tewell and Diane Jackson and third place went to Norma Klingsick and Jim Golenor.
Jersey County Pickleball hosted their Halloween Tournament on Tuesday, Oct. 8, with all the proceeds going to the TreeHouse Wildlife Center.
Arielle Niemeyer said the event was sold out with 16 teams of two and players coming from Carrollton, Bethalto, Edwardsville, Jacksonville and Granite City to participate in the tournament and help with the donation to TreeHouse.
“It was our second year doing it. The first year we just did it for fun and we had a great turnout so this year we picked an organization to donate to,” Niemeyer said.
TreeHouse Wildlife Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to rehabilitating sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. They also help to educate the public and promote environmental stewardship and awareness.
“I feel like they’re kind of an underrated resource that we have in the community. So just trying to help spread some awareness about them and get some people out there,” Niemeyer said.
Submitted photo
Ann Slaughter won the costume contest at the Jersey County Pickleball Halloween Tournament.
Next year’s Halloween Tournament is expected to be bigger and Jersey County Pickleball is already preparing for more teams. With so many people participating in the tournament and more anticipated for next year, Niemeyer said they plan to move the event to the weekend so there is more time.
“We had to cap it off at 16 teams this year. We think next year we’re going get some kind of online booking system because this year we had to turn people away, and I think we’re going to move it to a Saturday so we have more time,” she said.
Niemeyer also thanked Tyler Hermens, Director of Jerseyville Parks and Recreation, for his and the city’s help preparing for the tournament.
“He really made all this possible because he allowed us to borrow six additional nets. Without him, we would have been playing for hours,” Niemeyer said.
First place in the tournament went to Dennis Knight and Mike Gourley, second place went to Ashton Tewell and Diane Jackson and third place went to Norma Klingsick and Jim Golenor. This year’s Halloween costume contest winner was Ann Slaughter.
