"It takes about two minutes, and everybody starts acting like we're 12 again."
Every five years for the past four decades, a group of childhood friends has traveled from locales far and wide for a few days of food, drink, camaraderie, and some friendly competition on the bocce court or poker table.
They hail from Wisconsin and Utah. Oregon and Florida. One guy even makes the trip from Bangkok.
These 12 men, most well into their 70s by now, assemble to reminisce about growing up in Magnolia, a neighborhood situated on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, jutting out into the picturesque Puget Sound. To share stories about their time at Seattle's Queen Anne High School, which closed about a decade after many graduated in 1970.
But mostly, they gather to play pickleball.
A couple weeks ago, the guys held their latest meetup, convening for the first time in Idyllwild, CA, where one of their ranks, Mike Cole, has a cabin. Previously, they'd met closer to common ground, at Seattle's Fort Warden State Park.
We sat down with Mike to hear more about this special group of guys, and why their pickleball origins truly trace back to the sport's earliest days.
Growing Up with Pickleball Royalty There's nothing exceptional about old high school buddies getting together to catch up over steaks and cigars. But this is not your average group of friends. And they didn't grow up in any average neighborhood.
Two of pickleball's founding fathers, Barney McCallum and Joel Pritchard, were from... FULL ARTICLE FOUND ON: https://www.thedinkpickleball.com/every-5-years-these-12-friends-reunite-to-relive-pickleballs-earliest-glory-days/
