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Local pickleballers want $910 from the village of Fredonia to repair cracks in the courts at Russell Joy Park.

Ed Kirchmeyer and Geralyn Majkowski relayed the request to the Fredonia Board of Trustees last week. Kirchmeyer is president of Chautauqua Pickleball Club and Majkowski is the local ambassador for United States Amateur Pickleball Association. Mayor Michael Ferguson noted his own former local pickleball leadership when he introduced them.

Kirchmeyer said his club started in 2017 with seven players, but ballooned to 252 members by 2024.

In 2025, “We anticipate we are probably going to beat the 252 we had last year,” he said.

Kirchmeyer touted the game as an all-ages sport, stating that the club has two 14-year-olds and three 80-year-olds. The club uses three other local courts besides Russel Joy’s.

“We supply our own equipment, we provide our own insurance, and this past year we also put up a windscreen at Russell Joy Park to the tune of $1,800, and we also bought an AED for the park to the tune of about $1,800,” Kirchmeyer said. “So I think we’ve been a good partner, the last couple of years, anyway.”

The club tried to fill in cracks at the Russell Joy courts last year “with a little bit of success, but with not finishing the job plus the winter that we’ve had, we’ve incurred bigger and deeper ruts than we have before.”

Kirchmeyer asked the village for $910 so his club can buy caulk to fill the cracks, and added that club members could help do the work, “under the tutelage” of village Department of Public Works Director Scott Marsh.

The caulk would offer about two years’ worth of play, Kirchmeyer said.

The pickleball president went on to talk up his club’s additional work at Russell Joy Park, including flower planting and bathroom cleaning and painting.

“Safety is paramount, that’s what we’re mostly concerned about,” said Majkowski.

Ferguson was very friendly to the duo, offering to meet with them on their request and commenting on local pickleballers’ extensive contributions to the community.

Councilwoman Michelle Twichell wondered if the town of Pomfret could help with the request. The town and the village of Fredonia share responsibility for Russell Joy Park.

Trustee and Vice Mayor Jon Espersen told the OBSERVER Monday the pickleballers’ request will be discussed at the trustees’ next meeting.

In light of the village’s financial challenges, the OBSERVER asked Espersen if pickleball club members should chip in for the cost of the repairs. Espersen replied, “They could do it themselves, but they have undertaken numerous projects around Russell Joy Park, as they outlined.”