By Pam Creech
Contributing Writer
Pickleball lessons, line dancing classes and live entertainment will be available to all who visit the Wrightsville Beach Park May 9.
Event details were discussed during the April 6 Wrightsville Beach Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting. The family day will showcase the park’s new basketball goals, pickleball nets and gaga ball facility — $6,000 of equipment donated by the Wrightsville Beach Foundation.
“The Performance Club is doing something, as well, so there will be entertainment on the main stage,” said Katie Ryan, Wrightsville Beach Parks and Recreation program supervisor.
Two pickleball nets have already been placed in existing tennis courts, and the committee hopes the gaga ball pit, which is currently under construction, will be completed by the family day.
If people wish to learn how to play pickleball before May 9, they can register for biweekly lessons beginning April 21. Beginner students will start by learning the basics of tennis.
Other upcoming athletic programs include a youth basketball instructional league, starting April 9, which is open to boys and girls ages 6-9.
“I think we have 30 kids signed up so far,” Ryan said.
Registration for men’s and women’s singles tennis ladders begins April 20.
The committee also discussed the proposal of designated parking spaces for kayakers and paddleboarders to the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen. The proposed spaces would be meter-free 15-minute loading spots near the drawbridge.
Outdoor water bottle refill stations for the park are also in the works. One of the proposed locations is near the basketball courts.
“There are no other proposed locations at this time,” Ryan said.
