Eye on the Hills: Oakland’s first indoor pickleball, social club opens

Pickleball continues to be the fastest-growing U.S. sport, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, and local entrepreneur Kady Pooler hopes to capitalize on this trend with her newly opened Pickle Athletics — Oakland’s first indoor pickleball and social club.

The city’s Temescal district facility is in its second month of selling memberships and hosting players on its four, state-of-the-art indoor courts with dedicated recovery zones, a lounge and a coffee and wine bar.

“We had opportunities to go to other cities, but we were adamant about Oakland,” says Pooler, who feels the location at 4000 Telegraph Ave. is well-positioned to attract business. “It’s one block from three bus stops, so super-easy for folks to get to,” says Pooler.

The former auto shop where Pickle Athletics is now had been closed for seven years and was covered with graffiti but had the high ceilings and wide-open spaces necessary for pickleball. In addition to the pickleball courts and fitness and recovery areas, Pooler has high hopes for being a neighborhood café and social center.

“You don’t even need to play pickleball,” says Pooler. “My goal and hope is that someone wakes up and says ‘I want a good breakfast sandwich and coffee.’ ”

To that end, Pickle Athletics opens every day at 6 a.m. and stays open until 10 p.m. The café/bar also serves wine and snacks and offers free board games. For more information online, visit pickleathletics.com.

Highway controversy: Oakland hills thoroughfares are at the center of a controversy over a new Caltrans-initiated study. At stake is a long-standing truck ban on an 8.7-mile stretch of Interstate 580 from Grand Avenue in Oakland to Foothill Boulevard in San Leandro.

The proposal would also let 80,000-pound big rigs access Highway 13, Ashby Avenue and other East Bay highways and streets. A petition is gathering steam to keep the current laws in place. Organizers say lifting the ban to allow big rigs would impact safety and create traffic congestion and noise pollution in several adjacent hills neighborhoods. The petition and more information can be found online at nobigrigs580.org.

Holiday offering: Here’s a Napa Valley story with a Montclair twist. Clif Family Winery & Farm, owned by former Montclarion Gary Erickson and wife Kit Crawford, is offering its best-selling holiday gift again this year. It’s the company’s estate-grown Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon with three dark chocolate bars from Berkeley company TCHO to make up their “Eat Chocolate, Drink Wine” gift set.

Gary’s first enterprise was the Clif Bar, a company he founded in 1990 after developing an energy bar recipe in his mother’s Montclair kitchen. Mary Erickson was known for her baking and even had a food column in the Montclarion newspaper. Her cookie recipe was the foundation for the first Clif Bars, replacing the butter, oil and sugar with naturally processed rice syrup instead.

You probably know the rest of the story — that Clif Bars and their sister product, Luna Bars, went on to revolutionize the energy bar industry. Something you may not have known, though, is the name’s origin. Gary’s dad was named Clif, so it really was a family affair.

Ginny Prior can be reached at ginnyprior@hotmail.com and followed on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and at ginnyprior.com.