Assuming the weather cooperates, the first outdoor Pickles and Beer of the 2025 Pickleball Season will be at McGaw Park this Friday, April 4, from 4:30 pm – 8 pm. McGaw Park is located at 5236 Lacy Rd, Fitchburg, WI, 53711.
Pickles and Beer is a social gathering of pickleball players of all ages and ability levels that meets every Friday night of the year. During the warm-weather months, the event is held outdoors at McGaw Park in Fitchburg, and during the cold-weather months, it is held indoors at Princeton Club East in Madison.
Pickles and Beer was started in 2022 by Erin and Dan Schettler, who have graciously volunteered their time to run the event for three years now! Pickles and Beer is jointly supported by both the Capital Area Pickleball Association (CAPA) and the City of Fitchburg. You don’t have to be a member of CAPA or a resident of Fitchburg to attend.
Each week, the event draws anywhere from approximately 40-100 pickleball players. If you would like to attend, you are encouraged to RSVP in advance on playtimescheduler.com, but doing so is not required. Feel free to just show up! Pickles and Beer provides an excellent opportunity to meet and mix with other players socially and play some pickleball! Picnic tables are provided, but table seating is limited, so feel free to bring your own lawn chair or canvas chair to sit on. Please also feel free to bring and share beverages and snacks (which should be consumed outside the court area).
Once you arrive, you will see a whiteboard with dry erase markers in different colors attached to the court fence. The whiteboard is divided into many boxes. The different colors of markers correspond to different levels of player ability. You just write your name in a box with other players of similar ability levels, and as soon as a court frees up, you go out and play a single game to 11 (win by 2) with the other folks whose names are written in your box. Since all 8 courts are used for Pickles and Beer (and since 4 additional courts are expected to be added at McGaw Park this summer), new players move on and off courts fairly quickly. This prevents anyone from getting too bored sitting out. But, while you are sitting out, you can eat, drink, and mingle with new friends!
So, please consider this your invitation to join us at a Pickles and Beer event at McGaw Park on a Friday this spring or summer. I can practically guarantee that after you come to one, you will come to more! Keep pickling!
