A Summer of Fun with New Activities
The fun never ends at Grand View Lodge. This summer ‘The Master of Fun,’ Kelby Klimek, (aka Social Supervisor) has added a few new activities at Grand View. Already offering a wide variety; water tubing, bingo, tennis, and many more, Klimek figured ‘the more the merrier.’ So what is new at Grand View Lodge for activities this summer?
New Pontoons
Grand View will be featuring four brand new 2016 Premier Sunspree Pontoons. Over the winter, Klimek took the opportunity to trade in the 2014s and update to the quicker, more powerful 2016s. The 2016s also feature new depth finders, improving any guest’s pontoon fishing and driving experience.
For those who aren’t fishing, the new Premiers have four new speakers with blue tooth connection—no need to lug around your aux card anymore! These pontoons feature a new Honda motor, quieter than the late Mercury motor. The quieter the motor, the more you can enjoy your company.
Pontoons are available daily for rent by going to gvlfun.com or going to the Gull Lake Boathouse. You can also take advantage of the allotted times on the Northwoods News for pontoon fishing and pontoon rides. Sign up for most other Grand View activities on gvlfun.com as well, creating your agenda before you even arrive.
Bubble Balls
Have you seen anybody running around in the life-size version of a human bubble wrap bubble recently? Perhaps a team playing soccer running into each other without consequence because of their air-armor? Or maybe they were just flipping around the lawn? Well Grand View didn’t want to miss out on the fun, so another new activity to the new pontoons are the Bubble Balls.
The Bubble Ball was designed to make soccer more fun, football safer, and basketball bouncier. The sport was originally created in 2011 in Norway as “just a joke.” Little did inventors, Henrik Elvestad & John Golden, know, they were setting the foundation for a nation-wide activity.
In 2014, a video from Bubble Soccer went viral, cultivating millions of searches throughout the world in about 7 days. It exploded, the world wanted more, and so did Grand View lodge.
Starting in July, Bubble Balls will be available for rent by corporate groups and family reunions. For our guest who arrive with their immediate friends and family, there will be times allotted on the Northwoods News to sign up to play other guests on the resort (similar to signing up for water wars, or a pontoon ride). They are so much fun, it’s impossible to wear them without laughing!
Pickleball
Grand View is taking their sports game to a new level in more way than one. Starting in mid-July, there will be pickleball available at the tennis courts located between the Gull Lake Center and The Garden Clubhouse.
Pickleball has been around since 1965 and has been known to be a family-friendly sport. The New Activity is played with a waffle ball and wooden or plastic paddles slightly larger than those used for ping-pong. Unlike many sports we know, there isn’t a long history with pickleball. Joe Pritchard, a Washington Senator at the time, created the game. It came to be when the family wanted to play badminton after a round of golf but could not find all the equipment necessary to play. Instead they lowered the net to a tennis court height and played with a waffle ball they had laying around. So began the game of pickleball.
While the origin of the name is up for debate, it was either named after the senators dog, Pickles, or named by Mr. Pritchard’s wife, Joan, for how it reminded her of the pickle boats that would be last into the harbor with their catch of the day.
Grand View will supply the paddles and ball upon request. Bring your family to the courts and start a new tradition of the family friendly game of pickleball. Go to gvlfun.com for details or visit our activities page on our website. The rules of the game and how to play will be available in the Garden Pro Shop as well.
If you thought there was a lot to do at Grand View before, wait until your next visit. Grand View always makes it a goal to keep new, entertaining activities available for valued guests of all ages.
