Serving On and off the court
For Sue Bayer, the best part of playing pickleball is building her skills, getting great exercise, and meeting new people. And while she typically plays at the Life Time Flagship location, twice a year her home court is located thousands of miles away.
Each spring and fall, Sue and a team of her colleagues travel to Honduras as part of One World Surgery. Their mission? To provide life-changing medical care to children in need. And when the surgical days are done, the team unwinds by picking up their paddles and hitting the court.
To start, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
I grew up in Long Beach, California, but my parents are from Minnesota, so we spent many summers of my youth here visiting family. I lived here briefly in my 20s then went back to California to finish my education, but I moved here permanently in 1989. I work at TRIA in Bloomington where I work with a hand surgeon. I am married and have two grown kids and two granddaughters.
I’m told you work with One World Surgery, can you tell me about the organization and its mission?
One World Surgery (OWS) is a spectacular organization that funds and operates the Holy Family Surgery Center on the property of their partner, the children’s home Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH). It is a 2,000-acre ranch that houses and cares for hundreds of children. Orthopedics, general surgery, ophthalmology, ENT, gynecology and urology teams come to OWS to help the people of Honduras. Each team spends a week on the ranch and all surgeries performed are free to the patients.
How did you get involved with the organization?
One of the pediatric hand surgeons in our practice formed a team of healthcare workers, of which I am one, to go to Honduras to spend the week there fixing children. We are the only pediatric orthopedic team that goes to Honduras. We spend the entire week on the ranch and we are well taken care of, well fed, safe, and have beautiful accommodations. Most of the brigades that go there are from the USA.
When did you first start shopping at Michael Lynne’s and what keeps you coming back?
I first went to Michael Lynne’s a few years ago at the recommendation of many of the people I play pickleball with. Then one time I went there to get a new grip on my paddle and by luck, Mimzy was there and helped me. I started chatting with her about Honduras and her husband walked into the store and joined our conversation and the rest is history. I was there again a few months ago and bought a new paddle and shoes and I chatted with Mimzy. I like the people at Michael Lynne’s and love the variety of pickleball paddles and shoes they have.
And you get a chance to play pickleball when you’re down in Honduras?
We have a pickleball court at the facility that we sleep at and it’s played by every single brigade that goes there. So the paddles and balls are heavily used by the people who go there. No one brings their own paddle—well I do—and since there are approximately 47 brigades that go there annually, the equipment is heavily used. Michael Lynne’s has graciously provided me with paddles and balls to bring there and leave there for any and all to use. The court is on a tiled floor so that makes for a different bounce, but there are no differences in how we play pickleball. The rules don’t change just because we’re in Honduras! BTW, we do have a tournament each time we go. That happens for each brigade that goes there—lot’s of pickleball is played there.
