STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Arlen Chaney put down his pickleball racket long enough to address some 50 friends who had come from as far away as Fairfield to his 90th birthday party.

“I think we often lose sight of how pickleball has affected our lives,” he told those nibbling on the carrot cake his daughter Sue Hamilton had baked. “The fact that we’re all here to celebrate an ole codger’s 90th birthday is a perfect example. Look around you—how many of these friends would you have if not for pickleball?!”

Chaney looks and acts like a spry 60-year-old. But his birth certificate says he was born in 1935—the same year that Bruno Hauptmann was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering the Lindbergh baby, the same year that Shirley Temple’s “The Little Colonel” premiered at the movies and “Fibber McGee & Molly” debuted on radio and the same year that the Social Security Act became law.

Arlen Chaney joins daughter Sue Hamilton, Christina Healy and Dee Dee Hansen on the court.

Yet his knees are strong enough to pivot through multiple game of pickleball each week and his mind sharp enough to herd the 50 pickleball players on his list.

Those who enjoy pickleball at the Heatherlands thanks to Chaney’s efforts gathered to throw a potluck birthday party for him this past week following two hours of games. Many wore ballcaps emblazoned with Chaney’s picture and the words “Captain Chaney—Our Fearless Leader.”

Chaney wore a pickleball T-shirt that said “Do ya want play or just mess around?” He also wore a button that said “It’s my birthday” and a hat that read “Happy to Be Here.”

"Arlen is nothing short of the godfather of pickleball for the Wood River Valley. He has patiently and inclusively introduced hundreds to the sport, always fostering a culture of laughter, sportsmanship, and deep community,” said Patti Lousen.

Nobody sang, ‘…and many more,’ ” Arlen Chaney quips as he and his daughter Sue Hamilton listen to friends sing “Happy Birthday.”

Chaney introduced Lousen and her husband Tom Bowman to the sport 10 years ago, and Bowman went on to found the Wood River Pickleball Alliance, which has grown to 677 members.

“Arlen's gift for building community is evident in all aspects of his life—from his prolific hunting and fishing circles to the gun club and, of course, on the pickleball courts, where his legendary athleticism is on full display,” Lousen added.

Chaney moved to Sun Valley 25 years ago from Lewiston to join his son Dale Chaney and daughter Sue Hamilton. His father was a logger who hauled logs to the Bunker Hill mine in  Kellogg, and young Chaney worked alongside his father as a teen.

Chaney graduated from the University of Idaho in 1957, served as an Army Ranger and paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division for six years, then moved to Lewiston to work as CEO of Omark Industry’s Sporting Division.

Arlen Chaney addresses some of those attending his birthday party at the Heatherlands.

A big game hunter who still hunts birds, he has trophies of Dall ram, bear, elk, cougar and elephant. And he served as chairman of the NSSF Fire Industry Trade Association from 1986 to 1994, nurturing a Hunters Pay for Conservation program to counter anti-hunting sentiment.

He played tennis for 40 years, teaching his daughter Sue to play at age 10. But, after a shoulder injury hampered his tennis game, he was quick to switch to pickleball, helping Nancy Goodenough and others get pickleball started at the Blaine County Recreation District gym at Hailey’s Community Campus.

Chaney was walking his dog Molly past the tennis courts at the Heatherlands north of Hailey in 2013 when he saw Goodenough pulling weeds that had grown through the cracks and walking around with a long tape measure and piece of chalk.

“I asked her what she was doing, and she said, ‘We go down to Lake Havasu every winter, and they’re playing a game called pickleball. It’s really fun so I’m trying to find a place big enough between the cracks and the weed to lay out a court here,’ ” Chaney recounted.

Arlen Chaney’s pickleball friends dedicated a court to him called “Over Yonder!” using a common Chaney saying.

Chaney began helping her fill cracks. And he started going door to door urging the Heatherlands’ 122 homeowners to approve the $100,000 it would take to turn the eyesore that the courts had become into pickleball courts.

He needed 50 percent approval but got 85 percent of the homeowners to buy into it.

“Pickleball is more than a game—it’s a social event where friends get together to have fun,” he said. “It creates a community of friends and a support group on and off the courts. I have 50 players on my roster, and I consider every one of them a good friend.”

Chaney originally organized players by calling and texting each individually. Now he uses a Team Reach program where players hop on the internet to sign up for the Monday-Wednesday-Friday games.

He’s given nicknames to all his players, including Candy Man, Bubbles, Dodger, Surfer Dude and Boofer.

“He calls himself ‘Captain Old and Slow,’ but we all know he is still quick with his ball placement and that we need to be ready for his shots!” said Dee Dee Hansen. “He’s a very good player, and he can move. His enthusiastic energy is loved by many. And he makes playing so fun and inclusive—all we have to do is sign up. His passion and love of the game has benefitted so many in our community!” 

When he’s not playing pickleball, Chaney’s shooting Sporting Clays at the Hurtig Gun Club and fishing with his buddies.

“I’ve got to tell you that being old and slow has big advantages,” he said. “You know that you’ve reached a defining moment in your life when your pickleball opponents apologize when they hit a good shot and score a point against you. They still take the point, but they tell you how truly sorry they are.”