Pickleball Philanthropist Pays it Forward
Claude Blackburn , of Bellingham , Washington , is giving back to help build the sport of pickleball .
By JuLee Rudolf
Claude Blackburn at Hillcrest Park .
If you had the opportunity to give back in a large way , what would you help fund in your community ? Most likely , many of our pickleball enthusiasts would say , “ More pickleball courts !”
For philanthropist Claude Blackburn , that ’ s exactly what he has set out to do .
After living on public assistance in his early years , Claude , who lives in Bellingham , Washington , built a successful business career that has enabled him to give back and help build the sport of pickleball .
At 19 , Claude started his first business — Claude ’ s Carpet Care . Over the next few years , he knocked on 10,000 doors , offering to clean carpets for anyone who ’ d open the door . If they didn ’ t want their carpets cleaned , he offered to wash their windows .
By 1978 , he owned the most successful carpet cleaning and restoration company in the county . Following that , he formed Superlight Flight , an ultralight aircraft sales and flight training company , which may have been a business failure in his mind but became the best realworld business education .
In 1980 , his next and most successful business venture was Dri-Eaz Products , a company that manufactures drying and restoration equipment . Over the following 26 years , Claude worked tirelessly to grow his company and innovate the industry . Dri-Eaz eventually became the largest manufacturer of water damage equipment in North America . During that time , Claude and his wife , Mary , raised four children . Sadly , Mary passed away in 2002 .
When Claude sold Dri-Eaz in 2006 , it had grown to 200 employees , 150 distributors and annual sales of over $ 49 million . He was only 55 , but he had been working for 44 years .
In 2007 , Claude discovered pickleball . “ My first experience with the sport was at Outdoor Resorts Indio in California where they had converted several tennis courts to pickleball ,” he recalls . “ I saw some people playing and they invited me join them — and they were very encouraging .