Sports and Recreation

Early-bird coffee and conversation at [5 Bean Coffee](https://5beancoffee.com/)!

In this local meeting, you will discover knowledge that you can use to get over the past. The key to improving your personal motivation, self-confidence, and happiness is to get over your painful memories. When you become free of your past, you will be free from stress, anger, anxiety and depression. Studies show that negative emotions can affect your health. By being free of negative emotions, believe it or not, you will most likely even look younger, feel more energetic, and become healthier! Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to this local event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is brought to you by the Dianetics and Scientology life improvement center.

JOIN CSC FOR A WINTER ADVENTURE! Prairie Oaks Winter Hike Central Ohio Metro Parks — Winter Hike Series Bundle up, hit the trails, and experience the magic of Ohio’s winter landscape with fellow CSC members! Enjoy crisp air, scenic paths, and a chance to recharge in nature. Hike will be approximately 3 miles long, hot chocolate will be provided by the Central Ohio Metro Parks prior to the hike. Please meet at the restroom/hot chocolate area. Dogs welcome. CSC Membership not required for this event! [Dec_2025_CSC_Track Newsletter.pdf]()

We’re still working to get more people into these Meetups, but our goal is to give PlayYourCourt members a few social tennis outings each week in addition to your practice sessions and Challenge League matches. These Meetups are co-ed, super laid back, and all skill levels are welcome. Post your skill level and a suggested court in the comments section so we can round up as many players as we can for some tennis fun! Also, if you’re looking to meet new practice partners or play some matches and you aren’t already in the PlayYourCourt Community, you can go here to see what we’re all about and sign up: https://www.playyourcourt.com/tennis-community/columbus-oh/meetup/ If you love tennis, we’d love to have you! Be sure and watch the quick video that explains how everything works. Happy hitting! - Scott

First Sundays are free admission at Franklin Park Conservatory. Sunday, January 4th, is also the last day The Palm House will be open before renovations begin. Let’s meet, enjoy a respite from January weather, and wander the gardens. Free neanthe bella palms are available to guests, beginning at 10am, while supplies last. Afterwards, we can visit the nearby East Market (212 Kelton Avenue).

Let's grab some coffee/food and share a morning chat! The East Market has an ample parking lot and outdoor and indoor seating. Grab a cup of coffee from Winston's Coffee & Waffles or on your way to East Market and meet us on the second floor - table behind or east of the elevator. If the weather cooperates we will be meeting in the patio. Per what this group is about: "Everyone is welcome! International transplants to Columbus who want to improve language skills, Columbus residents who want to discuss international travel and culture, and anyone who enjoys getting together for good conversations."

**Caller: Gaye Fifer** **Band: Hot Coffee Breakdown** **Big Scioty Contra Dance** **temporarily returning to our long ago location for Jan-March - First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad St., Columbus 43215** WHAT IS CONTRA DANCING? Picture the Grand Ball scenes like you’ve seen in period films such as “Pride and Prejudice”, where the dancers are lined up in long lines, across from each other. That’s English Country Dancing, the predecessor of contra dancing. Now, add moves like “swing your partner” and “do-si-do,” like you’ve seen in square dancing. Set it to fabulous, high energy, live music with fiddles, guitars, percussion and more, alá “Riverdance.” Finally, set the whole scene down in the middle of Woodstock, with a hip, groovy atmosphere, a bit of tie-dye, and hints of counter-culture attitude. THAT’s Contra Dancing! Wear cool and comfortable clothes (you will get warm) and clean shoes that won't mark up our nice wood floor. Be sure to come for the beginner's lesson from 7:30 - 8:00, followed by dancing 8:00 - 10:30. All dances are taught; we will help you learn! Beginners always welcome, no need to bring a partner. Cost is $10.00 adults, $5.00 ages 12-26. Under 12 free. Free parking in church lot. For more information contact me or check out our website: [www.bigscioty.com](http://www.bigscioty.com/) Please bring your own refillable water bottle. Snacks to share are always welcome!

*GOhio!* turns 8!! 🥳 Come celebrate with us at [Pins Mechanical](https://www.pinsbar.com/locations/easton)! 😄 **Summary** Pins Mechanical Co. is a social entertainment venue that combines old-school games like duckpin bowling, pinball, and other classic arcade and table games with craft cocktails, local beers, and punch. The vintage-industrial atmosphere is designed for playful, face-to-face gatherings with friends, family, and colleagues, offering a casual and lively alternative to a typical bar. Pins' Easton location spans over 38,000 square feet, making it the largest in the United States. This massive entertainment venue features two floors, a mezzanine level with stadium seating, and three full-service bars. It offers 16 duckpin bowling lanes, two indoor bocce courts, and more than 60 classic and modern pinball and arcade games. For additional fun, the location is known for its two outdoor patios, an indoor slide, and an expanded patio pong setup. **Activities** As noted below, some machines take actual quarters. Pins has two change machines (one downstairs and one upstairs) that accept ones, fives, or tens (only), and return quarters (only). * *Duckpin Bowling* [Like Bowling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duckpin_bowling) but with smaller balls, stubby pins, and no oil on the lanes. The cost is $9 per game per person. * *Pinball* [Who](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who)'s a [wizard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball_Wizard) on these [retro machines](https://pinballmap.com/map/?by_location_id=15311)? At $1 per play, everyone! Takes quarters. * *Arcade* Play classics like Gorf, Pac-Man, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Gorf, Galaga, and Gorf! The best part is, there's Gorf! And all the arcade games are free! * *Patio Pong* The classic college party staple but bigger. Instead of tossing a ping pong ball into cups, you use a regular ball and oversized buckets. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free! * *Ping Pong* The most popular sport in China! They have two ping pong tables downstairs and two more ping pong tables upstairs. For those of you who have studied topological spaces and set theory, you will know this means they have four total ping pong tables. They have bubble gum dispensers with ping pong balls in them for 25¢ each. The dispensers take quarters. However, they also have racks where they store the ping pong paddles, and in these racks are slots for ping pong balls. It's not uncommon to see balls already here, so there's a chance you may be able to play ping pong for free if you want to. * *Hookie* You can't put your eye out! The safe alternative to darts: Hook thrown rings on a board. Outdoors on the upstairs patio, and free! * *Bocce* Like bowling, except there’s turf and a lot more balls. You can also knock your opponent’s balls out of the way. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free! * *Foosball* Everyone loves [foosball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_football)! 50¢ a game. Takes quarters. * *Giant Jenga* Stack massive wooden blocks into a tower, then take turns pulling out one block at a time without collapsing the tower. There are four of these sprinkled throughout the venue (two downstairs and two upstairs, with one on each patio), and they're all free! * *Skeeball* There are three skeeball machines on the first floor (near the Gorf machine!), and they're all free! * *Giant Connect Four* On the outdoor patio upstairs, and free! * *Bubble Hockey* This is upstairs. Up to four people can play at once, and it costs $1. Takes quarters. * *Cornhole* There are two cornhole lanes upstairs, and they're both free! * *Basketball* There are two basketball machines downstairs. They're tucked behind the downstairs bar, so they're not always obvious unless you go look for them. They're $2 per play, and they take quarters. * *NES and Sega Genesis video games* These are collections, downstairs (near the Gorf machine!), of video games that you can play for free! * *The Big Metal Indoor Slide* This large two-story slide is for kids, and certainly no adults would ride this. After all, it's not like it's free or anything. **Outdoor Patio** Pins at Easton actually has two outdoor patios. But for our purposes, only the upstairs one matters. See, it will be winter and likely cold. But their upstairs patio has multiple ceiling heaters and two massive gas fire pits that put out a ton of heat. Sitting out here may be a real option. As mentioned above, the upstairs outdoor patio has one of the venue's two Patio Pong setups, one of their multiple Giant Jengas, the Giant Connect Four, and Hookie. **Food** Pins doesn't serve food, but there's a [Mikey's Late Night Slice](https://www.latenightslice.com/) next door. This Mikey's is basically an extension of the Easton Pins; there's a large open doorway between both establishments. Mikey's has a fountain dispenser with Coke products. You can also get Coke and Diet Coke (but not Coke Zero, like you can at Mikey's) at the bars in Pins, but I think the quality of the soda pop from Mikey's fountain is better than that from the bar hoses Pins uses to dispense soft drinks. You are also quite allowed at Pins to either bring food in or order it in via your favorite delivery app. **Parking** I recommend parking in the [Worth Garage](https://eastontowncenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/parking-at-easton-updated-file-sept-25.pdf). It's literally right next door to Pins, and it's free as long as you park on Level 2 or above. They recently started charging people to park on Level 1, and you pay for parking on this level the same way you pay for street parking in Columbus, with the [ParkColumbus](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.parkmobile.parkcolumbus&hl=en_US&pli=1) app. I've seen them enforce this by ticketing people's cars, but I don't know how they actually compel payment. The garage is not a public street that actual cops can write you tickets for parking illegally on. If you have an actual ticket from a cop that you don't pay, they can go so far as to issue a warrant for your arrest. But all Easton has, seemingly, is, "[Please pay our ticket](https://eastonpreferredpark.com/)." Still, in my ongoing efforts to eliminate needless stress and aggravation from my life, I just park above the first Level. The actual address of the garage is [4049 Worth Ave, Columbus, OH 43219](https://www.google.com/maps/place/4049+Worth+Ave,+Columbus,+OH+43219/@40.0542293,-82.9137962,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88388a86de3af559:0xc1dc8b4661fc834f!8m2!3d40.0542293!4d-82.9137962!16s%2Fg%2F11sgzjp4ml?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D). However, your GPS is stupid. The actual entrances to the garage are on the cross steets Brighton Rose Way and Fenlon St, not Worth Ave. Just keep this in mind once you get to the garage. **Where we'll meet** I'll post in the comments where I am. People will obviously want to explore different areas of the venue over the course of the event (and there's a lot to explore), but please just let me know (as in, come find me) once you've arrived. **Peroration** Come on out and say hi! 😄

Join us at Easton Town Center for a casual evening of board gaming. Play from our library or bring one of your favorites to share. We usually bring along Catan, Ticket to Ride, Cascadia, etc... We'll be set up at the Donatos Pizza Party Room. It was free for us to reserve, but you may want to buy a drink or go in on a pizza. Why Easton? Although there aren't any board game stores / cafes here, it's a nice area. More importantly, this event coincides with LifeTime Fitness Parent's Night Out, so our kid will get babysat. If you happen to be a member of Lifetime you too can get free babysitting and play some games.

Let's play various and sundry board games at [Crooked Can Brewing](https://crookedcanohio.com/)! The brewery has extensive food options, a good amount of space, and a large (free) parking lot. The games I bring come from the following list, but feel free to bring some of your own as well! 1. *[Bang!](https://www.amazon.com/dV-Giochi-VINCI-Bang-4th/dp/B001RU7UNW)* 2. *[Chinatown](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IVF4ZH0)* 3. *[Codenames](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014Q1XX9S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)* 4. *[Coup](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GDI4HX4?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title)* 5. *[Deception](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019FPQZNG)* 6. *[Family Feud](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Y5XD2HN)* 7. *[Just One](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W3PJTL2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)* 8. *[Mafia](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D97V536)* 9. [Mexican Train Dominoes](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EULZDM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title) 10. [Playing cards](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003E6Q8R6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) 11. *[The Resistance](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008A2BA8G?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title) ([Hidden Agenda](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OVZ693W?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title))* 12. *[Secret Hitler](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JKD4HYC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)* 13. *[Sequence](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NLKHQ3Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)* 14. *[Settlers of Catan](https://www.amazon.com/CATAN-Board-Game-Discovery-Civilization/dp/B00U26V4VQ)* 15. *[So Clover!](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0941TJHXX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)* 16. *[Splendor: Marvel](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DG63MBG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)* 17. *[Telestrations](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0083J768O)* 18. *[Ticket to Ride](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0975277324/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)* 19. *[Tsuro](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SQBB3O)* 20. *[Ultimate Werewolf](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MHWUJA0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)* 21. *[Uno](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P6MZPK3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)* 22. *[Wits & Wagers](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09C916PWB)* 23. *[Yahtzee](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TLEMRKM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)*