Charlotte, NC

Khalid, Shirley, and I had another Nevin Park practice session on Thursday morning.  The park has five, seldom-used bocce/petanque courts and is near enough to Khalid's Charlotte (Concord area) home to be convenient.  Get in touch with us via e-mail at CarolinaPetanque@yahoo.com if you'd like to join us next time.

Boone, NC

Last Wednesday night, Shirley and I decided to make the drive up from where we were visiting in Lincolnton, NC, to Boone, NC, in order to play with Kristi, Cruz, and friends.  Cruz built a backyard court a short while back, and he and Kristi invited us to come up and play some Wednesday evening.

Since the drive from Lincolnton was only a little over an hour, we decided to surprise them by taking them up on their invitation.  They've been hosting on a regular basis on Wednesday nights, and this particular Wednesday found a large and enthusiastic group of players attending.  Cruz had chicken and hotdogs on the grill of a beautiful, outdoor fireplace and Kristi warmed the crowd with homemade salsa-- the heat coming from peppers they grew themselves in a backyard garden.

Besides the players who live relatively close to Boone (Kirk, Bo, and Parker; Uijin,, Lauren, and Sophia;  Angela), Augustin, Marc, and Juan had made the drive up from Hickory.

Kristi and Cruz have a nice place only a few hundred yards from downtown Boone, but one might think he was in a much more rural area once inside their fenced-in backyard.  They have a greenhouse, large garden area, small pond feature, heck, even a few chickens (!), as well as exotic foliage like banana plants in their backyard area.

With all this, plus a grassy play area and a cement basketball area for the kids, they were still able to squeeze in a well-lighted petanque court.  Actually, they have two courts, because a short practice area abuts their brick patio and can be used  for gameplay by playing from the patio pavers when the crowd warrants.

If you ever expect to be in the Boone area on a Wednesday evening when the gang might be playing, get in touch with us at CarolinaPetanque@yahoo.com and we'll check it out for you.

Lexington Barbecue Festival

 http://www.barbecuefestival.com/

Shirley just talked with Stephanie Saintsing Naset, Executive Director of the Lexington Barbecue Festival, and got her approval to promote our October 27, 2013, tournament as an Official Event of the Lexington Barbecue Festival.  Great news!  Come for the festival on Saturday and stay over for the tournament on Sunday!

Sunday- Winston-Salem

Nice crowd at Miller Park for our usual Sunday afternoon play.  Hot, but not unbearably so.  Plan to join us again next Sunday at 1:00.

Saturday- Hickory

Augustin and Susanne had us over to play in Hickory on Saturday.  They have just finished adding a fourth court in the woods behind their home.  It' really looks great!  They were able to incorporate several trees as part of the court boundaries as opposed to just removing them.  The entire area is shaded so it promises to be a great place to play on hot Carolina afternoons.  Plus, the retro-look lighting around the perimeter allows play on into the evenings.

Thursday-- Lexington

Shirley and I spent a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon teaching some kids how to play.  We used a baseball infield located at the Robbins Recreation Center on Hargrave Street in Lexington.  The kids seemed to have a lot of fun and we promised them we'd return this Thursday for a follow-up.

From Carol (and Tom) Cearley

...we'll be in France again Sunday.  Bought two sets of balls last weekend to play while at wedding festivities this past weekend.  Worst terrain we have ever played on, full of rocks.  Played with a nine year old boy named Brice who could hold his own and really could read the lay of the land!  Just got interested this year and taught himself.  I was impressed!!!,

Hope all is well there with you all.  We are working every minute, hit the ground running and have not stopped, except to attend a wedding last weekend.  Now we are back to the salt mines!

Carol