More tournament info: May 17 & 18

Here is our tentative schedule for tournament weekend:

Friday evening, May 16 -- Bob Moyer, president of CarolinaPetanque, is having a meet&greet cocktail hour at his home near the Miller Park venue. When it was suggested that wine for a crowd might be too expensive, Bob replied, "Not the kind of wine I buy!". Exact time and details to be determined.

Saturday, May 17, 10:00 AM -- Registrations at Miller Park. Register as doubles teams. If you don't have a partner, we'll try to match you up with one. $15 per person payable in advance of the draw. Random draw for scheduling of preliminary rounds play.

Saturday, May 17, 10:30 AM -- Preliminary seeding rounds play begins. Every team will get to play at least six matches assuming the last round can be started by 4:00 PM.

Saturday, May 17, 12:30-1:30 PM (approximate) -- Lunch of Domino's pizza to be provided free of charge. Water and soft drinks will be available.

Saturday, May 17, 1:30 PM -- Preliminary seeding rounds continue.

Saturday, May 17, 4:00 PM -- No new rounds of seeding matches to begin after this cutoff.

Saturday, May 17, 5:00 PM (approximate) -- The top eight ranked teams will qualify for the semi-finals, single-elimination playoffs. The top four teams will constitute the Championship Tier and play for 80% of the total prize money pool. The next four ranked teams will make up the Consolation Tier and play for 20% of the total prize money pool. As advertised, 100% of the registration money is to be awarded in prizes.

Saturday, May 17, 5:45 PM (approximate) -- Winners of the Championship Tier semi-finals will meet in the Championship finals. The Champions will receive 75% of the Championship prize money pool and the runners-up will receive 25%. At the same time, winners of the Consolation Tier semi-finals will meet in the Consolation finals. Winning team will receive 75% of the Consolation prize money pool and the runners-up will receive 25%. Other prizes will be awarded to teams that made the playoffs but were eliminated in the semi-finals.

Saturday, May 17, 7:30 PM -- After tourney party and dinner to be held at Bob Moyer's home near the park. Plans are for a mixed grill of burgers, dogs, shrimp, sausages, chicken, etc.

Sunday, May 18, 10:00 AM -- Fun play at Miller Park for those able to stay.

Lodging for May 17/18 tournament

Here are a few hotels/motels in Winston-Salem in the area of Miller Park that, as of April 21, 2008, have available rooms. They can be broadly categorized into two groups: Less Expensive and More Expensive. Each seems to be acceptable in its category. It is strongly suggested that anyone wanting to block out the nights of May 16 and May 17 act right away, as selections are limited. Wake Forest University is having graduation exercises the same weekend as our tournament and many other of the hotels we surveyed were already booked solid.

Less expensive:

Motel 6, 3810 N. Patterson Ave., 336-661-1588, 8.2 miles away

A little farther away than most of our other suggestions, but rates around $47/night make it very affordable for those shopping for lowest cost. Did not view rooms here, but probably typical of the chain. Area appears to be relatively clean and safe, though there is an adult nightclub next door.

Innkeeper, 2115 Peters Creek Pkwy, 336-721-0062, 2.9 miles

Easily accessible, recently refurbished, decor okay, area near shopping center appears safe and well populated, rate quoted at $55/night for block of rooms seems very reasonable. Looks like a good choice for a no-frills place to sleep. Internet. Staff was friendly and accommodating.

The Inn at the Mill, 127 S Cherry St, 336-725-8561, 3.1 miles

Under new management, location is downtown near Old Salem. Rooms redecorated, appear to be good value for modest downtown accommodations. Quoted at $69/night. Was a Best Western at one point.

More expensive:

Hawthorne Inn and Conference Center, 420 High St, 336-777-3000, 2.9 miles

Limited availability of rooms for tournament dates, rates average around $109/night. Downtown location near Old Salem, upscale decor. Extra nice. Free parking, internet, on-site restaurant, etc.

Clarion Sundance Hotel and Spa, 3050 University Pkwy, 336-723-2911, 4.7 mi.

Spa packages available, luxury decor, restaurant on site, exercise room, etc. $109/night. A little ways out of town.

Holiday Inn Express, 2520 Peters Creek Pkwy, 336-788-1980, 4.0 miles

Modern, typical of the new Express Inns, tastefully furnished. $109/night.

Comfort Inn Medical Suites, 110 Miller St, 336-721-0220, 0.9 miles

Closest location of suggested sites. Lobby clean, cheerful, and colorful. Quiet. Good nearby restaurants, fitness center, internet. Easy drive (or walk!?) to the park. $110/night quoted. Availability may be limited.

Wingate Inn, 125 S Main St, 336-714-2800, 3.3 miles

Downtown location, complimentary parking deck, nearby restaurants, breakfast buffet, fitness center, internet, upscale. $119/night. Free airport transportation

Marriott Winston-Salem, 425 N Cherry St, 336-725-3500, 3.4 miles

Downtown location, valet parking $10/day, on site restaurant, exercise room, internet. More upscale. Most expensive of our suggestions at $179/night. Smoke-free facility.

Another fun day Sunday!

We had ten again this past Sunday, April 13, 2008 for play at Miller Park. The weather was better than recent Sundays but still a little cool. It was one of those days when you just couldn't quite decide whether you really needed that jacket or not.

Bob (Pam) took the photos and was kind enough to send them for inclusion on the blog.

Here are a few that give some idea of the fun we had. But you really had to be there!

Come on out this Sunday and see for yourself. Play will be at Miller Park in Winston-Salem beginning at 1:30. We need to get our games in shape for the upcoming May tournament.

Which do you want first, the good news or the bad?

Well, it looks like the recent demise of Skybus air service is going to keep Juan and Mo (shown here with Gilles of the Sarasota Petanque Club) from making it to our May tournament after all. We were really looking forward to their participation. But, for the good news, Philippe from Petanque America confirmed that Khalid from Charlotte is coming. He was selected for the US National team in 2006 and was a member of the La Boule New York team before moving to the Carolinas. Here is a shot of him in action.

National Doubles Champions coming to Winston-Salem

The FPUSA blog posted an article about the recent National Doubles tournament held in Sarasota, Florida. The winners of the Men's Doubles are pictured at right. They are:

Gilles Canesse and Jean Jacques Rouillon (second place), Juan Garcia and Mamary Coulibaly (Champions), and David and Salem Bloom (third place). The winning team of Juan/Mamary are signed up to compete in our first tournament in Winston-Salem on May 17th. So you may have a chance to play against (beat?) the National Doubles Champions if you sign up now!

Parisian Promenade

There is an upcoming event that several of the Carolina Petanque group plan to attend. It is to be held in Greensboro's Bicentennial Gardens on Sunday, May 4, 2008. The name of the festival is Parisian Promenade. According to the gotriadscene.com website, it is to:

"Celebrate the arrival of spring by enjoying the sights, scenes, sounds and smells of a spring afternoon in Paris. Parisian Promenade will feature painters, photographers, fresh-cut flower bouquets, live musical performances, a children’s area (featuring art activities, balloon sculpting, and Tic Tac Toe), French food demonstrations, Poodle Parade and much more. It is a terrific opportunity to see a brilliant display of the garden in full bloom -- nature's artistry at its finest. This is a cooperative project between Greensboro Beautiful and the Greensboro Parks and Recreation Department and is sponsored by Doris and Stanley Tanger."

Here are a few pictures from last year's affair. (Courtesy of Philippe's Petanque America blog archives.) As you can see, it was a lot of fun. Once again we plan to have a small table displaying petanque equipment and show the crowds the basics of how to play our game. We had a lot of interest last year and would like to recruit anyone who might want to play and/or join our club.

Why not plan to bring the family and come on out and join us? We look forward to seeing you!