Texas again

Gary & Shirley left on Sunday May 18 for Texas to visit their daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids. As usual, they managed to find some place to play a little petanque. Here are a few shots from Pease Park in downtown Austin. Guess this will be the last post until they're back in the Carolinas. After all, this is CarolinaPetanque, not TexasPetanque!

But , one final note-- the crowd here is in the process of forming a new FPUSA club. Guess CarolinaPetanque will soon be relinquishing the title of "newest FPUSA member club."

More from the CarolinaPetanque Open

Philippe has done such a good job with his slideshow on the Petanque America website

http://petanqueamerica.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?username=petanqueamerica&album_id=605073&section_id=855639

that I'm only going to post a few representative pictures here. The fact that everyone seemed to have fun is what we want people to remember about our tournament. We look forward to doing it again in the future.

First Tournament a Success!

The inaugural CarolinaPetanque Open, sponsored by Petanque America, was held on May 16-18, 2008. The first tournament has drawn rave reviews. There is considerable coverage available on Petanque America's blog. And a favorable mention from the FPUSA blog as well.

http://petanqueamericaopen.blogspot.com/
http://fpusa.blogspot.com/2008/05/carolina-open-success.html

There were 18 teams from various states up and down the east coast. Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and Michigan were all represented, as well as teams from throughout North Carolina.

Pictured here are the Champions and Runners-up. They are (from left to right) Danny Daniels, Shirley Jones, Sue Daniels, and Gary Jones. Danny and Sue (from Rockwell, NC) were the Runners-up with a qualifying record of Won 5 & Lost 1 and a hard-fought victory over Joe Drago and Jacques Paraskevas ( from Maryland and Virginia, respectively) in the semi-finals. Joe and Jacques Won 6 and Lost 0 in the qualifying rounds.

Gary and Shirley (from Lexington, NC) were 5 & 1 in the qualifying rounds. They defeated Mark and Karen Rankin ( from the Virginia Boulefrogs delegation; also 5 & 1 in the qualifiers) in their semi-final match. They then went on to defeat Danny and Sue in what turned out to be an all-Carolina finals.

All the participants in the Consolation playoffs finished the qualifying rounds with records of 4 & 2. The Runners-up in the Consolation playoffs were Khalid Mesbah (now from Charlotte, NC, and formerly from New York) and Carol Cearley (from Lincolnton, NC). They defeated Bob Moyer and his son Josh Moyer (both from Winston-Salem, NC) in the semi-finals.

The Winners of the Consolation playoffs were Richard Taranto and Nora Lich from the Virginia Boulefrogs. They defeated Mamary Coulibaly ( from Philadelphia, PA, and recent winner of the National Doubles Tournament in Sarasota, FL) and Gisele Lich from the Boulefrogs in their semi-final. They then went on to defeat Khalid and Carol in the finals.

Also noteworthy was the team of John and Benedicte Whitworth. They were one of the other fine teams from the Virginia Boulefrogs. They finished the qualifying rounds with a 4 & 2 record, but failed to make the playoffs because their margins of victory were not quite as great as the playoff teams.

A job well done by all. Many more pictures and comments to come in the next few days.

CarolinaPetanque Open Preparations

The preparations are in full swing for this weekend's inaugral CarolinaPetanque Open. Mowing, cleaning, and raking are being done to make our location more presentable with company coming. The latest news from our advisor/sponsor, Philippe Boets at Petanque America, is that Mamary (Mo) Coulibaly from Philly is going to drive down and be in Winston-Salem by around 3:00PM on Friday. That is great news since we originally thought that the demise of Skybus would keep him from attending. Sorry that his normal partner, Juan Garcia from Florida, is unable to make the trip. Maybe next year. Now with Khalid Mesbah coming from Charlotte and Mo from Philadelphia, we have two of the premier players in the United States slated to attend.

Practice play at Miller Park begins tomorrow, Friday, at 2:00PM. Hope to see many of you there!

Miller Park on Google Maps

Big weekend coming up!!!

The first (annual?) CarolinaPetanque Open tournament is set for this weekend May16-18. It's still not too late to register. Just drop us an e-mail to CarolinaPetanque@yahoo.com and let us know how many people you're bringing.

The fun starts Friday afternoon around 2:00PM. We're expecting around a dozen people or more to be at the Miller Park courts for some preliminary practice play. Then on Saturday at 10:00AM it's registration time for the 10:30AM tournament.

Each team is guaranteed to play at least six games if we can get the sixth round started by 4:00PM. The top four teams will move on to the Champioship playoffs and teams five through eight will make up the Consolation playoff bracket.

With a free Friday night cocktail gathering, a free Saturday pizza lunch, and a free Saturday night mixed grill cookout, your nominal $15/person entry fee goes a long way. Not to mention the chance to win hundreds of dollars in prizes!

The following events are planned for Winston-Salem, NC:

Friday 2:00PM -- Preliminary play at Miller Park
Friday 7:30PM (come as early as 6:00 if you'd like!) -- Pre-tourney party at 621 N Spring St
Saturday 10:00AM -- Registration at Miller Park
Saturday 10:30AM -- Play begins
Saturday 12:30PM (approximate) -- Lunch
Saturday 5:00PM (approximate) -- Playoffs begin
Saturday 7:30PM -- Post-tourney meal & party at 621 N Spring St
Sunday 10:00AM -- Fun play at Miller Park

Miller Park on Google Maps

CarolinaPetanque KickoffParty

Bob has settled on a time for the opening event of the upcoming CarolinaPetanque Open scheduled for May 17-18. It is to be a meet&greet party at his home near the Miller Park venue. He's decided that 7:30 PM on Friday night should work well. That will give people time for an early supper meal and still allow a little time for an after dinner glass of wine and visiting with members of the group.



There are several very good restaurants in the area. The Bonefish Grill has an especially good reputation. It's at 300 S Stratford Rd. 336-724-4518. Then there's Nawab Indian Cuisine located at 129 S Stratford Rd. 336-725-3949. Or for Mexican, Pancho Villa's at 799 S Stratford Rd 336-768-6886. And Mi Pueblo at 644 S Stratford Rd 336-765-5174 is also very good.

There is also a K&W Cafeteria nearby at 3300 Healy Drive 336-768-1066. And an Olive Garden at 170 Hanes Mall Circle 336-765-9008.

Hanes Mall itself is worth a visit. I believe it is the largest indoor shopping mall in the state. Check it out at shophanesmall.com.

Hope to see everyone at Bob's place on Friday the 16th!

Bob Moyer

621 N Spring St

Winston-Salem, NC 27101

(336) 577-6371

CarolinaPetanque Parisian Promenade

Here are a few shots from yesterdays Parisian Promenade event in Greensboro. We had a lot of interest in our demonstration play. Gave out numerous business cards and flyers. Hope to get a few new players from the exposure. Any of you Greensboro people who would be interested in occasional Saturday or Sunday play, drop us a line and we'll see what we can arrange.

Petanque in the mountains

In the foothills of North Carolina's mountains, there's a small town that each year in the spring becomes home to America's largest folk music festival. The name of the town is North Wilkesboro and the name of the festival is Merlefest. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MerleFest

This year, as in many past years, Shirley and I made the trip up to enjoy some of the many varieties of music that the organizers bring to our fair state. This annual tribute that Doc Watson and thousands of his friends pay to Doc's late son, Merle, is well worth your time and money if you've never been and enjoy music ranging from Bluegrass to Cajun to Americana to Traditional Mountain music to, well, you get the idea.

This year was a special treat, because, not only was the music great, but our friends, Danny and Sue, invited our other friends, Bobby and Peggy, along with us to spend a couple of nights with them at their little mountain home in Crossnore, NC, which is in the heart of North Carolina's mountains near Grandfather Mountain, Boone, Blowing Rock, and the ski slopes of Beech and Sugar Mountains, among other attractions. Not only did we enjoy our visit, but we even found time to sneak in a couple of games of petanque at a local baseball field. Aren't you surprised we found the time? (Danny was our photographer and missed being in the pictures.)

Gary

Sugar Mountain on Dwellable