Return to the Carolinas!

Sprinkles and a gray sky didn't keep us from having some good games yesterday at Miller Park. There were fifteen of us for afternoon play.

Bob & Pam were back after a long absence due to their travel schedule. They live the RVing life in their beautiful Class A motor home for much of the year. Hope they'll be able to get by again before hitting the road.

Augustine & Mark made the trip over from Hickory. Augustine's a new Grandpa. Susanne and Brian have a new baby girl. Congratulations!

Tom & Wesley showed up from Lincolnton. We were all glad to see them again. Carol (visiting in Texas) was missed.

Terry and Sue returned to the pistes after a recent trip to Hawaii. (Thanks for the new souvenir cap and Shirley's Hawaiian print bag!)

Steve and Martha were new "walk-ups." Glad to have you, guys.

Last but not least, Philippe & Adrian came over from Greensboro while Michel was there representing Winston-Salem. (And Shirley & I made fifteen).

We were all sorry that Bob & Josh were not able to make it. I'm sure we'll see them soon.

As for all you others who don't see your names here, maybe next week?

News from Granada, Spain!

Our friend, Walt Elder (the taller of the guys pictured above) , recently sent us a few pics from Granada. It seems he and a friend, Pepe La Chana, recently won the title of Best Doubles Team in Granada (2nd Category).

Congraulations, Walt and Pepe!!!

I plan to send Walt an e-mail asking if he's going to be able to visit with CarolinaPetanque this summer. I'll keep everyone apprised.

More from Florida

The Florida vacation trip that Shirley and I took in March finally gave me the opportunity to meet with Gilles Canesse (pictured in the foreground of the first photo above) who is president of the Sararsota Petanque Club. Gilles was kind enough to reschedule some of his commitments in order to meet with me concerning my desire to become certified as an official FPUSA umpire. The Club Umpire test was administered by Gilles during a Sunday morning play date at the Lakeview Park site near Sarasota. I'm proud and happy to say that I have since been notified that I did pass.

Of course, in addition to the test, we also wanted to get in some play on the very tough Sarasota terrain. The surface is hard and irregular, in other words, very challenging. Pointing requires a sensitive touch and the ability to "read" the terrain as one would a golf putting green. Shooting, to be very succesful, must usually be done "on the iron."

It was great fun, and the people were extremely nice and welcoming. There was a slight language barrier in some instances; however, lucky for us, most of the French speaking people also had good English skills.

We look forward to returning at the first opportunity. And hope that it may work out for some of the Florida crowd to visit our club when they're in the area.

CarolinaPetanque in Florida

Here are a few snaps of Shirley and Gary playing while on vacation in Florida. These photos show them, along with with four of their friends, trying out the courts used by Sarasota Petanque in Lakeview Park near Sarasota.

Pictured above in the first photo are Bob, Barb, Pam, and John. Bob/Barb are from Pennsylvania and Pam/John live just north of Tampa. They are all very good players and great people. We hope that they can give our club a visit later in the year.

Miller Park on February 8, 2009

We had a lovely day for petanque on Sunday. We were especially glad to have Tom and Carol travel over from Lincolnton along with Augustine and Susanne from Hickory. Many of the usual gang were there and we also had one visitor, Erik (pictured at top), a friend of Philippe's.

It looks as though the improving weather in the Carolinas should start to bring out a few more players on a regular basis. Let's hope so.