Jeffrey and Linda host the gang

Two of our Texas friends that we met through the Heart of Texas Petanque Club have a wonderful backyard terrain in downtown Austin. Jeffrey and Linda were kind and gracious enough to have a few of us over for late afternoon (into early evening) play on Monday the 25th of October. Linda is a professional chef and Jeffrey is also very proficient in the culinary arts. Together they set out a wonderful spread for our enjoyment. Many thanks!

October 24, 2010

We joined our Texas friends in Austin for Sunday play at the beautiful French Legation located within sight of the Texas Capitol building in the heart of downtown. There are numerous very good players in this group which includes both the Alliance Francaise and Heart of Texas clubs, so you'd better bring your best game!

Yesterday

There were fifteen of us for yesterday's play at Miller Park. Fabrice, a friend of Wesley Cearley, gets the award for longest distance traveled to play. He just flew in from France to visit the states for a couple of weeks.

There were three other first-time-at-Miller Park players as well. We were glad to have our recent new member, Stacy Buff, along with her daughter, Taylor, and her dad, Logan.

Three more new players this past Sunday!

Let's see-- we had Bob M., Fred, Danny, Khalid, Ronnie, Bob P., Pam, Terry, Sue W., Augustin, Susanne, Shirley, and myself. That makes thirteen. Then there were three first-time-at-Miller Park players-- George, Steve, and Jane. For a total of sixteen players. That's our best turnout at Miller Park in quite a while.

George is a friend and co-worker of Khalid. They made the drive over from the Concord/Kannapolis area. George managed to be on the winning team more often than not during Sunday's play. We hope that will encourage him to come back again!

Steve and Jane (Jane is the sister of Susanne) came over with Augustin and Susanne from Hickory. Shirley and I had met them once before at a petanque party that Augustin and Susanne hosted this past summer at their Hickory home. They are liking the game enough that they have expressed an interest in joining our club. Though we didn't have the required application forms with us on Sunday, my oversight, we'll be sure to do so the next time!

New players yesterday

We had a good turnout yesterday for our first play at Miller Park in quite a while. Besides Shirley and myself, we had Bob, Fred, Tom &Carol, Terry&Sue, Bob&Pam, and Francis&Bonnie for an even dozen players.

Fred and Bob&Pam were surprise attendees. Fred had played with Danny against Shirley and me back in the hottest part of the summer. He is a Winston-Salem resident who just got interested as a walk-up and then proceeded to play--and play well. We were really glad to have him again yesterday and have high hopes that he'll become one of our regulars.

Bob&Pam are club members who also live in Winston-Salem but travel the country as (almost) full-time RVers in their big, beautiful Class A motor home. We were delighted to see them make a surprise appearance yesterday since we were unaware that they were in town.

Then there were two players-- Francis&Bonnie-- who joined us for the first time. They are friends of Terry&Sue and had been promising to come play the next time we played at Miller Park. Well, yesterday was that day. They both took to the game immediately (that's Bob getting them started in the picture at the top of the blog) and we expect to see them frequently in the future.

One more thing-- everyone was surprised and amazed to find out that Francis&Bonnie were long-time (over 15 years!) friends of Tom&Carol! Though both couples had Terry&Sue as common friends, neither knew it. What a small, crazy world we live in!

Cercle Francais

We traveled to the Appalachian State University area and met the Cercle Francais French Club for a brief session in the rain on Wednesday. Walt Elder had made arrangements to demonstrate the game of petanque at Jimmy Smith Park in downtown Boone, North Carolina.

Though a larger crowd had been expected prior to the cold, rainy day that materialized, the four members who braved the elements were enthusiastic enough to make up for those unable to attend. Kudos to Lori, Olga, Lynn, and Dominic for the dedication they displayed by making the effort--even in the cold rain!

Walt gave the gathering a little history lesson regarding the early days of petanque and how the game came to be. Then we afforded a little hands-on lesson in the playing of the game. The surface had enough gravel to be somewhat playable if you avoided the mud puddles!

Thanks to Walt and the Cercle Francais for having us and we're excited about doing it again when the weather is more cooperative.