CarolinaPetanque in Tangier, Morocco

One of our very best players, Khalid Mesbah, sent us this snapshot of him wearing a CarolinaPetanque t-shirt while playing in Tangier, Morocco. Thanks, Khalid, for the snapshot and for representing us while you're visiting in Morocco.

Fred Returns; Tim Appears; Mike & LuAnn

We had a nice turnout on a VERY hot July afternoon at Miller Park. We were pleasantly surprised to welcome Fred back to the group. He's about halfway through a six week recuperation period from surgery, so we didn't expect to see him quite so soon. Not only did he and Faye make an appearance, but he really looked good and seems to be well on his way to complete recovery. Welcome back, Fred!

One other surprise caught most of us off guard as well: Tom Cearley's TWIN brother showed up unexpectedly on his way to Virginia. We didn't even realize Tom had a twin! He visited for a while and even played a game with us (substituting for Shirley who got caught up in an extended phone call). Come back anytime, Tim.

And, finally, a friend of Shirley's from her workplace in High Point showed up with her husband to try our game for the first time. LuAnn and Mike both seemed to catch on quickly and enjoyed meeting our group. Hope to see you again soon, guys!

Along with those mentioned above and Shirley and myself, we were happy to have Augustin, Susanne, and Marc from Hickory; Ronnie Rierson from Clemmons; Bob M. from W-S, Tom and Carol from Lincolnton, and Joe from the Miller Park neighborhood.

The two umbrellas that Shirley and I had the foresight to bring made the temperatures (barely!) tolerable and we had some good games despite it being mid-July in North Carolina.

4th of July in Charlotte

Here's a small i-phone snapshot that friend-of-CarolinaPetanque, Ed Shoaf, took of wife Anne Shoaf with their daughter and son-in-law on a morning outing in Charlotte at the courts on Kings Drive. Thank, Ed, for the snap. Hope we see you guys again soon.

Spruce Pine Invitational -- Day 2

The second day of the 2011 Spruce Pine Invitational included two more group meals, courtesy of Kirk & Bo, along with the actual tournament. The tournament was a (random-draw-for-teams) Doubles event comprised of eight teams.

Play was spirited and fun though the weather was particularly hot for a North Carolina mountain town. Temperatures were in the 90s in the sun. Three timed games of 45 minutes each were played to determine seeding for the single elimination brackets.

Shirley (with her partner Rebecca) lost in the first round of bracket play and I fared only a little better, losing (with my partner Kori) in the semi-finals. Both our partners played well, but I guess we had used up all our luck on Saturday.

The finals came down to Danny & Lauren against Uijin and Cruz. It was a good, back-and-forth match, but Danny's shooting and Lauren's pointing proved to be too much for Uijin & Cruz in the end.

Kirk had a unique twist planned for the final game of the official competition. Danny & Lauren played each other head-to-head for the overall tournament championship award! Danny was the one with the hot hand and came out ahead despite some flashes of brilliant pointing from Lauren.

The tournament was a huge success in our view and we hope Kirk & Bo will think about us when they plan future events.

Spruce Pine Invitational -- Day 1

For the past three years Kirk & Bo Edwards of Spruce Pine, NC, have hosted an annual petanque invitational for their friends on the 4TH of July. This years event was, therefore, the Fourth Annual Spruce Pine Invitational.

Since Kirk & Bo decided to join the FPUSA through CarolinaPetanque a short time back, they were kind enough to invite Shirley and myself, along with our Crossnore, NC, friends, Danny & Sue Daniels, to join them for this year's event.

Day 1 was sheduled for arrivals, practice rounds, and pointing and shooting competitions. We got to meet a lot of nice, young people and were welcomed into the group of long-time friends without hesitation.

Shirley and I spent Friday night with Danny & Sue at their home in Crossnore. We were only about twenty minutes away from Saturday's event. Arriving at noon, we were all treated to traditional 4TH of July fare-- hot dogs from the grill and all the fixings and sides.

As mentioned above, Kirk had devised a test of pointing skills to get the group into the competitive spirit. As luck would have it, Shirley won first place. More surprising, I finished second!

Then came the shooting competition. New game-- same results! Shirley won; I finished second (I know; I couldn't believe it either!).

Our great day of practice play went on until nearly dark (in the meantime Kirk & Bo treated us to another good meal-- this time pork barbeque and all the trimmings), at which time the four of us took our leave to return to Crossnore for the evening and leave the more serious partying to the younger crowd. Rumor has it that some played/partied until 3:00 AM!