European Travelers

Kirk, Bo, and Parker traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, on the day after the recent airport terrorist bombing as the first leg of a trip that will include playing in the world's largest petanque tournament. La Marseillaise is celebrating its 55th year! They will have around 15,000 players participating in numerous villages, cities, and towns as participants try to work their way to the finals.

Best wishes and best of luck to the Edwards family. As always, they'll make Carolina Petanque proud!

Here is some more info from Kirk:

The 55^th Mondial la Marseillaise a Petanque will be starting this Sunday on July 3^rd. This is the largest petanque tournament in the world. Currently there are approximately 3000 triples teams signed up in the three categories of general, women’s and youth groups. By the end of the signup there will be around  4500. Carolina Petanque will have Bo Edwards competing in the women’s category with Shannon Hodge from Zanesfield Petanque Club and Celia Crittenden from Portland. Kirk and Parker Edwards will be in the general category and will be competing with Jim Schwobel from Austin. Best of luck at the Super Boule!

This is the link to La Marseillaise which will be reporting the scores and showing a live feed of the games at the port arena. You can also view prior year’s games and interviews which I highly recommend. Kirk, Parker and Jim are team number 163 unfortunately I was not able to find Bo’s team but will post later. http://www.lamarseillaise.fr/sports/mondial-petanque

It also appears that Alec Sweet from New York will also be playing. http://www.microsofttranslator.com/BV.aspx?ref=IE8Activity&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lamarseillaise.fr%2Fsports%2Fmondial-petanque%2Flactu-du-mondial%2F49986-delys-et-sweet-rejoignent-la-fete

To translate to English right click on the text and your browser should give you an option.

~Kirk Edwards

Another hot Sunday

We had a decent crowd at Miller Park despite the heat on Sunday. As usual, we set up both umbrellas and pop-up sun shelters to help. A few people played a game or two on one of the bocce courts that has midday shade, so that helped too. We're still hoping that Parks and Rec will add some type of shelter from the sun in our area, and Shirley continues to discuss possibilities with Mr. Royston. I think there's a new budget coming into effect in July, so maybe something will happen then.
--Gary

The Reeds' Cookout

 Rusty and Marcia Reed, Carolina Petanque members from Deep Gap, NC, invited the group up for a cookout and petanque party last Saturday. Rusty did chicken and ribs on the grill and some of the group brought side dishes and desserts, so we ended up having a real feast.

We also managed to get in a little petanque-- playing from about 10:15 AM to 6:00 PM. It was the first time many of our crowd had seen the court in the Reeds backyard. It's a real beauty! It is covered and lighted, so one can play in just about any weather at any time.

Though we had a good crowd and court time was somewhat limited by the sheer number of people wanting to play, we ended up alternating in and out enough that everyone got to play and get a feel for the terrain. Rusty has done a great job with the court texture. It's firm, but the top dressing of crushed oyster shell allows enough drag on the boules to make it fun for beginners and experts alike.

Many thanks to our wonderful hosts. We look forward to the next time.

Miller Park

We had a good crowd at Miller Park this past Sunday; but, as luck would have it, Shirley's battery was dying on her camera and I was only able to recover and upload this one shot. Really nice to see Carol out again, though. Her Mom, Faye, is now home from the hospital after a lengthy stay fighting a serious bacterial infection. Here's wishing Faye and Ronnie all the best as her recuperation period continues.

2nd Annual Alliance Francaise Picnic and Petanque

On behalf of Carolina Petanque, I'd like to thank all of those who participated in the Petanque and Picnic event with Charlotte's Alliance Française.  The weather was perfect, attendance was high, and we had a great time!  We appreciate Alliance Française's interest co-hosting this event and furnishing the delicious desserts from Renaissance Bakery. 

Pétanque is a staple of the French culture, and therefore it is also popular in other Francophone countries and provinces such as Belgium, Morocco, and Quebec.  Because of this, we are happy to have started this new tradition with the Alliance Française of Charlotte.  In addition, we in Carolina Petanque love this game, so we relish opportunities to share pétanque with others in the United States

We look forward to hosting this event again in 2017.  Don't forget that pétanque is played in Charlotte the third Saturday of each month at Nevin Park, beginning at 13h. Let's continue to help pétanque grow in the Carolinas!

If you are interested in learning more about Carolina Petanque or would like information about purchasing boules, etc., please contact me at bekahboo714@gmail.com .

Here's a short video of play during Saturday's event:  https://youtu.be/c7PLxn_D7hU

-Rebekah RICARDO

Sports Director, Carolina Petanque