A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Another bocce season has come to an end. While league play and open bocce are finished until the fall of 2024, spring bocce is still being played by many. If your league is continuing to play on, do not enter an end date in the captain’s book. You should still check in announcing bocce club and you will still be entitled to use the club equipment. If your league has signed out on the captain’s book as being done for the season, then you now must check in as bocce, not bocce club. You will not be allowed to use the club equipment. You are simply a member of the public there to play bocce. You can be as creative as you want to be in spring league. Mix up how you play the game, switch partners, ask members from other leagues to join in if you don’t have a full 16 member league. And play as long into the summer as you can tolerate.
Our club is continuing to grow. Sue, our membership chair, spent many hours weeding through our membership lists to ensure the club followed all the requirements of the Rec. If member names or numbers did not match up with what appeared on a members Rec card, then that member was not counted. We might have listed someone as Sue, but their Rec card has them listed as Susan. Sometimes members transposed their Rec numbers. It was a grueling task, but we are now in a solid position with an accurate club membership list reaching a few shy of 500.
Our new bocce equipment has held up well. There may be a few minor chips in a couple of the balls but that is expected from time to time. The wiping down of all of our equipment by the leagues before returning the carts to the monitors has worked well. The balls, the baton and the measuring devices all are clean. When you do wipe down the equipment, please spray the cloths that are on the carts and wipe the equipment with that damp cloth. Do not spray the balls on the court or in the carts. This has the potential to damage both the courts and the carts.
The club held its In-House tournament on March 16th. The format was a little bit different in that Randy and Tim from the Club’s Board of Directors grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for all the registrants and volunteers. We took a lunch break once the first round of the tournament was completed. Participants had a chance to catch their breath, have something to eat and do a bit of socializing before moving on to the final rounds. The first-place winners were the Kathleen Ashing team, second-place was the Dave Parrish team, and the third-place winners were the Rick Carlson team. It was a great tournament on a beautiful day with good food and lots of friendly competition.
Our Bocce Club had 4 teams entered into the Tri-City Tournament which was held in Sun City on March 30th. This was a single elimination tournament. One of our SCW teams finished in second place overall. This was no small feat as the competition was fierce. Congratulations to Pat Pedersen, Paul Thayer, Gail Kendall, and Terry Penley. You all represented SCW Bocce well.
The calendar has been set for the fall of 2024. Below are several dates that you may want to take note of. A complete calendar will be posted on the website during the summer as the Recreation Center approves more of our requests. Reminders will be sent as well.
Captains Meeting – RHJ Lecture Hall – Saturday, Sept. 28th
League play and Open bocce begins – Monday, Sept.30th
First General Meeting (of 2 req.) – Saturday, Oct. 26th, Brunch, time is pending
Free Bocce Clinic – Saturday, Nov. 9th
During the summer, much behind-the-scenes work takes place. Work and repair of the courts and the equipment occurs, some by us and some by the Rec Dept., by-laws, policies, and rules are updated to keep the club in compliance with the Rec. The scoring program for the next season is adjusted and modified as needed. Pamphlets and publicity information are refreshed and circulated.
I am expecting to have available at the captains’ meeting in September a few samples of articles of clothing such as tees, golf shirts, and possibly baseball caps. These items will be available to order with your league name or logo imprinted on them as well as a more generic SCW Bocce Club name. This vendor is a relative of one of our captains. Ordering and distribution would go through the vendor and not the Club.
The Board of Directors is working hard to come up with new and innovative ideas to make our Club grow and continue to succeed. We all wish you safe travels this summer if you are looking to reconnect with family and friends from afar. Be well and rest up, it will be time for bocce once again before you know it.
Carol Card, President
SCW Bocce Club
April 2024
A valued member of the Bocce Club has recently passed away. Garry Johnson (Garry with two Rs he would always say!) was a big part of the Bocce Club having served as a vice president, a co-tournament director and a captain of the Betsey Ross league for many years. He and his wife Pat moved to SCW from Oregon years ago. Garry loved living in the sun and he cherished the friendliness of the people who live here. He and Pat continued to play bocce as long as their health permitted it. Garry, his dedication and loyalty to Bocce have been missed in recent years. RIP dear friend.
