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CCPC has made a great showing at two incredible tournaments! First, there was the FPUSA Nationals event at Milton, GA hosted by Atlanta Petanque League. In June, we traveled to Asheville to play in the Carolina Open hosted by Carolina Petanque.

FPUSA Nationals: Saturday’s event was actually 2 events concurrently – the Men’s Doubles and the Women’s Doubles. 22 teams were entered in each competition. CCPC was represented by Michelle and Marilyn – who took silver in Consolante! Heidi teamed up with CP player Denyse and Honor Woodard teamed with Lori Beth from Boules de Leon where they finished tied for 5th in Concours. In the Men’s Doubles, CCPC was represented by Steve and Al.

FPUSA Nationals: Sunday was the Mixed Doubles. CCPC team of Al and Marilyn qualified for Concours. Michelle and Charlie took 4th in Consolante. Honor teamed up with Bill Sabella to qualify well in Concours. Through a most unusal set of circumstances, Al found himself promoted to Head Umpire for the Finals!

In June, 8 members of CCPC traveled to Asheville to play in the Carolina Open – what a fantastic trip! Heidi teamed up with Preston and Tess from CP and won the Consolante! Honor brought along a new player, Keith, from Chatooga Boules and added Michel from APL. The team of Ray, Debbie, and Rob showed very well through qualifying – including defeating the eventual tournament winners! Michelle, Rickamer, and Al also represented CCPC well. We had a blast!

Not everything we’ve done lately has been about tournaments – even though members of the club have been very cooperative and supportive of our tournament teams. We have added several new members and we’ve had many regular guest players who are likely to become members. We are very near 50 members, now. I’ve no doubt that we’ll exceed that number in the next few months! The overall skill level of our club is really improving and our players continuously demonstrate a growing knowledge and respect for the game. Lay Park staff have been very helpful and supportive of our efforts to grow the sport. Great relations with other clubs in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic help us with advice, referrals, training, and moral support. Boules y’all!

Allez CCPC!

CCPC Sports Director’s report for March-April 2022

We have had an AMAZING month!   Things have been incredibly busy for CCPC, and we can be so very proud of what we’ve accomplished!  Below is a synopsis of the major items that fall under the job description of the Sports Director – in other words, not everything we did as a club.

In more or less chronological order:

• First strings on our terrain – with the many, many volunteer hours to get us to that point
• March 26 – 1^st Annual Diane’s Spring Panache.   Gail did a spectacular job as Tournament Director in 20+ mph winds.  About half the club was able to participate.
• Michelle, Marilyn, Heidi, and Pat went to Austin, TX (same weekend as the panache) for a Women’s Petanque Retreat and trained with about 50 other women players from around the country under the tutelage of a French professional petanque coach.   They will soon schedule a time to share what they learned.
• April 10^th – FPUSA Regional Triples in Amelia.   Gail and Al teamed up with AIBC’s Frosty Sabo as a team.   They qualified 10^th in Concours.   Honor teamed up with the Loribeth and Larry Creasy to qualify 8^th in Concours.    Heidi accompanied us and spent the tournament day working with the Tournament Directors to learn the scoring system and other logistics associated with staging a successful FPUSA tournament.
• Heidi, in her role as a member of the FPUSA Sport Committee, compiled and published the FPUSA Umpire Registry – many, many hours spent “herding cats” around the entire country to get it all updated.
• Work continued in small and large groups on our terrain including additional grooming, putting down the final string lines, repairing damage done by vandals, experimenting, discussing, designing, building, and hanging the new scoreboards.   I don’t actually know how many people worked on completing the scoreboards and the strings, but I must thank Steve, Ray, Bob, Allen, and Rob for all their work!   (I don’t doubt that I missed somebody in that list.)  Our volunteers are just amazing!
• April 14^th – we hosted the Athens Academy French Club.   While Michelle did most of the heavy lifting on this, the Sporting Committee and the aforementioned terrain crews did a fabulous job of getting the terrains in top shape and making sure that we had boules, rings, jacks, etc. for an outstanding event.  
• April 30^th – the BIG DAY that we’ve been prepping for and working so hard to make happen – we hosted the Atlanta Petanque League for a great day of playing, eating, drinking, meeting, greeting, and all-round fun!    Heidi served as Tournament Director, but we had a great crew of volunteers!   Honestly, I don’t think anything could have gone any better – everybody had a blast!  The Lay Park staff was wonderful and very helpful.   We had about 45 players compete in the friendly panache tournament – proving that our “home-grown” and “simple-as-a-rock” formula is a great model for future panache tournaments.   We were able to add in players that only played part of the day with ease so that no one who wanted to participate was left out of the fun.   The whole club – even those who couldn’t be there – should be very proud of this event!
• Discussions about the upcoming change in times for club play days have begun.   As always, when the weather gets hot, we try to switch to times that have a bit cooler temperature.   There is also discussion about adding times that fit better for our folks who are working and possibly adding another play day opportunity.
• The FPUSA National Tournaments hosted by our friends at APL is coming up on  May 21 and 22^nd.    CCPC will be well-represented at least 8 of our club members.  This tournament sold out very quickly so we were fortunate to get a few of us entered.  Some of us will be working with our tournament partners in preparation so we ask for your support in assisting our teams as they get themselves ready to represent CCPC on a bigger stage.
• On-going other stuff that’s not all directly in the Sports Director’s wheelhouse:
  • Al continues to build and maintain communications and relationships with clubs in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and beyond.   Al regularly speaks with FPUSA officials, club presidents, sports directors, and tournament directors to share information about terrains, club play, local government relations, training opportunities, tournament opportunities, etc.
  • Allen has built a reputation for generously providing study guides for umpire candidates around the country.   At least 3 new umpires have benefited from Allen’s outstanding study guides.   Expect more to come.
  • Rob’s spectacular videos shared on social media are getting notice from clubs and players all over the world!   Many of you are more famous than you ever realized!    But not only is this entertaining for thousands of viewers, it is expected to benefit other clubs by providing them with the same kind of photo/video references that we used ourselves in getting our public facilities built.  Rob is truly helping to promote and build the sport in more ways than any of us realize.
  • Heidi and Steve attended the Boom! Expo at the country club to raise awareness and recruit members.
  • CCPC is going to have a booth and demonstration area at the Winterville Marigold Festival.
  • Several of us are involved in trying to help Winterville get a real petanque terrain built there.   We continue to build our relationships with Winterville.
  • We have added several new members – I have lost count how many but, our membership is now over 40 members.   I think we can get to 50+ by the end of this year.

Whew!   I told you that we had a lot going on and I’m sure I haven’t listed everything.

Bottom line:  This is a GREAT club!

Allez CCPC!

Al

Is this a great club or what?!

If I tried to name everyone who came out to help today, I would surely forget someone so, I won’t.   I don’t even know exactly how many came but, we got everything done that we set out to accomplish and had a great time doing it!

Debbie and Rob took a lot of photos and Rob worked his usual magic to produce this short video:

The lower courts are done!   We put down the string boundaries and divided the terrain into 2 courts – each one is quite generous and are almost the size recommended for international competition.   It may take a bit of getting used to but, we think you’ll like them.

The main terrain got a serious smoothing and patching.   We didn’t put any court boundary markers on them yet – that’s next.   We’ll have another workday soon.  

Allez CCPC!

Al

Classic City Tribute to Diane:

thanks, Rob!

Obituary:

Diane Klonowski peacefully passed away at her home in Athens, Georgia on March 1st 2022. Diane graduated from St. Hedwig’s High School and Goldey Beacom Business College in Wilmington, Delaware. She worked as a business administrator at Junior Achievement and the University of Delaware, in both the Mathematical Science and Medical Laboratory Science Departments. Diane was a resident of Newark, Delaware before retiring from the University of Delaware and moving to Athens, Georgia. In retirement, Diane delved into four main passions: quilting, gardening, petanque, and volunteering. She was a ribbon-winning quilter and a member of the Cotton Patch Quilters Guild. She was an avid gardener, earning her Native Plant Certification from the University of Georgia State Botanical Garden and subsequently transformed her home garden into a Certified Pollinator Habitat. She also volunteered at the Botanical Garden and never missed a local plant sale or opportunity to expand her garden with a trip to Grower’s Outlet. Diane was also a member of the Boulevard Garden Club. She loved playing petanque with the Classic City Petanque Club, through which she played in several international tournaments. Diane’s love of reading led her to Books for Keeps where she helped promote reading and literacy to children in Athens-Clarke County. She was a Key Volunteer for Books for Keeps, an organization that held a very special place in her heart. Diane was kind and generous, sharing her passions with others, from her participation in the Quilter’s Guild Charity Bee to spearheading the Little Free Library in her subdivision. She happily divided plants for friends and neighbors and hosted little Misses Evelyn and Tabitha in her garden for butterfly catching. She worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for her community.

Diane is preceded in death by her parents Joseph and Frances (Pajewski) Moderacki, stepfather Steven Sikorski, and daughters Francine and Lynda Marie. She is survived by her loving husband of 51 years Frank; her daughter Kim, and her partner Dean Firschein, whom she held in the highest esteem; nephew Ed McCarthy (Darlene); several cousins, especially Cindy Greenamoyer and Kathy Phillips, and many friends in Delaware and Georgia. Not to be forgotten are her “fur” boys, Colt and Buddy.

A special thanks to her best and most cherished friend Mary Williams and her friends at the Classic City Petanque Club for their compassion and support.

Relatives and friends are invited for visitation and services beginning at 9 am on March 12th at the Doherty Funeral Home; 3200 Limestone Rd, Wilmington, DE 19808. Burial will take place afterwards at All Saints Cemetery; 6001 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington, DE 19808. A celebration of her life is being planned in Athens with details forthcoming. In lieu of flowers, please honor Diane with a contribution to Books for Keeps, P.O. Box 49761, Athens, GA 30604.

Classic City Petanque Club is proud to announce that Al Davison has joined Allen Cassady as a FPUSA certified Club Level Umpire. Cassady and Davison are the only two certified umpires in the state of Georgia.

Additionally, the club is pleased to announce winning teams in every tournament Classic City Petanque Club (CCPC) has participated in during the 2020 season.

World Championship Women’s Triple Qualifier 

Heidi Davison, Cheri Sutphin and Denyse Haney (Carolina Petanque) – placed 5th in Concours

Mid-America Regional Select Triples 

Al Davison, Frank Klonowski, Michelle Commeyras – placed 3rd in Consolante

Additional teams:

Pat Schlotzhauer, Diane Klonowski, Charlie Appleby

Heidi Davison, Gail Hawkins, Mike Evans (Carolina Petanque)

?? forget anyone

Atlanta Petanque League Open Mixed Doubles

Al Davison and Honor Woodard (Carolina Petanque) – winner Group B Consolante

Additional teams:

Heidi Davison and Michelle Commyeras

Rob Trevena and Gail Hawkins

Ron Schely and Dennis Hammond (Boules de Leon)

Mid-America Regional Mixed Doubles 

Rob Trevena and Michelle Commeyras – placed 2nd in Consolante

Additional Teams:

Al Davison and Gail Hawkins

Heidi Davison and Mourhite Louali (Carolina Petanque)

Amelia Island Open and Ladies’ Compact Tournament

Ladies Compact

Diane Klonowski and Debbie McCaleb played (placed) in the Quarter Finals

Heidi Davison and Gail Hawkins

Michelle Commyeras and Sally Ross

Marilyn Appleby and Pat Schlotzhauer

Amelia Island Open

Heidi Davison (CCPC) and Tracie Jeffries (Carolina Petanque) – placed 2nd in Consolante Group DD

Ray and Debbie McCaleb – Winner Consolante Group E

Charlie Appleby and Rickamer Hoover played the Quarter-Finals in Consolante Group C

Frank Klonowski and Marilyn Appleby played the Semi-Finals in Consolante Group C

Sally Ross and Michelle Commyeras – placed in Consolante B

Ron Schely and Dennis Hammond (Boules de Leon) – placed in Consolante C

Gail Hawkins and Al Davison – placed in Consolante D

Tom Robinson and Pat Scholtzhauer – placed in Consolante E

This reported was presented at our Annual Meeting on 10-28-21 and distributed to the membership.

Sports Director’s Report for the 2021 Annual Meeting of

Classic City Petanque Club (CCPC)

Club play days

• Established 3 regularly scheduled play days per week (more than any other club at a single location with better overall attendance)

Better training in skills and rules

• Club members continue to improve their skills and knowledge of the rules
• High-lob training session conducted

Court improvements

• String boundaries and boule holders added; improved scoreboards; surface enhancements; and generally making it cleaner, safer, and more inviting
• Several work days with excellent member participation!
• Expansion request submitted to ACC; staff actively working on a response

Intramural tournaments

• 2 month-long tournaments – a CCPC “invention”
• Our first-ever 1-day, all-day tournament panache
• Approximately 20 + members plus 3 guests participated in our three club tournaments

Stronger presence and relationships with FPUSA, Atlanta Petanque League (APL) Carolina Petanque (CP), and others

• Al and Heidi regularly play with CP helping to develop strong personal relationships with the leadership and top players
• Gail and Michelle played with CP at Winston-Salem
• Tom played with CP at the Hickory Boule-O-Drome
• Al  and Tricia Domingo (new President of APL) maintain regular contact
• Heidi is working with National Sports Director, Songmi Keating, to improve and enhance the list of Umpires registered and available for Tournament Directors to use

FPUSA and Open tournament participation

• Heidi (4), Al (3), Michelle (3), Gail (3), Rob (2), Pat, Diane, Charlie, Ron, Frank
  • Heidi (with 2 CP players) – 5^th place in Women’s World Qualifier
  • Al, Frank, Michelle – 3^rd in Consolante Asheville Triples
  • Al (with Honor) – won Group B Consolante APL Open
  • Rob and Michelle – 2^nd Consolante Morganton Doubles
• Allen served as Umpire in 2 FPUSA tournaments; will umpire at Amelia Island Open
• Al passed his umpire exam becoming CCPC’s 2^nd FPUSA Certified Umpire
• CCPC has the only two club umpires in the state of Georgia
• CCPC will be represented in Amelia with 6 teams + 2 additional club members teamed up with players from other clubs

Friday Night Boules  – informal and fun “pop-ups” held from April 23-October 29

Gary Jones, Carolina Petanque stalwart and all-round guru of all things boules, recently published an article on the Carolina Petanque blogspot about the various kinds of playing surfaces one may encounter around the USA and the world. It is a good read! http://carolina-petanque.blogspot.com/

The terrains at Lay Park suffered a freak tree fall last week. A 70-foot tall oak tree came was uprooted in the storm. The damage to the terrain was minimal other than having this giant oak laying across all 4 courts. ACC Leisure Services and other agencies are expected to clear the tree and repair damage to the chain link fencing and our stairs sometime soon. One just never knows…