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In This Issue:
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Vol II, Issue 31 - August 4, 2003
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Notes from the publisher
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Bocce product of the week
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Non bocce product of the week
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The FREE weekly Ezine for bocce aficionados everywhere
Volume 2, Issue #31 - August 4, 2003
Publisher: Mario Pagnoni Copyright 2003 http://www.joyofbocce.com
Come visit us often at joyofbocce.com. We have bocce info, merchandise, links to other great bocce sites, and the best selling bocce instructional book in the USA.
Order Now @ just $13.95 by clicking on the book image to the right.
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I hope you will like this electronic newsletter. To be deleted from my list, you can Unsubscribe at the end of this issue. We will quickly and permanently remove your email address from our list (we'll be sorry to see you go). But, be aware that one of our enthusiastic readers suggested that “…bocce and unsubscribe are mutually exclusive terms.”
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If you know others who would enjoy and benefit from this Ezine, encourage them to sign up. You could forward this issue to them so they can decide for themselves if they want to "opt in". I promise that I will never be in the business of selling or trading your email address or other personal information. Our goal = 10,000 subscribers by 12/31/03.
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A word about ads: Like any entrepreneurial type, I'd love to turn a profit from something I really enjoy. For now, I have decided not to accept paid advertisements. If I pitch a product here, it is something I have examined and tested and deem it beneficial to our readers.
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Disclaimer: Hey, I don't claim to be a bocce pro. Heck, I'm not even a very good player - but no one loves the sport more than I do. My contribution to the game is in having interviewed many of the top players and then assembling the information into a concise, easy-to-read book. What I've created is comparable to what others have done for basketball, soccer, and other sports.
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Recently a bocce buddy of mine took me to visit an antique dealer in Salem, Massachusetts.
"Come take a ride" he said. "This dealer has a box of metal bocce balls you might like."
Thinking they might be the small metal petanque balls or boules, I resisted.
"No," my friend insisted. "These are about the same size as the Perfetta bocce balls we play with every week."
I figured I might be able to pick up some volo balls cheap, and begin to practice the game which intrigued me so much when I attended the National Championships in Highwood, IL in June.
But I wasn't prepared for what we found in a cardboard box underneath some old furniture in the back of this quaint shop in the city of the infamous witch trials of 1692.
I don't know a great deal about them except that they are very old, hand crafted, expensive, and that I couldn't resist purchasing them.
They look like volo balls from bocce's early days. They appear to be individual nails pounded into some kind of wood center. The craftsmanship is fabulous.
I am hoping that, by making them the "Photos of the Week", two things will happen.
1) Readers will enjoy viewing these works of art from bocce's past.
2) Someone with more knowledge of the game's evolution will REPLY with information on how these were constructed and when.
Some have numbers on them (72 and 2). What could these numerals represent?
Two are absolutely beautiful...a kind of mosaic of different color metals.
Should I attempt to clean them up, or leave them in their present condition? If I am to polish them, what do I use?
Please REPLY if you can help.
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{chronological order}
Please - anyone running a tournament - do me a favor - put a notice near your tourney bracket board informing players that they can go to http://www.joyofbocce.com and "opt in" for my FREE Ezine on bocce. Click the logo to the right to opt in if you do not already receive this ezine every Monday.
August 9, 2003 - Mich. State Bocce Championship, Sylvan Lake, Michigan 3 players per team 2 bocce balls each. Round robin format. $200.00 per team. 1 alternate recommended. Open rules. $2000.00 in prize money, trophies and medals. Contact Mike Grasser at 248-505-4744 or boccemg@sbcglobal.net.
Aug 15-17, 2003 - American Legion - Farrell, PA - 2 person - 724-342-7112
August 17, 2003 – Martinez Waterfront - Tourney To benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation - $25 per person; tax deductible; includes 1 raffle ticket; lunch; 1 beer or soft drink; t-shirt & hat – deadline for entry = August 8th Tom Sarnicola (TSarnicola@cff.org) Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 1939 Harrison Street, Suite 207, Oakland, CA 94612 - Phone: 510-267-9699
August 22-24, 2003 – 19th annual Wickliffe Italian American Club (Wickliffe, OH (east of Cleveland) Tournament. Contact Tony Continenza at 440-585-4600 or email lincolnsunoco@aol.com.
August 23, 2003 - USBF Western Sector Raffa Championships, Los Gatos, CA, Campo di Bocce - Raffa Rules. Contact John Ross (408) 354-0625 or heresjohnny@earthlink.net.
August 23, 2003 – Long Island Bocce Club’s President’s Cup - two-person team, single elimination event. Entry fee is $15.00 per person. Prize money to be distributed to the top 3 teams. Contact libocceclub@yahoo.com or call 631-664-6831.
August 24, 2003 - 6th Annual Tempo Italiano Celebration Bocce Tournament – Villa Tempo Italiano, 440 Northampton St., Easton, PA, 18042 - Contact Tempo Italiano at 610-559-5570. $500.00 to First Place Team, $300.00 for Second Place and $200.00 for Third Place.
Sept 5-7, 2003 - St. Anthony's - Struthers, OH – 4 person - 330-755-0077
Sept 12-14, 2003 - Farrell Lion's Club - Farrell, PA - 4 person - 724-342-5919
Sept 15-21, 2003 - World Bocce Championship, Chiasso, Switzerland, CBI International Bocce Tournament, Raffa. For more information see www.bocce.com or contact Mike Conti (847) 692-6223 / usbocce@aol.com.
Sept 20, 2003 – Collinsville, Illinois Italianfest Tournament - Glidden Park, Lebanon and Branch Street, Collinsville (located approx. 1 mile from the fest grounds) – contact allgreen@socket.net.
Sept 20, 2003 - Le Phare Des Alps bocce tournament – Valdese, North Carolina - $40 per four-person team. Contact T.R. Robinson at trrobin111@yahoo.com.
Sept 21, 2003 – Sunshine Village Universal Bocce Bowl, Szot Park, Chicopee, Mass. Four player teams - $200 entry fee – includes t-shirt, lunch & dinner. Limited # of teams – 1st place = $600, 2nd place = $300, 3rd place = $200. Contact Rico Daniele @ 1-800-BOCCE54.
Sept 21, 2003 - Bruno Freschet Memorial Tournament, Peninsula Social Club, San Mateo, California, Open, 4 Players, contact Adriano Undorte at (650) 591-3318.
October 3-5 Farrell VFW - Farrell, PA - 4 person - 724-981-1020.
October 4, 2003 - USBF Western Sector Open Championships, Los Gatos, CA Campo di Bocce, Open (Four Person). Contact John Ross (408) 354-0625 or heresjohnny@earthlink.net.
October 7-12, 2003 - Volo World Championship, Nice, France, Federation International De Boules, International Volo Tournament. Contact Mike Conti 847-692-6223 or usbocce@aol.com.
October 11, 2003 - Fall Open Tournament, Marin Bocce Federation, San Rafael, California, Open, 4 Players, contact Diana Pellegrini at (415) 454-4483.
October 25, 2003 - Raffa Tournament, Campo di Bocce, Los Gatos Bocce Club, Raffa, 3 Players, contact Bill Schlaefer at (408) 379-9409.
October 26, 2003 - 3rd Annual Tempo Italiano Fall Classic Bocce Tournament - Villa Tempo Italiano, 440 Northampton St., Easton, PA, 18042 - Contact Tempo Italiano at 610-559-5570. $500.00 to First Place Team, $300.00 for Second Place and $200.00 for Third Place.
November 1, 2003 - Third Annual Big Ben Invitational - 2 person Punto, Raffa, Volo - International rules, two person teams - three balls each. Price not yet determined, big money potential. Contact Ben Musolf - Campo di Bocce 408.395.7650.
Nov 14-16 - Bessemer Croatian Club - Bessemer, PA - 4 person - 724-667-8997.
NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SMALL, NO MATTER WHAT PART OF THE COUNTRY, SEND US YOUR TOURNAMENT INFO SO WE CAN GET THE WORD OUT IN THIS COLUMN. PEOPLE MAY WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN YOUR EVENT OR JUST VISIT TO CHECK IT OUT TO "BROADEN THEIR HORIZONS."
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