The Club has had a really busy time lately - this is a bit of catch up. But I will work down wards from today, since I have been a bit backward in getting this posted!
Sunday 30th June – we played petanque with the tennis club – 14 adults and 7 children (10 to 13) and four of us. Ros came along to get some fresh air but ended up 'manning' the 'desk' and supervising the timer (we had timed games). We had a lovely time and really hope the tennis players will decide to come and join us – they are really good. And thanks Ros!
First Place went to Dave (who had never played before …), Second Place went to Kay, Third Place went to Arthur and Ces was the Friendliest Player. As for the kids – well we could have a pretty good junior squad if they joined too! So, when we get our own piste and don't have to play on the car parks …. perhaps they will join us. And thanks very much to the winners for donating their winnings to Wallingford Petanque!
Saturday 29th June – we often play at Aston Tirrold on Fridays and some Sundays when they don't have Cricket at Home. The Recreation Ground Committee have recently refurbished the children's play area with the help of a grant from WREN - a super job and yesterday was the 'Grand Opening'. As the playground is right next to the pistes we were going to stay out of the way since we are not 'of the village' but one of the members of ARC invited us to be there, so we set up our gazebo – Alan and Cynthia donated a Dreams Bedtime Bear complete, with stripy pyjamas and nightcap, for people to name; we had some of our 'coin' cards for sale and we organised petanque for the kids (special boules for little 'uns) and anyone else who wanted to play. After everyone had had a go trying to guess the name of the Bear, we opened the envelope to find out the Bear's name – he was called Henry, or Harry. No one guessed his name so all the names were given a number and one of the organisers chose a number. This was No. 17 – Silvester – and Elma Wishart won him. A successful but tiring day and we hope some good PR was achieved.
Sunday 30th June – we played petanque with the tennis club – 14 adults and 7 children (10 to 13) and four of us. Ros came along to get some fresh air but ended up 'manning' the 'desk' and supervising the timer (we had timed games). We had a lovely time and really hope the tennis players will decide to come and join us – they are really good. And thanks Ros!
First Place went to Dave (who had never played before …), Second Place went to Kay, Third Place went to Arthur and Ces was the Friendliest Player. As for the kids – well we could have a pretty good junior squad if they joined too! So, when we get our own piste and don't have to play on the car parks …. perhaps they will join us. And thanks very much to the winners for donating their winnings to Wallingford Petanque!
Saturday 29th June – we often play at Aston Tirrold on Fridays and some Sundays when they don't have Cricket at Home. The Recreation Ground Committee have recently refurbished the children's play area with the help of a grant from WREN - a super job and yesterday was the 'Grand Opening'. As the playground is right next to the pistes we were going to stay out of the way since we are not 'of the village' but one of the members of ARC invited us to be there, so we set up our gazebo – Alan and Cynthia donated a Dreams Bedtime Bear complete, with stripy pyjamas and nightcap, for people to name; we had some of our 'coin' cards for sale and we organised petanque for the kids (special boules for little 'uns) and anyone else who wanted to play. After everyone had had a go trying to guess the name of the Bear, we opened the envelope to find out the Bear's name – he was called Henry, or Harry. No one guessed his name so all the names were given a number and one of the organisers chose a number. This was No. 17 – Silvester – and Elma Wishart won him. A successful but tiring day and we hope some good PR was achieved.
On Wednesday evening 26th June we had our club Doubles Championship. This was played as a Doubles Individual Melee – teams were made up of an 'experienced player' and a 'less experienced' player playing against a pair of the same make up, and the winners were the players who scored the most points – one from each group. The trophy – donated by RedCandy – was won by Loren from the experienced group and Alan from the less experienced group (Alan joined the club in April and Loren is our coach! (Well to be fair to Loren, he was put forward to stand in for one of our members who was unable to attend at the last minute). The trophy is a pair of egg cups mounted on a little plinth. Kevin cut the plinth in half (and embedded a pair of magnets to hold the two pieces together for presentation). The two cups are separate so each winner gets a cup to hold for a year. When the cups are returned we will put the names on the plinth. I forgot to take my camera (doh …) so I have no picture of them with their winners and certificates. But hope to make amends …
On Sunday 23rd June we were in Newbury market place helping the Newbury Rotarians organise a petanque tournament. They had built a temporary piste on the cobbles and Petanque Wallingford supplied the boules and 'supervision & coaching power'. The object was a taster session to see if a tournament would 'work'. If the Rotarians consider it worth it, then next year will be a bigger event. There were several sponsors who fielded teams or helped with financing the piste by donating timber, matting and sand to build it. From our point of view – people seemed to enjoy themselves, and we (5 of us) came home pretty worn out!
The rest of the time has been play as usual in the Sports Park and at Aston Tirrold. We were delighted to have some visitors from Mansfield – who played at both the Sports Park and Aston Tirrold. We hope to meet them on their home ground. The weather is getting gradually better, and if anything, too hot (!) now … but the sunshine is lovely. O - and we had a bootsale in the beginning of June - made a small fortune - hope to make a bigger one at the next bootsale on 7th JULY 2013 AT WARBOROUGH.
Our next club match event is the Singles (TO BE PLAYED OVER 2 CLUB NIGHTS 24th & 31st JULY to make sure everyone has a go, so let me know by 5th PLEASE) – to play for the dotty cup currently held by Roger. Meanwhile play and practice on Wednesdays as usual.
Thérèse
The rest of the time has been play as usual in the Sports Park and at Aston Tirrold. We were delighted to have some visitors from Mansfield – who played at both the Sports Park and Aston Tirrold. We hope to meet them on their home ground. The weather is getting gradually better, and if anything, too hot (!) now … but the sunshine is lovely. O - and we had a bootsale in the beginning of June - made a small fortune - hope to make a bigger one at the next bootsale on 7th JULY 2013 AT WARBOROUGH.
Our next club match event is the Singles (TO BE PLAYED OVER 2 CLUB NIGHTS 24th & 31st JULY to make sure everyone has a go, so let me know by 5th PLEASE) – to play for the dotty cup currently held by Roger. Meanwhile play and practice on Wednesdays as usual.
Thérèse
