The End of Bocce Season 2017
The year 2017 was excellent for bocce at Paradise Valley Estates. Not only did we have a record number of players, we celebrated the completion of a new bocce court.
The season started with a party. Residents gathered on the lawn outside the Pavilion and drank wine and ate meatballs and watched team captains play a game to initiate the new bocce court. There were speeches by Bud Ross, interim CEO and
Jack McNichols, resident council president, and a ribbon cutting by Bill Getz to dedicate the court.
We played three sessions this year. In the spring session, 195 players competed and Paul Kersey’s Wild Turkeys emerged as champions. The Bocce Committee sponsored an ice cream social on Independence Day to celebrate. A team of “Marys” played a game against a team of “Jerrys.” The Jerrys won. Great fun!
Eighteen teams competed in the summer session and the indomitable Wild Turkeys won again. The Bocce Committee came through with a root beer float party on the dining room veranda to celebrate. This time a team of “Billys” competed on the court against a team of “Bobs” and the Bobs won. More fun!
The fall session began on Friday, Sept. 15 to coincide with a continental breakfast at the Pavilion. Before the first games began, the new court was named for Pete and Pat Palmos in appreciation for the years of support they have provided to the bocce program at PVE.
Twelve teams competed in the fall session, with the last games played on November 2. This time there were new winners on the podium. First place went to Bill Green’s Three Grand with Bill and Kay Green, Ed and Martha Williams, Mary Alice Frantz, Isabel Buzko, Dan McHugh and Ray Haag. Second place went to Herb Heberling’s Bombardiers with Herb and Diane Heberling, Pete and Pat Palmos, Betty Brown, Hank Grill, Lori Mazzaroppi and Herb Quilitzsch.
The new Palmos Court has changed the dynamic of bocce at PVE. This year, bocce players got to play in competition every week — sometimes twice in a week — and sometimes two days in a row. The committee began to hear concerns of “too much bocce,” a concern supported by the fact that fewer teams toed the line in the summer and fall sessions.
Kay Green schedules times and dates for teams to play using a computer program. In the fall session, she began to experiment with options to insert team exemptions.
For instance, there were no games scheduled on Tuesdays, as there was a conflict with chorale practice. She also exempted teams from playing two days in a row or more than two games in a week. These exemptions significantly changed the schedule. Kay is considering offering individual team captains exemptions to the schedule in the 2018 season.
