James' Parents Come to Visit from Minneapolis

West Side of Michigan to Form Petanque Club in Saugatuck

How Do You Pick Up Your Boules?

Warm and Sunny Friday - Petanque - Where Else?!

Hal and Brigitte D'Arpini visited the Detroit Petanque Club during the lunchtime petanque games and had a great set of matches. Lewis and Deric joined in on the fun, and though team: Hal/Jeff clobbered the Triplettes (Brigitte/Deric/Lewis) - the playing was still quie competitive.

New Boules - with "Boule Cloutee" Design

Midwest Petanque Alliance Blog

Welcome to our friends to the North (Minneapolis) and to the South (Chicago). I know that the additional input from all of the members of these four (and growing) clubs will make this blog even more interesting.

If you are a member of these clubs and would like to write for this blog, please send me an e-mail at:

jeffrey@detroitpetanque.com

Temperature in the 70's - T-Shirt Weather for Sure

Renee used all of her pre-boule throw superstitious warm-ups. And you know... there's something to them - because she frequently gets closest.

Myron joined the club. He was sitting nearby, watching us play - and you know we don't let people just watch!

Sharon shows off her Campus Martius Park Detroit Petanque Club T-Shirt. We played a decent game, holding the opposition to 12... catching up (or nearly so)

Detroit Petanque Clubhouse

The club members finally have a place to call home. The new DPC Clubhouse (8 ft x 10 ft) is located against an abandoned building in Detroit. All future official club business and functions, including dinner parties will take place here.

We are in the process of installing lavatory facilities. In the meantime, just "go out back" somewhere.

2nd MPC Weekend Sees Good Weather

The MPC season is starting to get going! Warmer weather, the sun, and Jeff's shooting practicing tool helped everyone get in the mood for some serious games this afternoon... Weather may be good this upcoming week, but check back on the site about whether we'll play next weekend (Sunday), we might be busy Easter Egg hunting! ;-)

We love to teach petanque to travelers

Jeff and Boris discuss different target shooting sports. Visiting the U.S. from Russia, he has his translator try to help him describe his country's sports. Of course Jeff was doing the same about our game, Petanque! Just one more great thing about playing the sport, meeting nice and interesting people...

Warm and Sunny Petanque Afternoon at Campus Martius Park

..........Anna, Ken's daughter, came to visit and of course play petanque at Campus Martius Park. Jeff was teamed up with Deric against the Father/Daughter team - and it was quite a competition, with each side gaining a point every other round.

Ken will be teamed up with Joe Z. for the Sonoma World Qualifier tournament. He has also played down in Miami at the Petanque America Open.

Petanque Doublette Birthdays at Campus Martius Park

.................. How better to celebrate a birthday (or two) for avid petanqueurs than with a Petanque Cake! I took a sheet-cake, sprinkled ovaltine on the top (for dirt), covered (clean) cochons with tin-foil for boules, and of course a RED M&M for the cochon. Voila!

Happy Birthday to Joe and to Gene!

Nobody Just "Passes Through" without Playing!

Calvin said he was "...just passing though the park"

Famous last words for the Detroit Petanque Club members - because after a few minutes of watching us play boule, he was in on the game and addicted. Calvin coaches, so he already had some of the subtle principles of looking for strategic advantage in playing. A great game too - 12/13 (victory to Calvin's team)

Shooting and Pointing Frames for Training

The Michigan and Detroit Petanque Clubs train vigorously for their matches and tournaments using this equipment. The shooting frame (as seen being used by Joe Z.) is merely a collection of 24 inch and 12 inch pre-threaded iron pipes and T/elbow joints readily available at any hardware store. You'll also need to sacrifice an old boule (drill a small hole, insert a bent coat hanger and attach via shoelace). NOTE: it's vital to allow for a little slack in the string so the boule rests on the ground (to prevent it from endlessly swinging after being struck!)

The pointing frame id made of wood (with some wood for legs) but another note: drill a hole in the two end-legs, to allow for a 3 inch spike to sit inside, the pointed end hammed (with a boule of course!) into the ground to prevent it from shifting. We try to point such that the boule remains UNDER the frame... but this tool also gives us directional training. You can place a cochon or another boule inside for "push" training.

Lots of Fun in Utica!

Lots of smiling faces seen in Utica Tuesday night during their International Festival. There was music, Eiffel tower building, and of course boules in the French wing. Hundreds of new boule throwers came through, and we were happy to be there to help them in learning our great game of petanque!

Thanks to Ami & the Utica 4th Graders!

Our members, Lindsey and Joyce, had a great opportunity to share the sport of petanque with the 4th graders of the Utica school district on Tuesday night. A sincere thanks to Ami Rosso (red beret) for contacting us to allow us to make this happen! ...and of course all of the great 4th graders in Utica!

It was a very exciting 2nd game this afternoon at Campus Martius Park. Sharon, Gene and Renee verses TonyT, Deric and Jeff. Sharon's team was up 12 to our 9... we held them for about three rounds - closing the gap...

But in the end, 12 became 13 to win the day.

DPC Defectors Seen on Sunday?

Three DPC members seen at first official MPC meet. James, Cheryl, and Celia of DPC joined Dan, Dave, Cyrille, Joyce, Lindsey, Hal and Joe on Sunday. The piste was a bit soft in the morning, but soon firmed up after a few sneek peeks of the sun later in the day. By next week, the MPC should be running on all cylinders! (PS I made this picture purposely "pixely" because it drives Jeff crazy! ;-)

International Guests Pay Campus Martius Park a Visit