For many years, during the second week in May, my AARP group has been going to beautiful Woodloch Pines for a week of fun and relaxation. We have watched it grow from a few modest cottages to lovely luxurious suites. It is situated in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania and as it grew the owners kept the natural terrain. The new units are surrounded by trees, rolling lawns and rock formations. It faces a lovely lake, with a sandy beach and a name that is equally impossible to spell or pronounce.
Naturally they have many outdoor activities, such as tennis, miniature golf, shuffleboard, and bocci ball courts, etc., etc. Other senior groups would also come at the same time each year and gradually we became acquainted and happily greeted each other on arrival day. As time went on more and more groups of Italian heritage came, and bocci ball, a favorite Italian sport, became the BIG outdoor sport of the week. Now I am not a great outdoor sports person but since I did enjoy bowling, I became interested in bocci ball. As time went on, I gradually got a team together, and each year we enjoyed playing and gradually improved. By the way, my team consisted of two Irish and two German elderly (in our 80s) ladies.
It was the year 2000 and perhaps the new century energized us and to our amazement we had reached the finals on Friday. It was a fun time, because Randy our social director, would stride onto the courts dressed in an old-fashioned baggy striped pants zoot suit with a long watch chain hanging down to his knees. He had on a large slouch turned up brim hat and carried a violin case in which was a toy machine gun. No one was going to mess with him!!! He would stride up and down the courts with gun in one hand and a ruler in the other. If a decision had to be made he would use the ruler and make it. His word was LAW and we abided by it. After all, these were high stakes and to the winners went the coveted Woodloch Olympic Gold Medal for bocci ball award.
Bocci ball is really quite a simple game. It consists of a small ball, about the size of a golf ball, and eight larger balls, four colored red and four colored green. A toss of a coin decides who starts the game by throwing the smaller ball, called a bellini, down the court. Then the contestants throw alternating green and red balls in order to get as close as possible to the bellini. The object of the game is, when your opponent is close to the bellini, to knock his ball away and yet stay close enough to get points. The ultimate score is to throw your ball so that it comes to rest touching the bellini. This is called “kissing the bellini,” and if this occurs, you pray that your opponent will not throw a ball that will break up this little love fest and cause you to lose points. A bocci ball court is not as smooth as a bowling alley. It is made of a hard packed dirt surface surrounded by wooden boards on all sides to keep the balls from bounding out of the court. Because of this uneven terrain, bocci ball is more a game of chance than skill, and the ball can easily move away from your intended target.
To get back to that famous Friday game. We will never know how it happened but all of a sudden we were the runners up to the formidable three time Italian winning team for the championship!!! Needless to say, our very faithful, noisy rooting section went crazy. As the game proceeded, fans on both sides loudly either booed or cheered each ball as it was thrown. Finally, we came to the win or lose moment. I had the last ball for our team but unfortunately had to throw first. At this time we were down two points but had two balls quite close to the bellini and I hoped to place another close one for a one point win. Provided that my opponent, with the last ball of the game, did not break up our little grouping. 1 got up to the accompaniment of our raucous rooting section, and with a now or never, do or die attempt, threw the ball. As the ball slowly rolled down the court, you could hear the silence and indrawn breaths as it rolled straight toward the bellini. I thought, “Please don’t let it hit the bellini AWAY from our other balls because then we would lose those points.” Very slowly it came to a stop. I was stunned at the screaming and shouting. It was “Kissing the Bellini!!!” Randy was called to verify that it was indeed a true kiss. My opponent was already standing ready to throw the last ball. He turned to look at me and said “You’re dead” and with a mighty swing, threw the ball. I knew he was determined to break up our little grouping and thus win the game. As the ball headed straight for the bellini, I turned away with a shrug and thought, “Well at least we are silver medalists.” At first there was a hush and then again loud shouts of joy. As I turned around I realized that it was MY rooting section making themselves heard. It seems that at the last moment his ball hit a small rough spot on the court and veered ever so slightly away and missed us. I shall never question the whys and wherefores of this game, but sent up a silent “Thank You.”
Needless to say, there was considerable celebration at the cocktail hour. Later that evening during the presentation of the sports awards, we finally received our Woodloch Pines Olympic God medal for bocci ball. As Randy presented these to us he announced that never in the history of a Woodloch Pines bocci ball contest has there been a team with such names as O’Sullivan, McNamara, Humbach and Ceigersmidt beaten an Italian team!!!
Copyright © 2002-2010 Anne Humbach