The Joy of Bocce Weekly
In This Issue: Vol. III, Issue 37 - October 11, 2004 
•   Notes from the publisher
•   Bocce product of the week
•   New Court Installation Aids…
•   Non bocce product of the week
•   Photos of the week
•   Tournament update
Notes from the publisher
The weekly Ezine for bocce aficionados everywhere
Volume 3, Issue #37 - October 11, 2004
Publisher: Mario Pagnoni Copyright 2004 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.

********************************************************************************************

I hope you will like this electronic newsletter. To be deleted from the 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.”

********************************************************************************************

If you know others who would enjoy and benefit from this Ezine, encourage them to sign up. You could forward this issue to them (see Forward link at bottom of newsletter) 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.

********************************************************************************************

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.

********************************************************************************************

PLEASE – we are always looking for bocce photos and feedback from all over the USA. We want to connect bocce fans everywhere. You can email (author@joyofbocce.com) or snail mail (Mario Pagnoni, P.O. Box 608, Methuen, MA 01844).

********************************************************************************************

2ND EDITION UPDATE

We are sooo close to completion of the Joy of Bocce 2nd edition - it is looking good and we are hoping to get it into the bookstores and for sale online in a couple weeks. Stay tuned. Anyone thinking about purchasing right now might want to hold off until the new and improved book is available...on the other hand, I am thinking that an autographed copy of the first edition just might become a collectible.

What people are saying about The Joy of Bocce...

New Court Installation Aids…
Two excellent new products for bocce court do-it-yourselfers are just becoming available and I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at them both.

Boccemon Tom McNutt is releasing a nicely crafted CD PowerPoint presentation. Running on its own, the slide show will take about 14 minutes. But you can right click at any time to speed up or slow down the pace. McNutt cautions that “The viewer should have at least moderate trade skills.”

Using photos and clear text, McNutt covers Ten Steps To A Bocce Court …

#1 Planning
#2 Court Placement
#3 Level the Site
#4 String Lines
#5 Drainage
#6 Setting the Perimeter
#7 Weed Barrier
#8 Building the Base
#9 The Top Rail
#10 Oyster Blend

According to Boccemon, there are three key factors to a great bocce court:

1) Speed (Speed is good)
2) Bounce (Bounce is bad)
3) Maintenance (Should be Minimal)

In his clever play on “The Three Bears”, he writes…

“Concrete = great speed, but big bounce. (This court is too hard!)

Sand = No bounce, but no speed. (This court is too soft!)

Oyster = Great speed, small bounce, and low maintenance. (This court is just right!)”

Promotional material for the CD indicates that you will get…

* Ten easy-to-follow steps from raw land to a finished court

* Numerous photos depicting various styles and sizes of courts

* A detailed drawing of a Bocce court cross-section

* General information about Bocce courts

* A photographic list of tools required for maintenance of Oyster Bocce courts

* Examples of various Bocce court accessories

* Instruction on how to apply Boccemon's Rain CountryTM Blend

Appropriate for the do-it-yourselfer or the contractor who wants to get a piece of the bocce construction pie, this product sells for $24.95 delivered. Order from Boccemon at http:/www.boccemon.com - phone: 360-224-2909 (or click the photo of Boccemon and son above).

********************************************************************************************

David Brewer’s (BocceBrew) foray into this product market is his excellent Bocce Court Installation Video. The professionally done CD deftly combines video footage and before and after photos to create an easy-to-follow construction pictorial.

Brewer, who does the voiceover himself (quite well, I must add), covers…

#1 Picking a suitable site
#2 Selecting an appropriate court size
#3 Materials
#4 Tools
#5 The court layout
#6 Construction techniques
#7 Drainage
#8 Subsurface installation
#9 Surface installation
#10 Finishing touches
#11 Accessories
#12 Maintenance

The presentation begins with a dramatic confrontation between early man (foragers vs. meat eaters). The scene depicts the first bocce ball toss as one angry caveman heaves a small boulder at his adversary, apparently trying to score a point by coming closest to his head.

The CD packs a lot of valuable info into a tight package and lets a prospective court builder see clearly what he's getting himself into. Offering lots of building options, the video points out the various directions the viewer might take.

Promotional material indicates..."This video is for use by homeowners, contractors, architects, builders, designers and bocce enthusiasts everywhere. It is a menu for constructing a bocce court of lasting quality for many years of run and relaxation."

This product is suitably enhanced by wonderful photos of the many beautiful courts built by Brewer. For pricing info and orders, contact bocce@boccebrew.com - phone: 415-461-8842 (or click the link below).

Click this text to visit BocceBrew.com

Photos of the week
This week’s photos come from two sources.

The first four pictures are from Tony Cazzato of Peoria, IL. He says "We held our 1st annual bocce tournament at our 95th annual picnic of the Uplands neighborhood in Peoria. The Uplands is a 100 year old historic neighborhood in the heart of Peoria. The picnic and bocce tournament were a big success. We had beautiful weather, great food, and 15 teams participated in the bocce tournament. The tournament was among two-player teams in a double elimination bracket.
There was a variety of teams with adult / child, husband / wife, and teams of neighbors.

We played with three sets of bocce balls and the tournament lasted for four hours. First prize was a set of bocce balls and a Joy of Bocce book. Second prize was a Joy of Bocce t-shirt and another JOB book.

It was a blast and we will definitely do it again next year.

Keep up the good work!”

********************************************************************************************

The second photo contributor is Brendan Greco of Lynn, MA. Says Brendan "I run the Bocce League for the Italian American Citizens Club in Lynn, Massachusetts. We have two 60' by 10' outdoor courts. We have just finished our 8th year of Bocce. We had 11 teams this past year and some years we can have as many as 18 teams. Check out our website at www.lynniacc.com for pictures during the finals and other matches during the playoffs. It is great to see your newsletter and that there are other Italian Americans out there enjoying Bocce and I know it will be a tradition at our club for years to come.”

{Yes, it’s great to see Italian Americans enjoying the game we love. But don’t forget…we need to promote the game to all nationalities in this country. The growth of the game depends on it. I have become fond of saying that the game “has broken free of its ethnic origins and is being embraced by all people everywhere.”}

View this week's photos...

Bocce product of the week
Many top players believe that the best bocce balls in the world are made in Italy by Perfetta. Yes, we can get them to you via this ezine. The set is "official" size with four 107 mm red balls, four 107 mm green balls, one white pallino, and a well-constructed nylon carrying bag.

Click the Buy Now button or the Perfetta Bocce Set image to order @ $119.00 plus $14.00 shipping anywhere in the USA. It’s not cheap - but it’s quality!

Click for more on Perfetta bocce balls...

Non bocce product of the week
A friend of mine from Florida sent me this email recently and I am sufficiently impressed to offer the product he describes...

"Well its been just almost 4 weeks since I started using the newest skin care/anti-aging product Pentaxyl. At first I was very impressed at the moisturizing effect of the product, then after a week there was a difference in the texture of my skin, then after 2 weeks there was a difference in the lines on my forehead and around the eyes. Now that it has been almost a month, I see what this product is truly capable of!

If I was to tell you I have been careful throughout my life with sun exposure, I'd be lying. Blond and bronze is what I like myself to look like so I've been less than careful. The result has been sun damage on the face that is minimal but noticeable as I've always used moisturizers with vitamins, but on my body there has been several things that are not good. On my right leg I have a Kerotosis, a brown irregular patch about the size of a nickel that has the potential to give me problems in the future.

Since I got the Pentaxyl, I have been applying it to this spot as well as one on my chest. To my surprise the Kerotosis on my leg has decreased by 50% with the underlying skin returning to normal color and texture! I am thrilled as it is reversing damage!

The other results on my face have continued to where the furrows on my forehead have reduced, the lines around my eyes are almost gone and the most exciting thing is a tightening of all the skin on my face!"

Learn more about Pentaxyl...

Tournament update
{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.

October 16, 2004 - Volo – 3 person team - So SF IACC - Orange Ave. Mem. Park, So. San Francisco, CA - contact Alessandro Bettucchi @ 650-583-9936.

October 16 & 17, 2004 - Singles Raffa tourney @ Palazzo di Bocce - top 10 finishers go to Montreal November 18-21 for the North American Raffa Championship - $100 entry returned to participants in the form of awards, prize money, and food reimbursements. Contact Mike Grasser @ 248-505-4744.

November 19 - 21, 2004 - North American Bocce Championship, Montreal. Contact Mike Conti @ 847-692-6223 or usbocce@aol.com.

********************************************************************************************

NEW! World’s Largest indoor guaranteed purse in the history of bocce ($16,000)

July 14 – 16, 2005 – Fantasy Springs Resort and Casino -Indio, CA (near Palm Springs) Phone: 800-827-2946

Presented by the World Bocce League – contact Phil Ferrari @ 800-652-6223

Open Division

First prize = $6000
Second = $3000
Third = $1500
Fourth = $1000
Fifth & Sixth = $600
Seventh & Eighth = $400
Ninth thru Twelfth = $300
Thirteen thru Sixteenth = $200
Seventeenth thru Twentieth = $125

Entry fee per person (3 nights and food package included)

Double occupancy (2 players)……....$345
Double occupancy (1 non-player…....$318
Double occupancy (2 non-players….$291
Single occupancy (player)….…......$460
Single occupancy (non-player…….....$435

(Fun) Challenge Division

Prize money ($3400) based on 20 teams

1st = $1000
2nd = $500
3rd = $400
4th = $300
5th = $200
6th – 10th = $100
11th – 20th = $50

Double occupancy (2 players)……....$320
Double occupancy (1 non-player…..$305
Double occupancy (2 non-players…$291
Single occupancy (player)……….....…$435
Single occupancy (non-player……....$415

Single player (no hotel room) with food package…$205

Clubhawk Gold Measure - string instead of steel tape - precise - fits in your pocket

Merchandise still available at joyofbocce.com

Check out the first-rate equipment we offer. The finest measuring devices for bocce (made in UK by Prohawk for lawn bowling, petanque, and bocce) - the finest bocce balls in the world (made in Italy by Perfetta) and the number one selling instructional book on bocce in America - Check them out.
 Check out the merchandise