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Monday August 11, 2008

In honor of Bob’s memory

Yesterday’s event was meant to be a celebration to honor our too soon departed friend Bob Winkley.

It was a celebration indeed and many people came to pay homage to big Bob’s memory. They came from Berkeley, Sonoma, Lafayette, Sacramento and of course Marin County. Ultimately 16 triplettes entered the field.

1
David Render
Jean Bartkowiak
Bill Hansen
2
Roger Mattei
Jean-Paul Bricca
Mina Afshar
3
Jean-Marie Letellier
Ken Del Gobbo
Colette Van der Meulen
4
Dave Riffo
Jean-Claude Etallaz
Sabine Mattei
5
Jose Gonzales
Andre Sanchou
James Cloud
6
Jacques Sarafian
Bernard Passmar
Greg Winkley
7
Frank Pipal
Rene Di Maio
John Morrison
8
Antoine Lofaro
J-Christophe Loomis
Denyse Haney
9
Eric Swett
Mireille Di Maio
Mary Allbright
10
Luc Pouget
Frank Haney
Monte Freidig
11
Alain Efron
Claudie Chourre
Christine Cragg
12
Carlos Couto
Monique Bricca
Helga Facchini
13
Ken Lee
Jean-Michel Poulnot
Genevieve Etallaz
14
Ed Porto
Verena Rytter
Tamara Efron
15
Tino Lofaro
Jack Rosenstein
Elizabeth Gonzales
16
Louis Toulon
Jacques Gautier
Ellen Fong

As it was previously stated, all the proceeds from the tournament and all the donations collected during this event will go to the Winkley’s family preferred charity, Doctors without Borders ( Medecins Sans Frontieres).
I am glad to report that we collected $365.00 plus another $100.00 from the Berkeley Boys for a grand total of $465.00.
Thank you very much to all of you!

The weather cooperated and everybody basked in a glorious California summer day.

Even though everything went without a hitch, few people seemed to realize that it took a lot of planning and organization to pull this through. And (read my upcoming editorial) some people seem to lack even a basic notion of “savoir vivre”. Excuse me for being blunt, but let’s call a spade a spade!

As always, I want to recognize the people who were instrumental in making this event a success: first of all Christine Cragg who choreographed the whole production, the indefatigable Claudie Chourré, Verena Rytter, Mireille Di Maio and Ken Lee. Ken by the way, who was in charge of purchasing the bread for the picnic, refused to be reimbursed for it, and offered it gratis for the event.

I also want to recognize Teri Sirico of Sonoma who donated some of the wine, Bart Zachofsky who ran the tournament flawlessly, Alain Marchand who carved the birds, Tamara, Helga and Genevieve who jumped in the fray without being asked and lent a precious hand.

Who am I forgetting? Nobody I hope.

The lunch (graciously offered by La Pétanque Marinière) was made available to our guests around noon. It consisted of humongous portions roast chicken, green beans, salad, cheese, bread and white and red wine. Various cakes brought by the guests themselves completed the feast. Personally, I could barely move after ingesting so much food; others took it in stride and even continued to play (I don’t know how) after the official tournament was over.

After lunch, Christine Cragg (as usual choked by emotion) offered a plaque (engraved and graciously donated by Bart Zachofsky) to Marilyn Winkley in the name of the club.

The tournament proper started after lunch and was set up by Bart Zachofsky in a “triplettes a la melee” format . A little confusing at first, but ultimately very workable.

The tournament consisted of 3 thirteen points’ games and instead of winning points, the contestants accumulated lottery tickets: 2 tickets for the winning teams and one ticket for the losing teams.

After the tournament was over, numbers were called up and bottles of wine were awarded to the winning tickets holders. Not a bad idea… Maybe the first step toward getting rid of cash prizes altogether in future tournaments… Tamara managed as usual to bring some bacon (a bottle wine) home.

A memorable event indeed to be remembered fondly.

The Big Lug must have been smiling somewhere in the big blue yonder.

Alain Efron

PS: Tanya Winkley called this morning to let us know that she lost her watch sometime over the course of the day.  It has a brown leather band and a square face. Please get in touch with me if you found it.

PS2: Additional pictures of this event can be seen by clicking on the "Web Album II" below

 

Web Album II

Web Album

PS: you can download any of these pictures for your private enjoyment.



Among the most exotic people visiting this website, I noticed individuals from:
                  
 
Montreal
Canada
 
Aix-en Provence
France
 
Damascus
Syrian Arab Republic
 
Ratchaburi
Thailand
 
Mugla
Turkey
 
Moscow
Russian Federation

5/1/2008

Lodz
Poland
5/2/2008
Luzern
Switzerland
5/2/2008
Stoke-on-Kent
United Kingdom
5/3/2008
Ostrava
Czech Republic

 


FANNY (LHOOQ)


 


Le saviez-vous?

Pour les gens un peu "coincés" il faut avant toute chose considerer l'histoire suivante comme une "gauloiserie".

GAULOISERIE n. f. XIX e siècle. Dérivé de gaulois.
Caractère de ce qui est d'une gaieté vive et libre, inspiré par l'esprit gaulois. La gauloiserie d'un propos. Propos, plaisanterie un peu leste, gaillardise (le plus souvent au pluriel).

Baiser Fanny

Ne vous y fiez pas ! Embrasser Fanny ou baiser Fanny n'est pas une récompense (enfin, ça dépend toujours de la Fanny !). Cela veut dire perdre une partie sans avoir marqué un seul point!

Cette tradition serait originaire... de Savoie ! La Fanny originelle aurait été serveuse au café de Grand-Lemps, juste avant la Première Guerre Mondiale. La légende dit que, par gentillesse, elle se laissait embrasser par les clients qui venaient de perdre aux boules sans marquer le moindre petit point. La bise se faisait alors sur la joue.

Jusqu'au jour où, toujours selon la légende, le maire du village perdit à son tour et vint quémander sa " récompense ". Fanny avait-elle un grief contre lui et voulut-elle l'humilier en public? Nul ne le sait. Ce qui est sûr, c'est qu'elle grimpa sur une chaise, releva ses jupes et lui tendit... ses fesses! Le maire ne se démonta pas. Moins d'une seconde plus tard, deux baisers retentissants résonnaient dans le café. C'était le début d'une longue tradition...

 

This tradition supposedly originated in Savoy! The original Fanny was a waitress in the Grand-Lemps café, just before the First World War. The legend says that, out of kindness, she allowed customers who had just lost a game of boules without marking a single point, to kiss her. The peck was then made on the cheek.

Until the day when, according to the legend, the mayor of the village lost and came asking for his "reward". Did Fanny have a grievance against him and did she want to humiliate him publicly? No one knows. What is sure, is that she climbed on a chair, raised her skirt and showed him her backside! The mayor did not lose his cool. Less than one second later, two loud kisses resounded in the café. It was the beginning of a long tradition...

 

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