For most of my life, based on some novice self-examination and a little first-year psychology, I identified as a ‘homebody.’ I figured because my Salvation Army parents were moved from Wingham to Niagara Falls to Regina to Halifax all before I was 8-years-old, when we settled in Owen Sound in 1977, I was scared to leave.
Technically I did ‘leave’ as I now live 10 minutes north of Owen Sound in Leith. But they claim “with age comes wisdom” so with wiser eyes I now understand it wasn’t fear. I had learned the value of community, and I didn’t want to lose it again.
Over the next decade in Owen Sound, I found a strong community of friends while becoming part of another long-standing community, the OSCVI. I valued my time there so much, I determined to return as a teacher, which I did for many years. Until it was gone, too. That’s something else age has taught me – change is constant. Some communities come and go while others morph into something different. And as they change, so do we.
“This article about community written for a magazine that celebrates community wouldn’t exist without my community.”
When the school bells ended, time took on new meaning. I was no longer driven by the clock; days blended into days, which now makes booking appointments much easier. When asked for an available time, I usually exclaim, “I can meet any day at any time…except Wednesday afternoon.” Because on Wednesdays, we roll… in the North Sydenham Bocce Club, another one of my beloved communities.
As I write this, the NSBC is in the middle of our winter season where our venues are limited to large, easily cleared parking areas where we bowl on snow, ice, concrete, and gravel. Something likely unimaginable by two founding members, Andrew Armitage and Bill Murphy, when they tossed the first jack back in the summer of 2011. Having enjoyed the afternoon so much, they invited more friends who decided to keep on throwing balls weekly. As most members lived north of highway 26, the North Sydenham Bocce Club was born.
Having a retired librarian and active historian as a founding member meant the club wasn’t just about throwing balls. It was for learning. When Andrew and I put together our book on Leith in 2020, he reported the following: Bocce, also known as Italian lawn bowling, is one of the most widely played games in the world. It is also one of the most ancient, dating back to 5000 BC. Egyptian cave paintings depict boys on the Nile River playing the game. It also caught on with Romans and Greeks with balls thrown in between battles. Since then, it’s been popularized in Britain, France, Germany, Persia and more recently Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro.
The rules of the game are simple. Throw out the jack or pallino and then try with the next rounds to get as close to the target as possible. Voila! Bocce.
Other than these basics, there are few rules to the version we play. Although we experimented with a bocce court, we always return to “free range” bocce where we throw the jack anywhere. Depending on the venue this might include lawns, parking areas, sand pits and even wooden tables. We are particularly fond of septic beds and other challenging hill-like structures. Sometimes games look more like mini-golf as we play around ladders, into cat beds, behind milk crates and even amongst balls from another game – which leads to serious confusion.
For the first several years, summer bocce was our only option. But then Andrew discovered soft leather clad balls designed for indoor play. Fortunately, Andrew also had a very long living room about the size of a bocce court. So, he invited us in to play when the weather turned cold.
The indoor game meant new traditions like cueing up a DVD of a musician we lost the previous week to add a little rock to our roll. As we looked for bigger challenges, we placed the jack on couches or rebounded it into the kitchen. We even tried going up the stairs, but the ancient treads were so narrow it proved hard to get the larger balls to stay. In the bumper seasons, the Club met weekly in a horse barn, sending bocce balls spinning through sand.
Then two things happened. Covid hit. And we lost our O.G. Andrew. We had to adjust our game again. We decided to keep playing outdoors, this time all year round. Although our gatherings were small during the Covid years, we did not miss a Wednesday through the entire pandemic. It kept us sane. This is because the club is about more than the game; it’s a place to share stories, a place to discuss ideas. But perhaps most importantly, it’s a place to laugh and be with each other. That said, we are competitive. And we’ve become pretty good at the game of bocce ball (although I sometimes wonder if that’s the cannabis talking).
Another favourite thing about the club is that despite the high level of competition, we always cheer for one another and appreciate a great shot, even if it means a loss. And we always begin and end every game with a handshake. Because that’s what community is all about.
This article about community written for a magazine that celebrates community wouldn’t exist without my community.
As our bocce crew morphs again, we’re not sure if the name will survive as most of our members are now non-North Sydenham residents. But we will continue. And although it’s not possible for us to invite everyone reading this to join, we encourage you to start your own little bocce crew.
Soon enough, you may find yourself saying ‘Let’s roll!’ with your own club each week.
Words and photos by John Fearnall of Good Noise
