Let the pigs fly! My friends finally said it was OK to tell you about my favorite way to spend Sunday afternoons. At first they swore me to secrecy, knowing I have a habit of telling complete strangers about fun things to do in Fort Bragg. But my slightly rag-tag group of friends eventually gave in and said I could tell you about our twice weekly game of Petanque, even invite you to join us if you’ve a mind.
All kinds of people play with us… you might meet 3 of our 5 city councilpersons, artists, writers, wood-workers, musicians, retail shop owners (past and present), retired school teachers, community activists, bloggers, a publicist (that’d be me), birding bureaucrats, a locksmith, a contractor or a landscaper. Also visitors, players’ adult children, and friends of friends, who I’m certain do something when they’re not playing petanque, but it doesn’t really matter what…
And don’t worry if you’re an absolute beginner - you can join the fun even if petanque is a total mystery. It only takes a few minutes to learn and there’s always someone happy to give you a quick lesson. You don’t need a partner, the ‘sorting bag’ assigns teams, so singles don’t be shy. Best of all, no one cares if you’re good or bad, it’s all about having fun.
The balls go into the sorting bag at 2PM every Thursday and Sunday. We play on a sea-urchin terrain on the South side of the C.V. Starr Center in Fort Bragg on Thursdays, at the Mendocino Community Center most Sundays, except for the last Sunday of the month when we play in Noyo Harbor on the east side of North Harbor Drive after the big u-turn. We play rain or shine, we’re hard to miss and parking is plentiful.
