WISCASSET
You don’t have to be Italian or like spaghetti to love bocce ball remarked Skip Taylor when he announced plans to form a bocce ball club and league at Winters Gone Farm.
Bocce is a game almost anyone can play and enjoy, Taylor says. In forming the Winters Gone Bocce Club, the goal is to provide a enjoyable social experience while respecting the traditional aspects of the game.
Winters Gone Farm invites local adults to join. The club will meet on Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and plays on a traditional grass surface. League play will include singles, doubles, mixed doubles and fourperson teams. It’s free to join.
Initial membership is limited and on a first-come basis.
Throwing balls toward a target is the oldest game known to mankind.
As early as 5000 B.C., the Egyptians played a form of bocce with polished rocks but the early Romans were the first to play a game resembling what we know as bocce today. The game enjoyed rapid growth throughout Europe, being the sport of nobility and peasants alike.
However, the future of bocce was not bright in Europe because the popularity of the game was said to interfere with the security of the state because it took too much time away from archery practice and other military exercises. In fact, Kings Carlos IV and V prohibited the playing of bocce. Also in 1576 the Republic of Venice publicly condemned the sport and the Catholic Church officially prohibited the laity and clergyman from playing the game by proclaiming it a form of gambling. For more information, call 882-9191 or visit 245 Alna Road.
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