The Summer Melee kicked off this evening, with more than 30 participants and a delicious meal of a choice of a variety of Kransky sausages, with a vegetable medley in a hot dog roll. Thanks Allan for this and the ice cream for dessert.
The winners of the Spring competition were announced and first up was Megan, who came third, followed by Carol, second and Van took out the first prize. Well done.
Prospect had three teams in Adelaide’s Committee Cup, with Gavin and Melissa qualifying for the Principal competition after lunch. They played their semi-final against Garry and Selina of Novar Gardens and went down 13 v 8 in a very hard fought game. The Final was to be contested by Garry and Selina and Jean Luc and Ryan, also of Novar Gardens.
The afternoon’s competition was impacted by a large tree crashing down in the nearby Tree Climb and, by some miracle, no one was injured. There were at least three small children who had to be retrieved from the platform which surrounded the tree, in very close proximity to where the break occurred. The tree could have ‘kicked back’, or broken in a different place, or fallen to the ground (none of which occurred) and there would certainly have been a very different outcome.
Well done to Club De Petanque D’Adelaide for a wonderful, well organised and hospitable day.
We had 20 competitors in this month’s Saturday Competition, including 2 visitors who have very recently arrived from Sydney – Peter and Hae Jung. Peter tied with Michael after two games to both have a score of 26, but Michael took home the kitty of $40 as he only had 7 points scored against him, while Peter’s opponents scored 12 points. Michael now has a handicap of 1 point for the rest of this calendar year, or until he wins again this year to add to his handicap.
It was good to see such a good opening to the Saturday Competition, during these times of uncertainty caused by Covid and we had wonderful weather. A cool breeze to be enjoyed, once you got out of the sun.
The next Saturday Competition will be held on 19 February.
For the first time this year we had a player win the Saturday Competition for a second time. Melissa won both of her games, as did Marilyn, and they both had a one handicap to be deducted. This took them back to 25 to join Stan, who also had a score of 25. The winner was decided by count back, with Melissa only having 3 points scored against her, while Stan conceded 9 points and Marilyn conceded 11 points. Congratulations to Melissa, who took home the prize kitty.
The LAURIE ANDERSON CUP was also decided on Saturday, with Marilyn getting her name on the trophy. The Laurie Anderson Cup was awarded to the player with the most points, excluding handicaps, over the entire year’s competition. Before Saturday’s games, Marilyn had 166 points and Robert had 165. When teams were drawn, Marilyn and Robert were in opposing teams, with Marilyn and her partner winning the game. Marilyn ended with a final score of 192 and Robert had a score of 170. Well done and congratulations, Marilyn.
Members (we had 18 in Saturday’s competition) in attendance were keen for the competition to continue in 2022, so it is ‘game on’ on Saturday 15 January. Register by 2.55 pm for a 3.00 pm, for 2 x 45 minute doubles games, teams drawn from the bucket. $2/player entry, with the winner taking home the prize pool. All handicaps from 2021 will be scrapped with everyone starting afresh in 2022.
More than 60 members gathered for Christmas Lunch today, spread between inside the Club and the verandah to be within Covid-19 limitations. We were all treated to a complimentary drink at the bar to get the event rolling before we enjoyed the wonderful hot meal that the Committee had organised. We had pork, turkey, ham, roast potatoes, carrots and pumpkin, and a special turkey and pea dish, with every condiment imaginable (crackling, gravy, cranberry and apple sauce to name a few.)
Dessert was home made plum pudding, with custard and/or ice cream and/or pavlova topped with cream and seasonal fruit. Before dessert was served, we had a rousing rendition of an Aussie Twelve Days of Christmas with koalas and kangaroos being gifted rather than the more traditional partridge and pear tree. It all made for a great atmosphere and good cheer. To finish off the meal, a cheese platter was available.
Many thanks to those who contributed in setting up the clubrooms, preparing and serving the food and clearing up afterwards.
The Second Wind Ensemble chose to have their end of year function at our Clubrooms and what a wonderful afternoon of music it was. The Ensemble was established to give mature people with the will to take up the study of an instrument later in life the opportunity to join in with a group and benefit from the support of other musicians.
The entire group presented a 45 minute program and, after a short break, broke into groups to present the different groups’ choice of music – all making for a very enjoyable program.
The club grounds proved to be a great setting for their function, with the opportunity to use the facilities and try playing petanque, followed by a sausage sizzle.
The 2021 Christmas Melee had an Australiana/Christmas theme and members came suitably dressed; we even had Sheila Be Right with her purple hair with us.
Members could have thought they had gone to the top restaurant in Australia, rather than Prospect Petanque Club, as they enjoyed the fabulous, flavoursome, varied and plentiful food provided by Wendy, ably assisted by Alan, for last evening’s Christmas Melee Dinner. There were five different Hor d’oeuvres, all delicious and delivered by Alan to keep us all Covid safe. His head must have been spinning as he went round and round the clubrooms so many times to get it all to us.
Main course was Baked Ham, Chicken and Pistachio Terrine and Vegetable Terrine and accompanied by delicious and wonderful sauces and salads. As if that wasn’t all, dessert comprised Boiled Orange, Blood Lime and Macadamia Cake with Chocolate Gelato or Raspberry, Cinnamon Myrtle Gelato – all home made by Wendy. Delicately decorated Christmas biscuits were also available, individually wrapped, if you could possibly fit another thing in. Or you could take a biscuit or two home with you.
Many thanks and congratulations to Wendy for her wonderful menu and to Alan, and to Grant who assisted with preparations during the day.
During all of this eating, two games of Petanque were played and we will hear the winner of the Spring competition at our next Melee.
The evening concluded with some performances from Club members. The Big Bash Bush Band delivered My Old Man’s a Dustman, accompanied by an Eski drum, a Lager phone, washboard and an Irish Bodhran drum, followed by a reading from John Clarke – A Child’s Christmas in Warrnambool, and The Christmas Carolers trio with their humorous take on a classic.
A great night to get the Christmas spirit happening in our beautifully decorated Clubrooms and it certainly assisted to lighten some heavy hearts, having just learned of the sudden passing of Committee Member, Anna Phillips. Vale Anna.
We had a touch of summer today for the third round of the Interclub competition, with 22 teams vying for points for their Club.
Prospect was represented by three teams comprising Janet, Michael and Marty, Brett, Allan S and David and Stan, Glenis and Jan. Kym was also there making up the numbers for an Adelaide Hills team, with Prospect to share any points gained in the final rankings.
After finishing at the top of the ladder after the three pre-lunch games, Janet, Michael and Marty went on to second place in the overall competition, winning 24 points for Prospect in the competition. Club de Petanque Adelaide, represented by Tina, Jean-Paul and Louis were the overall winners and 30 points went CPA’s way. Prospect also scored 3 points by Kym’s participation with his Adelaide Hills teammates, who finished 16th in the final rankings.
Thank you to Gawler for a wonderful day, with a great lunch of leg ham, chicken and fresh salads, and plenty of shade which was very much appreciated by those of us who were taken by surprise by the very warm conditions after the cool days we have been having.
The Dingo Memorial Cup is held by the Eastern Suburbs Petanque Club in memory of their past member, Graham Clarke. Luckily, the rain that was forecast earlier in the week never eventuated and players enjoyed blue skies, sunshine and a balmy 22 degrees.
Prospect had a good share of the prizes, with our Gavin Scott and Van Nguyen taking out the Principale from Marcus and Nicholas. Prospect’s Allan Sanderson and Melissa Scott were runners up to Alexi and Craig Stewart in the Consolante A final and yet more Prospect players, Glenis and Stan Wilson, were runners up in the Consolante B final to Alain & JP.
A great day for all and Prospect extends its thanks to ESP for their hospitality and hard work which ensured a successful competition.
Ann took out today’s Saturday Competition with a score of 26, to become our 13th winner since the competition commenced in February this year. David also scored 26 points but has a handicap of 1 that had to be deducted from his score. Following Ann and David were Allan S with 22 points and Marilyn and Richard V with 21 points. There were 22 players, so Ann took home a healthy prize pool of $44.
Our final 2021 Saturday Competition will be held on 18 December, at 3.00 pm and the winner of the “Saturday Cup” (donated by Laurie some years ago) will be decided then. The player with the most points, disregarding handicaps, from all competitions they have entered will have their name on the Cup – of course, it will help to have attended all of the monthly competitions!! At the moment, there is only one point separating two players for this honour. All will be decided on 18 December.
Stan and Glenis set up some coaching tasks for us following the Competition and this week we were endeavouring to get closer to the cochonnet than an opposition’s boule without going past the dead ball line. The cochonnet was only about 20 cm from the line, so not an easy shot. Once this task was mastered, we moved on to shoot at two boules in a circle, from various lengths, to see if we could take both boules out of the circle. Both great exercises which we would not attempt if it were not for the coaching session. Thank you, Stan and Glenis, for some fun and taxing exercises.
