Players Compete for Bocce Ball Championship, Honor Leader

A spirited group of bocce ball players – 144 strong – turned out Saturday for the finals of their yearly championships at Mackle Park.

“I think it went well,” group leader Bill Reid said, “we won it!”

The championships were bittersweet, however, as the group’s leader, Charlie Pineno, was stricken with a serious illness just as the season began.

“Charlie Pineno started this league four years ago,” Reid said. “He played the first week or two, then he had some serious health issues and has been in and out of the hospital ever since. He’s in very, very, tough shape. That kind of left us shooting in the dark, because he handled all of this in previous years. But I think it went well. It obviously has a pretty good following – last year we actually had 166 players. Because of COVID, we lost some people who just didn’t want to play. We did make masks mandatory this year.”

Reid and his teammates Roma Brokad and Gary Bourassa won the championship. They were without their fourth team member.

“Unfortunately, our fourth player, Jerry Leeman, could only play the first two weeks. He’s in his 90s, and he came up with some serious health issues, and he was unable to play. But he was part of our team.”