John the only place i remember anyone playing Bocci was at Boys Park near Tung Sol. They had some really heated games with a lot of cursing and some times even fist fights. What always got me about these older Italian gentlemen was they never used a ruler to measure it was always a busted tree branch or a beat up stick like in your picture.
Joe, it's really a bunch of scientists at the Newark Museum arguing over whether or not Pluto should be considered a planet ! !
There were Bocce courts at the north end of the big lake in Branch Brook park; and weren't there also courts up near Heller parkway too? I remember the old guys using a car antenna to measure... cool idea 'cause the guy would just slide it to the exact length of one distance, and then use that to test the next distance in a split second.
The guy in the picture looked like he was holding one of those old fashioned fold-out rulers that you find in antique tool boxes. Too small?
This picture brought back another memory... our yard on North 13th street had a fence all the way around it made of boards like these. Imagine what it would cost today to build a fence out of #2 pine?
Bobby's right, there were courts at Bloomfield Ave and past
Heller Parkway (the extensions), and in Boys Park near Orange St.
I learned to speak Italian watching the men play near St Francis,
in a little side yard of some house(I think on Delavan Ave.)
No wonder Mrs. Scarponi was always washing my mouth out with
soap! Mr. Scarponi sat there roaring!! It wasn't too good for me
when he translated it for my father either.
or an Italian - American Club....see the guy standing on the right side, there are two flags behind his head, one American and one Italian. Where was there a club like this in Newark? How many clubs like this in Newark?
There is a 'sister' photo to this one in the "Images of America - NEWARK" softcover book. It shows the same guys all standing closer to the building. The guy in the foreground wearing the straw hat is in the picture too. In this photo he is obscured by the guys bent over but you can just see the hat on the left side along the fence.
