La Boule d'Or, San Francisco

This coming Sunday, our friends in San Francisco, La Boule d'Or, will host a mixed doubles tournament at their beautiful courts in Golden Gate Park. Entry fee is $7.- with cash prizes.
Registration ends at 9:30 and games start at 10:00
contact: alain gusella for more information: 1.209. 251.9157

2012 New Zealand International Open

click on image to enlarge

Pétanque America Open 2011

Click on the banner for more info

Please spread the word!

The Registration is now Open for the Pétanque America Open 2011

November 12th and 13th 2011.

Petanque America
1438-A East Oak St
Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
Phone: 800-682-2557 or 904-491-1190
Fax: 904-491-1189
www.petanque-america.com

Marin parks visionary Pierre Joske dies at 82

Pierre Joske, a brilliant civic leader who spearheaded formation of the Marin County Open Space District and launched a string of regional parks during his 17 years as Marin's parks and recreation chief, has died at 83.

Mr. Joske died Sunday after suffering from prostate cancer.

Mr. Joske, who left county government in 1983 to set up an eyeglass business in Novato, was widely regarded as one of the most talented administrators of the era.

"He is one of our most important department heads ... one of the principal architects of the Open Space District," Supervisor Gary Giacomini said at the time. "He will be terribly missed," the late Gloria Duncan, then head of the Marin Conservation League, observed about his departure from county government. "He was a one-of-a-kind person."

Mr. Joske, who worked as chief of parks and planning for Los Angeles County before taking the $14,000-a-year top parks job at Marin Civic Center in 1966, promptly scrapped a parks master plan that failed to provide for recreational hubs near population centers along Highway 101.

He launched Stafford Lake, McInnis, McNears Beach and Bay Front parks, talked the state into acquiring China Camp and Rancho Olompali, urged acquisition of 6,000 acres on Mount Tamalpais, and promoted the Open Space District. He boosted a growing system of bicycle, riding and hiking trails, as well as preservation of Bolinas Lagoon.

Mr. Joske moved the county fair from the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross to the Civic Center grounds during a storied career in which he also headed Marin Center operations. The outspoken parks advocate fought back plans in 1973 to merge his department with the planning and public works departments, calling the efficiency proposal by County Administrator John Barrows "a step backward."

Barrows this week recalled Mr. Joske as an administrator who performed well, doing "a good job" with a focus on preserving parkland. "He was certainly dedicated to the county park system, improving and adding to it where he could," Barrows said.

Mr. Joske was born in Germany, the son of a Jewish lawyer, and fled to France with his family to avoid Nazi persecution. He wandered Europe as a refugee after being separated from his family for a time, then worked as an estate gardener and fruit farm manager. He served in both the French and U.S. armies and attended college in France, New York and California, earning a degree in horticulture and landscape architecture. He was a landscape construction foreman before joining the Los Angeles County engineer's office in 1956.

He lived in Novato for many years, and moved to the city of Sonoma two decades ago, where he built a family home on an acre lot. He traveled and was an active member of the Petanque Club in recent years.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Maryse, of Sonoma; two sons, Mark, of Davis, and Alain, of Rohnert Park; a daughter, Marianne, of Sonoma; five grandchildren and a great grandchild.

Plans for a celebration of his life in July are pending. For more information, query arjoske@pacbell.net.

Donations in his memory may be made to the open space districts in Marin or Sonoma counties.

Pierre was also a great friend of many of the members of La Pétanque Marinière and was the person responsible for the county granting conservatorship to our newly formed club in 1972 for the land on which our beautiful courts are located. He was a North West Regional counselor for the FPUSA and one of the Founders of The Valley of the Moon Pétanque Club in Sonoma.

An interview with Pierre Joske, the first general manager of the Marin County Open Space District; hosted by Martin Rosen, former president of the Trust for Public Land can be seen by clicking on the following links:

Pierre Joske Interview; 1 0f 2

Pierre Joske Interview; 2 0f 2

Guerrilla Pétanque in Lamorinda

This coming weekend there is a lot of serious Petanque happening in the area, notably the National Doubles Tournament in Fresno. Get there if you can!

For those who really cannot get to Fresno but are looking for another way to get some excitement on this coming Sunday the 15 th. we will be having another Guerrilla Petanque Tournament at the Lamorinda Petanque Club courts.

It really is a crazy idea because the Weather Man says we have a 70% chance of rain, and I believe him. He's been right more often than not. But so what? It is Guerrilla Petanque after all, and what's a little rain between petanquers? Bring your umbrella, rain gear, scuba gear, or whatever and come and meet the challenge. Also bring a little picnic and some drinks. We will have a couple of gazebos set up for shelter so that you can at least be in the dry when you have lunch.

We play our Guerrilla Petanque on a set course of 13 pitches. We will play doublette and if you arrive with a partner you will play together for the entire match. If you arrive alone we will organise a good partner for you.

There will be a nominal entry fee of $5.00 per person. You don't have to pay. Crazy? No! You see, there will be cash prizes awarded but only those who have paid will be eligible for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place based on your final team score after 2 rounds of play. That means twice around the 13 pitches..

100% of any money paid for entry fees will be divided fairly between 1st 2nd and 3rd place.

It is really just for fun, but it is pretty challenging as well. Come along.

Etienne

Visit our blog at lamorindapetanque.blogspot.com

LPM Tête á Tête Tournament 2011

Everyone seemed to have a nice time at yesterday's tête á tête (singles) tournament. There were an even number of competitors on both sides as twelve men and twelve women competed. After the dust had settled the victorious were:

1^st Place Men’s: Paul Kos $38 + ribbon w/ crepe & brioche sac

1^st Place Women’s: Verena Rytter $38 + ribbon w/ crepe & brioche sac

2^nd Place Men’s: Jacques Lecouturier $22 + ribbon

2^nd Place Women’s: Peggy Matsuda $22 + ribbon /

3^rd Place Men’s: Patrick Vaslet $15 + ribbon /

3^rd Place Women’s: Tie Sabine Mattei $7.50 + ribbon / Carolina Jones $7.50

La Boule d'Or, San Francisco

San Francisco's own La Boule d'Or pétanque club, now has their very own website. Click here to visit the site

Tête á Tête Tournament

Saturday, May 7
Men's & Women's Tête à Tête (Singles) Tournament
$7.00 Entry Fee

Registration ends at: 10:00 a.m. Games start at 10:30 a.m.
Men’s Tournament / Woman’s Tournament
Cash Prizes for the first three places in each tournament

Registration and cut-off, and tournament start times will be honored.

Be on time!

County needs to move quickly on assessing public safety building

Marin Independent Journal Editorial

Posted: 04/28/2011 03:00:00 AM PDT

IT MAKES SENSE for Marin to take a closer look at whether the Marin Commons office complex could be turned into the county's public safety complex.

The other choice is building a new facility near the Marin Civic Center.

It appears the county could save money in both short- and long-term costs by buying the office complex just west of Highway 101 off Lucas Valley Road.

County staff estimates it could cost $450,000 more to find out whether the Marin Commons meets the county's space and security needs as well as to determine the seismic safety of the 1970s-era building.

That's a lot of money, especially right now, when services are being cut and county workers being laid off.

The evaluation process also means spending more on consultants, which makes us nervous for the reasons in the previous sentence.

The public safety project is a worthy — if expensive — one.

Supervisors need to get the county's communications center and emergency services out of the Civic Center and into a building more capable of surviving a major earthquake. Two grand jury reports have stressed the importance of completing this project as soon as possible.

Click here for the complete article

Petaluma High French students get petanque-y

Do you Pétanque?

French teacher Sarah Wadsworth and about 25 Petaluma High School French students got a lesson in the classic French game (think of something akin to bocce) from the Petaluma Valley Pétanque Club. The lesson was given in French in Oak Hill Park last Friday afternoon.
Click on full article for further reading.

LPM Polos

LPM introduces Gildan quality polo shirts embroidered with our logo. These shirts are available now for pre-order. Actual price per shirt will vary commensurate on the total amount of shirts ordered.
Send your order to: marinbouliste@gmail.com

PETANQUE from The Rats on Vimeo.

2011 Lentils & Sausage Picnic

After last month's tournament played, for the most part, in the rain, the skies looked favorably upon our 2011 Lentils & sausage Picnic and Panaché Open. The turn-out was quite large with some 45 players and approximately 60 people enjoying the food.
This was also the first tournament to feature LPM's brand new scoreboards.

FIRST PLACE
Antonia Paulsen Christine Cragg Larrry Cragg

SECOND PLACE
Jacques Mathieu John Mengshol John Krauer

THIRD PLACE
Jacques Avedissian Joe La Torre Henriette Matocq

Click here to view a slideshow of the day

cochonnet on a roll....

Here's a fantastic video of a little wooden ball rolling along, plinking out J.S. Bach's bmv 147 or jesu, joy of man's desiring, actually an ad for a cel phone case, but what creativity. Watch it in HD full screen. Thanks to PA

LPM - Lentils & Sausage Picnic

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Lentils & Sausage Picnic
PANACHE Tournament

Family and friends welcome - Open to all **

Tournament Fee $7.00

Tournament Registration ends @ 10:30
Lunch served @ 11:30
Games begin after lunch @ 12:30 or ASAP

Prizes will be awarded by winning scores as well as by raffle.

- Menu -
Lentils, Sausage, Salad, Brie & Bread
(Bring your own plate and utensils)

Picnic Cost $11.00 per person

! Reservation Required for Picnic !
Reserve by Thursday, April 7
Alain Efron 479-5820 or lutecemeister@gmail.com

For up-to-date-tournament information
www.cochonnetmarin.com or petanque-marin.blogspot.com
Christine’s cell (415) 302-5069

Lamorinda Pétanque

SOMA Interactive Pétanque

On Friday, April 8th, from 6-9 PM, will be an art opening called

Spread
Artists Reception April 8, 6-9pmp
Closing Happy Hour April 27th 5-7pm
Show dates April 6-27th
SOMArts Gallery
934 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

In this exhibition, I will install an indoor petanque court (30'x10') in the gallery space which will be playable for the month of April. During the opening, I have invited three seasoned players from La Boule d'Or who have won national and international championships, Joss and Jean Krauer and Jacques Biscay, to take on all comers with previous experience. If you have played before, you are welcome to try your skills against them in triplettes during the opening. If you have never played, you are welcome to come by during the rest of the month and learn the game. There will be informal lessons and games scheduled and unscheduled throughout the month.

Let it rain in April, there will be a place to play

Best,
Paul Kos

California Commemorative Cup

The California Commemorative Cup took place yesterday, the first time it was open to competitors throughout the entire state of California. Twenty-four teams showed up for the games and it seemed that a fun, although a cold and wet day was had by all. The weather was an issue from the start as a thirty percent chance of showers were forecast for the afternoon. With all of the latest computer and radar storm tracking, the prognosticators were not off by very much at all. After lunch the small drizzle turned into larger drops and by late afternoon during the final match, it was raining enough to turn the terrain into areas of large puddles. Even with all of the inclement weather trying to impede the competition, the die-hards trudged on until the last point was played.
After the "dust had settled" the winners emerging were:

FIRST PLACE: Alain Gusella & Phimprapha Nielsen
SECOND PLACE: Jean Claude Bunand & Verena Rytter

CONSOLANTE FIRST PLACE - Hans Kurz & Lisa Vaughan
CONSOLANTE SECOND PLACE - Larry & Christine Cragg

LPM would like to thank all of those who journeyed from afar to make the event as enjoyable as it turned out to be.

Click here to view the slideshow.

California Commemorative Cup - UPDATE

The California Commemorative Cup Tournament, will proceed as scheduled. A 30% chance of P.M. showers is forecasted, so if you are bothered by a few droplets, be prepared with a rain jacket and/or umbrella.

THE TIME NOW IS 0720 PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME

Lamorinda Pétanque

THE LAMORINDA PETANQUE EVENT SCHEDULED FOR THIS SUNDAY MARCH 20, HAS BEEN POSTONED. DETAILS FORTHCOMING

Saratoga, Monte Sereno join forces to build $17,000 pétanque court

Although very few could identify petanque, players of this 100-year-old game would argue that it's more popular than you'd think, which is why this French game of accuracy is expected to have a new court in Saratoga's Azule Park in the coming weeks.

But even for a city with about 30,000 people, a dozen petanque players isn't very many. And even for a community with seemingly infinite funding, $17,000 seems like a lot of money to spend on a court that only 10 to 12 people will use. Continue Reading >>

Albuquerque, NM Pétanque

LPM would like to congratulate the founding members of La Mesa Pétanque Club in Albuquerque, NM on their recent affiliation with the FPUSA.
If anyone may be in Albuquerque and wish to play with them, or desire information about La Mesa Pétanque, they can be reached at: lmpc_nm@yahoo.com.

La Boule d'Or, San Francisco

Sunday March 6, 2011
Tournament 3/3 select Mixed, 4 games,

Registration from 10am till 10:30
Starting time 10:45. Entry fee $7 per player

Coffee and cookies in the morning!
INFO call 650-755-2391
650-483-0732 Jean
or 209-351-9157 Alain

La Boule d'Or weather

French culture festival offers food, wine — even bowling

More than 200 French expatriates and San Antonio (Texas) Francophiles gathered at the historic Willow Way estate Sunday afternoon to celebrate the art, culture, cuisine and wine of France.

The crowd took part in the San Antonio French Cultures Festival: Mois de la Francophonie 2011, patterned after festivals in Houston and Dallas. The event kicked off a monthlong celebration, which will feature French food, films and music at events across the city.

Scheduled events include a tour of Napoleonic artifacts, a contemporary French cinema festival and sampling a variety of champagnes.

Read more

VOMPC - Singles & Soup

VOMPC's season opener, "Singles & Soup" tournament has been moved to Sunday, February 27th due to inclement weather (to say the least).
If you are planning on partaking of the delicious, heart-warming soup prepared by Master Chef Narin Garrett, we need your reservation. There will be two soups, one of which will be vegetarian. The easiest way to reserve is to leave a message on the Club Hotline at (707) 343-9465. Easier still, you don't have to hunt down a partner to play!!!! Play starts @ 10:00 a.m. Be there or miss out!!!
Click on VOMPC for more club information

California Commemorative Cup

Sunday, March 13 ***Daylight savings starts***
Pierre Joske Courts - San Rafael (directions)

Select Doubles - 1 man + 1 woman
Concours - plus consolante if 16 teams or more.
Entry fee - $7 per person
Prizes:
1st Place - Plaques & Perpetual Trophy
2nd Place - Plaques

Registration ends at: 10:00 a.m. SHARP
Games start at 10:30 a.m.
Bring your own lunch
Apéritifs to be served after the tournament.

New Zealand Earthquake

LPM hopes that our friends belonging to the Christchurch and Papanui pétanque clubs in Christchurch, NZ were not affected adversely by the latest earthquake to hit their region. Our prayers and well wishes are with you, your families and loved ones during this difficult time.

Last week, LPM opened it's 2011 season with quite a well-attended tournament. The weather, although not from the onset, actually acquiesced and decided to cooperate with a sunny day after all. Twenty-two doubles teams from many parts of the bay area competed, and seemed to enjoy the competition present.

Click on here to view a slide show of the day's events.

The winners of the tournament were:
First Place: Gilles Karpowicz & Barbara Hall
Second Place: Jean-Claude Etallaz & Claudie Chourré
Third Place: Alain Gusela & Phim Nielsen
Fourth Place (Tie): John & Joss Kraurer
William Widmaier & Tiaré Ferrari

California Commemorative Cup

On Sunday March 13 the California Commemorative Cup will take place in San Rafael. Formerly know as the Northern California Commemorative Cup, the board of LPM decided that it was in more of a neighborly fashion to change the name so as to welcome any and all FPUSA registered pétanque players in the state of California. If you think you may be interested in playing, please contact LPM for ideas pertaining to lodging. As the format will be select doubles, start looking for your partner now. We hope to see you there.

Select Doubles - 1 man + 1 woman
Daylight savings starts
Registration ends at: 10:00 a.m.
Games start at 10:30 a.m.
Concours plus Consolante, if 16 Teams or more
Apéritifs.

New Sidebar Links

For the convenience of those traveling to compete in a pétanque event and not knowing what the weather may have in store for the day, you can now consult the weather for the four basic bay area pétanque locations, by clicking on the appropriate location under WEATHER in the sidebar on the right side of the blog.

Lamorinda Pétanque

Due to the unfortunate loss of Menlo Park's pétanque club, La Boule Joyeuse, Lamorinda Pétanque who has always had to share a Sunday with another Bay Area club in order to hold their competitions, has stepped into their own Sunday, being the third Sunday of every month.
The long standing tradition has given the first Sunday to San Francisco, the second to Marin, the third now goes to Lamorinda and the fourth has been Sonoma.
Since putting together a tournament consists of many people contributing of their time and efforts, please try and attend as many as you can so as to make each event a winner for every club.

This Sunday, Lamorina will host another Sunday Funday as described in the following flyer.

LPM - Season Opener

Join us in San Rafael this Sunday for our opening tournament of the 2011 season.
The format will be select doubles with cash prizes. Bring your own munchies

Tournament registration CLOSES at 10:00 am, and the games will commence at 10:30.

Click on weather for the latest conditions.

Boca Women's Singles & Mixed Triples Fotos

Courtesy of Marieke Rolland, here are some images from last weekends Women's Northeast Regional Singles & Triples in Boca Raton, Florida



Congratulations to Christine Cragg and Peggy Matsuda.

From Our President, Joe Martin

Greetings,


Saturday, in Boca Raton, Florida, one of our NW Regonal representatives, Peggy Matsuda (LPM) took the silver medal in the FPUSA National Women's Singles competition,
In yesterday's FPUSA National Mixed Triples, the other two players from the NW region Joe Cortright, and Christine Cragg of LPM (Marin), and Bernard Martin, (Sarasota), finished in the money with 4th place. Very good for a made up team whose players had never played together before, and on an unfamiliar terrain, too. Congratulations!

First place (Triples) was taken by a Florida team, Juan Garcia, Gilles Canesse, and Juan's daughter, Rachel Diaz.

Joe

Federation of Pétanque Catalán

For those pétanque players with ties or interest to the catalán region of Spain, there is now a website dedicated solely to their activities.
The address is: http://www.fcpetanca.cat/

Pétanque America Open - Movie Trailer

From the folks at UBK Studios comes the first glimpse of what their upcoming pétanque movie is going to look like. If it's anything like the trailer, it should prove to be quite a smashing success.
Watch it in full screen HD.

Celebration of Tino's Life

A great many came from near and far yesterday to pay their respects and say a fond final farewell to our brother Tino Lofaro. It was a good thing that the memorial mass was held St. Vincent de Paul church since another venue might not have been able to contain all of his friends who were present. A beautiful and impassioned eulogy was delivered by his brother Aurelio.
Afterwards, Tino's life was celebrated with a beautiful event put together by Jacuzzi Winery in Sonoma, where he had been employed as a cook. Tino was given the posthumous honor of having the kitchen named after him.
To view the fotos taken that day, click here

Freddie The Leaf

In light of our most recent passings, Louis Castagné and Tino Lofaro, a story came to mind about a leaf named Freddie. It seemed appropriate that the story be shared since our terrain is graced by nine towering shade trees which provide wonderful shade under which to play in the warm summers, and beautiful bronze and golden colored leaves in the fall...

The Fall of Freddie The Leaf
A Story of Life for All Ages
by Leo Buscaglia

Spring had passed. So had Summer. Freddie, the leaf, had grown large. His mid section was wide and strong, and his five extensions were firm and pointed. He had first appeared in Spring as a small sprout on a rather large branch near the top of a tall tree.

Freddie was surrounded by hundreds of other leaves just like himself, or so it seemed. Soon he discovered that no two leaves were alike, even though they were on the same tree. Alfred was the leaf next to him. Ben was the leaf on his right side, and Clare was the lovely leaf overhead. They had all grown up together. They had learned to dance in the Spring breezes, bask lazily in the Summer sun and wash off in the cooling rains.

But it was Daniel who was Freddie's best friend. He was the largest leaf on the limb and seemed to have been there before anyone else. It appeared to Freddie that Daniel was also the wisest among them. It was Daniel who told them that they were part of a tree. It was Daniel who explained that they were growing in a public park. It was Daniel who told them that the tree had strong roots which were hidden in the ground below. He explained about the birds who came to sit on their branch and sing morning songs. He explained about the sun, the moon, the stars, and the seasons.

Freddie loved being a leaf. He loved his branch, his light leafy friends, his place high in the sky, the wind that jostled him about, the sun rays that warmed him, the moon that covered him with soft, white shadows. Summer had been especially nice. The long hot days felt good and the warm nights were peaceful and dreamy. There were many people in the park that Summer. They often came and sat under Freddie's tree. Daniel told him that giving shade was part of his purpose.

"What's a purpose?" Freddie had asked.

"A reason for being," Daniel had answered. "To make things more pleasant for others is a reason for being. To make shade for old people who come to escape the heat of their homes is a reason for being. To provide a cool place for children to come and play. To fan with our leaves the picnickers who come to eat on checkered tablecloths. These are all the reasons for being."

Freddie especially liked the old people. They sat so quietly on the cool grass and hardly ever moved. They talked in whispers of times past. The children were fun, too, even though they sometimes tore holes in the bark of the tree or carved their names into it. Still, it was fun to watch them move so fast and to laugh so much.

But Freddie's Summer soon passed. It vanished on an October night. He had never felt it so cold. All the leaves shivered with the cold. They were coated with a thin layer of white which quickly melted and left them dew drenched and sparkling in the morning sun. Again, it was Daniel who explained that they had experienced their first frost, the sign that it was Fall and that Winter would come soon.

Almost at once, the whole tree, in fact, the whole park was transformed into a blaze of color. There was hardly a green leaf left. Alfred had turned a deep yellow. Ben had become a bright orange. Clare had become a blazing red, Daniel a deep purple and Freddie was red and gold and blue. How beautiful they all looked. Freddie and his friends had made their tree a rainbow.

"Why did we turn different colors," Freddie asked, "when we are on the same tree?"

"Each of us is different. We have had different experiences. We have faced the sun differently. We have cast shade differently. Why should we not have different colors?" Daniel said matter-of-factly. Daniel told Freddie that this wonderful season was called Fall.

One day a very strange thing happened. The same breezes that, in the past, had made them dance began to push and pull at their stems, almost as if they were angry. This caused some of the leaves to be torn from their branches and swept up in the wind, tossed about and dropped softly to the ground. All the leaves became frightened.

"What's happening?" they asked each other in whispers.

"It's what happens in Fall," Daniel told them. "It's the time for leaves to change their home. Some people call it to die."

"Will we all die?" Freddie asked.

"Yes," Daniel answered. "Everything dies. No matter how big or small, how weak or strong. We first do our job. We experience the sun and the moon, the wind and the rain. We learn to dance and to laugh. Then we die."

"I won't die!" said Freddie with determination. "Will you, Daniel?"

"Yes," answered Daniel, "when it's my time."

"When is that?" asked Freddie.

"No one knows for sure," Daniel responded.

Freddie noticed that the other leaves continued to fall. He thought, "It must be their time." He saw that some of the leaves lashed back at the wind before they fell, others simply let go and dropped quietly. Soon the tree was almost bare.

"I'm afraid to die," Freddie told Daniel. "I don't know what's down there."

"We all fear what we don't know, Freddie. It's natural," Daniel reassured him. "Yet, you were not afraid when Summer became Fall. They were natural changes. Why should you be afraid of the season of death?"

"Does the tree die, too?" Freddie asked.

"Someday. But there is something stronger than the tree. It is Life. That lasts forever and we are all a part of Life."

"Where will we go when we die?"

"No one knows for sure. That's the great mystery!"

"Will we return in the Spring?"

"We may not, but Life will."

"Then what has been the reason for all of this?" Freddie continued to question. "Why were we here at all if we only have to fall and die?"

Daniel answered in his matter-of-fact way, "It's been about the sun and the moon. It's been about happy times together. It's been about the shade and the old people and the children. It's been about colors in Fall. It's been about seasons. Isn't that enough?"

"That afternoon, in the golden light of dusk, Daniel let go. He fell effortlessly. He seemed to smile peacefully as he fell. "Goodbye for now, Freddie," he said.

Then, Freddie was all alone, the only leaf on his branch. The first snow fell the following morning. It was soft, white, and gentle; but it was bitter cold. There was hardly any sun that day, and the day was very short. Freddie found himself losing his color, becoming brittle. It was constantly cold and the snow weighed heavily upon him.

At dawn the wind came that took Freddie from his branch. It didn't hurt at all. He felt himself float quietly, gently and softly downward. As he fell, he saw the whole tree for the first time. How strong and firm it was! He was sure that it would live for a long time and he knew that he had been part of its life and made him proud.

Freddie landed on a clump of snow. It somehow felt soft and even warm. In this new position he was more comfortable than he had ever been. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. He did not know that Spring would follow Winter and that the snow would melt into water. He did not know that what appeared to be his useless dried self would join with the water and serve to make the tree stronger. Most of all, he did not know that there, asleep in the tree and the ground, were already plans for new leaves in the Spring.

There will be a memorial mass in honor of

Tino Lofaro

Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 2:00 pm.

St Vincent de Paul Catholic Church

35 Liberty Street, Petaluma, CA 94954

All are welcome

The 2:00pm Memorial Mass for Tino at St. Vincent's Church in Petaluma will be followed by a celebration of his life at Jacuzzi Winery on Highway 121 south of Sonoma.

just a thought...

those who leave us either be it expected or not, leave us with a great feeling of loss and loneliness. it is known, as soon as we are able to comprehend life and death, that we are only here for what seems to be a very short time and that it is usually never revealed to us beforehand how we are going to make our exit. it can almost be said with certainty that the departed would want us to be happy and to continue with our lives as we know we should, yet the deep hole caused by the lack of their presence remains....
even though our friends and loved ones leave this earth in a bodily form, they are actually quite never dead. much like keeping a candle burning, they never really die as long as we keep the light of their memories alive. it is only when we forget, that one could say that they truly die.