"Sometimes we'd get to play," he recalled.
Peach is now 72 and has lived at the Meriden Center for almost two years. He's one of the residents who played a pivotal role in bringing bocce to the 130-bed nursing home on Paddock Avenue.
Under a sweltering mid-morning sun Wednesday, dozens of residents gathered for the grand opening of a new bocce court on the south lawn and to play a few inaugural games. Just about all were in wheelchairs, but it hardly mattered. Bocce is a game well-suited to a variety of abilities.
"I learned playing bocce at another nursing home and found it fascinating and fun," said Mary LeVasseur, a Meriden Center resident for the past three years. It didn't hurt her enthusiasm when she won the first few games she played.
Residents were clearly enthusiastic. Despite the muggy heat, the new court was already luring residents who typically stay indoors, said Diana Raymond, Meriden Center's therapeutic recreation director.
"It's just a kick for me, to watch the expressions and smiles on their faces," said Raymond.
Initially, Raymond had organized bocce games in the center's indoor recreation room, but soon found herself chasing balls all over.
Responding to residents like Peach and LeVasseur, she went to administrators with the idea of setting up a more permanent court outdoors and was told if she could raise the money, no problem.
It took about a week, she said, to raise $200 through a bake sale. The makeshift court is far from regulation, but the essentials of the ancient game are in place. In bocce, players situate themselves behind a foul line from where a small white ball, called the pallina, is tossed. Larger balls are then tossed, with the goal of getting as close to the pallina as possible without touching it.
Meriden Center is the first of the dozen Connecticut nursing homes run by Genesis Healthcare Corp. to have home court bocce, said Victoria Jaras, Meriden Center's admissions director. It could be the start of a trend.
Raymond is assisted this summer by eight young volunteers, including Ashley Pociadlo, who's about to enter the eighth grade at Washington Middle School. Her 97-year-old great-grandmother, Sophie Pociadlo, is a Meriden Center resident. Ashley and Rebecca Ludwig, another volunteer, were participating in the bocce play.
"It always makes you feel good," said Ashley, who volunteers a full day of work three times a week.
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"I love it," she said. "Just the people here, they're great to be around."
Raymond said the next step for bocce will likely involve organizing team play.
"I think it's going to take off," she said. "I really do."
jkurz@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2213
