Edmonds Petanque Club: 'The Little Club That Could'

The following article was written by Michelle Martin, president of the .

This is a story that started about a year ago.

The Edmonds Petanque Club was beginning to create a lot of interest in this French game pronounced pay-tonk. The City of Edmonds Parks Department had graciously agreed to build a court at the Edmonds civic playfield for all interested parties to use.

Almost immediately this French game known as “Boules” or “Petanque” became very popular in Edmonds with people coming from all over the area to play. The members realized that they could easily use two more courts to accommodate all the people that wanted to play.

Members of the Edmonds Petanque Club, led by President Michelle Martin, approached Carrie Hite, Edmonds Parks and Recreation Director, about adding two more courts. With the help of the Hubbard Family Trust and a $3,000 grant, t in the Edmonds Civic Playfield.

It was then that Martin became aware that the Hubbard Family Trust was a very big supporter of the Edmonds Food Bank, which is run by the Un of Edmonds.

She and the other members of the Edmonds Petanque Club decided it would be fitting to host a tournament to benefit the Edmonds food bank as a way of “paying forward” the donation given by the Hubbard Family Trust.

In September of 2011 the Edmonds Petanque Club hosted its first food bank tournament. It was a very big success, and the result was that in 2011 the club was able to donate over $1,500 in cash and food to the food bank.

And now, as the late Paul Harvey would say, here is the rest of the story.

On Aug. 5, the Edmonds Petanque Club hosted its second Edmonds Food Bank/Petanque Tournament. This year they were able to more than double the amount raised by the previous tournament.

In 2012, the club raised over $3,000 for the benefit of the Edmonds Food Bank, which means that in approximately one year’s time they were able to take the $3,000 that the Hubbard family trust had granted them and turn that into over $4,500 raised to benefit the Edmonds Food Bank.

As in all community driven events, this successful effort would not have been possible were it not for the generous support of many sponsors.

This year, they include the McDevitt Family, Fairwinds-Brighton Court, Ron and Michelle Clyborne (realtors), Rick Steve's Europe Through the Back Door, the Crista Family of Ministries, Panera Bread, Acura of Lynnwood, Char E. Garrett (CPA), Hendrix and Bennett (attorneys at law), Team Jean Sittauer (realtors), Edmonds Community College, Beck's Funeral Home, Magic Toyota, the Cheesemonger's Table, Waterfront Coffee Company, Hendricks-Bennett (attorneys), Interiors of Edmonds, Lynnwood Honda, and many private citizens.

This last tournament was again an all-day affair played as a “mixed doubles” on the hottest day thus far of the summer, in an “Elite Eight” playoff format. The winning teams were: first place, Manh Pham and Duong Nguyen; second place, Greg Conyers and Lee Harris; and third place, Philippe Geraud and Gary Rosenthal.

The Edmonds Petanque Club has become “the little club that could.”

In slightly over two years’ time, club members have taught hundreds of people how to play petanque, bought petanque equipment for the Edmonds Boys and Girls Club and taught their young members the game, as well as having generated over $4,500 worth of cash and groceries for the Edmonds Food Bank.