By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

If you happen to be passing by the bocce courts at Linden Ponds, be forewarned that you might be recruited to play a game or two.

Such is often the case for those heading to and from their garden patches along the path that runs past the side-by-side bocce courts. Now that the courts are complete and open for use, they have become a hub of activity, turning those who may not have picked up a bocce ball into immediate fans.

Bernie MacPherson was on her way to work in the gardens on a recent summer day when she decided to give the game a try. With an apparent knack for it, she began winning points for her team.

“I think it’s great fun,” MacPherson says. “Who knew?” she adds of her talent.

Roy Ellison and Neil Flathers played plenty of bocce before they set to work satisfying the more than 40 people who expressed interest in the game during the activities open house at Linden Ponds last February. Flathers has played bocce for 20 years, many of them on the beach in Maine. A regular in the wood shop at Linden Ponds, he constructed the wooden scoreboards and signs for each court, with help from Ellison. After the two took their request to Linden Ponds’ management, it saw to the construction of the courts.

While the courts are open for whoever comes by to play, both Flathers and Ellison have plans for more organized games and teams. “I’d like to see teams between [the apartment buildings],” Ellison says. “Have a little league.”

In the meantime, the courts are a social spot attracting more people and friendly competition among those who take a stab at it.

“I love it because it’s an outdoor sport,” says Ruth Diezemann, who stopped by on her way to tend to her garden. “It’s close to the gardens—you come by [and get] two pleasures in one trip.”