The Orion Senior Center has partnered with the Palazzo di Bocce, owned by Anthony Battaglia and located on Lapeer Road in Orion Township.
Seniors age 55 and older can play bocce on Fridays, from 10:30-Noon, through April 29, at a cost of $8 per session.
There will not be bocce on April 25.
Bocce is played by rolling a large bocce ball toward a pallino, a small silver ball on the bocce court.
The purpose of the game is to roll the bocce, a four-inch ball weighing three pounds, as close as possible to the pallino. The bocce that comes closest to the pallino scores.
Games usually have two teams of four players on each court, and the game is played in frames until one team accumulates 12 points. Palazzo di Bocce is a 32,000 square foot facility, with 10 indoor bocce courts and a restaurant.
‘We are cutthroat,? joked bocce player Coletta Tait, who joined the program with her husband Gene. ‘We just wanted to see what it was all about, and you don’t have to sign up for a league.?
‘It’s not hard on a senior body,? said Evelyn Doyle, who plays bocce with the Taits and other seniors at Palazzo di Bocce.
Doyle and the Taits played bocce recently with Keitha Grabenstein and Joy Hayden, who said the game was fun.
‘The owner (of Palazzo) has been very accommodating,? she said. ‘It’s a first class act.?
Seniors wishing to participate do not need to have experience playing bocce ball. To join the group for bocce and lunch, call 693-2066 to reserve your spot on the team.