Players for the 2021 bocce season gather on opening night at the Yatesville Bocce Pavilion. The 2020 season was wiped out due to COVID-19.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Little Guy DePascale, center, president of the Yatesville Bocce League, welcomes returning and new players to the 2021 bocce season. DePascale is holding his 18-month-old son, Guidon DePascale III.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Bocce league friends Jimmy Blandina, left, and Dave Stull, are reunited on the court in 19-months since the 2019 season.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Three generations of Guidon DePascales gather for the ceremonial first toss of the 2021 season. From the left, Little Guy, Guy III, Guy Sr.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Longtime bocce player Doc Campenella is set for his first roll of the 2021 season.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
YATESVILLE — The last time bocce balls rolled in the Yatesville Bocce League was the fall of 2019. The pandemic of 2020 squashed any chance for the league to gather for the 42nd year. On Wednesday, May 19, the league was back in action and 36 players couldn’t be happier.
Opening night of season 43 began with participants being served several trays of pizza along with plenty of catching up time before the first ball rolled.
Yatesville Bocce League President Guidon “Little Guy” DePascale Jr., 43 years old, started off the evening with a welcome back speech addressing players and guests while holding his 18-month-old son, Guidon DePascale III.
In the late 1970s, Guy DePascale Sr., 83 years old, and his friend and neighbor Joe Chiumento Sr., 91 years old, started playing on a court behind Chiumento’s house. This was essentially the beginning of the Yatesville Bocce League.
“My father started the league with Joe Chiumento Sr., and they got together and decided to start the league in ’79,” DePascale Jr. said. “We’ve been here ever since.”
The founding fathers are DePascale Sr., Chiumento Sr., Frank Bonomo, the late Mike Shannon and Gene Bonomo.
Three courts were eventually constructed across the street from the homes of DePascale Sr. and Chiumento Sr. at the Yatesville Borough Park on Pittston Avenue.
In 1995, the courts got a facelift with the help of a grant from the late PA State Rep. Raphael Musto.
“We built the pavilion with a lot of our own labor along with some contractors,” DePascale Jr. said. “We did the concrete work, we did the roof ourselves, and everything in between.”
It’s been 19 months since the last time the league gathered to play at the end of the 2019 season and all players were glad to be back.
“It was miserable that we couldn’t play in 2020 so we’re all excited,” DePascale Jr. said. “All 36 members are all in and they don’t care about the pandemic anymore.”
Newcomer Mike Vough was anxious to get play started; it’s been a three-year wait to play in the league.
“I’m friends with Barry Dyller and I asked Barry if there was an opening, I’d be interested,” Vough said. “He called me this year and said there was opening so I jumped at the opportunity. It’s a night out with the local people and a night of camaraderie. I’m here for fun and to have fun and meet new people and it’s a great night to break up my week.”
The season goes from May through September along with hosting additional tournaments.
“Last year was the only time we’ve lost,” DePascale Sr. said, regarding the halt of play due to the pandemic. “We made it, that was the main thing to get through it.”
