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Webster’s Sports Dictionary goes into some detail in defining the word croquet – “a game which is usually played informally on a lawn and in which each player in turn hits his ball with a long-handled mallet and tries to drive it from one stake to another and back through a series of nine wire wickets in a specified sequence.”
Promotional material for the “World’s Largest Croquet Course” event Saturday, June 19 at Green Estate Park indicates Mexico Parks and Recreation Department organizers want to make sure no entry gets too serious – except about having a good time.
“The object of the game is to have fun, get exercise, raise money for local civic organizations and make people watching scratch their heads while muttering what in the heck are those fools doing out there on the Green Estate reads the first item on the list of “official rules.”
In case there’s any doubt about the Parks & Rec’s tongue-in-cheek approach, a few lines down the list say: “Anyone competitively trying to race around the playing course and hit the finishing stake first will be arrested and forced to relocate their family to the Gobi Desert in northern China.”
At least, we think P&R director Chad Shoemaker and department organizer Charlie Maupin are kidding, especially after reading all 19 rules.
“For a one-in-a-kind experience, this is the place to be,” Maupin said this week.
But are you guys serious about being not too serious?
“This really is on the level,” Shoemaker noted. “The idea originated at a meeting at the historical society; we were trying to plan a real croquet tournament, but it got really complicated so we tried to take a ‘let’s have fun’ approach to it.”
Most of the 92-acre Green Estate Park will be used for the event, which starts at the Huntingfield Road entrance. Registration begins at 11 a.m. with the games getting under way at 11:30. Registration fee is $15 per person with $10 of that amount going to local charities. Clubs, civic groups and food vendors will make up a “midway’ on the site to inform and feed the public.
Participants can expect to use their luck just as much, if not more, than their croquet skills as they navigate the course. Games, surprises and prizes are all part of the fun, so the competitive spirit needs to take a back seat to the spirit of the day.
Shoemaker and Maupin have been spreading word of the event throughout the community and public response has been ‘just terrific,’ they say. Whether the event earns recognition from the Guinness Book of World Records or Ripley’s Believe It or Not is not nearly as important as bringing people together and making sure they have a good time.
“That’s one of our goals, to have a lot of fun,’ Shoemaker stressed. “Mexico’s full of good people and they like to socialize while they help support a good cause, and civic groups that come out with at least 10 people can share in the proceeds.”
With 20-foot-high stakes and 6-foot-tall wickets, the course layout promises to be different from anything participants probably have encountered. There will be lots of yards to be covered, but also lots of games in between.
“Clubs need to sign up and they can call us at 581-2100,” Shoemaker said. “We also encourage people to bring their own ball and mallet, and anybody with croquet gear they’d like to donate would sure be welcome.”
Entrants will be sent out onto the course in flights of 12 players. Once they get under way, they can play at their own pace. They can expect challenges at each wicket as well as along the way with prizes up for grabs by which to remember the event.
There is no cost to watch play, but participants figure to get more out of the affair, which could become an annual summer get-together for families, groups and singles.
“Our job is helping make Mexico a good place to live and part of that involves having fun,” Shoemaker summed up. “We always like to get people outside and walking; this will be good low-impact exercise, so it’s a win-win situation.”
Webster’s Sports Dictionary goes into some detail in defining the word croquet – “a game which is usually played informally on a lawn and in which each player in turn hits his ball with a long-handled mallet and tries to drive it from one stake to another and back through a series of nine wire wickets in a specified sequence.”
Promotional material for the “World’s Largest Croquet Course” event Saturday, June 19 at Green Estate Park indicates Mexico Parks and Recreation Department organizers want to make sure no entry gets too serious – except about having a good time.
“The object of the game is to have fun, get exercise, raise money for local civic organizations and make people watching scratch their heads while muttering what in the heck are those fools doing out there on the Green Estate reads the first item on the list of “official rules.”
In case there’s any doubt about the Parks & Rec’s tongue-in-cheek approach, a few lines down the list say: “Anyone competitively trying to race around the playing course and hit the finishing stake first will be arrested and forced to relocate their family to the Gobi Desert in northern China.”
At least, we think P&R director Chad Shoemaker and department organizer Charlie Maupin are kidding, especially after reading all 19 rules.
“For a one-in-a-kind experience, this is the place to be,” Maupin said this week.
But are you guys serious about being not too serious?
“This really is on the level,” Shoemaker noted. “The idea originated at a meeting at the historical society; we were trying to plan a real croquet tournament, but it got really complicated so we tried to take a ‘let’s have fun’ approach to it.”
Most of the 92-acre Green Estate Park will be used for the event, which starts at the Huntingfield Road entrance. Registration begins at 11 a.m. with the games getting under way at 11:30. Registration fee is $15 per person with $10 of that amount going to local charities. Clubs, civic groups and food vendors will make up a “midway’ on the site to inform and feed the public.
Participants can expect to use their luck just as much, if not more, than their croquet skills as they navigate the course. Games, surprises and prizes are all part of the fun, so the competitive spirit needs to take a back seat to the spirit of the day.
Shoemaker and Maupin have been spreading word of the event throughout the community and public response has been ‘just terrific,’ they say. Whether the event earns recognition from the Guinness Book of World Records or Ripley’s Believe It or Not is not nearly as important as bringing people together and making sure they have a good time.
“That’s one of our goals, to have a lot of fun,’ Shoemaker stressed. “Mexico’s full of good people and they like to socialize while they help support a good cause, and civic groups that come out with at least 10 people can share in the proceeds.”
With 20-foot-high stakes and 6-foot-tall wickets, the course layout promises to be different from anything participants probably have encountered. There will be lots of yards to be covered, but also lots of games in between.
“Clubs need to sign up and they can call us at 581-2100,” Shoemaker said. “We also encourage people to bring their own ball and mallet, and anybody with croquet gear they’d like to donate would sure be welcome.”
Entrants will be sent out onto the course in flights of 12 players. Once they get under way, they can play at their own pace. They can expect challenges at each wicket as well as along the way with prizes up for grabs by which to remember the event.
There is no cost to watch play, but participants figure to get more out of the affair, which could become an annual summer get-together for families, groups and singles.
“Our job is helping make Mexico a good place to live and part of that involves having fun,” Shoemaker summed up. “We always like to get people outside and walking; this will be good low-impact exercise, so it’s a win-win situation.”
