Petanque

continued

knocking away their opponents' closer ball.

Since the steel balls can be picked up with a magnetic wand, "it's a good game for elderly people," says Howard Ando. "How many people can play in a pickup game of basketball?"

Ando, sixty-six, and his wife, Jane Wilkinson, sixty-five, partially funded the limestone court (Pfizer, Ando's former employer, also contributed). "It's a social game, a way to meet people," says Ando. "Everyone can play initially, but your skill level never ends."   

[Originally published in September, 2009.]