PETANQUE POST February 2026

George Engelbeck
Feb 9
7 min read

2026 PTPA play has gotten off to a great start. Our regular Wednesday and Sunday Game

Days have had a great turnout. We have also had a lot of you come out for the informal games, which take place every week Mondays at 10:00 AM and Fridays at 1:00.

New PTPA members. In recent weeks several newcomers have joined our Club. Nancy, Sheila and Dana are steadily improving their game each week and appreciate the guidance and tips many of you have given them. Introduce yourself to them, if you have not. They are each great people.

2026 Tournament action for our Club members starts next month – time to find a partner

and register soon! There are two divisions – Men’s and Women’s. We hope most of our 77 Club members will come out for our Spring Doubles League, which begins March 15 and ends May 3. Number of matches determined by the number of teams participating, with 1-2 matches per week. Starting today, you can sign up on the PTPA website under “event registration”. This presents a great opportunity to experience the fun and energy of tournament play. Try it, you’ll like it!

Ready to try a regional tournament? There is a June 20/21 tournament in Portland. FPUSA

NW hosts a regional men’s doubles and women’s doubles on Saturday, and mixed doubles on Sunday. You can register through the FPUSA website (Click here for the 2026 FPUSA Tournament Calendar). It is not yet open for registration.

Silas and Bekah are hosting New Player Workshops. For new members and novices, this is a

terrific opportunity to improve your skills. Here is Bekah’s invitation: “We can do two separate workshops for beginners, both on Saturday April 18th, 12 people per workshop, 2 hours per workshop. One will start at 10am and the next will start at 1pm. If it is raining on April 18th, the rain reschedule date will be Saturday May 2nd, same times.” We will let you know how to sign up for this workshop as we get closer to April. Thank you, Bekah and Silas. One of the great aspects of our community is the many ways experienced players help beginners improve their game.

Save the date for our July 16 Low Tide Tourney – volunteers needed to help Robert. One of

our most unusual events is the annual Low Tide Tournament. Robert Force is in charge of this event and would welcome 2-3 volunteers who can assist him in making it happen. Robert reports: Both Wednesday July 15 and Thursday July 16 are ideal. Wednesday low is -3.1 at 11:12 am— just before noon. Thursday is not quite as low at -2.4 but it happens at 11:59 which is ideal— right at noon! A suggestion is to schedule our Wednesday club day there at the boatyard beach— let members experience the fun and the nature of that sauvage environment— then have the tournament the next day. Being at the start of the Larry Scott trail, there are public sanicans there. On the 16 th we will have select doubles. Random draw. 40-minute plus one end rounds starting at 10. Registration and set-up the hour before. Swiss draw (winners play winners, etc). Three games before lunch. Lunch at 1 pm. Single elimination games start at two— concurs and consolante. Should be plenty of beach left to finish playing. Let Robert or Tayloe know if you would like to help.

Like the snacks on Game Days? Here is how you can help. You may have noticed that on

many game days a mysterious thing happens. Munchies in the form of small tasty bags of chips magically appear. Terry and Susie Hunter are the Wizards who make this possible and are willing to continue to pick up these multi-pack boxes of chips and bring them. If you would like to help, either make a cash donation to Terry or Susie or feel free to bring a multi-pack of snacks.

PTPA Board Update. The minutes from our January PTPA Board meeting are attached below, along with our Draft Agenda for our upcoming February 18 Board meeting at Tayloe’s (420 Foster). All Club members are welcome to join us or send any Board member (George, Scott, Tayloe, Terry and Zee) items for us to discuss.

PTPA Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

January 21 st , 2026 11:00am

Tayloe Washburn’s Residence

Call to Order: Tayloe called the meeting to order at 11:10am. Board members in attendance were: Tayloe Washburn, Zee Uballe, George Engelbeck, Scott Wilson and Terry Cameron-Kling. Sports Director Tom Challinor was also in attendance. Tayloe moved to approve the December, 2025 Minutes. The motion was seconded by Zee and the Board unanimously approved by the Board.

Board Member Positions and & Term Lengths: Tayloe moved to approve the new roles for the current Board members as previously discussed at the December meeting. Tayloe would serve as President, Zee as Vice-President, George as Treasurer, Terry as Secretary and Scott as a Board member. The motion was seconded by George and the Board unanimously approved. The term lengths were discussed and it was determined, per the bylaws of our PTPA Club, that Tayloe would serve through December 31^st, 2027, as would Zee and Scott. Terry and George have already served their 1^st year so their terms will end on December 31^st of this year, 2026. This fulfills the “staggered” Board terms to ensure some continuity on the Board each year.
Club Bylaws Review: Scott discussed his ongoing review of the club bylaws and changes that are recommended to keep the bylaws current with the way our club is operating. This included discussions about our Code of Conduct, our annual elections date, board member roles, email voting, and that a sports director is not required to be a board member. Scott will continue to edit and we will discuss potential changes at the February Board meeting. Once we have agreed on all the changes, the new bylaws will be voted on by the club members with a two-thirds voted needed to approve them.
Sports Director Report: Tom is still in close contact with State Parks at Fort Worden regarding our courts and tournaments and states it is going well. Tom has put in a request for a special permit for our PTO (Port Townsend Open) for August 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th. Tom moved that we should increase our fees for our PTPA tournaments from $10.00 per person to $20.00 per person. This will increase the prize money and help cover additional costs that come up with tournaments. Zee seconded the motion and the Board unanimously agreed to the fee increase. Lastly a date has still not been set for the Low Tide Open.
Treasurer’s Report: George reported that the current club balance is $7871.59 and this is a strong financial position for the club. He reports our biggest outflow is to Good Man Sanitation for our porta-potty which is $122.13 per month. Motion to Change signatories on the new Kitsap Account. George made the motion that the following individuals holding the specified Board positions should be authorized to execute transaction, sign checks, and manage the account on behalf of the club.
- President: Tayloe Washburn
- Treasurer: George Engelbeck
- Sports Director: Tom Challinor
The motion was seconded by Scott and agreed upon unanimously by the Board
The Treasurer, being the primary financial officer, must have full access to manage the account, be able to issue payments, deposit funds, and perform monthly reconciliations. This role serves as the lead for all banking activities. The President should have signing authority to provide a necessary backup for the treasurer. The Sports Director also needs to be an authorized signer so they can operate events efficiently and pay for permit fees and equipment, etc. George also recommends naming an Auditor who shall have access to the account but cannot perform transactions on the account. Closing the old Kitsap Account: Lastly, George made a motion that we close the old Kitsap account that did not meet FPUSA and Adyen standards in February. The motion was seconded by Scott and agreed upon unanimously by the Board. George stated that these changes can be done remotely.
Membership Status: George reported we currently have 57 members who have renewed their dues for 2026.
Board D & O Insurance and PTO Insurance: We still have not obtained the D & O Insurance pending a second quote. We will revisit at the next meeting. Tom reports that event insurance for the PTO is probably not covered under our FPUSA insurance. We Should be able to obtain an event policy for the PTO Open event at a reasonable price.
Facilities Committee: Tom Niemann and Tom Challinor lead this committee. Tom C. reports that a wood board was replaced on the court known as “the beach” and the porta-potty was made more level by adding a board underneath. They had nothing else to report at this time.
Events Committee: A new Events Committee has been created and Tom C., Tom N., and Zee have been appointed to lead it. Any proposal for a PTPA tournament must be vetted by the Events Committee and approved by the Board.
Communications: We no longer will have a Communication Committee but will have channels of communication including the new Petanque Post that Tayloe is putting out monthly, the PTPA Blog on our website, photos on Facebook and Instagram by Sam Cavallaro, our generic PTPA Gmail, and FPUSA emails that come to all members. We discussed ways of having a more accessible directory so members can contact each other. We will follow-up with this at the next Board meeting.
New Business: 1. Zee suggested we could promote our club and Petanque to the community by participating in the annual Rhody Parade. He suggested we could decorate a vehicle and walk along side of it. He will look into how we would go about being one of the participants. 2. Tony is working with Friends of Fort Worden about adding trees to line the street side of our courts for shade and aesthetics.
2026 Board Meeting Schedule:
- Wednesday, February 18
- Wednesday, March 18
- Wednesday, April 22
- Wednesday, June 17
- Wednesday, August 19
- Wednesday, October 21
- Wednesday, October 28 – Proposed Annual Meeting
- Wednesday, December 16
There was nothing else to discuss and the meeting concluded at 12:30pm.

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