F I C T I O N
The Heavens
DEREK OWENS
I
T TOOK THREE YEARS for the Sons of Italy Cultural Heritage Organization, Utica Chapter, to raise enough funds to get their bocce courts built.
They held pancake breakfasts at the firehouse, splitting the proceeds with the firemen. Sponsored walkathons where they sold t-shirts of their own design( a toga clad Caesar sporting some serious bicep action, standing in front of listing St. Peter ' s basilica and holding a dish of spaghetti rather like a Frisbee, one oversized meatball lodged strategically in the center of the pasta.).
It was the dunking booth that made the most money though. At the annual St. Anthony’ s festival the old men would take turns sitting on the stool taunting passersby. Whatsamatta you throw like my mother. Three bucks for three balls, do it for Anthony. They said it ant-knee. Whenever someone hit the bull ' s eye the old men would climb out of the tank, t-shirts clinging to their bellies, and sputter okay paison okay hotshot see let ' s see you do that a second time.
Once they got the funds they filed the necessary requests with City Council. An amendment to the zoning ordinance had to be approved so they could claim a corner of the town park for four regulation courts, and while their bid was granted there was some disappointment that that their dream of an authentic crushed oyster shell court was not to be; sand beds only, framed in cedar. But overall they considered their efforts a success. Benches were installed on either end, plus a few picnic tables off to the side. They had hoped to erect a plaque featuring the name of their organization, followed by a long list of“ Italian Heroes”( da Vinci, DeLuise, Scalia, etc.), but whether or not private organizations could post signs on park property was a matter of some dispute, and so
41