CBCA Bocce tournament honors Skip Ipsen’s dedication to Clayton

In a fitting salute to Clayton’s downtown restaurants, the Ed’s Mudville Grill team won the inaugural Skip Ipsen Memorial Bocce Tournament on Sept. 25.

Lester “Skip” Ipsen, who opened the original Skipolini’s Pizza Garden in 1974, played a large role in downtown Clayton. In 1984, he co-founded the Clayton Business and Community Association (CBCA), a nonprofit that has raised and donated hundreds of thousands to the community.

Later in life, he and his son Kent donated funds and land to build the Ipsen Family Bocce Park, a multi-court private park that that is open to the public. The CBCA operates and maintains the downtown courts through its bocce committee.

The CBCA launched the two-day bocce tournament as a fund-raiser using a Swiss format, with 12 teams of four-six players. Teams included several of the Clayton Bocce League’s best players and representatives from each past championship team: Diablo Rollers, the 2014 summer champs; Ed’s Mudville Grill, 2014 fall and 2015 spring winners; the Avengers, the best of summer 2015; and this year’s top spring team, Chewbocce.

The entire Clayton Bocce Committee was there to officiate the games, and Skipolini’s provided food and refreshments.

The winning team, sponsored by Ed and Stephanie Moresi, is made up of Carol Ricetti-Nolen, Aldo Ricetti, Ricky Nolen and Linda and Larry Mullen. The 14-12 championship game against Mazzei Realty had several ties, many tense moments and a wonderfully bowled final game-winning frame by Ricetti.

Ricetti-Nolen captains the team, which has been playing together since the Clayton bocce park opened in 2014. For her, the best part of playing bocce is “the people – the community.” To help support the fundraiser, her team donated $300 of their winnings back to the CBCA.

Since starting in 2001 with members of the CBCA forming a Sunday league, the Clayton Bocce League is growing steadily. After the Ipsen Family Bocce Park was built, the league moved from Newhall Park to downtown Clayton. Many teams from the league’s inception still play, going on 15 years of continuous play.

The CBCA decided this year would be the last CBCA Golf Classic at Oakhurst. Going forward, they will host the bocce tournament honoring Ipsen, who died in March.

“I think Skip probably invented the word community,” says Ed Moresi, who worked at Skipolini’s for 15 years. “He was pretty much the guy who brought it all together and got everyone to know where Clayton was.”

Ipsen’s wife Linda, who played in the tournament on a family team, said Skip would have been delighted with the event.

“He was very excited about the bocce park,” she says. “One of the most wonderful things that happened to him was with bocce ball. He had gone to the post office and dropped by the park. There was a group of disabled kids playing and he came home crying. He said, ‘That’s what this is all about.’ ”

Michael Fossan contributed to this story