Rome unites for World Series of Bocce after tornado, turning tragedy into community uplift

ROME, N.Y. — After a week filled with destruction and struggle for many in Rome, now neighbors in the city are coming together once again for the World Series of Bocce.

At the beginning of the week, there was a lot of excitement surrounding this tournament as it is the fiftieth year of this series.

Then a tornado struck Rome, and it went from celebrating the event to focusing on how this event could bring the community together.

Right after the destruction struck Rome, the Toccolana Club and tournament director Joe Mellace had to make a decision: to continue with the Bocce World Series or cancel.

We felt that coming down here for us was something that offered us a little bit of relief, a distraction, and we felt that we had to do the same thing for others. It would have been a blow to the morale for the community, and we just felt it was our obligation to keep it open and going.

Two local bocce ball players, Paul Calicchia and David Scaccia, feel that the bocce tournament is providing an escape from a brutal reality that many in Rome are experiencing.

Calicchia, a Rome neighbor of 43 years, said, “People want to come, eat, maybe have a good time just to get away, you know, get away and forget about it for a minute.”

Scaccia, who has lived in Rome for fifty-five years, added, “People can come down to the courts or watch some bocce, or mingle with some friends, or just for a couple of hours get away from the tragedy and maybe feel like a little normal life for a little while.”

Brian Friary has been coming to the Bocce World Series for thirty years from Massachusetts. He arrived in Rome on Wednesday, distraught after seeing the damage but wanted the tournament to go on so it could help the community heal.

“I was very concerned with all the devastation. I think it’s good for the local community to have something else to focus on rather than the damage that was done, so there is a lot of coming back that has to be done.”

Coming back and rebuilding stronger is the theme of the World Bocce Series, says Calicchia, as they have set up donations at the event so people from near and far can help this community out.

We came up with some pretty good ideas to turn this into a fundraiser and not just the World Series of Bocce. It’s something we can give back to the community and we can help those that are still in need of rebuilding or just getting repairs.

Another reason for not cancelling the event is that organizers say whether you play bocce or not, many people plan their year around this event and did not want people to miss seeing those special friends they only see once a year.