Mari Dever
I love where Mari, and husband Paul live, tucked into a cozy corner of Edmonds. Mari greets me coming through the garage from the backyard where she has been gardening with Paul. You know that digging, planting and maintaining their yard and garden is one of their favorite pastimes. This is evidenced by the abundance of colorful flowers and plants that grow and thrive from the white picket fenced front to the back of their home.
Also welcoming me is Bouton, the newest feline family member. Paul recently presented him to Mari, this Siamese, a beautifully appointed, softly beige-hued button. Bouton tentatively checks me out, and I pass inspection.
Mari and I opt to sit inside, and she ushers me through the intriguing side door off the front porch into the kitchen, another happy place she adores. Bouton follows. Mari has been sharing so much of herself from gardening, cooking and pets. Now she shows me another prized possession – an Omnichord.
I knew Mari was a musician having heard her play violin at church, and now she shares something new – an electric instrument. It’s white, nicely shaped like a fluted oddly shaped deep-dish pie pan. It lies flat on the counter. She demonstrates by turning it on and begins running her fingers up and down its front. What a cool sound it emits. I’m encouraged to try. It shimmers, a sound similar to a harp. It’s a new toy meant to be played with over and over, again and again. Mari is enthralled with it, and I can understand why. It satisfies her number one addiction! Go, Mari!!
Mari is a woman of many enjoyments in her life and talents to match. Though farther down her list than music, yet as dear and steadfast in her heart, is pétanque. She began playing in 2015 and first partnered with Lolli Jacobsen in the 2016 Bastille Day Tournament.
Over the years, Mari and Paul have traveled to and stayed in the French villages of Bormes les Mimosas and Le Lavandou for 4-6 weeks at a time, working in the L’Orangerie garden for three hours a day in exchange for a 500 square foot apartment with a balcony and a kitchen shared with fellow Pétanque players, Jane and Ron Shea. The four of them work from 7:00-10;00 am; then everyone enjoys coffee and croissants together with their hosts on the terrace. They all are in heaven living this lifestyle and playing the game every day, sometimes twice a day!
Previously, in 2017, they gardened in Italy near Pisa where they worked in a small medieval village, Monte Magno. It was easy to get hooked on the coffee and wine as well as the feeling of self-accomplishment that comes from manual labor, a labor of love of the earth, and the satisfaction that comes from knowing you’ve made a difference.
Bastille Day 2019 found Mari taking second place, Phillipe Gerard won first. Mari and Paul placed 2nd in the Jouval in 2018 and received $250. (Philippe and Lisa placed 1st and got the big money)
Between 2018 and 2022, Mari and Paul placed in the top 3 of the Annual League Event and won 1st place in 2020. She happened to mention that she is the first woman to have her name engraved on the League trophy and asked to be forgiven for bragging. She also started a tradition of “Vampire Petanque” in 2016 which is playing petanque after dark with headlamps and electric lanterns during the fall when it gets dark so early. She hopes to revive this game in September. Anyone interested?
Mari, you are such a role model to many, young and seasoned, in the way you live, work and play.
Holding the Chris Guitton Trophy, Mari and Paul celebrate their first-place finish in the 2020 EPC League competition
Jean-Marc Fosseux
The year is 2006 and it’s been two years since Jean-Marc’s wife passed away. It is time to reconnect with an old friend he hasn’t seen since 1974 when they both attended the same French school pursuing degrees in Engineering. He searches, finds him and travels 5,000 miles to rekindle that friendship.
His destination is Edmonds, Washington. The day arrives when Jean-Marc once again meets up with Christian (Chris) Guitton. Jean-Marc gives Chris a long-awaited hug; the years melt away, and they begin right where they left off many years earlier. During the renewal of their friendship, Jean-Marc, through Chris, meets Michelle and Mike Martin. Michelle, with her passion for bringing the fascinating game of pétanque to the Civic Field in the heart of Edmonds, worked with Chris, who was at that time the manager of the Edmonds Chamber of Commerce. Chris gave wise counsel in developing the first two of the eventual four pétanque courts. Chris’s help was decisive and finally in March 2011, the Edmond Pétanque Club officially formed.
Both Jean-Marc and Chris had much in common. In addition to their Engineering degrees – Jean-Marc in the field of oil and gas and Chris in energy; they both traveled worldwide. The two friends married and raised families – Jean Marc in France and Chris in San Jose, California, and Edmonds, Washington.
Being an amateur Pétanque player as are most French people, Jean-Marc owns stainless steel boules. He was impressed by the professionalism of the Edmonds club and decided to become a member. As such he participated in a Pétanque Triples Tournament in Spain with other members of the club. He also loves the cinema and wrote a book entitled Un Secret Mal Garde (A Badly Kept Secret). Then, in 2014, Jean Marc’s friend Chris lost his life. In the on-line Guest Book for his friend, Jean Marc commented “Chris was a great man, and he was the perfect illustration of: Never behave seriously — always work seriously. His sense of humor was wonderful.” And more recently, “I am visiting Edmonds regularly and play pétanque at Bastille Day as an homage to Chris’s involvement in the Edmonds Pétanque Club.”
Well said, Jean-Marc. Your good friend Chris Guitton would be proud of the Edmonds Pétanque Club, and what has been achieved these past thirteen years. And that you, his dear friend, are keeping your ties with Edmonds.
The Chris Guitton Memorial at the Civic Playfield, commemorating Chris’s contributions to the City of Edmonds