St. Helena Bocce History
The popularity of St. Helena bocce can be attributed to five individuals. Each extolled the social benefits of play and competition, while using the game to promote a sense of community among Napa Valley locals.
St. Helena natives Henry "Chops" Ghiringhelli and Ray Quaglia and three other Italian-Americans, Lloyd Bianchini, Joe "Pep" Vulcani and Delio Cuneo are the St. Helena Bocce Club (SHBC) founders and original builders of the courts in Crane Park.
The four original courts were built in the 80s as a place for the men and their families to have fun and compete against each other.
Once built, the courts were maintained by Henry Aratta, a longtime janitor at the St. Helena High School.
Initially, “Chops” Ghiringhelli and Ray Quaglia had to convince the city to allow the SHBC to build the courts, and Lloyd Bianchini is credited with putting the organization on the track. He was a regional director for the National Bocce Federation and attended conferences here and in Europe. Bianchini also developed the charter and constitution for the SHBC.
Lloyd Bianchini was born in Richmond, and was a teacher in Porterville. He began to visit the Napa Valley after the war, and bought a place in 1975. He and his wife moved here permanently when he retired in the 1980s.
Delio Cuneo is former owner, with his wife Cherie, of the popular Green Valley Café. He grew up with bocce in Italy, where he was born just out of Genoa. Cuneo has played in numerous tournaments over the years, many with his brothers.
“Chops” Ghiringhelli, lives in Rutherford and was born at the old Grandview Hospital near the Beringer Winery, he got his famous nickname "Chops" as a kid.
As story goes, he was always getting into mischief and his mother often chased him down the street waving a broom and shouting in Italian, "t'cioppo, t'cioppo." Which, loosely translated means, "When I catch you, I'll break your neck." The owner of the Rutherford grocery, who often witnessed the chase, began calling him "Chops."
When “Chops” started playing bocce after the war, he played it just like his father did, on grass. They'd drink wine, argue about the game and tease the losers, but it was all in fun.
To get the four original courts built “Chops” had to pester the city, until they were eventually allowed to break ground.
They raised all the money on their own, through donations from Sutter Home and the Sons of Italy, and did all the work themselves.
Due to their perseverance, and desire for a place to share fun and competition with friends and family, we owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to these five individuals.
Before the four original courts were built, the men used to beg people to play with them. Today, St. Helena Bocce consists of 80 teams competing on 8 courts, during five weekday evenings, with close to a thousand people participating.