“Salt City Billiards” owner Joseph Speach (pictured top right) joined with Upstate APA League Operators Brad and Kim Rees (pictured lower left) in welcoming APA members from across New York State to the APA Spring Singles Regional on March 5th and 6th.  Friendly competition ensued, and Joe made sure APA members were well fed in the process.  APA Senior Franchise Consultant Bris Robinson was partial to Joe’s fries.

In addition to Joe’s cooking, Bris also enjoyed meeting APA members from across New York, each with their own interesting story—and in one case, a famous name.  On Saturday morning, Kim registered none other than James Bond (pictured lower right), player number “0096”, from Amsterdam, NY.  Kim’s husband Brad overheard the name and couldn’t help himself.  “You look just like you do in the movies,” Brad said with a smile.  “I’ll bet you’ve never heard that one before.”  James laughed and assured us that he had heard that one before.  Regardless, it’s not every day you get to meet a James Bond, and James was more than willing to humor us.

We also met Dave Covert (pictured top left) from South Dayton, NY, who quickly became known as “the guy with the APA patch vest”, a fantastic example of how to display one’s APA patch collection.  While not qualified himself, Dave accompanied his son James Covert on the drive from Erie County APA.  James competed in the Red Tier (8-Ball Skill Level 5) and had a strong showing, making it to the Finals before losing on the hill.  After watching all that pool, Dave got the itch to compete himself and actually won a Singles Board that night, earning a qualification for the APA Fall Singles Regional Tournament taking place this October.  Congratulations to the Coverts and all the APA friends and families for making the entire event a memorable one.