Twice a week, they gather in the basement of Gizz Davis' Hopewell Township home, in a room he built especially for playing table tennis.

Only these guys -- and gal -- don't call it that.

To them, it's pingpong.

For nearly two hours, they brag, showboat and razz each other, banging a tiny plastic ball back and forth the whole time.

They're a ragtag bunch -- widowers, a retired professor, a farmer, a graphic artist. Some are diehard players; tops in their age brackets. Others are admittedly amateur.

But on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, they're simply "pong players" -- and friends. They come together to tap their troubles away over the green table, shooting verbal volleys back and forth as fast as the bright orange ball.

Gizz Davis lunges for the ball during a pingpong match in his basement. He built a room just for pingpoing in his basement a year and a half ago.
(Daily Record/Sunday News - Bil Bowden)

They might call each other flea-bitten weasels from time to time, but they say it with love. As soon as anybody in the bunch has a problem, the rest are there to help.

Warren Wetzler of Springfield Township said: "It's not just playing the game. It's seeing the people."

Many of them met at pingpong tournaments, or have known each other for years. They'd get together to play from time to time.

Then, a year and a half ago, the Davises built an addition on their house. Gizz Davis took advantage of the expansion to add a special room in the basement just for pingpong. He started inviting fellow players to come pound around two afternoons a week.

"Oh my, we have so much fun laughing and picking on each other," he said. "There's such a neat camaraderie."

Andy Walton, 89, is the oldest member of the group and the least experienced player. But he rarely misses a practice session. This round, he smashes a point across the table to the joy of his teammate, Dan Leckrone.

"Good one! You're an all right fellow after all!" Leckrone shouts. "You made a perfect fool of 'em - I love you!" After a pat on Walton's shoulder, a bear hug, and kiss on the cheek, they're back in the game.

Walton: "I just play pingpong the best I can."

A few volleys later, Leckrone calls the game.

Davis: "We lost?"

Leckrone: "Of course you lost. Andy's unbeatable."

Walton: "I like your suspenders."

Leckrone: "Oh yeah? I wonder where I got them?"

Walton: "I wanted to dress you up a bit."

Davis walks over to the white dry-erase board on the wall. "Andy won," he scrawls in red marker. "But that's about over."

"Each of us thinks he's the best player," Wetzler explains.

Gordy White, 66, of East Hopewell Township, said playing pingpong is one of his major joys in life. Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1996, he had four discs removed from his neck, leaving him rather rigid.

But he's as competitive as ever.

"I guess it's in my blood," he said. "Some of them get a kick out of how aggressive I am."

Fierce jabs might ricochet from one side of the table to the other, but those sitting out the round offer mostly encouragement. After all, they adhere to what Davis calls gentlemen's play: "The better players will try to kill another good player, but they'll never embarrass a weaker opponent."

The number and make-up of the group changes from one meeting to the next. Davis instructs them all to enter without knocking and grab a drink from the fridge on their way to the pingpong room.

"Getting out of the house is one of the big things," Wetzler said. "I could easily turn into a recluse otherwise."

They might have trouble remembering whose turn it is to serve, or

Carol Hall-Baker, left, and Gizz Davis celebrate a point. They play together most Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in Davis's Hopewell Township home.
(Daily Record/Sunday News - Bil Bowden)
what the score is, but for that hour and a half, they can also forget about their problems. White said, "We try to put our personal ailments behind us."

Reach Jennifer Vogelsong at 771-2034 or jvogelsong@ydr.com.

ABOUT THE GROUP

Pingpong players of all levels meet 1 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday at Gizz Davis's Hopewell Township home. They welcome new members. For details, call 993-6874. Some of the players will take part in the 2008 Pennsylvania Senior Games, today until Sunday, in York.

ABOUT 17363

Population: 10,082

Number of households: 3,137

Average house value: $142,000

Average income per household: $58,256

Number of businesses: 130

Number of employees: 1,423

Source: www.zip-codes.com

ZIP SERIES

UnZIPping York County is a monthly series that travels through the county's 57 postal ZIP codes to uncover some of the best untold stories.

So far, we've visited:

· A tiny pinball repair shop in 17401.

· A group of men who gather and gab daily in 17408.

· A former pro baseball scout coaching kids in 17319.

· A small sign shop that does big-time business in 17316.

· An IT guy-turned-organic farmer in 17331.

· A chameleon of a camp in 17365.

· A couple who raise bison in 17309.

· A fish farm on Brunner Island in 17370.

· One of the country's largest makers of micro-sprint race cars in 17339.

· A gunsmith who crafts custom rifles by hand in 17362.

· A youth trap-shooting team in 17327.

· A shop selling antique jewelry from a barn in 17403.

· A man who channels the power of scent in 17322.

· A group that keeps an old-fashioned art form alive in 17313.

· A mother goose who made her nest in front of a bookstore in 17402.

· A laughter club that meets at York College in 17405.

· A restored mill and folk-art center in 17019.

To read these stories, go to the Lifestyle section of inyork.com/ydr and choose "UnZIPping York" from the special features menu.