Evenings
The tournament that the harvest crews asked for
Last Thursday's beginners' tournament was the largest the lodge has held, with fourteen players across three tables. It also reminded me why it began.
Thursday night
Fourteen players and a timber cup
The first tournament at the lodge had nine players, most of them apple pickers who had finished a long week among the trees and wanted something to do with their hands that was not a phone. Megan Atkinson dealt two tables, I watched from the rail, and nobody went home until the cup had been shown.
This week, fourteen sat down. Half were regulars from the first season, a third were first-timers, and the rest were visitors passing through the Southern Forests who had read the chalkboard by the door and decided that an evening of cards sounded better than a motel television.
How the evening went
The draw
Names came out of the old apple crate one at a time, and Renee Wells called each player to a table. A nervous first-timer drew the seat beside the most experienced regular in the room, who promptly announced that she would explain every card, and did.
The long middle
Levels passed quietly, to the sound of the brass bell and the click of clay chips. At the break, Gareth Clarke sent up a plate of cherry pastries, and the verandah filled with players comparing their hands. Nobody spoke about money, because there is none to speak of.
The final
The last six sat at the table by the tall doors. A young orchard worker, Dale, played with a calm that unsettled everyone, and a retired shearer, Bruce, played with a patience that unsettled him in turn. After forty minutes Dale was named Champion of the night, and Bruce shook his hand.
After the cup
The little timber cup was held up for the room and returned to its shelf, as it always is. Dale's name went up on the board in chalk. The chips were counted back, the tables were wiped and the lamp over the door was left lit for a late walker on Mottram Street.
The next beginners' tournament is on Thursday, and the list is open. Anyone aged 18 or over may join, and a place can be reserved when you book dinner.
One thing worth saying is how many of the first-timers returned. The beginners' evening is built to be gentle, and it works: nearly half of the newcomers booked a place for the following week before they left. That, more than any cup, is what the croupiers count as a good night.