… Euchre?
When I get one suggestion, I listen, when I get two, it’s like an order that a post has to be written. So, a shoutout to Ramona Meharg and Aviva Dunsiger for this one.
They ignored my pinball reference but zeroed in on Euchre and Ramona replied with a bunch of exclamation marks. I had to write this.
Cards and board games were big in our house growing up. Every Sunday after church, before my brother and I could go out we’d have to play some Bridge or Euchre with Mom and Dad at the kitchen table. In fact, my wife wasn’t allowed to marry me until she played one hand of Bridge. Needless to say, she did, but when the four of us would get together, Euchre was the game of choice.
Playing Euchre became a valuable life and soclal skill.
When we’d have stags for friends or just crash someone else’s stag, there were always tables to play Euchre. It was also an event at the Fish and Game or at the Legion.
But the best memory was at high school. As Grade 13 students, we lobbied and got to take over the old board office’s meeting room as our lounge, er, study hall. It had this big beautiful wooden table that took up most of the room. We managed to scrounge some old couches and chairs for the perimeter. I also brought in a dart board that never really had a place to be in our house but hung up nicely over a corkboard.
That table was the centre of attention and as soon as there were four people in the room, a Euchre game would break out. Yes, we would go to the Pool Hall downtown for lunch but the lounge was great for before and after school and during spares, er, study hall. Our vice-principal was known to drop in periodically to see if we needed a fourth at times.
I remember one of my Grade 13 teachers telling me that we were the most closely knit class that he can remember. Do we attribute it to good friendships, having our lounge, or playing Euchre?
For a Sunday, don’t let me trump you. Share your thoughts in the comments.
- were you a Euchre player in high school? Where did you play?
- did a teacher or principal/vice-principal ever play with you?
- do you still play Euchre?
- do you play with Jokers?
- do you count with twos and threes or with fives? (as an aside, I saw a counter made with an old plastic cap with a movable pointer that kept score at a flea market – it was marketed as a Euchre counter)
- what cards are removed from a standard deck of cards to create a Euchre deck?
- what’s a bower? What’s the difference between a right bower and a left bower?
- what does it mean to renege?
- what is the advantage of “going alone”?
- what is a lay-down?
- have you ever played three-handed Euchre?
- is Euchre just another casualty of digital device gaming?
I’d sure like to hear from the Euchre players out there!
This is a regular Sunday post around here. You can check them all out here and, if you have a suggestion for a topic, please reach out.
doug -- off the record 
Please share your thoughts here