Sisters bridge players continue a long history

Sisters bridge players are looking for a few good card players. Actually, they don't have to be very good at all. Or even players.

"We're willing to help people brush up on their skills if they haven't played in a while," said bridge enthusiast Ardie Winters. "We'll even give lessons to interested people who haven't played before."

Susan Sandberg is the current organizer for the group, which meets every Thursday afternoon at the Pines Clubhouse.

"We play a very low-key version of social contract bridge," she said. "This definitely isn't one of those high-pressure duplicate groups. We're just here to have fun."

The organization has been playing bridge in Sisters for more than 30 years. Many of the people who have played in the past are migrating out of the area. Whereas, in previous years, there were often six to eight tables (24-32 players), during the last several weeks the group has had a hard time mustering just two tables. Last week's play was cancelled when there were not enough players even for that.

According to veteran bridge player Jerry Moore, the group was founded in 1980.

"I know that it was started by Carol Chaney, who had that store, Plum Pretty. When we started playing it was at the fire department."

Eventually, the robust attendance and popularity of the weekly bridge gatherings grew to the point where the fire chief felt that it interfered with firefighters' duties.

"So, we got kicked out of there," Moore said. "From there we went over to the Sisters Hotel and played upstairs until we moved to the Cloverdale Schoolhouse." Next, he said, "We moved to the Episcopal church basement and played there for a long time - 10 or 15 years. Some of the older people had trouble with the steep stairs, so we finally moved to the new clubhouse at the Pines."

Long celebrated as a pathway to building and maintaining brain power, the game of bridge is descended from a 16th-century card game called whist, which was popular among the English nobility of that era. In Turkey, during the 1890s, the game began to evolve into its current form and rapidly spread around the globe, quickly finding a home in the United States. The next major change occurred around the turn of the last century, in France, where the partners were required to predict how many "tricks" their team could win.

The present form of "contract" bridge, and its scoring, was developed by the wealthy American Harold Vanderbilt during a steamship cruise in 1925. Harold was the great-grandson of railroad and shipping tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt.

The popularity of bridge reached its zenith in this country during the 1930s and '40s. For a time, bridge rivaled baseball as a top national interest and was frequently featured in Sports Illustrated. Like the sports doping scandals of recent years, cheating scandals rocked the bridge world at international tournaments in the 1970s.

Television and electronic games have siphoned off interest over the years, but the game continues to be recognized as one of the best and most popular methods of sharpening mental acuity and social skills.

In addition to the Thursday bridge group in Sisters, Black Butte Ranch hosts a similar group on Tuesdays. Lee Thurber, one of the Sisters players, is also interested in starting a men's bridge group in town. He says it would be kind of an offshoot of the regular Sisters group.

"But," he said, "sometimes it's nice to get just the guys together for a little bridge."

Thurber said he would like to have the men meet for bridge play one or more weeks a month, probably on Wednesday afternoons. Moore, who played with the Sisters group for 30 years, said he wishes he could still play bridge in Sisters; but since his move to Bend, it just doesn't work out. He said he still plays three times a week in Bend, though.

Those interested in a challenging form of entertainment that helps build brain power and does not involve television or electronic games, should consider playing bridge. The Sisters group plays every Thursday afternoon at 12:30 p.m., except holidays.

Those interested in playing bridge - or learning to play - with the Sisters organization are encouraged to contact Susan Sandberg at 541-549-9419. She coordinates the group's activities and will be glad to find players to assist newcomers in developing their bridge skills. Men interested in forming a men's group are invited to contact Lee Thurber at 541-788-6215.