Bridge Club gets a new home

By Dave Clark

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008 | midnight

The Henderson Bridge Club has seen many venues in its eight years of existence, bouncing from a car dealership, restaurant back room and, most recently, community centers.

Weary of schedules imposed by others, club member Terri Sunderland saw the potential when she found a torn-up building on Boulder Highway formerly used as a printing and shipping business. She bought and overhauled the building.

In August, the Henderson Bridge Club moved into its permanent home at 1536 N. Boulder Highway.

"It's a place where people feel like it's their club," Director Shirley Weglin said. "It's very homey. I just say we are absolutely so fortunate to have someone do this for us."

Weglin described the business and onetime Moose Club as a mess when she first discovered it. With the electricity, plumbing and painting all redone as well as new furniture, carpeting and a resurfaced parking lot, the building has the ambiance of a comfortable family room.

Weglin thinks having such a permanent spot for a bridge club is rare.

Sunderland said it wasn't easy.

"I had looked for years to find a place with adequate inside space and parking space," she said. "It needed serious redecorating. It's kind of been a labor of love."

Now the club can schedule games every day of the week at times most suitable to them. It's a striking contrast from games at the Henderson Senior Center and Multigenerational Center, where members used to gather.

"It was at times we didn't particularly care for," Sunderland said. "We had to leave the premises on their timetable."

The club now hosts games at 6 p.m. Mondays, 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. Saturdays and 12:30 p.m. Sundays.

Weglin said they have all types of players from novice to beginners. For four weeks, beginning at 9 a.m., Nov. 5 the club is hosting classes for beginners with certified teachers.

"So often people are overwhelmed," Weglin said. "People try to teach them too much."

With the game availability and attention to newcomers, Weglin said, the 180-member club is drawing many new members. Players can also accumulate points, because the club is certified by the American Contract Bridge League.

Weglin began her journey to becoming a regular bridge player after college in Seattle.

"I met all my best friends from that game," she said. "We had babies. None of us had much money, and we'd get together and play bridge."

She remains friends with the group today. Bridge has also allowed her to travel the world as a cruise bridge director with trips to Alaska, the Baltic, Africa and the Mediterranean.

"You get to go for free or a nominal rate, and they treat you like a passenger," Weglin said.

Larry Levine, 75, who has been a member of the Henderson Bridge Club for three years, was drawn by what he says is a congenial group of people as well as the refreshments. The Henderson resident said he also likes the game's unpredictability.

"It's a challenge," he said. "You never get the same hand twice."

Henderson resident Nell Schanz, 75, said the those challenges sharpen the mind.

"It's an exercise in mental gymnastics," she said.

Henderson resident Marion Hargrove, 67, has been playing bridge since she was 11, after her parents taught her. Like other club members, she had not been expecting the group to settle into a permanent home.

"It was a pleasant surprise," she said. "It's a terrific facility."

Dave Clark can be reached at 990-2677 or [email protected].