Playing cards is an activity that can help pass time in the winter months. Gary Thyes has started the Senior Cribbage and Sheepshead League.
“It gives older people something to do,” Thyes said. “I call it senior league, but anybody over 21 can play.”
A group of card players get together on Monday and Thursday from 1-4 p.m. at Brothers Pub on the west shore of Shawano Lake. Thyes is also trying to get a cribbage group started on Fridays at the same time.
“What else is there to do,” said Thyes, noting getting older has made him less inclined to be outdoors in the winter.
He said he has been playing Sheepshead a long time, which is true of many people in the area who learned as kids and kept right on playing all their lives.
Thyes said club members will play the card game how anyone wants to play.
Sheepshead, or sheephead, is an Americanized trick-taking card game that originated in Central Europe under the German name, Schafkopf. According to Wikipedia, it is most commonly played in Wisconsin, where numerous tournaments are held throughout the year. A national tournament is held in September in Wisconsin Dells.
Harry West has been playing the game most of his life and said it is a social outlet for him and his wife.
“If more people would come, we could meet more people,” West said.
Thyes, a retired barber, moved here in 1999 and lives near White Lake in the town of Lessor. He would like to get a second table of card players started.
“It keeps me busy,” he said. “It’s fun and passes the time.”
Thyes plans to keep the group going until the end of March, when people get busy with outdoor activities.
Another group is starting from 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays at the Wildlife Bar in Navarino.
If you’re interested in playing either cribbage or sheepshead, call Thyes at 715-584-7700.
Categories
