If you come by the card room on Tuesday or Thursday afternoon at 1:30 or on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m., you will find the bridge group hard “at work.”

It all started when Chesterbrook opened in 2007; one of the residents wanted to play bridge so three volunteers came in and played bridge with him.  As time went on, more residents joined in. Recently, there were four residents playing bridge with two volunteers overseeing the game.

Dale and Mary, the two volunteers, pre-shuffled the cards and put them into duplicate boards so the hands were ready to play. They helped keep track of the bidding, what trump is and they recorded the score. Basically, the volunteers kept the game running smoothly.

The four residents playing on this occasion were Sandy, Sam, Edna and Gert. Another regular player is Hazel, and a new resident has been recruited to come. Sandy likes Dale, the volunteer, to be quiet when she is declarer so that she can concentrate on the play of the hand.

You can get a feel for the pace of the game from the video photo gallery.

Sam wanted to be photographed from a certain side which would make him look better. Edna had to keep checking what trump was — something that is easy to sympathize with since the last thing you want to do is trump your partners’ ace. And Gert criticized her own play, saying how she could have played the hand better.

Though there was some trouble hearing what other people had bid, once the contract was settled, it was all business with the play of the hand. Every hand is its own hand, so it’s played Chicago style. The duplicate board keeps track of vulnerability. After playing four hands you switch partners and the volunteers cycle in. It’s a seriously fun game.

– photos and report by Lee Cooper