Progressive euchre tournament coming Feb. 1

January 28, 2025

By Michael Riley

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A progressive euchre tournament is coming to Dungannon Recreation Centre in L’Amable on Feb. 1 beginning at 1 p.m. sharp. The organizers and sponsors, the Shamrock Club seniors, urge folks to “come out and have some fun while meeting new people.” No partners are needed and the entry fee is $10 per person. A light lunch with drinks will be provided after five games (which is covered by the entry fee) and prizes will be awarded for the most lone hands and the top three scores. There is a limit of 100 people and a donation will be made to the municipal dog pound. By Jan. 26, the tournament had sold out. For more information, contact Denise Davis at 905-767-6867 or Mike Dearborn at 613-474-1347. Davis comments to Bancroft This Week on this upcoming tourney.

Euchre is a trick taking card game commonly played in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand and the midwestern U.S. There are normally four players, two on each team, although there are variations for two to nine players. It was likely derived from an old Alsatian game called Jucker, and it emerged in the U.S. in the early 19^th century. Euchre was responsible for introducing the Joker into the modern deck of cards, first appearing in euchre packs in the 1850s. In progressive euchre, players move to different tables throughout the event and play with different people. For the rules for euchre and progressive euchre, to the F.G. Bradley’s website at www.fgbradleys.ca.

Davis told Bancroft This Week on Jan. 23 that the Shamrock Club at the Dungannon Recreation Centre has a lot of activities through the week and has had euchre there for about three years.

“We do go around to a lot of places and play the progressive euchre and people really like it. We ran one in December for the first time and everybody wanted to do it again and we’re seeing it breaks up the long winter so we chose Feb. 1. So, this is our second one,” she says.

Davis said that coming out of COVID-19 restrictions, a lot of people didn’t know how to socialize anymore and were lonely.

“And then the euchre started and I just thought you know, let’s see if this works and see if it gets people out on a Saturday. A lot of people say there’s not much to do on a Saturday and not other cards running on a Saturday, so that’s kind of what that was. And if we can help different agencies like Hospice and the dog pound, it’s great to help out the community too,” she says.

Davis said they’d been thinking about doing another tourney since the one in December, and as of Jan. 23, they’d been planning it for three days. She said at each one of these progressive euchre tournaments, they give a donation to a local agency. At the last one in December, they made a donation to Hospice North Hastings. This year’s donation will be the municipal dog pound, as she said they were approached by them and they’ve had a tough year.

“People have abandoned dogs and lost dogs and they need a little support. So that’s where we’re donating to this time,” she says.

Davis says that they got 50 people at the December tournament, but she says it was a new thing and people who don’t play a lot of euchre were perhaps intimidated, thinking it was a high pressure, high stress tournament.

“It’s just a fun, happy 10 games of euchre. You don’t come with a partner. You sit at different tables with different people all day. It’s just a fun day,” she says.

In addition to the lunch provided with the $10 fee and the prizes, they’ll also have a 50/50 draw and a raffle table. Davis says they’ve actively been approaching local businesses who may want to give a modest gift and she said that’s going well. So far, she mentions that the Tweed and Company Bancroft Village Playhouse, Home Hardware, the Bancroft Brew Pub, Posie’s Flowers and Fashion Inc., Backwoods Taxi, McG’s Cakes on Main, Bird’s Creek Farm Supply and Pinestar Restaurant had given prizes for the raffle.

“If any businesses have a modest prize they want to donate, we’d graciously take it and give them some credit or advertising for them,” she says.

As of Jan. 23, Davis said they had 70 people signed up, so it was more popular than the inaugural tourney back in December. By Jan. 26, the tournament had sold out.

“The more that we can spread the word, and we’ve been sharing it on eight different Facebook pages, the better. People can text me or call me. No paying up front, we’re just getting people registered so I know we have enough seats and tables,” she says.

Davis told Bancroft This Week that the community reaction has been great to the upcoming tournament on Feb. 1.

“A lot of people are saying the winters are long and they like playing euchre. They maybe haven’t played in a while, but they say it sounds like a great idea. They don’t have to find a partner, they just come in. I tell them the members of the Shamrock Club are extremely friendly and welcoming and you don’t have to be a member to participate. It’s an afternoon of fun and the $10 includes the lunch, and it just sells,” she says. “People think, you know, ‘that’s a great idea!’”