Cribbage lessons ongoing at Senior’s Center

By Ken Smith and Dan O’Farrell, Indian Time Interns

Mona Via was on hand at the St. Regis Mohawk Senior’s Center Wednesday, offering instructions in the card game of cribbage.

Via had set up at her own folding card table, the usual sort of table found in every home, for the kitchen euchre game.

“When I first started here, all we had for card games were the big, round tables,” said Via. “They are too wide to reach across, so we needed the real thing.”

It was a surprise to find out that cribbage can be played more than one way.

“There are six kinds of crib,” she explained. “We play Singles, Doubles, Threes, Fast Regular and Lose games of cribbage.”

Lose cribbage is a reverse game, with the objective of avoiding all points. The player who goes out first is the loser. The winner, therefore, actually loses.

Via also finds it hard to turn down a good game of dominoes. On a recent powwow trip to Ohio, she unexpectedly landed into a rotating game of dominoes that lasted a week. She had to remind herself that the purpose of the trip was to market her porcelain dolls.

At another table in the main room at the senior’s center Wednesday Pat Waterman was sitting with a group of ladies. She prefers the game Ace to the King.

“The game can take a couple of hours, so it’s slow and relaxed,” said Waterman.

Bertha Herne, Margaret Hamlen, Dorothy Jacobs and Ruth Cook were in agreement.

Normally, Via has a group of 12 to 16 players for her cribbage sessions, but this day she was sitting solo.

“It’s a bit unusual not to have any of the regular group here,” she laughed. “Most of the time we have more kibitzers than players, because there are only so many boards to play on.”

Clark Lauzon, coming out of the exercise room, commented, ”I’m not much for cards. I’m looking forward to the liver for lunch.”

Via, on the other hand, was on her way out to Wild Bill’s, across the road.

“Enough crib for one day,” she said. “Maybe they’ll be here tomorrow.”