Sun City area bridge studio offers fun, friendship

Arjai E. Barrington of Sun City submitted this story about a local bridge studio that invites new players.

Stealing a line from the old Cheers TV show should not matter now. The line fits the Peoria Bridge Studio, "where everybody knows your name." The studio sits in the heart of the Sun City area in the strip mall at the corner of 99th and Peoria avenues.

In mid-October, the studio celebrated its anniversary. Even though the studio itself has been around for years and been through four ownerships, it was the third anniversary of owners George Mraz and Barbara Schooley.

Along with bridge games, players celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, and sometimes hold pregame memorial services for beloved members. There has been one pregame wedding reception, and at least four couples have met there and married. It's a place where people make close friendships, help each other in times of trouble and applaud when novices win their first game. It's also a place where players contribute to the food drive and have frequent charity games.

Games are at 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Fees are $5, except for special events. Lunch costs $1. On Wednesdays, Father Ernie Engler, a Catholic priest and popular player, calls the cards at the end of the game for Bridge Bingo. The winner gets a free play. Players also get birthday free-plays.

This is the place for you if you enjoy three-plus hours of brain exercise and total escapism. Call 623-974-9080 for partnerships and information about lessons. The club is unique in its accommodations for elderly or physically handicapped. Each table has two cushy office-style high-back chairs.

Masterpoints, not money, are the rewards for winning. Some players have 16,000 masterpoints, others have as few as three or four. Games are stratified so that players with few points can win in their category. Monthly winners, events, races and links to other clubs are posted online at www.thepeoriabridgestudio.com.

In the heat of the summers, sometimes only seven tables of people show up for the games. In the winters, the tables overflow into outside halls. There's room for novices who come with timid, baffled faces, room for the old-timers who come back year after year, and room for the snowbirds who are joyfully welcomed "home" whenever they appear.

The studio is subject to the rules and regulations of the American Contract Bridge League. Events are timed, rules are enforced, and bad behavior can get you expelled. Mraz and Schooley have made the studio a model for local open-pairs bridge clubs.

The game of bridge has taken on a new prominence in American life with the advent of players like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Bridge was once the national pastime and interest in the game is peaking once again.