Eons of euchre finesse
• L-R: Margaret Firth, Jenny Cecil, Janet Munday, Garry Lohrey, Jason Rattray Neil Connell and Maurice Mundy.
By Taylor Clyne
April 08, 2020
Picture a room filled with quiet chatter, a man smoking a pipe, the smell of delicious homemade pastries and the light tap of cards on the table.
The trick-taking card game of Euchre has been dealt, played and won by many greater North-East families for more than eighty years in Pyengana.
The weekly Tuesday tournament has challenged some of the greatest players over the decades with score books dating back to the old currency.
Carol LeFevre’s earliest memories were when she was a child and her mother used to go.
“At first they played in people’s homes and then went to the Pyengana Clubrooms after this.
“I am one of eight children; mum made us kids wait until we were thirteen years old before we could play too.
“My memories go back that far, I’m sixty-one now and still playing,” she laughed.
“Quite a few young ones used to go back then, but today we are mostly over 55 with a few exceptions.”
For many, many years Mrs Muriel (Moo) Thompson ran the cards night promoting a small entry fee for players which was donated to different charities.
“Moo ran cards until she sadly became very ill and passed away about twenty years ago,” Mrs LeFevre said.
“Pat Green took over from Moo for a while and when Pat's husband Johnny got sick, I helped Pat, and now I do the cards each week, along with some very good helpers.”
A typical Tuesday night at the highly competitive Euchre tournament would see between 15 to 20 players travelling from Winnaleah, St Helens and all towns in-between for battle – said with tongue in cheek.
The three-dollar entry will get you ten games, a ticket in the raffle and a decent serve of homemade supper (it’s still unknown if the delectable dinner draws players more than the match).
Four players in two partnerships make up a game table and each player are given a card numbered from one to 10.
Cards are marked after each win by Maurice Mundy who is the nominated marker.
Euchre is an excellent social game, simple in concept but with a high degree of subtlety in the play.
After the completion of the 10 games, prizes are awarded to the highest score by men and women and then supper is served.
“We also award booby prizes to the lowest scored by both male and female and we draw a raffle prize which is usually a box of chocolates.
“Most say the cup of tea and supper is the highlight of the night. We regularly have beautiful homemade sponge cakes, fresh pikelets, savouries and more.”
Mrs LeFevre said a lot had changed over the years but one of the biggest changes that comes to mind is the cloud of dense smoke in the room during card night.
“Players used to smoke whilst playing, I even remember one man who used to smoke a pipe,” she laughed.
“We don’t make a lot of money, but we do donate to worthy causes in the community as these arise, as well as purchase items as required at our clubrooms.”
“Everyone gets on well, we are like a family to each other as we gather each week it’s really quite lovely.”
For the first time ever, the club have been forced into recess due to coronavirus, but rest assured they will be back with a vengeance when able.