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A friend recently told me I should meet the members of THE Bridge Club.

I know nothing about bridge, so I thought this would be a chance to learn about the game and meet the players.

I met eight members of the club — Amanda Gane, Diane Spencer, Randee Jones, Teresa Slane, Jeanne Glenn, Anne Webb, Libby Sabastian and Fran Queen — recently at a meeting at Gane’s High Point home.

Spencer, Gane, Sabastian and Queen were (they think) four of the original players. The others say they are “almost” original.
Queen said she thinks this club was started in 1978. She had played before then in college. She remembers if you were playing and had to leave the game, you had to get a sub before you could leave. She also played while living in Puerto Rico.

Slane remembers that whoever was invited to sub for another player soon became a regular. Her parents had played bridge, and when the club started, Slane contributed their “cheat sheet table cloths” to the group.

“If we get stuck at our table, we run over to another table and ask advice,” Slane said.

“This is serious,” she said with a laugh.

I learned you have a partner. If your partner can’t be there, she tries to find a sub to take her place.

But the club isn’t all about bridge. It’s Ladies Night Out.

“It’s not the game,” said Glenn, who has been a member about 30 years. “It’s about a group of friends who enjoy each other’s company and have lived their lives with each other.”

“Bridge is an excuse for getting together but not a reason for staying together,” Sabastian said.

Glenn was a substitute player with a group of friends while in college. “It was a free thing to do,” she said.

“We have all become good friends and really enjoy each other’s company,” she said.

Webb is a potter and goes to Italy to work every year or two. She invited the bridge club to go with her. Many were able to go and played bridge while there.

Webb is the newest member of the club only because she left High Point for awhile. When she came back, one of the first things she did was rejoin.

“It was almost like I had never been gone,” she said.

Several members said they remember that when they first started playing, they played at their apartments. They had met through teaching positions and other jobs.

Jones had taught French, Spanish and English at a local school. Several group members (Spencer, Gane, and Sabastian) were teaching math when they first started playing.

Now they have retired from those jobs. Several have gone on to start new businesses or are working with family members who have started businesses.

They marvel at the changes in their own lives and the longevity of the club. They have played through the births of children, divorces, marriages, children’s marriages, serious illnesses, changes in careers, and now, for some, grandchildren.

“I love playing bridge,” Spencer, one of the original members, said. “We have learned so much from each other.”

“The club is a great source of information — from how to find someone who cleans gutters to who is the best painter,” Gane said.

Somewhere through the 30 years, they had to take a vacation from the mental task of coming up with the best plays. They have traveled together to the beach, Asheville, Williamsburg and Charleston. A yearly trip is made to Hillsville, Va., for the antique festival there.

“We may not see each other in between but if we need each other, we will be there,” Queen said.

If you have news of High Point, please contact Kathy Johnson at mjohnson2 @triad.rr.com