Flathead Valley Bridge Center: A place of their own

It has taken more than six decades, but Flathead Valley duplicate bridge players finally have a home of their own.

The newly completed Flathead Valley Bridge Center at 22 Village Loop Road in Kalispell was cleared for occupancy in early January and is now accommodating the bridge club with spacious quarters. And for the first time, bridge players don’t have to fold up their tables and chairs after their sessions are finished.

About 140 players are using the facility each week, according to Porki Harris, president of the Flathead Valley Bridge Center. Afternoon sessions average 40 to 50 bridge players during the winter months, but that number grows to as many as 80 during the summer.

The center also offers meeting space to other nonprofit groups in need of a place to gather.

The building project was launched in November 2012 when an anonymous donor pledged to give the bridge club $350,000 as seed money if it became a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

The bridge club, formerly known as the Kalispell Duplicate Bridge Club, received its nonprofit status in November 2013 as the Flathead Valley Bridge Center, and by June last year began fundraising to raise an additional $230,000. Letters were sent to bridge players all over the country, Harris said, and during the group’s annual tournament in May, more players stepped up to donate.

By August 2014 general contractor Richcreek Construction broke ground on the building.

In addition to holding regular duplicate bridge sessions three times a week, the center will focus on providing a variety of classes to serve the needs of various age groups and skill levels, from beginners to advanced players.

Deborah Triolo, a retired high school math teacher and avid bridge player, will teach intermediate bridge at the Bridge Center for eight weeks starting March 17 through Flathead Valley Community College’s continuing education program.

Jim Swab, also a retired teacher and longtime bridge instructor, will teach Beginner’s Bridge II at FVCC starting Jan. 31.

The club offers a Wednesday evening session at 5:30 p.m. that has a play-and-learn format during which players can ask questions.

With baby boomers retiring in large numbers, there has been a surge of interest in bridge, Swab said. Retirees are looking for activities that provide mental stimulation.

People of all ages regularly play bridge in the Flathead Valley, Harris said. Players range in age from their 20s to their 90s. Longtime bridge player Helen Hensleigh, who has been active in the club since the 1950s, currently is the oldest bridge player at age 96.

The Kalispell Duplicate Bridge Club has had many homes since it began in the early 1950s.

Faithful bridge players have set up their tables in a number of places since the first game was held in 1951 at the Elks Club in Kalispell. After just four or five sessions, the group had 30 to 40 players attending regularly.

In 1952 the club joined the Western Contract Bridge League, a move that gave the club a charter and authorized it to issue fractional master points according to the league’s rules.

After a year and a half at the Elks, the club moved to a bowling alley for a short time, then hopped over to the Blue and White Motel for a very short stint because the space was too small. Then it was on to The Hacienda (now Scotty’s Bar) for a while.

Bridge was played in a room above the Jordan Cafe for a time.

“Although the [Jordan Cafe] site was more than adequate in size and even had a bathroom, the light was poor, the roof leaked and not a mop or broom had been used on it for at least 10 years,” Norb Donahue noted in an historic account he wrote in 2002 about the club. Donahue, who died in 2007, was a charter member of the bridge club.

The roof was repaired and bridge club members painted and repaired the Jordan Cafe space, and the club remained there until the late 1980s when it moved to the KM Building. The club switched locations several times after that, moving to the Museum at Central School then to Central Christian Church. For the past decade the club has held sessions on the second floor of the Masonic Temple in Kalispell.

Last summer the club rented the basement of First Presbyterian Church to accommodate the upswing in attendance.

After so many temporary locations, the need for a permanent facility was obvious.

“We needed our own home,” Harris said.

Anyone interested in playing bridge or using space at the Flathead Valley Bridge Center may call the center at 260-6832.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.