Bridge center open again after 15-month hiatus

With cake and ice cream, the Flathead Valley Bridge Center celebrated five years in its club-owned facility at 22 Village Loop Road in January 2020. Little did all those faithful bridge players know the COVID-19 pandemic would soon shut down the center for more than 15 months.

With its doors open again since June, operations are slowly returning to normal for the club, which has been gathering to play the popular card game three times a week for 70 years.

“I think that for everyone here, bridge is an important part of their social lives and for many, it is the most important part. When we reopened, it was like a homecoming,” club president Paul Setzer said. “Every week, we are seeing more and more people returning to play and the smiles on everyone's faces are amazing.”

Twenty-eight players returned to fill seven tables the first day the center reopened last month, with 36 players making it to the games last week.

“We have older players and many with health issues, so they were not so quick to jump back into a group setting. Everything is slowly returning to normal. Nearly everyone was playing bridge online while we were shut down, so our players are coming back as sharp as ever,” board secretary Linda Malvin said. “For me, it was like coming out of a long, dark winter that lasted a year and a half. I felt like I could fly.”

WHAT BEGAN as a gathering of a few players at the Elks Club on Monday nights in 1951 has now blossomed into a group of more than 150 members (mostly over the age of 65) who host games Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays each week, with lessons available for new and novice players.

“Our bridge club also has a uniquely friendly environment, unlike the clubs in larger towns and cities. Bridge is a game that can be very competitive and cold, but we are not that way here. We are more like a bunch of people playing around the old kitchen table,” Setzer said. “What we have here is quite unique. The fact that the members own the club gives everyone here a sense of community and ownership. Our people are committed to the volunteerism it takes to run a club of this size.”

Soon after that first game in 1951, the Kalispell Duplicate Bridge Club had grown to nearly 40 players and began playing three times a week.

Helen Hensleigh became the club’s first paid director in the 1960s and filled the position until 2008. During her time as director, the club had many homes, playing at the KM building, the Central School Museum, the Masonic Temple and several churches.

When the heat of the non-air-conditioned Masonic Temple came to be too much during the summer, the group began renting space in the basements of local churches, leading to the idea of finding a permanent home for the club.

At the request of a donor in 2013, the Flathead Valley Bridge Center, a nonprofit corporation, was formed and received 501-C3 status in November of that year. After a substantial donation in early 2014, the group began searching for a location to build its new home.

With the help of additional donors, the center was finished and opened in January 2015.

THE BRIDGE center continues to welcome players of all skill levels.

“We try to accommodate different levels of play. We have some players that are experts and some players who are just learning the game that just want to relax and have fun,” Setzer said. “It surprises some that our successful, advanced players are more than happy to play with newbies. It’s part of the charge of being a member here — to teach and to do it nicely.”

That spirit of giving is also evident in the center’s monthly donations to charities around the valley. To date, the center has donated to a number of local charities, including the Flathead Warming Center, the Flathead Food Bank, the ImagineIf Library Foundation and many others.

As always, the center is looking for more players to fill its tables. Regular games are played beginning at 12:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays with a more relaxed game for those looking to learn the game Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. A game exclusively for novice players is held Saturdays beginning at 12:30 p.m.

Club membership is $20 per year and includes one free game. Games are $5 for members and $6 for non-members.

It was a tough 15 months for the club’s members while the center was shut down, but Setzer is excited to see things getting back to normal.

“Bridge is very important for our senior community. Studies have shown bridge can help delay the onset of Alzheimer's and other kinds of mental regression,” he said. “Bridge is an important way that our older members can work on their mental acuity. It is important for us to be back playing and things are gradually getting back to the way they were before the shutdown. We now sanitize the tables between each round. We are taking reasonable precautions. It’s great to be back, but we are still being careful.”

Reporter Jeremy Weber may be reached at 758-4446 or jweber@dailyinterlake.com.