This has been a tough week for us all. This cribbage club simply would not exist if it were not for Tricia and Roy’s passion for the game.
You see, I am what the Island calls a washashore. Back in 2005, cribbage (and love) brought me to Martha’s Vineyard.
After experiencing a grassroots cribbage club off-Island, I wanted to start a club here, but lacked the confidence to even try. Life with kids and a new relationship kept me busy.
I started working with Tricia Bergeron at the hospital in 2016, and we discovered a shared love of cribbage, a card game that is won by gaining 121 points while moving pegs around a wooden board. Tricia played regularly with a tight group of friends. She said she would love to help –– making it QUITE clear that she would assist, but not be the director. (I am still laughing.) She just could not help herself, and for that, I will be forever grateful.
Not surprisingly, just a few weeks later, we soft-launched a tournament at her beloved P.A. Club. I expected about 10 people as I nervously set up, sat, and waited. Tricia was curious but confident.
Twenty-four people showed up, and we were off! We met weekly.
The people who showed up were friends with Tricia and Roy. Then they told a few friends, etc. … and the players immediately said they were in. We had more than 40 members before COVID. We now have 37 registered members, with roughly 20 to 25 showing up weekly.
Aside from having fun every week, Roy (who was known as the Royster) was affectionately known as the Trickster at the club. My husband started calling him that, and if you ever had the joy to play him, you totally get the nickname! He was an extremely skilled player, as was Tricia.
They were my sales pitch! I always promote when I meet someone new, and my pitch has always included my asking if they knew Tricia Bergeron or Roy Scheffer –– and always, their faces would light up, and they would enthusiastically nod. Now their interest would be piqued.
Roy was voted Rookie of the Year in the American Cribbage Congress the first year our club was sanctioned (the 2019–20 season), and this year they were both in the top 50 of the Eastern Region in cribbage. It is a game of luck and skill. The skill they had in spades … see what I did there? 😉
We decided we would start a scholarship for a graduating senior going into the trades. This is a point of pride for us. Most of our members are tradesmen. We will be renaming the scholarship to honor Roy and Tricia.
My heart is heavy. We lost true friends. I felt our relationship blooming, and wore it like a badge of freaking honor. Because it was. I am a better person because of them both. They were
gentle giants of the community –– and will be dearly missed.
So we came together this first week in January, because they would want us to. We invited people to come to the club and share a story, and we were touched that the family members who could attend, after such a tragedy, showed up and expressed their gratitude for the club.
They said that Roy and Tricia talked about it all the time. If ever there was a chance to get together as a family, it simply could not be a Wednesday night! Any other night was fair game –– but not Wednesdays.
Two of Roy’s sons have actually played as guests in some tournaments, and are sharks as well –– the apple didn’t fall far from that tree, as one of them reminded us lovingly. If we wanted him back, we had to be prepared to lose!
And as they left, we had 18 members of the Vineyard Cribbage Club, to play our favorite game of cribbage. The results are below:
First, Jack Silvia with a 10/5 +70 card
Second, Doug Werther with a 10/5 +61 card
Third, Michelle Aluia with a 10/5 +43 card
Fourth, Collin Evanson with a 10/4 card
There were five 24-point hands, by Jack Silvia, Juli Vanderhoop, and Doug Werther. Mary Alice and Bill Russell both had their 24-point hand “in the crib,” the absolute KING of 24-point hands. It felt like a huge hug from Roy.
Only four people got skunked! (That’s when a game is won by more than 30 points.)
We meet at the American Legion in Edgartown (176 Katama Road, next to the General Store) on Wednesdays. There is a potluck every week at 5:30, and we start play at 6 pm sharp.
If interested in playing, or learning, shoot me an email at maonmv@mac.com, or give me a jingle at 508-524-1220. We can figure something out! Hope to see you there.
