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Dominoes group links generations
Seniors meets once a month for lunch and dominoes at the Five Seasons in Burr Ridge. | Tamara Bell~Sun Times Media
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Updated: May 7, 2012 1:27AM
In some aspects of life, less really is more.
One place where that is certainly true is the café of the Five Seasons Sports Club in Burr Ridge, where a dozen or more ladies gather each month to play dominoes.
“We’re the dominoes group,” said Nancy Montelbano of Burr Ridge, who has been part of the monthly gathering for several years.
On the third Wednesday of the month, the dominoes group meets for lunch at the club café, and then stays for several hours of socializing and game-playing.
The game of choice is known as Mexican Train. No one seems exactly sure what the game has to do with Mexico, but everyone agrees it is a lot of fun.
“It gives us time to talk,” said Loretta Forsner of Burr Ridge.
The object of the game is to be the first to get rid of your dominoes by correctly linking them to ones already on the board. When one plays her last tile, everyone else gets a point for every dot left on their remaining dominoes.
The person unlucky enough to be left with the double-blank tile tacks on another 50 points.
At the end of a 13-game series, the player with the lowest score at each table isn’t just the winner. She also becomes the bearer of the queen’s crown.
With the traveling tiara sparkling atop her head, Joan Brown of Indian Head Park, known to the group as “Mama Joan,” contemplates her next move.
“It keeps your mind active,” said Brown, who, at 90, is the group’s oldest member.
The youngest players are in their 60s, but part of the game’s appeal is that all generations can play. Forsner said she plays with her 10-year-old niece.
Brown recruited her daughter, Joan McCarthy of La Grange, to play, too. McCarthy said she, like most people, caught on quickly.
The group is ready and willing to share their game with newcomers.
“We’re open to new members,” said Nancy Montelbano, the informal leader of the dominoes group.
Anyone who would like to play can call her at (630) 230-9210.
