Oahu’s card-playing octogenarians have been dealt a lousy hand, and they’re not happy about it.
Their weekly card sessions at some private clubs have been halted temporarily.
“We’re old and we’re feisty,” said Dolors Judd, 86, who organizes bridge games at the Outrigger Canoe Club and says her fellow card players are upset about the disruption.
The brouhaha appears to have started after the Honolulu Liquor Commission in late February issued a warning to Mid-Pacific Country Club in Kailua about its card games. Inspectors raised questions about whether the games complied with entertainment-related regulations governing facilities licensed to sell liquor consumed on the premises.
News about the Mid-Pac incident apparently spread over the coconut wireless, sparking rumors that the commission was dispatching inspectors to crack down on card games played at Oahu’s private country clubs, yacht clubs and similar facilities.
The commission says it was not doing that.
Yet over the past week, weekly card games were canceled at multiple clubs, raising the ire of mostly senior players.
When rain cut short a round of golf for a group Tuesday at Oahu County Club, the golfers headed to the clubhouse to play cards.
But they were told by a manager that card playing had been suspended until paperwork was submitted to the commission, according to Celia Richardson, 81, who was with the group and organizes a weekly bridge game at the club.
Like other players the Honolulu Star-Advertiser spoke to Tuesday, Richardson said she wasn’t sure why the card games, which don’t involve gambling, were put on hold.
But they were none too happy about it, particularly given that the players — many with a lot of free time, one said — so look forward to their weekly gatherings.
As many as 40 players attend the bridge games sanctioned by the American Contract Bridge League. A nominal fee — usually $10 or less — is charged to cover renting the card room and hiring a director to oversee the games.
“It’s a very questionable thing that this liquor commission is doing,” Richardson said.
“We all think it’s just terrible that they’re doing this to us,” said Marvie Kelly, 80, who organizes a weekly bridge game at Waialae Country Club that was canceled last week. “Shame on them.”
By Wednesday the card drama created enough of a stir that the commission dispatched its chief inspector to meet with managers at Outrigger, Mid-Pacific and Waialae Country Club, partly to quell the rumors.
They discussed the commission regulations, including a provision that all forms of entertainment, including live music, dancing, electronic gaming devices, card playing and table games are prohibited in facilities licensed to sell liquor consumed on the premises except with prior commission approval or as authorized by law. That rule has been in place since 1993.
“All of the club managers were unsure of any prior approval by the HLC for games before taking over their management positions,” commission spokeswoman Cathy Lee said in an email. “In order to ensure that the clubs are compliant, they indicated that they’ll be submitting the request for the use of the games.”
Managers at several clubs declined comment or could not be reached for comment.
The first of the club requests — from the Outrigger — was heard Thursday. The commission approved it.
Other requests expected to be submitting to the commission will be handled administratively, cutting the approval process to as little as a day.
Lee said the agency is committed to ensuring liquor laws are administered fairly to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare.
“We would like to reassure the public,” she added, “that our intention is to not take any activities away, which is why we encourage management to submit their requests to the agency in a timely fashion so that their members can resume the activities they have enjoyed for years.”
ON THE MOVE
WhiteSpace Architects has hired Tina Van Meenen as a project manager. Van Meenen’s 15 years of experience includes being senior architect and project manager for Urban Platform in Brussels, Belgium.
Atlas Insurance Agency has hired Danielle Ulmann as bond manager. Her 10 years of industry experience includes being an account executive, surety bond underwriter and manager for Island Insurance and King & Neel Inc.
Parker Ranch Foundation Trust has appointed Kay Fukunaga to Parker Ranch’s board of directors. She also currently works as a financial analysis director for Hawaiian Airlines. Prior to joining the airline in 2017, Fukunaga served in a number of positions in a variety of industries, including impact investing as well as renewable-energy development.
