March 15, 2001

Plains Folk: Pinochle Night

Tom Isern, Professor of History
North Dakota State University

Not much doing in Oriska, you think as you drag Main. The false-fronted business buildings are vacant. Few people come or go at the post office. The Catholic church has a resident priest, but unless it’s time for mass, not much moves around there, either.

But then there’s the low-slung, barn-roofed, red-sided Oriska Bar & Grill, awakened last November after a two-year snooze. This is cause for rejoicing, as every town needs a tavern where I can stop and, uh, ask directions. The only commercial establishment in Oriska, the bar enjoys good custom.

Do you know that in places like this, secreted as in catacombs, an underground pinochle ring is operating? Here they are on a Thursday night, four tables of four.

The bar is managed by Norm Erber for the owners, who live in Anchorage, Alaska. When he opened, right away people started asking about pinochle. "When George here had the bar," the manager shrugs in the direction of one of the tables, "he used to have 14 or 15 tables." Norm says, "What we do here is we draw for partners. People come in and sign up, and we have 16 or 20 or whatever. They pay five dollars, and we pay 100 percent back. Third place gets their five dollars back, and second place gets fifteen dollars, and the rest goes to first place. We go every Thursday night starting at 7:30; it takes until about 10 before everybody is done."

Partners as drawn stay together all evening. A drawn slip reads "Table 1 Couple 1," or "Table 4 Couple 1," something like that. "The winners move up until they reach the Number 1 table, and the winners stay there," explains the benevolent host. "They play eight rounds. Four hands, eight rounds.

"If nobody bids, the dealer is stuck for 25 cents. If they don’t play they pay 25 cents, and if they go set they pay 50 cents. We take the set money, and we put together a little lunch for them. "Win or lose, they’re pretty laid back."

They are. Accepting their assigned partners agreeably, the players seat themselves at the tables, beer chandeliers above, wood floor below. There are the sounds of chairs scooting and cards shuffling and gentle joshing. (See views at Travel on the Gravel, www.plainsfolk.com/gravel.htm .)

Some of the players are from Oriska, but most not. They are from Tower City, Fingal, Wheatland, and, about half of them, from Valley City. Come Monday many of the same souls will show up at a game in Sibley, and Wednesday at the Eagles in Valley.

Eleven of the 16 players are men. Five of the men wear caps (all with some sort of logo), one a black hat, and five are playing bare-headed. Average age of players, well, you can guess.

People came for supper and went, and some kids are playing pool, but the bar side is pretty sedate. Norm says folks around here don’t drink much; 80 percent of his business is food. Local drinking tastes are pretty basic. The bar stocks eight flavors of schnapps.

There’s a noon buffet every day, including Sunday dinner, and bar food every night. And catering–the kitchen turned out some 300 turkeys the past year. Can a little place like this make it? "It’s going quite well, I think, even with the bad weather this winter," Norm says.

In a place like this one person can make a difference. Born and raised north of Minot, Norm worked 32 years for John Deere dealerships before moving to Oriska in 1987. He bought a house here because he had kids in college in Valley City and Fargo. For three years he managed the VFW in Valley City. In Oriska today he’s something like a founding father.

All you players, drive safe this winter. Let’s all keep playing the hands we’re dealt with the partners we draw. And personally, I’d rather go set and pay 50 cents than give up and pay 25.

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Source: Tom Isern, (701) 799-2941, tom@plainsfolk.com 
Editor: Gary Moran, (701) 231-7865, gmoran@ndsuext.nodak.edu 

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