LEAFS

SUCK!
GO FLYERS GO !!!!

Seldom-used shuffleboard at local Legion is
replaced with new Alco-Hockey board game
WARKWORTH A familiar sight in the Club Room of the Wark-
worth Legion Branch 380 is gone.
The shufeboard, which has been a fxture in the Club Room for
nearly 40 years, has been replaced with a new and controversial
board game Alco-Hockey.
The decision to replace the seldom-used shufeboard was initated
by the Legions Secretary Treasurer and Bar Manager, Robert (Ots
Flute) Nelson. And it appears the decision has rufed a few feathers
with some long-serving members of the local Branch.
While most members agree the 16-foot shufeboard was nothing
more than a dust collector, some argue that it had become a mainstay
in the Club Room, along with the hallowed war memorabilia that
adorns the rooms walls.
Getng rid of the shufeboard for something that is essentally a
glorifed drinking game seems a litle disrespectul to me, said a
longtme Legion member, who asked to remain anonymous. I have a
problem with that.
Mr. Nelson has done a remarkable job over the past few years of
keeping the local Legion viable by constantly looking for new ways to
generate more revenue and atract younger members. The 66-year-
old has a well-earned reputaton as being a shrewd entrepreneur, a
self-made millionaire who has accumulated his fortunes from selling
everything from electric shavers to tubs of buter. His latest money-
making adventure at the Legion selling bags of ice for $2 each
has been a tremendous success.
Mr. Nelson says the decision to replace the shufeboard wasnt an
easy one, but from a fnancial perspectve, it was a necessary one.
The damn thing rarely got used and it took up some valuable
space, Mr. Nelson told the Warkworth Journal last Sunday at the
Legion as he flled ice trays with water in the kitchen. For a long tme
Ive thought there has to be a beter, more proftable way for us to
use that space.
Mr. Nelson said he got the idea to install the Alco-Hockey board
game afer visitng the Grafon Legion during a recent Legion Bus
Tour. The tour is an annual event which sees a handful of Warkworth
Legion members climb aboard a bus and travel to diferent Branches
throughout southern Ontario for a fun day of food, drinks and fellow-
ship. Normally, Mr. Nelson says, he has a tough tme remembering all
that goes on during these excursions, but he didnt forget seeing the
Alco-Hockey tables in Grafon and not just because it was the frst
stop of the tour.
People were lined up at the tables to play, Mr. Nelson said as he
tried (unsuccessfully) to bring a twitching lef eye under control. The
Grafon Legion president said the tables were a real money-maker
and popular with younger people. They even have a mens league set
up on Thursday nights!
That prety much sold me on getng rid of the shufeboard and
bringing in a couple of Alco-Hockey tables.
The concept of Alco-Hockey is similar to air hockey in which play-
ers face of across from one another and try to direct a disc (or puck)
into the opponents net with strikers (or mallets). The Alco-Hockey
board resembles an air-hockey table, and has six Red Solo cup-sized
holes in each end near the goal-line. The cups are flled with beer and
players atempt to score by directng the puck into one of the beer
cups. When a goal is scored into a cup, the goalie has to drink that
cups content.
Not only do we bring in money from the beer sales, we also charge
for the cups, too, Mr. Nelson said. Hey it all adds up.
Mr. Nelson is hoping to showcase the new board game by hostng
an Alco-Hockey tournament at the Warkworth Legion later in the
month. Anyone who is interested in partcipatng in the tournament
can reach Mr. Nelson at the Legion (924-2007).
WARKWORTH LEGION NEWS Follow us on Twitter @ wwor thjournal
OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW: Warkworth Legion Secretary Treasurer and Bar Manager, Robert (Otis Flute) Nelson, (left) is shown standing beside
the antiquated shuffleboard in the Legions Club Room. It has recently been replaced with a new board game called Alco-Hockey (right).
(Photos courtesy of Trudy Nelson and Alco-Hockey Inc.)