“We’ve been through all of life’s interesting things together,”said Bev Snavley of Bellville about the card club she has been apart of for fifty years.
Begun back in 1959 at Tappan Stove Company in Mansfield by a group of co-workers who shared an interest in the game of Pinochle, the Tappans Girl Card Club is still going strong. Snavely believes the group originally got started by Sally Pritchard-Knapp from Lucas, a co-worker at Tappan.
The club consists of about eight players who get together once a month rotating between each others’ homes to playcards and have dinner. Typically the hostess provides the main dish and the other players each bring a dish to share. The games are informal and more about fun than competition said Snavely.
“We’ve been through babies, marriages and divorces. We have shared everything: joy and heartaches and manage to stay close,” said Snavley.
The club typically gets together eight to nine months out of the year to play. Some of the women spend the winter months in Florida but as soon as they return the playing resumes.
Snavely worked at Tappan for about six years and was executive secretary to Dick Tappan and also spent about four years in personnel. Snavely left when she started her family.
When the ladies are not playing Pinochle, Snavley said they enjoy spending time together like visiting Amish Country and going to Ohio State football games.
Sharing photos and stories of grandchildren take up some of the time at card games; but according to Snavely no matter what, the ladies always have fun. Snavely looks forward to each game night with her long time friends and hopes to enjoy many more years dealing fun and memories.
“We’ve been through all of life’s interesting things together,” said Bev Snavley of Bellville.
