Strathmore Legion members take home cribbage tournament win

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Two cribbage players local to Strathmore who play as a team took home a tournament win from Grimshaw, Alta. at the end of January.

Richard Westgard and Rose Jeffrey have been playing the game together for roughly a decade and are regulars in the Legion’s tournament circuit, as well as the weekly game nights locally. 

For those who may be unaware, cribbage is a game played with a deck of cards and a peg board. As points are scored across hands, players will move their pegs up the board until the first player reaches the end goal. 

Westgard said he and Jeffrey were required to compete against each player twice and they took home the win by a very narrow margin.

“That was a real tough game. The last game, we had to win it in order to win the tournament. It came down to, we were both in the skunk hole … but we had first count in the last hand. That is how we won,” he said. “We are feeling ecstatic, we have been since it happened.”

The pair were up against a team from High River at the conclusion of the tournament, which saw them victorious by a single point by the end of the game. 

“We even got a plaque from the Legion and we brought it back with us so we could get our names engraved on it and it is going to be put up in the Legion with all the other trophies,” said Jeffrey. 

In order to qualify for the tournament, Westgard and Jeffrey first had to play at home in Strathmore, then through the local district, before finally going off to the Legion Command to play for their title.

Cribbage is a Thursday night staple among members of the Strathmore Legion.

“We started playing for the Legion, and from one district to another, we always ended up in the playoffs and then we ended up going to Command to play and that is as far as you can go,” said Jeffrey. “Every Thursday, we play here at the Legion at 7 p.m. and everybody pays their $5 and we just play. Whoever has the most wins at the end of the night gets the prize money.”

Westgard and Jeffrey plan to compete again once the tournament circuit becomes active again in the fall. Until then, they will simply be playing at home in Strathmore.