From prominent billionaires to young children, Michael Hughes has observed a traditional card game bridge social gaps between many people.
"People enjoy meeting and interacting with people," Hughes said.
As the manager of the Mid-Missouri Bridge Club, Hughes oversees numerous games of bridge at various venues in Central Missouri on a weekly basis.
The Mid-Missouri Bridge Club exists as a sub-unit of the American Contract Bridge League, which coordinates regional and national tournaments.
Hughes enjoys the "challenge of keeping it organized and running and the benefit of continuously meeting other people," he said.
In his volunteer role, Hughes organizes the weekly games of duplicate bridge and uses a dealing machine to deal each hand of bridge, he said.
Duplicate bridge differs from party bridge in that players participating in duplicate bridge receive points for winning that increase their individual rank on a national scale with the ACBL.
Duplicate bridge players often aim to achieve the ranking of Life Master, which requires an accumulation of 500 points.
According to Hughes, bridge competitors number about 12-32 at each game and come from all over Mid-Missouri to play.
"They all enjoy playing bridge. They love the opportunity to get together to play," he said.
With players of ages ranging from early 20s to mid-90s, Hughes touted the games as "one place where you meet people in all walks of life. It's youth ranging from pre-teens to people 100 years old playing a common game with or against each other," he said.
Though Hughes acknowledged finding new players can prove tough, he believes bridge benefits its players both mentally and socially, he said.
"It's a challenging mental experience that is lost on the younger players...It's good for your social skills, math and logic," he said.
Hughes' passion for bridge blossomed at a young age when he played as an occasional substitute for his father in family games of bridge.
"It was something the adults did so I got to feel like an adult," he said.
Hughes revitalized his fascination for the game while on two separate tours with the Navy in the mid-'70s and mid-'80s.
In countries such as the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Hughes and other soldiers would play bridge in local duplicate bridge clubs.
Hughes began accumulating Life Master points on his first tour with the navy and ultimately earned the rank of Life Master over the course of capturing first place at the Presidential Cup North American Pairs Flight C Championship in 2011.
After partnering with a friend from Overland Park, Kansas, Hughes journeyed through several regional tournaments before arriving at the qualifying round of the national championship in Louisville, Kentucky, he said.
After several harrowing hands of bridge, a few low-scoring hands of the front-runners "catapulted us into the lead. I can remember almost all of the hands," Hughes said.
Hughes described the experience as "very exhilarating" and said he "screamed out a big loud "yes'" after learning of his victory.
With his partner, Hughes also regularly attend the Nebraska Regional Tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he has played bridge with Warren Buffet and near Bill Gates, competitors and supporters of the tournament.
"It's a neat feeling to know you're playing the same card game with the richest couple of men in the country," Hughes said of the tournament.
A major tournament in St. Louis inspired Steven Erickson to rekindle his love of bridge that had been dormant since college, he said.
After watching the 1986 tournament, Erickson began participating in games once or twice a week and eventually started teaching the nuances of the game both to beginners and more advanced players on a volunteer basis.
Erickson lauded the games of the Mid-Missouri Bridge Club as "hospitable environments."
"The people are friendly. They all appreciate playing and know that sometimes you don't always win. Everyone knows everyone, and there's opportunity for socializing," he said.
Over the past few years, Erickson has endeavored to spread his passion for the game that he characterized as "slowing in population."
"The people who first made it popular have died, moved to Florida or are too old to play. It's a continuing challenge to get young players who find an intellectually stimulating game something they'd like to do," he said.
In an effort to allay the decline in the popularity of bridge, Erickson has taught classes on the game of bridge at Nichols Career Center.
"It takes word-of-mouth marketing. The game has to attract new players," Erickson said.
Lasting about 2-3 hours per week, Erickson would first teach the essentials of the game then eventually facilitate actual games and invite students to join the Mid-Missouri Bridge Club, some of whom did.
"I think it's great," Erickson said of new players joining the club. "Like any club, it needs new blood in its system. We need new people to come who want to learn," he said.
At the Mid-Missouri Bridge Club, "beginners are welcome," Erickson said.
"The more experienced are ready to offer advice," he said.
Erickson portrayed the range of skill levels of players at the Mid-Missouri Bridge Club as "a good spectrum of inexperienced to experienced."
Erickson, with the ranking of silver Life Master, has garnered ample experience in 23 years of playing and spoke to the possible longevity of the game in a person's life.
"It's a recreational activity you can do for years and years. The time invested when you're young you can always use down the road. It's a super game," he said.
Tony Wening also possesses a passion for bridge.
"I love playing bridge and everything about the game. Bridge is a fantastic game," he said.
A self-described intermediate player, Wening attends games hosted by the Mid-Missouri Bridge Club and also directs games of his club Aces and Spaces, which he depicted as "a place where new players can ask questions and give advice. It's oriented toward increasing bridge skills," he said.
Wening first played bridge in high school and college but began playing again four years ago after a 21-year stint in the Army, he said.
He became a partner for a friend in need of one and "jumped in with both feet and haven't looked back," he said.
"I strongly believe that doing something outside of normal activities is important for the community. It gives a chance to meet people and get out of the house," he said.
Despite a decrease in the bridge-playing population, Wening expressed what he sees as worthwhile benefits resulting from bridge-playing.
"It increases analytical thinking skills. Those are valuable in any job where you have to think and valuable for anybody in life," he said.
Wening also views opportunities for socialization within the bridge club, he said.
"There's the social aspect of meeting people of different experiences in life. You talk about everything from politics to tax proposals to sports," he said.
Similarly to Erickson, Wening teaches classes on beginning contract bridge with Hughes.
"I take a complex concept and bring it down to new players so they can understand. I would like to see more people come and play. I encourage people to come out and play bridge," Wening said.
Though competitive bridge events may represent some of the major highlights of Michael Hughes' bridge-playing career, The Longest Day event also fills a special role.
For the second consecutive year, the ACBL has partnered with the Alzheimer's Association to raise funds for Alzheimer's research, Hughes said.
In The Longest Day event, individuals or groups participate in a variety of activities throughout the daylight hours of June 21, the summer solstice. The Mid-Missouri Bridge Club will participate in the event by hosting games of duplicate and party bridge throughout the day June 21 at the Senior Center in Capital Mall.
There will be three duplicate bridge games beginning at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.
Hughes believes Alzheimer's "touches a lot of people closely," including himself - his father, aunt and uncle fell victim to the disease.
"It's one of the fears that stands up that no one seems able to do anything about," Hughes said of Alzheimer's.
The Mid-Missouri Bridge Club has already pledged to donate $1,600 to the cause so any funds raised the day of the event will be added to the base amount, Hughes said.
All participants will pay an $8 entry fee, and an amount equal to 25 percent of the total entry fees will be returned in party bridge as prize money, and no money will be returned in duplicate bridge. Participants in duplicate bridge will earn Life Master points.
With the use of "critical-thinking skills," Tony Wening believes bridge to be a "great game to mitigate dementia and Alzheimer's," he said.
Wening views The Longest Day event as "a tremendous cause," he said.