By Vince Guerrieri

Posted On: Jul 5, 2017

I admit, when people mentioned shuffleboard, I used to think of senior citizens playing it at the old folks’ home – or playing it on the Lido Deck of the Pacific Princess while guest stars have a series of adventures and Isaac passes out pink drinks with umbrellas in them. That was probably because of a lack of accessibility to the game itself. But there are plenty of opportunities to play it within northern Ohio. An outdoor shuffleboard court can be found at Lakeside, as much a summer tradition as ice cream and the musical and educational programming the Chatauqua community is known for. The leagues get competitive throughout the summer. But, there are indoor options as well. Jim and Kari Miketo opened the Erie Social and Shuffleboard Club in Danbury Township – an indoor shuffleboard court not far from Lakeside. The couple opened another shuffleboard club, the Forest City Shuffleboard Club, on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Check out their website to read up on their COVID-19 precautions. It’s evident that they put some work into the facility, with new raised concrete shuffleboard courts available indoors and outdoors. The paint, in Cavs’ wine and gold colors, pops and the pictures on the back wall from a variety of movies are tremendously detailed. There are even stadium seats for people to watch the shuffleboard or wait their turn. I spotted a pair from the late, lamented Tiger Stadium, which I wrote about for Belt’s Detroit Neighborhood Guidebook (thank you for indulging my shameless plug). I had never played full-sized shuffleboard before, but my in-laws have a tabletop version at their home (there are also tabletop versions available at the club), so I was familiar with the basic rules, which are fairly simple. Even if you aren’t familiar with the rules, they’re up on the wall. Even if you’re not a shuffleboard player, it seems like a cool place to visit. There’s a full selection of craft beers from area breweries and the club is currently allowing guest vendors to share their wares. The July selection is from Fat Cat’s in Tremont. The highest praise came from my mother-in-law as we were leaving. She said, “This looks like the kind of place that will become really popular.”