On Havana Street
Annual Car Show
Denver Metro Bridge Studio: Building Community And Minds After The Pandemic
by Jessica Hughes
A packed house of players at the Denver Metro Bridge Studio.
Weekly bridge games are played at the Denver Metro Bridge Studio.
The tight-knit community of bridge players at the Denver Metro Bridge Studio in the greater Glendale area (Leetsdale Drive and Forest Street) works to rebuild five years after the COVID pandemic while preserving a game that offers far more than just entertainment.
Five years after a bridge tournament in Colorado Springs, turned into a COVID superspreader claiming the lives of six players, the Denver bridge community is still working to recover its momentum. “It became difficult after COVID. Bridge clubs closed and were going away,” explains Kathy McMahon, a dedicated member and player at the Denver Metro Bridge Studio. Like many social institutions, bridge clubs faced an existential threat during the pandemic.
For the game to survive, it had to pivot quickly. “We had to play online,” McMahon recounts. The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), which governs competitive bridge in North America, developed online platforms where players could continue earning masterpoints — the currency of achievement in bridge competitions.
Despite these efforts, the pandemic created significant gaps in the community. The club lost many instructors and an entire generation of potential new players. “We missed the opportunity to train new people during COVID.
With the average age of bridge players in their late 60s or older, recruiting new enthusiasts has become vital for the game’s future. While the game is played by people of all ages, the benefits for seniors are particularly compelling: mental exercise, social con-
nection, and continuous learning. Bridge demands strategy, memory, and problem-solving skills — a true mental workout that research suggests may help delay cognitive decline. The game also provides crucial social connections, particularly important for seniors vulnerable to isolation.
“For seniors, playing bridge keeps them social and happy. It keeps brains healthy and keeps your brain going,” McMahon explains. These benefits extend beyond the individual to create vibrant communities centered around the game.
The Denver Metro Bridge Studio serves multiple roles — it’s both a competitive venue and a teaching center. The club offers lessons for beginners, mentorship programs, and games for various skill levels throughout the week. “We want bridge clubs to continue to be the social networks that they are,” says McMahon. “Playing in person brings this
Denver Metro Bridge Studio Club Owner, Elly Larson.
social aspect, which is so important.”
A typical sanctioned game at the club takes about three hours, with players rotating to play the same hands against different opponents. While competitive games allow players to earn points toward rankings like Life Master (requiring 500 master points) or the prestigious Grand Life Master (requiring 10,000 master points), the club also hosts more casual social games for those who aren’t concerned with earning points.
The community is diverse in age and gender, with its oldest member turning 100 this year. McMahon herself didn’t begin playing until near retirement, proving it’s never too late to start. She now plays approximately three times per week with various partners.
“We are in the post-pandemic r
Denver Metro Bridge Studio meets at 5250 Leetsdale Dr. in Denver.
ebound, so there’s been much more of a need to advertise these clubs,” McMahon notes. The Denver Metro Bridge Studio has invested in outreach efforts aimed at attracting both seniors and younger players.
For newcomers interested in learning, the club offers beginner classes and assistance with finding partners. They provide food and drinks during games and maintain a welcoming atmosphere for players of all levels — though McMahon says that depending on when you play, beginners might find themselves facing off against the club’s “sharks,” their most accomplished players.
As online bridge helped save the game during pandemic lockdowns, the Denver Metro Bridge Studio is working to preserve what makes in-person play special: the bonds formed across the card table, the shared excitement of a well-played hand, and the community that grows around a common passion.
For those looking to exercise their minds, expand their social circles, or simply find a fulfilling hobby, visit www.bridgewebs.com/denvermetro.
Photos provided by Kathy McMahon
A Story From The Heart — Proof That I Have One
Blasting with Boyles
OPINION
Dr. Nelson Prager
Dr. Jason Shofnos
Dr. Jeffrey Park
Millions of years ago I took auto and diesel mechanics at Forbes Trail Technical School, because I couldn’t fit into normal high school, allegedly to study auto diesel repair. One of the things that stood out was that flathead Ford vehicles needed valve jobs at 81,000 miles. I’m now 81. And was told I needed a valve job.
On a serious note, for the last three years, I have really had a difficult time existing. If you’re keeping score at home I had a mini stroke on air, degenerative heart failure in Sturgis needing to be brought home, and received my pacemaker.
Dropping fully back in time, 25 years ago, I still think I’m being haunted by the Bush administration as we took our morning radio show to Washington, D.C., to cover the George W. Bush first inauguration.
When I returned, I was having a hard time breathing and walking and I was immediately taken to Dr. Richard Flanagan who turned me over to the capable hands of heart surgeon Dr. Kevin Miller. I had a quintuple bypass and went back to work at KHOW just in time to go on to great ratings and great health. I ran the Bolder Boulder. I skied and always will, and did mixed martial arts. I always saw it as a bump in the road.
Then about three years ago when I was 79, I started having issues again. That’s when I, along with publisher Chuck Bonniwell, discovered Dr. Nelson Prager, cardiologist to the stars.
And then I had an incident on Christmas Eve with my grandson in Winter Park, where I literally could not catch my breath. I came back, called Dr. Prager, and went through a battery of tests. That’s where, through Dr. Prager, I met Dr. Jeffrey Park, the new age heart surgeon, along with Dr. Jason Shofnos.
When I met them, it was like going to a meeting of outlaw bikers. Shofnos, like myself, has inked up his left arm, and Dr. Park, like Dr. Nelson, just seems to be like one of the guys. Except they’re brilliant.
They ran me through a battery of tests at Swedish Hospital (what a great place) and decided I had a calcified aortic valve in my heart, and that I was going to need a valve job.
I hit the panic button. I thought as difficult as it had been going through bypass surgery would my 81-year-old carcass be able to take another open-heart job. Shazam.
Enter the dragon. These guys are trained in robotic surgery. As Dr. Prager said, “this is our bread and butter.”
My son tells me that I was in the OR for the bypass surgery for almost seven hours. So now, for what’s behind the curtain, what’s in the box that Julie’s pointing to, and the new car, how long did it take for all this modern equipment and wonderful physicians to get me a new heart valve? Forty-seven minutes. They go up the insides of your legs and a balloon goes into your valve, the balloon opens, the new valve tips come out, the calcification of the valve crunches into the new valve, the balloon pulls out, and your heart is brand new.
I know when I was in the hospital the first time with bypass I was there for eight days. This time I was in Swedish overnight. One of the things that Dr. Park did before and after was hand me his stethoscope and said, “Want to hear your murmur?” It sounded like a river rushing. He gave me the stethoscope again when I was ready to go home, and I could hear a heartbeat.
I’m back in the gym for an hour; I want to get an easy one-day ski in as the end of the season beckons, and it’s a whole new lease on life, and I owe it to those three men and the remarkable staff at Swedish Hospital.
If this is what medicine can do now, imagine what it will be for my grandson. Assuming the world is still here. But I publicly want to thank Swedish, Aurora Denver Cardiology, and the three horsemen who saved an old man’s rear end. Thanks guys.
— Peter Boyles
