Tuesday, October 25, 2005

"The most alive dead place in town"

It was cold and rainy and extraordinarily wet, but that didn't stop 25 of Washington D.C.'s finest gamers from coming out to Historic Congressional Cemetery for a Tombstone Hold 'Em tourney last Saturday.

Linda Harper, the chairman of the board of the cemetery, was there, as well, to welcome our players and tell them a bit about the cemetery's history and mission. "We're the most alive dead place in town," she said, encouraging the players to have fun and enjoy the historic space. The cemetery's goal? To become, again, the kind of public social and recreation space that cemeteries in the U.S. used to be, before the 20th century. "Before there was Central Park, there was Mt. Auburn Cemetery," she said, reminding us that cemeteries were the original parks and recreation centers in the U.S. It was like being welcomed home again. Linda was so pleased with our game and players that she invited 'em back to come play Hold 'Em any time they want.

Rumor has it that, besides the six official Graveyard Games in honor of Lucky Brown, grassroots Tombstone Hold 'Em games are popping up in cities all over. I just rain into someone in the airport last night who was on his way to Seattle, where he suggested a THE game is on its way. Also this week, Austin and Oakland are having grassroots games... I'm not involved in organizing them, so all I can say is keep your eyes and ears open for more info...

See you in Kansas City next.

Flickr photos are here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

it was an absolute blast! thanks!
and hey... that's me and Silrn up there! cool