Not all Annex tables for dining Shuffleboard restored as a treat for restaurant's patrons Monday, March 20, 2006 BY SCOTT DANIEL News Staff Reporter As the manager of a local cab company, Charlie Frey deals with a fair amount of stress. So when owners of the Tap Room Annex restaurant in downtown Ypsilanti discovered and restored a 12-foot shuffleboard table for patrons' use, he found an outlet. Now Frey spends a couple of nights each week playing the game and socializing at the Annex. "It's an easy game to play,'' said Frey, a Belleville resident. "It's a great stress-reliever for me.'' Brian and Lisa Brickley opened the Tap Room Annex, 205 W. Michigan, in November 2004. The couple recently completed a month's worth of renovations, which included a new tile floor, and lots of painting and wall hangings - including an old Brickley's Dairy sign Brian gleaned from one of his grandfather's stores from the 1950s. "We've been a little busier since we made the changes,'' said Brickley, who also owns the Tap Room bar a few doors down. "People seem to like the decor. It's a little more contemporary, a more warm atmosphere.'' The shuffleboard is the restaurant's newest addition. Brickley found the solid maple table on the third floor of his bar. "We always knew it was up there,'' he said. "But we didn't pay much attention to it because there was no room in the bar for it.'' But he thought the shuffleboard game would fit with the restaurant's makeover. "I was surprised to find that it was in pretty good shape,'' he said. He believes the shuffleboard dates to at least the 1940s. "We found an electronic scoring unit that goes with it. The scoring unit was built in 1949.'' Getting the table down from the bar's third floor was no easy task, Brickley said. He estimated the table's weight at 300 pounds and said it took four people to bring it down to the first floor. "I thought we'd kill ourselves getting it down,'' Brickley said. "It was very heavy.'' Aside from a thick coat of dust, he said, the shuffleboard was in good condition. He simply hand-sanded the top and applied a coat of polyurethane. Now restored, Brickley said, keeping the shuffleboard in game-ready condition is easy. Applying shuffleboard powder, which is composed of wax, is about all that's needed. And patrons like Frey are reaping the rewards. Frey said he has played the game, which is similar to the game of curling, for more than a decade. He said he had to travel all the way to Monroe County to find a table before Brickley set up his shuffleboard. "I don't believe it ever lost popularity,'' Frey said, "but it is hard to find a place to play.'' Shuffleboard tables can be as long as 22 feet, he said. While the Annex board is shorter, games are still challenging because it has bumpers. "There's a lot of english involved,'' Frey said. "With the bumpers, you have to use angles to knock your opponent's weights off.'' In curling, "stones'' are tossed along the ice at a target to score points. In table shuffleboard, circular stainless steel "weights'' are pushed down the board, with the ideal shot hanging over the board's edge. That shot scores four points. "It's a competitive game,'' said Craig Mitchell, a friend of Frey's. "But it's relaxing. I think it's a game for all ages.'' Mitchell and Frey generally play up to 15 points. Mitchell said games usually last 10 to 15 minutes. He said just about anyone can be a good shuffleboard player with a little practice. "You just have to get the feel of the table,'' Mitchell said. Patrons aren't the only ones getting into the act. Annex waitress Lynda Tackett said she and other staff also play. "I'm not that good,'' she said. "I'm just learning how to play. It's fun. I really didn't expect to like it, but I do.'' Tackett says she thinks the game is also helping business. "We've had a few people come in specifically to check out the shuffleboard. They like it. It's different and no one else in town has it.''