bocce ball

Q: Is there a shuffleboard court in Mankato?

A: Shuffleboard?

Ask Us Guy’s first thought was, “This question might possibly be from the newspaper’s oldest reader.”

Then he did a little research and learned that it could actually be a question posed by one of the undoubtedly many hipster readers of “Ask Us.” Because shuffleboard, as it turns out, is trendy among young adults in some communities.

St. Petersburg, Florida, for instance, has a historic shuffleboard complex dating back to 1924 that had 5,000 members playing on 71 courts by the mid-1960s. The facility was nearly dead by the turn of the century, but then about 35 local artists and other cool people showed up, playing shuffleboard in the evening.

And by last year, the club had more than 1,200 members playing in evening shuffleboard leagues. Ask Us Guy isn’t certain if this is a relevant factor in the renaissance of shuffleboard in St. Petersburg, but players are allowed to bring their own adult beverages to the competition.

A much less vibrant shuffleboard scene is also available at the courts in Minneapolis’ Loring Park in the summer months.

The prospects for something similar happening in Mankato appear remote.

Ask Us Guy checked with the city of Mankato to see if some of the nearly 30 municipal parks offer shuffleboard courts: “We do not.”

He checked with the YMCA: “We don’t have it.”

He checked with Mankato Area Public Schools.

“Rumor has it there may be a couple painted in the floor of our older buildings,” spokesperson Stacy Wells said. “But nothing that is actively used and nothing that is open to the public.”

The colleges?

“I checked with rec sports on campus, and there are no shuffleboard courts on campus and they are not aware of any in Mankato,” Dan Benson said.

“But apparently an outside group brought their own shuffleboard sliding mats to campus and played in Schellberg Gym last August.”

No luck at Bethany Lutheran College, either, although spokesperson Lance Schwartz offered a glimmer of hope: “Sorry to say, no shuffleboard court at Bethany. Just a thought, I know a few older churches I’ve been in for a funeral lunch had shuffleboard courts on the tile floor of the church basement. For what it’s worth.”

So, area residents yearning to shuffle could do some scouting for locations while paying their last respects (and probably get a ham salad sandwich in the process).

The only alternative appears to be, in the short term, a road trip to Loring Park or maybe Florida. A longer-term solution would be lobbying the Mankato City Council to add a shuffleboard court when renovating one of the neighborhood parks.

The city’s official Park and Open Space Plan, last updated in 2014, has a list of mandatory features for every neighborhood park (an open grassy area, play equipment for kids, a shelter, a half-court basketball court and a trail).

But the plan also suggests each park should have at least one special feature, and a shuffleboard court is one of the alternatives listed. To date, however, the special feature has always been one of the other options — such as restrooms, full-court basketball, an ice rink, a volleyball court or a skateboard area.

Other choices for the special feature include horseshoe and bocce ball courts, a golf green, a disc golf course and informal fields for baseball/softball, lacrosse, soccer and football.

Ask Us Guy’s managing editor suggests people ask the city to replace numerous unused pickleball courts to make room for one shuffleboard court. It would be more “democratic.”

Contact Ask Us at The Free Press, 418 S. Second St., Mankato, MN 56001. Call Mark Fischenich at 344-6321 or email your question to [email protected]; put Ask Us in the subject line.