It was August, 1955 (it's always 1955 in these stories) and Labor Day weekend was not far off. For Sal Westerman, that was a good thing.

Sal, being definitely on the elderly side, certainly didn't want to wish his life away. Not at all; he tried to make the most of every day. It's just that by the time late summer came around, he was really missing his Saturday afternoon meetings of his Coffee and Cake Checker Club.

The Club indeed did meet every Saturday afternoon, but only from just after Labor Day until just before Memorial Day. Summers in Bismarck, North Dakota, were noticeably short and North Dakotans made the most of warmer weather to be outdoors, whether camping or fishing, tending to their yards, playing softball, or any other summer activity. The club's venue, the Beacon Cafe, even shut down for most of the month of August so its proprietress, Deana Nagel, could travel back to Gackle, N.D., to help out with the harvest on the family farm.

Sal of course had his own ways of keeping busy during summertime, including a lakeside vacation with his wife Sylvia and numerous other things, many of which of course had to do with checkers. But he missed getting together with the "boys" as he called them (all but one of whom were at minimum 50 years old) for afternoons of checker fun.

This year, for some reason, Sal especially missed his club, and even though it would just be a couple more weeks until the "season" began, he felt somewhat depressed. Perhaps more than somewhat.

To begin with, it was a Saturday afternoon, and he was home alone in his study. His wife was visiting her sister Phoebe in Dickinson, N.D., and Sal avoided going along as he and Phoebe did not have, shall we say, a warm relationship. The Beacon Cafe was closed. Sal had tried calling a couple of the boys to meet up for lunch or coffee, but he wasn't able to reach anyone. They were all off on vacation, fishing or camping, or just too busy with yard work or other summertime chores.

Sal thought about going over to the bar at the Patterson Hotel for a beer, but it seemed like too much effort. It was really hot outside and any amount of walking, even to a nearby park, just seemed like too much. Nothing seemed to appeal to him. Summer had been great, but did it have to be so long? Of course, it wasn't long at all but at the moment it seemed that way.

Taking an afternoon nap was always an option, but he realized that if he did he would wake up even more depressed, having done nothing all afternoon. He'd read the last few issues of All Checkers Digest from cover to cover several times. He'd finished that problem book project that he had started with Young Ed from Pennsylvania and was still impatiently waiting for a proof copy. Things just weren't going his way today.

Maybe he could go to a movie. But that would involve walking and besides there was nothing playing that he wanted to see. Watching daytime weekend television was an even worse option. Going to the library? Going out for a hamburger? Too hot. Too hard.

Sal was sitting in his easy chair, unable to get out of his low mood, when the phone rang and startled him. Who could it be? Sylvia didn't call from Dickinson in the afternoon, and he had just heard from her last night.

Sal hurried as quickly as he could up the stairs to the kitchen, where the phone sat on a small table by the wall. He answered on what was probably the fifth ring, hoping he wasn't too late, and hoping even more it wasn't someone trying to sell him insurance.

"Hello?" Sal said after he picked up the receiver.

"Sal?" came the voice on the other end. "It's Ed, in Pennsylvania. Look, this long distance call is kind of expensive, but I had an idea for one more problem to add to our book. Quick, write this down."

Sylvia thoughtfully kept a small notepad and a pencil next to the telephone. Sal picked up the pencil and said, "Go ahead, Young Ed, I'm ready."

Ed quickly stated the position of the pieces and the problem premise. "Try it out and drop me a line," he said, "and tell me if you think it ought to go in the book. I'll run along now before I spend a month's rent on this call. Take care and say hello to Sylvia for me."

The line disconnected. Sal hung up the phone and looked at the notes he had hastily scribbled. The position was really interesting ...

Sal couldn't wait to get back down to his study and set up the problem. His dark mood had vanished in an instant. This was going to be a great day after all!

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There's nothing like the excitement of a good new checker problem to lift a checker fan's mood. Of course, we hope your mood today isn't a dark one, but dark, light, or in-between, an Ed Atkinson problem is always a treat. This is one of the last of them in our supply. Enjoy it and click on Read More when you're ready to check your solution.

Solution

Lettered notes are by Mr. Atkinson. Numbered notes are by your editor.

17-13*---1 9-14 6-2* 7-11 2-7* 11-16 7-10* 14-17 29-25* 17-21---A 10-15*---2 21-30 13-9---B 30-23 15-11* 5-14 11-9 White Wins.

A---24-27 25-21 27-31 21-14 31-22 14-9 5-14 10-26 White Wins.

B---15-11 also wins.

1---Surprisingly 6-2 loses at this point.

2---25-22 only draws.

Ed called this one Fresh Air and we hope you liked it as much as we did.