The 269 Darts Club is moving to the Anavets Club for the second half of its season with the first night at the new location being this Thursday.
The club is celebrating its 50th year and is quite possibly the oldest private darts club in B.C. The club was originally formed by a group of friends who played together in the basement of 269 Scott Ave., which was the residence of Rene and Irv Moss. When the group grew larger as more friends become involved, they moved to the Yacht Club and then to the Elks Club a few years ago.
For a long time, the club had a format with eight teams of four players each, but of late, they had six teams with three players each. Like most clubs, they lost membership due to the recent changes in the liquor laws and the fact that some members who started out as beginners’ became more proficient chose to play in the Elks in-house Tuesday night league. As well as this, as skills improved, players moved on to play in the Monday night South Okanagan Darts Association (SODA) competitive pub league, which meant they were playing three nights a week at the Elks as well as taking part in the monthly weekend SODA shoots and various other darts competitions.
The Elks, over a period of time, had become a hot spot for darts and the club feels that by moving to the Anavets they can attract a few more members. They do not have a competing in-house league and some Anavet members had expressed an interest in playing with the 269 Darts Club if it moved.
Most of the 269 Dart Club are not competitive regular dart players and just want a fun night out. Games begin at 7:30 p.m. and are usually over by 9:45 p.m.
At times we have had as many as three generations from one family playing, such as the Bohnet family. Everyone is welcome to come out to try their hand at darts at the Anavets Club, located on Brunswick Street opposite the lawn bowling club.