Vail Mah Jongg group growing in popularity

Last summer, East Vail resident Dana Dance was recovering from her third of four back surgeries and couldn’t hike or bike. So, she learned to play Mah Jongg instead.

“I learned the game from some friends in Las Vegas, and I decided to see if I could find a group here at home.”

Pretty soon one player became two, then three became four, and now she has about 200 players who are a part of Vail Mah Jongg.

“Some people are full-timers, some are seasonal, some just drop in while on vacation and they find me on Instagram and we put together games,” Dance said. “I’ve taught many, many people. The whole point is I never charge money for it because it’s all for the love of the game and for fellowships. And then the third component is supporting our town, which is very important to me because I love Vail.”

Dance as been here since the early 1970s and has a deep love of the Vail Valley and wants to support local businesses. That’s why Vail Mah Jongg (Dance said this is the American spelling of the traditional Chinese game Mahjong, which was created in the mid-to-late 19th century) is played at different locations throughout Eagle County.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

Vail Mah Jongg gathering spots include locations up and down the Interstate-70 corridor from the Après Café in East Vail, Squash Blossom in Vail Village, Riverwalk Theater in Edwards and The Collective on Second in Eagle.

“The Lodge at Vail has been very supportive, Bart and Yeti’s and Avanti F&V Vail allow us to play there in the summer. We went to the Ritz-Carlton last week and we’re going to the Sonnenalp lobby later today for a guest who is visiting. We go everywhere,” Dance said. “We support the businesses and fill their seats during slow times. We’ll order food and beverages and are very generous with gratuity to our servers who we love.”

Now Dance said her mission is to take Vail Mah Jongg one step further and the group is working to raise $25,000 for Shaw at Home. This is a program developed as an extension of Vail Health Shaw Cancer Center as an in-home, community-based palliative care program that supports the needs of Shaw cancer patients and their families.

“We’ll are putting together our tournament, which is going to happen during the summer in partnership with Vail Public Library,” Dance said. “Once we reach our $25,000 goal with them, we are going to move on to another local charity.”

Another way Dance is going to raise funds is through selling custom-made Mah Jongg sets with tiles that have symbols of the Vail Valley and other distinguishing features that tie them to this area.

“I know nothing about making tiles. I was a professor of psychology. I don’t even know why I opened my big mouth and said that we should have our own tiles,” Dance said. “Then I started doing the research and had sketches of all the things I love about Vail, like the Covered Bridge, the 10th Mountain Division and all of the things that make Vail special are featured on our tiles.”

Dance enlisted a local company, Rocketman Makers, to help her vision come to fruition and will create 62 sets to commemorate the founding of Vail in 1962 that will be all manufactured, hand-painted and packaged in the Vail Valley. Dance already has a wait list for the limited-edition sets which will be revealed in a few weeks.

Creating a Vail-specific Mah Jongg set and fundraising aside, Dance really just loves the community that Vail Mah Jongg has brought together.

“So many people are so disconnected and disjointed, especially if you aren’t out there skiing or have a group you’re connected with already. This is a unique valley. We actually have a lot of lonely people, and this brings them together,” Dance said. “So many people have come to me and said, ‘This is the highlight of my week. I’ve made so many new friends.’ We have people coming from all different corners of the world who bring little nuances to the game that they teach us their way, and we teach them our way and it’s just so much fun.

To learn more, visit Vail Mah Jongg on Instagram to find out where they are playing next.

“We bring people together for fun, fellowship and to support the community,” Dance said. “So many different people play Mah Jongg now, all ages, we have kids play it, men play it, we have Man Jongg members, it’s very fun just to connect and just laugh and support one another in this town.”