Coffee group not dead, yet

DAVENPORT - For the last 50 years, a group of men in Davenport have been meeting for coffee every weekday morning, usually at a diner where they would debate over who would pay for the coffee at the end. With the COVID-19 virus putting the crimp on meeting indoors and businesses closing, the group has come up with the novel solution of meeting in the Strate Funeral Home parking lot at 505 10th Street.

"Since the Covina virus the coffee club chain has been broken," said long time attendee George Arland. "Usually there is a lot of conversation, drinking of coffee and then rolling dice to see who gets the honors to pay for the coffee. There has been a secretary who has recorded who has paid the most in coffee for the month and later for the whole year."

To keep the coffee club tradition going, the group decided to have each member bring their own chair, and coffee, to the parking lot meeting every Friday.

Arland says it has been a "good experience."

"This has been a good experience for the 10 to 12 fellows that are involved so they can still see their friends, tell old stories that have been told before and enjoyed again by all. The oldest person in the group is in his 90's and the diversity of the group runs from retired bankers ,lawyers, people who have owned their own businesses.

"It is great to get old friends back together again," he added.

Anyone interested in joining the group is encouraged to bring their own coffee and chair and meet in the Davenport Funeral Home parking lot at 10 a.m. Fridays.