The Yorkton Ramada restaurant's "9:30 Coffee Group" is a lot like any other group of retired coffee-drinking regulars in the province.
"We know everything about politics," says George Yaremko.
"I really think the premier of Saskatchewan should come here and have coffee with us," adds Jerry Vandane, "because we could probably tell him how to run the province. Yeah, we're that smart."
Six days a week, the group - sometimes two or three people, sometimes closer to ten - meets at the restaurant for coffee. Some of them have been coming for more than 25 years.
What sets the group apart is the way it pays its bill. Every day, the members play a simple guessing game to decide who will chip in for coffee. And every day, they play extra rounds to raise another $2 for Telemiracle.
No one is entirely sure of the origin of the "numbers game," as they call it. But 16 years ago, some older members of the group who had already been playing for some time decided to start donating a portion of the proceeds to charity in memory of their old coffee companion Emil Sebulski.
"We sat around and asked, 'Where should we donate to?'" remembers Mike Lys. "We mentioned several places and things around town, and finally so we wouldn't offend anybody or leave anybody out, we said Telemiracle."
And so every morning, between the joking and the debates, the group would play its numbers game on a napkin. One participant with a pen writes down a number between 1 and 100. One by one, the others at the table take guesses at the figure while the writer tells them if they are high or low. The player who guesses right loses and chips in a dollar towards the bill. Once the coffee is all paid for, the group plays two more rounds for Telemiracle.
The game has been running each day under those rules without interruption for the last 16 years. The extra $2 lands in a jar kept in a permanent place of honor in the restaurant, until by the end of the year it holds about $700.
Members of the group - who today range in age from their late 50s to their late 70s - have come and gone over the years, along with the waitresses who have gotten to know the regulars.
"We've donated in memory of a lot of people already as they passed away," says Lys.
In the last few years, the Ramada's management began matching the game's proceeds. Now, at each Telemiracle, a donation of about $1,400 comes in under the name of "The 9:30 Coffee Group."
And while the premier hasn't made it in yet, the group occasionally runs into other politicians who are in the city for campaigning or business. The crew usually manages to wrestle a donation out of them for "the kitty" - the players' nickname for the donation jar.
The coffee group is proud of its charitable hobby, but the game is just another motivation to spend every morning with old friends.
"We're here to laugh," says Lys. "Even if we're not happy, we laugh."
