Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Athol ‘Cribbage Guy’ Makes Splash

David Oakes, of Athol, shows the detail of one of the cribbage boards he made in his shop. The Cribbage Guy ships about 800 boards per year to clients all over the world. (Shawn Gust/press)
David Oakes, of Athol, shows the detail of one of the cribbage boards he made in his shop. The Cribbage Guy ships about 800 boards per year to clients all over the world. (Shawn Gust/press)

David Oakes, of Athol, shows the detail of one of the cribbage boards he made in his shop. The Cribbage Guy ships about 800 boards per year to clients all over the world. Story here. (Coeur d'Alene Press photo: Shawn Gust)

Even with the farthest stretch of his imagination, David Oakes never could have envisioned he would be making cribbage boards for a living. Or that he would be doing it from a home workshop in the woods near Athol - seemingly a world away from his native England. Together with his wife, Marty, Oakes has found a niche with handcrafted cribbage boards, selling more than 2,200 boards to customers worldwide in the four years since launching his business, "The Cribbage Guy"/Taryn Thompson, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Question: Are you very good at cribbage? How often do you play?

D.F. Oliveria

D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

Follow Dave online: