White House Takes a Cue from Kansas

[JAM]

If members of the new first family are inclined to pick up pool cues, they will be joining billiard fans around the world who have played on tables restored by Joe Newell.

Although there had been at least seven different billiard tables in the White House over the years, Hillary Clinton had the pool table taken out when her family moved in. I always knew there was something about Hillary I didn't like! :angry:

The Billiard Room is in the private quarters on the third floor, and the former first lady wanted to use the room for other purposes.:sorry:

Instead, Gary Walters, the head usher of the White House, asked if the table could be installed at Camp David, and he promised he would do his best to get it into the White House in the future.

So, Joe Newell set the table up at Camp David. He later learned that such dignitaries as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, representatives from Arab countries and governors had played on it. :grin-square:

When George W. Bush arrived in the White House in 2001, Walters was able to keep his earlier promise. :thumbup:

"In 2004, Gary Walters called and said, 'Mrs. Bush is going to restore the Billiard Room,'" Newell said.

Laura Bush wanted new cloth on the table and some repairs made. Soon, Newell and his wife, Gloria, were on their way to Washington, D.C. The table went first to the government warehouse, where items not on display in the White House are kept. Newell was given a corner in which to work on the restoration.

The next day, Joe Newell was under the table tacking the cloth, when the door opened and Gloria Newell and their escort in the White House immediately stood up.

"It was President Bush, and he wanted to know who was making all the noise," Newell said. "He shook my hand and said the table was gorgeous. He only stayed a few minutes but said he could now practice when no one could see him."

When Laura Bush saw the finished restoration with the new cloth, she remarked that she loved it, Newell said. The company he gets cloth from also does embroidery, so Newell asked for something special for the White House.

"They placed an American flag in red, white and blue and embroidered 'United We Stand' in gold thread on one side," he said.

According to the White House, the Jewel (name of the Brunswick model) is still there and available for the first family and their guests.

Will Michelle Obama keep the Billiard Room and the pool table? Newell said no one knows yet how that room will be used when her husband, Barack Obama, became president.

Meet the Newells!

 

[JAM]

Many moons ago, the Newells returned to Clay Center to go into the billiards restoration business with his father, Loyal Newell and his maternal grandfather, making Joe and Gloria the third generation in the family business.

The couple returned to Clay Center after graduating from Bethany College and nine years during which Joe was a systems representative for Xerox. They moved back to raise their children in the community they grew up in.

Newell, who has been restoring billiard tables since he was nine, is at the top of the list of consultants Brunswick recommends for antique billiards restoration.

The Newells restored two tables for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, one was a gift from his wife for his 50th birthday which they delivered to his downtown Santa Monica office and another to one of his homes about three years later.

"Jack Nicholas and his wife Barbara were really fun people," Newell said.

Some of the famous people "really take an interest," he said. "They want to know the history and they want to know where it came from."

Gloria Newell met Laura Bush when they moved a restored table that came out of a Boys Club in a little town in Ohio, and that Newell had previously placed at Camp David, into the White House billiard room in 2003. The job took two days.

President Bush came in to the room in his t-shirt and gym shorts early one morning.

"He asked about Clay Center. I said, well, it's a real little town in Kansas," Gloria Newell said. "He asked how big and I told him we're around 4,000 or 5,000 people."

"Well that's ten times bigger than Crawford, Texas," the president said.

The Newells also work on some one-of-a kind prototype or custom tables Brunswick had made over the past 150 years. Much of their work on the special tables takes them to museums such as the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Mark Twain's home.

"There aren't a lot of people who want to invest in these kind of tables in their home," Joe Newell said. Brunswick often sends the Newells to the museums to do restoration work on tables, some of which cannot be disassembled and moved back to Newells shop for restoration work.

Newell is a third generation pool table restorer and has been working on pool tables since he was 9 years old, a skill he learned from his dad Loyal "Pappy" Newell and his maternal grandfather.

A typical restoration can take a couple of hundred hours, but Newell has put as much as 800-900 hours on one table with a fancy floral or other design made up of 13 or 14 different species of wood inlaid to get the colored effect.

"That can get really intense because you can only work on about six square inches at a time," Newell said. "We've worked on animals, birds, floral designs." One table featured an image of fire wagons responding to a burning building.

Here's a picture of The Jewel by Brunswick!

 

[JAM]

Here is The Jewel fully restored! Wow, I love that. I have mahogany trim in my home, and that would be a perfect match for me! :grin-square:

 

[JAM]

We all have seen President Obama shooting pool on the campaign trail, but I wonder if he will shoot pool at Camp David or the White House.

I just finished working on an interview with President Obama, and I would have loved to have injected the inquiry for his reply, but I wouldn't dare.

 

[stomper]

Ty for sharing some interseting info. :thumbup:

 

[dirtybobjr]

Many moons ago, the Newells returned to Clay Center to go into the billiards restoration business with his father, Loyal Newell and his maternal grandfather, making Joe and Gloria the third generation in the family business.

The couple returned to Clay Center after graduating from Bethany College and nine years during which Joe was a systems representative for Xerox. They moved back to raise their children in the community they grew up in.

Newell, who has been restoring billiard tables since he was nine, is at the top of the list of consultants Brunswick recommends for antique billiards restoration.

The Newells restored two tables for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, one was a gift from his wife for his 50th birthday which they delivered to his downtown Santa Monica office and another to one of his homes about three years later.

"Jack Nicholas and his wife Barbara were really fun people," Newell said.

Some of the famous people "really take an interest," he said. "They want to know the history and they want to know where it came from."

Gloria Newell met Laura Bush when they moved a restored table that came out of a Boys Club in a little town in Ohio, and that Newell had previously placed at Camp David, into the White House billiard room in 2003. The job took two days.

President Bush came in to the room in his t-shirt and gym shorts early one morning.

"He asked about Clay Center. I said, well, it's a real little town in Kansas," Gloria Newell said. "He asked how big and I told him we're around 4,000 or 5,000 people."

"Well that's ten times bigger than Crawford, Texas," the president said.

The Newells also work on some one-of-a kind prototype or custom tables Brunswick had made over the past 150 years. Much of their work on the special tables takes them to museums such as the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Mark Twain's home.

"There aren't a lot of people who want to invest in these kind of tables in their home," Joe Newell said. Brunswick often sends the Newells to the museums to do restoration work on tables, some of which cannot be disassembled and moved back to Newells shop for restoration work.

Newell is a third generation pool table restorer and has been working on pool tables since he was 9 years old, a skill he learned from his dad Loyal "Pappy" Newell and his maternal grandfather.

A typical restoration can take a couple of hundred hours, but Newell has put as much as 800-900 hours on one table with a fancy floral or other design made up of 13 or 14 different species of wood inlaid to get the colored effect.

"That can get really intense because you can only work on about six square inches at a time," Newell said. "We've worked on animals, birds, floral designs." One table featured an image of fire wagons responding to a burning building.

Here's a picture of The Jewel by Brunswick!

Loyal sold me some parts for an old Brunswick back in the 80's. And he played Fair 3 Cushion Billiaards... we played next door at the pool hall in Clay Center. We had a lot of spectators ....... his loyal fans. We split the first 2 games and everyone wanted to see a rubber match, which I barely won. He was a great guy. He was known all over ....... had a big write-up in the topeka paper..... that's how I found out about him.

He and his wife had taken me to lunch and shown me around the warehouse earlier. He laughed and told me he might not have been so hospitable if he'd know I was going to beat him! LOL

 

[JAM]

Ty for sharing some interseting info. :thumbup:

My pleasure. I have a keen interest in pool and history, which lends itself to these kinds of threads! :wink:

Here's another little snippet: John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States, born in 1767, owned a pet alligator which he kept in the East Room of the White House and also had the first pool table installed in the White House.

 

[CaptainHook]

Link

Check out this link:

http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/floor3/game-room.htm

 

[Brian in VA]

JAM thanks so much for this! When I read of our new President playing on the campaign trail I figured he'd be a fan of having that table in the White House Billiard Room. He's got a nice stance from the looks of it. How cool would it be to play on that table?

Brian in VA

 

[JAM]

JAM thanks so much for this! When I read of our new President playing on the campaign trail I figured he'd be a fan of having that table in the White House Billiard Room. He's got a nice stance from the looks of it. How cool would it be to play on that table?

Brian in VA

Brian, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe if a cuemaker created a custom cue for President Obama, it might generate a little interest in pocket billiards, American style!

 

[Brian in VA]

Brian, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe if a cuemaker created a custom cue for President Obama, it might generate a little interest in pocket billiards, American style!

Mmmm.....The Presidential Cue. I never wished to be a cue maker until this moment JAM. That would be the nuts!

Brian in VA

P.S. Give my best to your other half.

 

[JAM]

Loyal sold me some parts for an old Brunswick back in the 80's. And he played Fair 3 Cushion Billiaards... we played next door at the pool hall in Clay Center. We had a lot of spectators ....... his loyal fans. We split the first 2 games and everyone wanted to see a rubber match, which I barely won. He was a great guy. He was known all over ....... had a big write-up in the topeka paper..... that's how I found out about him.

He and his wife had taken me to lunch and shown me around the warehouse earlier. He laughed and told me he might not have been so hospitable if he'd know I was going to beat him! LOL

That's a cool story. Thanks for sharing that!

 

[JAM]

Mmmm.....The Presidential Cue. I never wished to be a cue maker until this moment JAM. That would be the nuts!

Brian in VA

P.S. Give my best to your other half.

Will do, Brian.

Check out Obama doing the ol' behind-the-back move! :grin-square:

 

[JAM]

Obama contemplating his next move. :thumbup:

 

[JAM]

Though I think Obama enjoys shooting hoops, maybe, just maybe, if he got his own Presidential customized pool cue, he's develop a thirst to learn more.

I can see it now at the next Presidential Dinner, with invites to Calvin Borel for winning the Kentucky Derby, along with Dennis Hatch, Rodney Morris, Johnny Archer, Corey Deuel, Shane Van Boening, Earl Strickland, and a few other American pool greats! :grin-square:

 

[JAM]

This may be the only American President in recent years who can give pocket billiards a much-needed boost.

President Obama is very athletic and enjoys all sports. Here he driving a golf cart while enjoying a friendly game of golf on his visit to Hawaii! :grin:

 

[sjb]

Nice story, JAM.

Makes me feel pretty good about my Brunswick Anniversary -- also restored with care right there in Clay Center, Kansas.

 

[JAM]

Nice story, JAM.

Makes me feel pretty good about my Brunswick Anniversary -- also restored with care right there in Clay Center, Kansas.

I know. How cool it would be to have a Brunswick Anniversary, you lucky duck!

The story gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling too!

Here's another shot of our athletic President. He's really a sportsman kind of guy.

Bowling anyone? :wink:

 

[JAM]

Obama pitching, wearing Chicago White Sox colors, of course. This President does it all.

Somebody, quick, put a pool cue in his Presidential hands! He only needs a little steering! :grin-square:

 

[JAM]

This President just might be the change agent for pool. He's a natural, I tell you.