The Brotherhood Dartball League met on Monday evening for its annual end-of-year banquet.

This year 170 men between the ages of 16 and 80 met for a time of fellowship and camaraderie in the basement of the Alden Redeemer Lutheran Church to have some laughs, sing a song, offer prayers, have a short business meeting — and of course, enjoy a few friendly games of dartball.

Nordine Knutson, of Emmons, has been playing for well over half his life and he says he enjoys the fellowship the game brings.

“I have been playing for about 50 years now,” said Knutson. “It is something that even old people can play.”

Young or old, it definitely did not matter as men from all over the area get together every November through March to play the game that was invented back in 1924 by the APEX Corporation.

Al Krueger, the league’s treasurer for almost a quarter of a century said the Brotherhood Dartball League has been in existence since 1965 and offered a peek at the books.

“See here,” Krueger said, “the league started off by having an annual oyster stew supper every year.”

The league continues to have its annual banquet, but the oyster stew has been replaced by a meal of ham and beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn and, of course, no meal would be complete without a good variety of desserts.

As for the game itself, each of the 14 teams that participate are made up nine players each.

Dartball is played with larger darts that are tossed at a board from 15 feet away.

The board is approximately four feet by four feet in size and resembles a baseball diamond.

The terminology used is the same as in baseball with the object to gather points by advancing around the bases to outscore the opposing team.

Colin Wittmer, a 24-year-old from Conger, has played for two years and his team landed in fifth place this year.

“It is a real fun time to come and play,” Wittmer said. “I had never even heard about the game until I was invited to join.”

Wittmer is one of a dozen of the younger generation that participates in the league.

“We have a young man that plays who is a junior in high school,” Krueger said. “Some of these guys can really throw the darts well.”

Awards given out on Monday night consisted of those that were in the top 10 for their batting (throwing average) and to the top six teams in the league.

This year’s top team was from Ascension Lutheran in Albert Lea with the second place team being fom Lunder-Round Prairie.

“Every team loves to come and try to beat Ascension,” Knutson said. “They always have such strong team.”

Third place went to the men from Crossroads Evangelical Free in Albert Lea who went up against the fourth-place finishers from Mansfield in Monday nights’ playoff competition.

Rounding off the field in fifth place was the Pickerel Lake team, which faced the Trinity Church team in the first round of the playoffs.

As the men play each week they raise money by chipping into a fund a dime a time when their dart goes outside the line on the board.

The dimes really add up over the course of five months. This year more than $700 was given to local charities such as the food bank and the Salvation Army.

As the night ended, Ascension came out on top in the playoff round with the men of Crossroads coming in with second place.