December 19, 2002
Daily Hampshire Gazette
Avid golfer’s (board) game takes off
Easthampton company forms to build, market high-end woodcraft
By Nicole Sequino, Staff Writer
EASTHAMPTON – Tow truck driver Stefan Barry of Greenfield read magazines and books while he waited for tow calls, but even that didn’t kill enough time.
Barry, an avid golfer, began developing an 18-hole golf game out of dice and cardboard to pass the time with his co-workers.
Before long, Barry was fashioning the games out of leftover cherry wood in his basement as gifts for family and friends.
Today, Barry’s “Box of Golf” has evolved into a major business enterprise at 150 Pleasant St. in Easthampton. The hand-crafted game attracts retail stores like Laurel Mountain Gift Baskets in Eastworks and Collectibles & Cards at the Holyoke Mall, and golf outlets that include tournaments and pro shops.
Businessman Robert A. Labrie entered a 20-year contract with Barry in July to produce, market and sell the game. The company opened in the city last month, and sells a basic version for $99 and a deluxe version for $179.
“It was a total chance encounter,” said Barry, 31, of his first meeting with Labrie. “Bob saw someone else making the board game for me at a woodshop, and we got to talking.”
Labrie helped develop the game into a “work of art,” commissioning area artists to design the game’s box cover and boards.
“At first, the game had a cartoony look to it,” and Labrie, of Southampton, owner of Labrie Trucking in Easthampton. “With better quality art, I think we now have a product that’s much more desirable than it was.”
On the cover, artist David M. Bowers depicted 1800s-era golfers using hickory-shafted clubs. Labrie, who keeps the original oil painting in his living room, expects to sell prints of the painting in late January.
Another artist, Greg LaFever, designed each of the 18 hole portraits on the game boards, said Labrie. Box of Golf also comes with golf tees, dice, colored glass gems players get for winning a hole and instructions.
Labrie employs 11 people at the Easthampton office, including woodworkers like Ken Porter, who carve, sand and gloss each piece of the cherry wood and other hardwoods used to make the games. The wood comes from Berkshire Hardwoods in Chesterfield and Labrie’s 650-acre farm in Townsend, VT.
Lately, the orders have poured in, said Labrie. The biggest came recently from the golf tournament company Peter Jacobsen Productions, which requested from 140 to 200 board games for its 2003 CVS/Pharmacy Charity Classic in June.
“I would have never expected that,” said Labrie, who is still negotiating the deal. “It shows me that we have a special product.”
In addition, approximately 50 pro golf shops in New York and New Jersey also carry the game, Labrie said. More information is available on-line at www.boxofgolf.com, or by calling 527-0970.
Eventually, Labrie hopes to target golf meccas like Florida, and countries like Japan, where golf is a major pastime. He wants to expand the game to offer famous golf courses, such as The Country Club in Brookline, for the game’s deluxe version.
“We’ve just scratched the surface,” said Labrie. “I think the appeal will be that you can sit down with family and friends…and interact with each other in a fun way. You can’t do that with a video game.”
Nicole Sequino can be reached at nsequino@gazettenet.com
