For Beginners
In Colorado Springs, one volunteer has taught the beginner class for a decade
A senior news outlet profiles the mah jongg class at a lifelong learning institute, where Wednesday games and a long running beginner course keep new players arriving.
BEACON Senior News published a profile on 27 July of the mah jongg class at the PILLAR Institute for Lifelong Learning in Colorado Springs, and of the volunteer who has taught it for years.
Per the report, Sandy Halby found the game through PILLAR just over ten years ago and, after four or five years of play, was asked by the institute's executive director to lead a class. The article estimates 40 to 60 students taught since, and says PILLAR runs mah jongg games on Wednesdays.
The piece is about the American game. It opens on the arrival of the 2026 National Mah Jongg League card in the mail and the habit of laying tiles out against every hand printed on it, which the article gives as a way of learning the new year's card.
OOTT is not affiliated with PILLAR or with the outlet. The detail worth keeping is the shape of it: one taught class, one fixed weekday, and a group that keeps playing after the course ends.