Problem solvers

Eugene Devillier has — for an undetermined amount of years — hosted a gang of St. Mary High School buddies over for coffee each Wednesday in his Groves work shop. They dicuss this and that then tell everybody how things ought to be.

Quick Quote: “We solve all the world’s problems,” John Ray Meyer.

Fast fact: A popcorn machine makes the obligatory snack to go with coffee.

What makes them go: Red, plastic Folgers Coffee containers line the workshop shelves.

GROVES — When the 20-cup coffee urn is filled, the popcorn machine has the work shop smelling like a movie theater and the plastic roach (surprise!) is placed just so by the mugs, the annual Wednesday morning coffee gang is ready for action.

Retirees, who mostly know each other from St. Mary High School, gather as guests of Eugene Devillier in his Groves shop. The coffee’s ready a little after 8 a.m. and the men drink until 11, or until their wives say it’s time to come home. That’s how E. J. Dugas called it, anyhow.

That plastic roach is designed to startle newcomers, but it’s usually the same old crowd — larger or smaller, depending on doctor appointments — who gather in this inner sanctum. They drink, talk, and claim to keep fussing to a minimum.

“We solve all the world’s problems,” John Ray Meyer said.

Do they vote alike? Support the same team?