Blueberry Hill – The Joe Edwards Interview

The Blueberry Hill bar is situated in the ‘Delmar Loop’, a thriving boulevard full of bars, restaurants, theatres, etc, and Delmar Boulevard is designated “One of the Ten Great Streets in America” by the American Planning Association. It is also home to the Blueberry Hill Open, the longest-running dart tournament in the United States, having started back in 1973.

Those of you who have read Parts I & II will recall my reports on the 50th-anniversary event and the history and nostalgia of the competition itself

From humble beginnings, the small bar has expanded to take up a whole city block, with a full basement that hosts regular music concerts (and used to hold major darts events and National Championships). It is also regarded as one of the finest eateries in St Louis, with an extensive menu (including local specialties, like toasted ravioli and gooey butter cake – yummy!)

I recently had the opportunity to talk to the owner of Blueberry Hill (and most of the Delmar Loop!), Joe Edwards, and find out a little more about the bar and the tournament.

SB: So, how did the bar come to be, Joe?

JE: Back in the early 1970s, Delmar had been in great decline, with many empty and run-down buildings, and there was a diminishing sense of community in the neighbourhood. I’d always been interested in urban revitalisation, and the opportunity arose to rent space in an old building. A bar seemed to be a perfect starting point, although obviously, I had no idea how things would develop. So, on September 8, 1972 – after a lot of construction, expense, and headaches – I finally opened ‘Blueberry Hill”.

SB: And why the name ‘Blueberry Hill’?

JE: As a big fan of music and culture, I wanted a name that would reflect the era, and ‘Blueberry Hill’ (a massive hit for Fats Domino in 1956) was the first name that sprung to mind. Then I toyed with a few other names. I suppose it was the lyric “I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill” that led me to go with my initial choice.

SB: That makes perfect sense. The bar now has a collection of pop, rock, and TV memorabilia second to none, which totally fits in with the name. That was intentional, I take it?

JE: Absolutely. As I said, being a fan of the music and pop culture was the inspiration, and having a personal collection of some 30,000 45 rpm records, I wanted to place a major emphasis on music, and I would constantly rotate my collection on the jukebox.

That led to me accumulating all the pop culture memorabilia I could muster, and the whole place has continued to grow since then. We now also have a digital jukebox, but the original music collection is still the main attraction.

SB: So where does darts fit in to all this?

JE: This is a strange one! The bar had only been open a day or two, when a friend of mine, Ed Schafer, came in, and asked if I would be interested in putting up a dartboard. He had one he could lend me. I said, “thanks, but no thanks”, as I didn’t really know much about the sport in those days. Well, over the next few days, I was surprised to learn that we had a number of customers coming in to see if we had a dartboard.

Then, Ed returned, and again asked if I was interested in putting up a board. Having seen the number of individuals who were supposedly interested in darts, I agreed. It turned out that it was all a ploy by Ed, as he’d been sending everyone in to ask if we had a board! Of course, back then, I had no idea just what effect it would have on everyone. Now we have two rooms full of dartboards, a nationally-ranked tournament, and a very popular in-house darts league.

SB: How did the tournaments come to be?

JE: I can’t remember exactly when it was, but fairly soon after we had opened, I decided to hold a dart tournament. It was an open singles played on the one board, and we had a small handful of people competing for a prize of five silver dollars! The funny thing is that I had no idea how brackets worked, and I really screwed it up! Some of the players warned me that I had messed up, and that I would have three players in the final. I laughed it off, but sure enough, there were three players in the final! At least I learned from that…

SB: But that wasn’t the actual ‘Blueberry Hill Open’, was it?
JE: No. That was first held in February 1973. We were now up to two dartboards, and again, the only event was an open singles. First prize was a whopping $25 (a decent sum for those times), and it was won by a local man, John Reichwein. As you know, John went on to win the singles a further four times. You never got to meet John, did you?

SB: Sadly, no. He passed away in 1987, the year before I first came over here. It is one of my big regrets in darts. I did get to visit his ashes in the mausoleum at Valhalla Cemetery a few years ago. I have heard a lot of stories about him!
JE: I’m sure you have! He was the man who “taught St. Louis to play darts”! As you probably know, he also contributed a number of articles to the national darts magazine, ‘Bull’s-Eye News’.

SB: Yes, I have read those. So, we know John was a legend in darts. What about you? Did you ever play?

JE: Yes I did. I became a very keen darter, and used to love playing. Unfortunately, as time went on, life started to get in the way. I still love the game, and think the atmosphere and camaraderie is amazing. There is such a great sense of community, even with the cut and thrust of competition.

SB: Fifty years on, did you ever imagine you’d still be hosting the tournament?

JE: In the early years, I never really gave it any thought; I just wanted people to enjoy playing darts. It was only once it became established, and the number of events started to grow, that I really began to think, “Hey, I want to keep this going!”

SB: You didn’t even let the Covid-19 pandemic get in the way, did you?
JE: I suppose we were lucky in a way, that we weren’t affected as badly in this area as in other areas of the country. We obviously had to scale it down a lot, and abide by all the restrictions, but I was determined not to miss a year – and still keep it safe for everyone.

SB: For a couple of years, the tournament was World-Ranked by the PDC. I thought that was great, but you were forced to change the singles format to 501 instead of the traditional 301.
JE: Yes, it was great to receive the ranking, but I felt it did take away from the tradition of the tournament. It is still one of the only US tournaments to keep the 301 double-in, double-out singles, but for me, that’s one of the things that makes the tournament what it is. I hope you agree!

SB: Yes I do! Even without the World-Ranking, you’ve had many of the top players competing here.
JE: That’s right. Players like John Part, Paul Lim, Gary Mawson, the late K.C. Mullaney, Lori Verrier, Connie Sroka, Stacy Bromberg, and of course yourself! Some have won, some haven’t, and a lot of that’s because 301 is a great leveller.

SB: Well, we just come here to get our photo on the wall!
JE: I just wanted players to have a lasting reminder of their achievements. What better way is there of celebrating a singles win than getting your photo on Blueberry Hill’s “Wall of Fame”? Of course, we’ve had to reduce the size of the photos because there are so many now, but it is definitely something that will continue in perpetuity.

SB: Even though they didn’t compete in the open, you’ve had a couple of other household names here, haven’t you?
JE: Yes, both Barry Twomlow and John Lowe have given exhibitions here. Two great players, and even greater guys.

SB: We mentioned that the number of events has grown over the years, but until 1990, you only had an “open” singles, and not one for the women. Why?

JE: Call me old-fashioned, but I always believed in equality. There isn’t any reason why men SHOULD be better at darts than women, plus it’s nice to only have ONE champion. However, I suppose we had to move with the times, and the women had been pushing for an event of their own. Now TWO players get their photo taken!

SB: Keeping with the women, let’s talk about another rarity in darts; every day at the Blueberry Hill Open starts with Kate Smith singing the Star-Spangled Banner!
JE: Again, I’m old fashioned! I think it’s a great thing for all sports to start with the National Anthem, and I don’t see why darts should be any different to baseball or soccer. There are many recordings from which to choose, and I thought that Kate Smith would be as good as any.

SB: Just to finish off, let’s talk about something else that Blueberry Hill is known for – music.
JE: Keeping in line with the pop culture thing, I always loved live music, so it became a big part of the bar. The great Chuck Berry was a dear friend, and a St. Louis local, and he played here regularly, over 200 times! We’ve had many other top names here, including Alanis Morissette, John Legend, Nelly, and Ed Sheeran. It’s great being a top venue for both darts AND music!

SB: Thank you so much for your time, Joe, and it’s been great to talk to you again after all these years. Here’s to the next fifty years!

—–ENDS—–

The above piece is the extension to that which appeared in DW 581 after Steve had the opportunity to talk to the owner of Blueberry Hill (and most of the Delmar Loop), Joe Edwards, and find out a little more about the bar and the tournament and its remarkable history.

It is effectively Part III of our pieces based on Blueberry Hill’s 50th anniversary. Catch a taster in Darts World Extra 6 or Steve’s extensive feature on the history of the event, and its 2022 hosting.

—–ENDS—–

Steve Brown is a former WDF World No. 1 and PDC No.4

Images: Steve Brown and Joe Edwards (Blueberry Hill)

Grab a 50th Anniversary Darts World package 581 here or the current print Issue 584 here :