When taxi driver Willard Renelda Bean was a kid, he was such a good marble player, kids for miles around would refuse to go up against him.

His enthusiasm for marbles and Bermuda traditions, in general, makes him the perfect person to teach visitors at Elbow Beach.

The Royal Gazette recently met with Mr. Bean to learn the ins and outs of marble playing.

Although he retired from working at the Elbow Beach hotel in 1997 after 41 years of service, he is still fit as a fiddle.

In fact, this reporter had to huff and puff to keep up with the 67-year-old as he traipsed the Elbow Beach property looking for the perfect place to play marbles. This turned out to be a sandy, flat area near some golf carts.

"Most people had backyards in the old days," said Mr. Bean. "The yard would be unpaved. That would be where they would play.

"To play this game you have to know your marbles. Marbles come in three basic sizes: regular, walleye and bungie with the bungie being the biggest and regular being the smallest.

Although some people have trouble shooting with the bigger marbles, Mr. Bean was an ace marble player in his day and preferred the challenge of a walleye.

"Today, I'm not as good at shooting," said Mr. Bean flicking a marble about ten feet with his thumb. "But when I was young I use to have ice cream tubs full of marbles.

"I would go through neighbourhoods and they would tell me I couldn't play because I was too good. Kids from other neighbourhoods would challenge me."

Although marble playing may have once been one of life's simple pleasures, the game described to us was by no means simple.

To play you have to draw a circle. On one side of the circle is a line drawn in the dirt called the penalty line. Then on the other side are two lines drawn in the dirt called the links. The distance between the penalty line and the links determines the difficulty level of the game. The further apart they are, the more difficult it is to play.

To decide who goes first you "pink up" or shoot from behind the penalty line towards the links. Whoever is closest to the links goes first. The object is to shoot a marble into the ring, trying to knock others out of it. But if the marble you shoot doesn't make it out of the ring, "you're dead".

If you shoot marbles out of the ring, and your own marble makes it through the circle, you can collect the other marbles you evicted from the circle.If you shoot another person's marble into the circle from behind the penalty line, you win instantly and go home with all the marbles in the circle.

Sometimes if you were short of a marble, a "scramble" could be declared with players madly trying to scoop up all the marbles on the court.

"But the rules would be declared at the start of the game," said Mr. Bean. "The players might say 'no scrambles'. Sometimes people got mad when scrambles were called."

There were also rules about how and where you shot a marble. Sometimes the rules were relaxed a little for less experienced players.

"In my best days I could drop right on a marble," said Mr. Bean. "People use to play marbles all year round. There was a season for things, but it was something for kids to do in the yard."

He said one of the things he liked about marbles was that no one could resist playing.

"Someone's father would walk by, see us playing, and join in," he said. "The whole family would play and that was nice."

Mr.Bean grew up in the Spring Hill,Warwick area.

"There was a wonderful community spirit there, and I really regretted it whenI had to move," he said. "I even tried to buy the family home, but I couldn't in the end."Mr.Bean is an all-round sportsman.

When we saw him, he was about to go off to play in the Ross 'Blackie' Talbot golf tournament.

Mr. Bean also played soccer, cricket, and was a marathon runner. He was also a strong swimmer and a beach lifesaver.

"I started at Elbow Beach in 1956 learning carpentry in the carpenters' shop," he said. "Then I transferred to the beach because it paid more to pick up chairs and set up tables for people on the beach.

"I loved the beach and put a lot of years into it. Now I am a taxi driver. I am a person who loves to be around people.

"I love tourists. I love everybody, but I love to show people my Country. I am so proud of it. Most of the visitors come here and see all the white rooftops. Some of them are looking for really run-down places like in the United States where they have ghetto areas. It is so different from Bermuda. They think when I am doing a tour I am deliberately keeping them out of the way of seeing more run-down homes. I drive all through Somerset, Sound View Road, Bob's Valley.

"I show the people these homes and they can't believe these are the average Bermudian's homes."

He said he derives a lot of pleasure out of being a taxi driver.

"I won't do anything else at this time," he said. "I am waiting anxiously now for the tourist season to start."

And he said this Easter wouldn't be the same without a good game of marbles.

"I always do kite demonstrations on Good Friday," he said. "All my nieces and nephews come to my house to learn to make kites.

"Then we have hot cross buns. We go to Astwood Park and set up big tables up there. We have kites and marbles. It is a day for the kids. We really enjoy ourselves eating and talking. Quite a few family members come. We have a great time."

Mr.Bean was due to teach kite flying and Bermuda marbles to visitors at the Elbow Beach hotel yesterday, on Good Friday, at the beach. Those taking part were in for a treat with complimentary hot cross buns and Easter punch served.