Ten years on, a trio of dedicated pool-playing bus operators are still making good on a charitable tribute in honour of their late friend Edward “Sea Weed” Woods.

“He was a true friend, very genuine, and he loved pool — this is just our way of remembering him,” said Calix Smith, president of the Progressive Pool Committee.

Mr Woods, a founding member of the group, lost his life to cancer in 2006. Each year since, his friends have been donating in his memory to the cancer charity Pals.

A decade on, their donations are approaching $20,000, with the group’s latest cheque of $2,000 — representing 4,000 games of pool.

Many thousands more have been played out on the table that has graced a lounge at the Public Transportation headquarters since Mr Woods chipped in to buy it after the others fell short on cash. Not only the Committee members put in 50 cents a game: many bus drivers enjoy shooting pool during their breaks. According to Mr Smith, the drivers have built up a team of their own that is doing “pretty well” against the Bermuda Pool Association.

“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed that we win it,” he added.

Cancer is an all too common fact of life across the community: Alfred Emery, the Committee’s vice-president, has Pals to thank for helping his mother travel overseas when she needed treatment. Many of their colleagues have “come down with the same situation”, Mr Smith said.

Mr Woods’s friends made sure he got his money back on the pool table purchase within a year, and it has paid off ever since.

Nobody recalls how he came by the nickname “Sea Weed” — as with many Bermudian names, “somebody said it to him, and it just stuck”, Mr Smith said.

“He was a quiet man, very sound, and a friend’s friend.”

Grateful for their support, Pals approached The Royal Gazette to celebrate their contribution. To add to the cause, see the charity’s website at www.pals.bm