Mike Timberlake, left, Steve Benedetto, center, and Jack Driscoll, all of Livermore, chat in Timberlake’s ice shack on the side of Brettuns Pond in Livermore on Monday. Timberlake has not put the “Brettun’s Pond Casino” out on the ice just yet, but that has not stopped him and his buddies from running the wood stove and enjoying lunch in it. “There is 7 inches of ice out there now, so I will have it out there in a few days,” Timberlake said. “If you want to catch fish, you come to my shack,” Benedetto said. “If you want to lose at poker, you come here.” “We have a good time out here, play cribbage and eat good,” Timberlake said. Moose steak, deer steak and trout are usually on the menu, according to Timberlake, who put in 100 days fishing over ice last season. All three worked at International Paper in Jay before the strike in 1987. Timberlake retired six years ago after a 45-year career at the paper mill. He and his brother built the ice shack. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Mike Timberlake of Livermore is waiting for a couple more cold nights before putting his ice shack on Brettun’s Pond in Livermore, but that hasn’t stopped him from hosting friends and family inside Brettun’s Pond Casino. Timberlake said he had 16 people visit Sunday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Mike Timberlake, left, Steve Benedetto, center, and Jack Driscoll, all of Livermore, chat in Timberlake’s ice shack on the side of Brettuns Pond in Livermore on Monday. Timberlake has not put Brettun’s Pond Casino on the ice yet, but that hasn’t stopped him and his buddies from running the wood stove and having lunch there. “There is 7 inches of ice out there now, so I will have it out there in a few days,” Timberlake said. “If you want to catch fish, you come to my shack; if you want to lose at poker, you come here,” Benedetto said. “We have a good time out here, play cribbage and eat good,” Timberlake said. Moose steak, deer steak and trout are usually on the menu, according to Timberlake, who spent 100 days fishing over ice last season. All three worked at International Paper in Jay before the strike in 1987. Timberlake retired six years ago after a 45-year career at the paper mill. He and his brother built the ice shack. He and his brother built the ice shack.  (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

“If you want to catch fish, you come to my shack,” said Steve Benedetto. “If you want to lose at poker, you come here,” Benedetto said about his on-ice neighbor, Mike Timberlake’s “Brettun’s Pond Casino.” (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

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