70+% GAMES
George Laflin, Kokomo and Bill Robinson, Kokomo 70.00% January 27
Bob Hawley, Peru and Carol Mahoney, Kokomo 70.14% February 20
James and Charlotte Davis, Kokomo 70.50% March 26
Bob Hawley, Peru and Marilyn Crank, Kokomo 77.50% April 16 WOW!
Mary Hill, Kokomo and Richard Fretz, Kokomo 77.50% April 22 WOW!
Charlotte Davis, Kokomo and Carol Mahoney, Kokomo 72.40% April 30
Bob Hawley, Peru and Marilyn Crank, Kokomo 71.53% May 21
James Davis, Kokomo and David Osburn, Kokomo 70.31% May 26
Don and Rose Ferguson, Fort Wayne 75.60% June 9
Lou Nimnicht, Crown Point and Steve Watson, Munster 70.45% June 15
Ramesh Gandhi, Fort Wayne and James Henry, Fort Wayne 73.81% June 24
Leon and Pat Neuzerling, Kokomo 70.50% July 2
Teaching the game of bridge
I started being interested in teaching bridge while a student under Rose and Don Ferguson and also Norman and Ruth Stephan. I earned my teaching certification in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 18, 2005.
On August 21, 2005 IPFW contacted me to teach a beginning bridge class. I taught from October 6, 2005 to December 1, 2005 with 21 students. From February 2, 2006 to March 23, 2006 I taught beginning bridge again at IPFW with 14 students.
In 2008 I was approached for private lessons and taught 4 women advanced bridge lessons. In 2009 6 women wanted private lessons on advanced techniques and in understanding advanced conventions. There are 7 students I taught who are playing at our bridge games in Fort Wayne Indiana, Bluffton Rd.
I enjoy teaching, especially when the students say, "I got it!! In teaching bridge, I use printouts of lessons and duplicate boards, which the students enjoy.
-- Emory Jeffers
Barbara
Walczak teaches an EasyBridge class in northwest Indiana. It's fun, it's
easy, players have made many new friends and theyre learning bridge.
The EasyBridge program is based on Edith McMullin's very successful approach to teaching bridge. The beginning program provides a solid grounding in the basics of modern bridge, and gets people playing immediately!
Barbara has sincerely tried to have the class stay past the lesson and play in a duplicate game, but the players are still resisting. Any suggestions? So far, she has only been able to conduct two two-table sanctioned duplicate games.
Pictured here are some of Barbaras
beginning class. She has begun an intermediate class in July.
The
South Bend Bridge Club held a Charity Handicap Team event on June 13 to
honor the memory of Jeff Luber (left). Ten teams participated. Jeff was a
reasonably new player with less than 50 masterpoints. He also was a great asset
of our, or any, bridge club. He was an enjoyable partner and would graciously
play with anyone. He also helped out management by playing as a sub when called
in at the last minute.
He got sick at the table during a Monday game in April and passed away the following Thursday.
Our members spent a few minutes reminiscing with Jeff stories, as he was a fine wine expert, and he was a Florida Gator fan in Notre Dame country.
Jeff will be missed in South Bend and in Northern Indiana Unit 154. story contributed by Bill Searcy
Cappy Gagnon also contributed a farewell tribute to Jeff Luber the day after his death:
The South Bend Bridge Center lost one of its most colorful characters yesterday with the untimely passing of Jeff Luber. Jeff had recently gone through a number of health issues, but his sudden passing was still a shock.
Now that Jeff is playing in a better place, he will no longer have to put up with the 5-0 trump splits and finesses that never worked that he regaled us about. Jeffs legacy at the Bridge Center will always include being the man for whom no finesse has worked since 1947.
I first met Jeff eight years ago when we were both in Elaines Tuesday night lesson class. Jeffs frequent partner was Mark Golden. The two were like Abbott and Costello, with each taking turns being Abbott. They were famous for blurting out Elaine lied to us, each time one of our lesson guidelines failed (eg: If there are two honors out they will be split between the opponents; five missing trump will divide 3-2, etc.).
Jeff had a rich smokers baritone voice and some of his trademark deep-voiced quips still resonate: Aaarrgh, growled like a pirate, and Doomed, echoing a TV commercial, were two of his trademarks.
In a previous lifetime Jeff had been a sommelier. He was still an expert on wines. He was also quite knowledgeable on military history. He was known to be opinionated on certain political issues.
In the past few months, Jeff played his best bridge ever . . . . primarily because he found a great partner in Louise Tickfer. It is a great tribute to Louise that Jeff had some of his happiest moments winning in some tough fields with Louise.
St. Peter had some great laughs yesterday when Jeff talked his way in . . . to that location where all the missing trump kings are going to be onside and even deep finesses will work.
Jeff will be missed.
Congratulations to Cappy Gagnon of Notre Dame, whose name is listed in on page 27 of the July Bridge Bulletin! In the listing of Leaders in the 2009 Ace of Clubs Contests as of June 8, Cappy is ranked 6th in the 500-1000 mp category with 121 masterpoints earned at clubs only in the first five months of the year! An excellent accomplishment!
Rising in the Rankings
Junior Master: Conrad Adams, South Bend; Gloria Falcone, Schererville; Norman Filipiak, Michigan City; John Fremeau, Mishawaka; Mary Hintz, Granger; Dana Kaminsky, Fort Wayne; Samuel McInturff, Fort Wayne
Club Master: Dennis David, South Bend; James Henry, Fort Wayne; Mary Muller, Granger
Sectional Master: Claire Fitch, Fort Wayne; Patrick Oetting, Fort Wayne
Regional Master: John Kohlbecker, Munster
Bronze Life Master: Pat Valiska, Highland
Silver Life Master: Cappy Gagnon, Notre Dame
Diamond Life Master: John Chmielowiec, Michigan City
Congratulations!
Diamond
Life Master
Accolades were plentiful in recognition of John Chmielowiec of Michigan City for having become a Diamond Life Master (5000 masterpoints). Included here are excerpts from three of them:
There are a multitude of characteristics that practically all very good and expert bridge players have in common. Among them the most important are the conceptual understanding of the game of bridge, understanding the value of a cohesive partnership, and a thorough understanding of what it takes to win . . . . Having said that, I would like to congratulate you for being such a partner and for achieving the elusive rank of a Diamond Life Master !!! Wes Adamczyk
I wish to congratulate one of my favorite partners, John, for having achieved the coveted status of Diamond Life Master! For the last five years John and I have attained a reasonably consistent measure of success as a bridge partnership. Our most notable achievement occurred during the bracketed KO team championships at the Gatlinburg Regional Tournament about four years ago 52 gold points!
Bridge is a tough game you must always maintain a positive attitude, as well as absolute perseverance. John is a micromanager. He is analytical, which is a good quality for a bridge player. John points out to his partners that no two situations that occur at the table require the same solutions. You must consider the context in which it occurs. When the critical point is reached during a particular hand, we are in a better position to solve the problem.
John is also enjoyable to compete against. He greets all opponents with a smile and a friendly Hello as they approach his table. The bridge world, I am sure, is fortunate that it has a true ambassador for the game. Al Simmons
John is the complete partner. He is intelligent, resourceful, dependable, honest, has a good sense of humor, and is very comfortable to play with. I have seldom seen him become angry with his partners and he is always willing to share his knowledge with his opponents. As a director, I wish all the participants were like John.
I have played with and against John for more years than either of us wish to reveal. I have enjoyed our successes and also our failures. That to me is the true test of a good partnership. I hope that John can play bridge for many more years and accumulate another 5,000 masterpoints. Jim OConnell
Life
Master and Bronze Life Master
Anne Murphy earned her required gold points at a regional in Lake Geneva. We congratulate her for going over 500 masterpoints!
Anne says that she has been playing bridge for so long that when she played at her sorority house, they threw in one bids. Harriet Buckman, past ACBL president, was one of her first teachers in Chicago.
Cathy Mason (pictured here with Anne) considers Anne to be one of the nicest persons she knows. She is pleasant to play with, and I like her! Cathy played with Anne is an unsanctioned duplicate game some years ago once a month.
Anne was Andree Walczaks former
neighbor. She said that Anne is a lovely person and was a wonderful neighbor.
Everybody loves her because of her kindness. She is a good mother, a good wife,
and a good cook. (Good bridge player, too.)
Annual
June Series Game
Pictured here are the winners of the fourth annual June Series Game played in Calumet Township in northwest Indiana. The four best scores of the Wednesday and Saturday games during June were calculated, while playing no more than two games with the same partner within those four games. The games were handicapped so that B and C players brought more points to the partnership.
Of the 52 participants these were the highest ranked seated: John Chmielowiec (third) and Dave Bigler (fifth) standing: Chuck Schultz (sixth), Jeff Vedeges (first) and Lou Nimnicht (second) not shown: Alfred Prus (fourth). Congratulations to these six highest scorers during the Wednesday and Saturday games in June! Their excellent performance netted them additional masterpoints.
South
Bend Club News
South Bend Bridge Club held a special Saturday game, "Handicap Pairs", on the 25th of July. This game is part of the club's ongoing innovative Saturday games which have included "Handicap Swiss" and "Eight is Enough" (A players = 3 pts, B players = 2 pts, and C players = 1pt. Each team must have at least one "C" player and no team can have a total of more than eight points). The winners were Jim Feinstein and Dick Hastings (without handicap) and Bob Knoblock & Donna Bach (with handicap). Bob and Donna play in our 149er group on Monday afternoons.
Barbara Medlock recently became a Silver Life Master. She has been playing duplicate bridge for about 25 years. She and her husband, Gordon, who will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary in September, play in the South Bend Club but get away to Florida (Destin and Ft. Walton Beach) each winter. We are so proud to have both of them in our club.