District 8 President's Report
District 8 President's ReportI hope the summer months are being enjoyed by all. With high temperatures and humidity, there is no better way to spend our time than at the bridge table in air conditioning, right? Thank goodness for those very hot days and nights!
The Nationals in Washington DC are just ending as I write this message. Special congratulations go to our four young men from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who won the 2016 Collegiate Bridge Bowl Championship -- Peter Yeh, Yewen Fan, Ziyang Liu and Brad Sevcik.
Our four Grand National teams made it to the second day of the national GNT finals in DC. Congratulations to them for winning the right to represent District 8. Championship Flight -- Tom Kniest, Ron Ashbacher, Jonathan Weinstein and Kenny Bland. Flight A -- Lucille and David Jenkins, Meyer Abarbanel and Richard Whitsitt. Flight B -- Terry Goodykoontz, John, Brian and Melissa Maloney. Flight C -- Wes Seitz, Robert Shoop, Bill Strauss and Larry Ziegler.
Mark your calendars now for the District finals of the 2017 Grand National Teams the weekend of May 6-7. Get your teams together. You could be the next District 8 GNT representatives playing next summer in Toronto. It would be great to have a big turnout for this grassroots event in May. We are still in the planning stage as to where it will be held. Any suggestions? Let me know.
Speaking of grassroots, District 8 was awarded $4627 in 2016, funds generated from local clubs holding Grassroots Fund Games in May of 2015. This money helped cover expenses of the GNT qualifiers who represented District 8 in DC. It will also help offset expenses for qualifiers for the North American Pair finals coming in March 2017 in Kansas City.
Which, of course leads me to my favorite grassroots event, the North American Pairs. Clubs have been holding club qualifying sessions through June, July and August. Anyone who qualifies at the club level can play in the District 8 Finals on Sunday, November 13 in Champaign IL. Club managers and directors can answer any questions you may have regarding this fun event. Mark your calendars today!!! You could be heading to Kansas City in March.
With regret, I have to announce that our awesome Sectional-at-Clubs coordinator Scott Davis has had to give up his position. He has done a great job for the last five or so years and we will miss him very much. We are looking for someone to replace him. He assures me that he has everything organized and it will be a “piece of cake” for someone to take it over. So … if you want to volunteer, let me know.
The StaC week this fall is scheduled for October 31 through November 6.
Congrats to our new Board of Governors representatives from District 8 -- Neil Whittle, Liz Zalar and Gary Chaney.
Hope to see you at the St. Louis Regional, which is right around the corner -- August 15 through 21. The District 8 Board of Directors will be meeting on Saturday, August 20. If you have any input for this great group of volunteers, please contact us. You'll find a full list of Board members and email addresses on the front page of this issue.
Best wishes and good luck at the table.
If you have questions or suggestions about District 8 Board activities or other bridge matters, please contact me at martha@marthaleary.com .