President's Report

    by Bob Carteaux, Fort Wayne IN
          President, District 8 Board of Directors

This is my first letter for the members of District 8. I want to thank my fellow directors on the District 8 Board for nominating me as your president for 2007. I will do my best to serve our district. If you have any suggestions on how we can do a better job, do not hesitate to let me or any of our board members know. We are always looking for ideas on how to improve our job, especially in regards to how we can recruit new members.

As many of you know, the average age of ACBL members is around 67 to 68 years old. It is very difficult to get our young players interested in bridge. Kids today don't play cards like we did when we were young. Today, they have televisions, computers, video games, cell phones with audio and video, I-Pods, CD players ... not to mention that there are more than seventeen different sports they can play in junior and senior high school. This just means we have to work harder if we want some of their time.

I personally think our best potential source of new players is adults who have their children raised. They're settled in their jobs and they have the time, talent and money to play this wonderful game we call bridge.

Please contact me by email at dbcarte@verizon.net with your ideas on how we can attract more people to this great game. I encourage you to also share your suggestions with your Unit representatives on the District 8 Board. You'll find all Board members' names, photos and contact information by clicking the "District Board" link on our District 8 home page: http://district8acbl.com 

I look forward to hearing from you.