Unit Board Election

Mary Jo Sergent (Rockford,) Susan Mackinney (Lake-in-the-Hills,) John Pree (St. Charles,) and Gene Condon (Rockford,) have been named as candidates to the Unit 239 Board of Directors by a Board nominating committee chaired by Jan Condon. All four are incumbents already serving on the Board, and all four are running for two-year terms beginning on July 1, 2007.

Any Unit member in good standing is invited to run for the Board alongside these candidates. Simply send a petition asking to become a candidate, supported by the signatures of ten Unit members in good standing, to: Dennis Ryan, Unit 239 Secretary, 118 Glenview Court, Janesville WI, 53548.

If no petitions are received, the nominating committee's slate will be presumed elected at the annual Unit meeting in DeKalb on April 21. If one or more petitions are received, details of a contested election will be announced at that same annual Unit meeting.

Annual Meeting and Free Membership Game -- April 21

Unit 239's annual meeting, awards ceremony and free membership game is slated for the First United Methodist Church in DeKalb on Saturday, April 21. The Church is located at Fourth and Oak Streets. The free brunch begins at 11:30 a.m., followed by a short business meeting and awards ceremony at 12:30, followed by the bridge game. Those in attendance will be given one non-transferable free play at the Rockin' Rockford Regional, June 18 - 24.

The entire event is free of charge to all members in good standing of Unit 239. Non-members will be charged $7.

Directions: From Rockford and northwest: take I-39 south to I-88, I-88 East to Annie Glidden Rd., Annie Glidden Rd. north to Hwy. 38, Hwy. 38 east to Hwy. 23, and Hwy. 23 north to the Church at Oak St (Hwy. 38 becomes Fourth St. in DeKalb.) From Elgin and northeast: take Hwy. 64 west to Hwy. 23, Hwy 23 (Fourth St.) south to Oak St. From Aurora and southeast: Take I-88 to Peace Rd., Peace Rd. north to Hwy. 38, Hwy. 38 west to Hwy. 23 (Fourth St.,) and Hwy. 23 north to Oak St. Important note: Toll booths at the I-88 exits at Annie Glidden Rd. and at Peace Rd. require tolls with the exact change of 55 cents.

Upcoming Area Tournaments

District 13 Spring Regional, Grand Geneva Resort and Spa, Lake Geneva WI -- April 23-29.

Rockin' Rockford Regional, Clock Tower Resort, 7801 East State St., Rockford -- June 18-24.

299'er Elgin Silver Sectional, Hemmens Cultural Center, 45 Symphony Way, Elgin -- August 3-5.

Rockford Classic Sectional, Clock Tower Resort, 7801 East State St., Rockford -- September 7-9.

Turkey Bowl Sectional, Prisco Community Center, Rte. 31 and Illinois Ave., Aurora -- November 23-25.

New Unit Appointments

Two new Unit appointments were announced last week by Unit president Karl Dencker (Lake-in-the-Hills). Dee Witte (Roscoe) has been appointed Unit Secretary, beginning July 1. She will be replacing Dennis Ryan (Janesville WI), who has served for the past three years. (Note that the Unit Secretary is a presidential appointment and therefore a non-voting member of the Unit Board.) Roger Dieringer (Elgin) has been appointed to replace Dennis Ryan as Unit columnist and correspondent to the Advocate, also effective July 1.

Paul Stunkel: Life Master

"I play bridge for two reasons: first, it keeps my brain functioning; and second, at least at the club level, I am part of a warm and genuine community there. Bridge clubs-especially small games-are pleasant places to be."

So avows Paul Stunkel (Crystal Lake,) one of Unit 239's latest Life Masters. Paul made LM in October at the Lake Geneva fall regional, playing in an open pairs game with John Novak (Algonquin.) "I had all my colors. Just any ol' points would do," he laughs.

Born and raised in Chicago, Paul grew up in Magnolia, Illinois, near Peoria. He attended Illinois State University in Normal, where he earned his B. A. degree, and then went on to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is the founding pastor of Joy Community Presbyterian Church in Lake-in-the-Hills, where he has lived for the past 10 years. He has also served as head of staff at the United Presbyterian Church of Cuyahoga Falls in Ohio, and at the Laboratory Presbyterian Church in Washington PA.

His wife Karen is also a player in our Unit. They have a son Tim, who works for Bosh Tools in Cleveland OH; a daughter Christy (the mother of their two grandchildren,) who is Director of Christian Education at the Presbyterian Church in Barbton OH; a daughter Joy, a nurse for Sherman Health System in Elgin; and a son Josh, a student at Columbia University in Chicago. All play bridge on various levels, "so I did my job as a parent," asserts Paul.

Paul began bridge at age 13. "My minister and his wife played, and they taught me. But I only took up duplicate 10 years ago when I moved here. I saw in the newspaper that there was 'this bridge game,' so I just went out and did it. I showed up at Ray and Diane Du Shane's game in Crystal Lake. They paired me with Bob Heuel of Lake-in-the-Hills. We won! I didn't know anything-I was far too stupid to realize that that wasn't the way it was supposed to be."

The Changing Scene . . .

New Junior Masters: Paul Brown, Rockford; Ellen McCarville, Rockford; Susan Zagnoni, Rockford.

New Club Masters: Carole Kaplan, Rockford; John Schoonover, Cherry Valley.

New Sectional Masters: Peggy Wallace, Dixon.

New Regional Masters: Kenneth Prouty, Geneva.

New Bronze Life Masters: Cecilia LeTourneau, Batavia.