Greater St. Louis Bridge News

News from Greater St. Louis Unit 143

Editor:  Sheryl Finkenstadt, St. Louis MO   sheryl@finkenstadt.com

Overheard at the table:

“Free Bid — all of them, once you pay your entry fee.“

“If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked and drycleaners depressed?”

“I didn't say it was your fault. I said I was going to blame you.”  

APRIL FOOL!    [grin]

Suzi Shymanski-Moore again President. Soon after her resignation, Suzi said that she wished to rescind her resignation from the Board of Directors. At the February 11 Board meeting, a majority of the Board of Directors accepted her rescission. Many thanks to Donna Pedrotti for her work during the month she was Acting President.

Mixed Pairs champs – again! Tom Kniest and Karen Walker won the Rockwell Mixed Pairs three years ago at the Dallas Spring Nationals. After the first two qualifying sessions at the 2009 Spring Nationals in Houston, the pair was happy to qualify – but they were 88^th in a field of 130. That was a lot of distance to make up -- but our conquering duo met the challenge. A 57% game in the afternoon session brought them to 29^th. A spectacular 66.5% game in the evening earned them first place, about a third of a board above their nearest contender. Kudos to Tom and Karen!

Board Renames Player of the Year Award.   At the March meeting of the Board of Directors, the Unit’s most prestigious award was renamed in honor of the late Ed Schultz. It will now be known as the “Ed Schultz Unit Champion Award.”  Along with the name change, the Unit will add a traveling trophy, funded by an anonymous donor.

TOURNAMENT WINNERS

Winter District 8 StaC week. Unit 143  had five players on the District 8 list of top ten point winners:  Tom Oppenheimer (3^rd), Jack Bryant (4^th), En Xie (5^th), Denny O'Connor (6^th) and Linda Lubeck (8^th).

Saluki Swiss was kind to these Unit 143 players who finished first in their flights:

 Saturday, February 7:

Flt  A: Jacqueline Sincoff and Sheldon Margulis, playing with Leonard Gross and Hugh Williams (Carbondale IL)

Flt B: James Nunn, Carol Hamilton, Jerome Shen & John Antognoli, who were also 2^nd in A.

Flt. C: Harvey Laux, playing with  Raymond Ford & Beverly Butler (Highland IL) and Bob Biarkis (Glen Carbon IL). They were also 2^nd in B.

 Sunday Feb 8:  Nancy Popkin, Milton Zlatic, Alan Popkin & Tom Oppenheimer.

Senior Pairs Game -- Feb 23, held at Bridgehaven. Directed by Jim Hammond, twelve pairs competed in this ACBL-wide event. The winners were Brad Stevens & Rod Van Wyk (Flt A) and Harvey Laux & Bobby Riggs (Flt B & C).

199er Championship -- March 7, 2009. A total of 50 tables entered this sectionally-rated (silver MPs) event. The next 199er championship will be held on September 26, 2009. /Winners were:

Morning Flt A & B (34 tables):  Sandra & Marvin Meinz

Morning Flt C: Robert & Marlo Niehaus

Afternoon Flt ABC:  Mark Ziegelman - Karen Pahuski

Club Corner

“Necessity is the father of invention.” After playing in his first national tournament in March 2007 in St. Louis, Luke Lucas (left) was inspired to become more involved with bridge. With a serious lack of opportunities to learn and play in his local area of Festus MO, Luke decided to offer bridge instruction in Jefferson County, which has led to the creation of two new bridge clubs.

The saga:

Luke passed the ACBL Directors’ Exam on his first try in July 2007.

In August he obtained his teaching certificate for Easy Bridge. With workbooks supplied by Unit 143, all instruction has been free with the express goal of bringing Duplicate Bridge to the Jefferson County area, and to promote growth of Unit 143 and participation in ACBL-sanctioned events in the St. Louis metro area and beyond.

Carl Clyne (right) joined Luke in September 2007 to assist with the Easy Bridge instruction. The first classes were held in Festus in the fall of 2007.

The Twin City Bridge Club (TCBC) began 2/15/2008 at the libraries in Crystal City and Barnhart MO. The two groups were combined into one and currently meet on Fridays from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Jefferson County Library's Windsor Branch in Barnhart MO.

Two levels of bridge instruction are now offered: novice and intermediate. The novice level is being conducted at the Festus YMCA and runs on eight-week cycles. The first class there, three tables, was just graduated, and the next class will begin soon. The intermediate level is held at the Windsor Library prior to the regular club game. All instruction continues to be free.

Credit and thanks are due to the Jefferson County Library and Festus YMCA for providing the playing facilities without charge as a community service. Hospitality is the finest and is provided for by the free will support of the student and club membership.

With the first graduated class at the Festus YMCA, there now are two newcomer games per week – the one on Friday and also one on Monday. The current sanction is Newcomer 0-20 masterpoints. Luke Lucas is the club owner/manager/director and Carl Clyne is the assistant manager/co-director. The masterpoint level at the club is increasing weekly and they will soon have to apply for a higher-level sanction.

Unit Membership grows

Total members =1,074

215   Rookie

115   Junior Master

126   Club master

108   Sectional master

114   Regional master

  60    NABC Master

  65    LM

118    Bronze LM

105    Silver LM

  30    Gold LM

  11    Diamond LM

   5     Emerald LM

   2     Platinum LM

   0     Grand LM

Advances in Rank  (as of March 3, 2009)

Upcoming Tournaments

May 15-17, 2009 -- Sectional in St. Charles

May 19-25 -- Illini Regional in Champaign IL

August 17-23, 2009 -- St. Louis Regional

September 26, 2009 -- 199er Championship (sectional-rated)

October 16-18, 2009 -- Sectional in St. Charles