From our Unit President

by Mary Stuart, Urbana IL

No one could have anticipated the Covid pandemic or the challenges it would pose for us in 2020, but through all the chaos and uncertainty, our bridge community has remained vigorous and resolute in support of the game. I am honored to be writing to you as your incoming president for Unit 208. (See below for a list of our other officers and Area Representatives.)

Our first challenge was how to recreate the club games, as far as possible, in the virtual environment. Thanks to the dedicated staff at ACBL, BBO, and The Common Game, we have a robust program of virtual club games. A group of unit 208 club managers and directors formed a consortium in March to pool all interested clubs in the unit. Shortly thereafter we were offering open and limited games, as well as a full complement of free online instructional services and resources.

Our consortium has expanded to include clubs in Southern Illinois, and we are now the umbrella for 19 individual clubs, with a mailing list of more than 650 players. All proceeds from the games are returned to the home clubs of the individual players.

We don’t know when clubs will be able to reopen safely, but all in-person events are cancelled through 2020. We do know that online bridge is here to stay, and our virtual club games will most likely continue in some fashion after re-opening. But we all miss face-to-face play and look forward to resuming in the future.

In the meantime, since we have no tournaments to run, we have the opportunity to tackle some questions that in a normal year might get shifted to the back burner. What do we want from Unit 208? Are there services not currently offered by the unit that we should be considering? As we revamp the web site, what information and features would make the unit web site useful to you?

One task for the coming year is to update our bylaws and standing rules. If anyone is interested in helping with this task, please contact me or your area rep.

If nothing else, it is easier to hold meetings in the virtual world than it was in person. The board will be meeting on Zoom, and we can also hold a Zoom meeting for the general membership. I would like to hold a “listening” meeting for the unit membership in September to hear your ideas and suggestions.

Our Unit Board and officers are eager to support the bridge community of Central Illinois. Let us hear from you.

See you at the tables!

   -- Mary   m-stuart@illinois.edu

2020 Unit 208 officers and Board members

President:  Mary Stuart, Urbana
Vice President:  Lori Moore, Bloomington
Secretary:  Ann Caparros, Springfield
Treasurer:  Eunice Patton, Bloomington
Intermediate/Novice Coordinator:  Linda Sloat, Champaign

Area Reps and alternates:

Bloomington -- Ray Dostal, Larry Ziegler
Champaign -- Wes Seitz, Linda Sloat
Charleston -- Mark Daily, Dan Drake
Decatur -- Mike Heneghan, Ralph Witmer
Galesburg -- Judy Greek, Ron Greek
Peoria -- Bill Bulfer, Maggie Martino
Springfield -- Peter Holm, Rhonda Berberet

♣ Central & Southern Illinois Virtual Bridge Club

Thank you to everyone who has been playing in our online virtual club. We are now offering eight games a week on Bridgebase.com . Here's the full schedule:
 

Open Pair Games	Limited Pair Games
Mondays:      12:10 pm     Wednesdays:  6:50 pm     Thursdays:     6:50 pm     Saturdays:   12:10 pm     Sundays:        6:50 pm      Open Pairs: 1st, 3rd & 5th Sundays      Mentor/Mentee Pairs: 2nd & 4th Sundays            ♣ Game results	Mondays (199er):     11:50 am   Tuesdays (499er):       6:50 pm   Thursdays (299er):   12:10 pm        ♣ Game results

See our help file file for details, schedule updates and tips for playing online.

All games are 18 boards (about two hours) and award ACBL masterpoints at 150% of full club rating. Every time you play, almost $4 of your $5 entry fee will go to your local club to help meet expenses until they can reopen.

Your local club owners and managers are directing the games and working behind the scenes to make these opportunities available. They are all volunteers who are not being paid to run the games. Be sure to say thanks the next time you see them (soon we hope!).

Need more help to start playing online?  See the Quick Start guide in this issue for information on how to join and play on Bridgebase.com (free).

♦ Free Lessons and Workshops

Your Virtual Club and area bridge teachers are also offering free learning opportunities while clubs are closed. To attend any of these weekly lessons, just click the "Join Zoom meeting" link near the start time or any time during the lesson.

  Mondays, 6:30-8:00 ------ Teaching table with Karen Walker.       Join Zoom meeting
 No BBO login required. If you want to play or kibitz on BBO instead of Zoom, log into BBO and find the kwalker table.

  Tuesdays, 11:00-12:30 --- Beginner lesson with Lori Moore.       Join Zoom meeting 

  Wednesdays, 3:00-4:30 -- Intermediate lesson with Lori Moore.  Join Zoom meeting 

  Mondays & Fridays, 10 am -- BBO training with Ann Caparros.  Join Zoom meeting