Carol Mahoney, Kokomo and Bonnie Carter, Kokomo — 70.50% June 3
Camille Cooper, Kokomo and Richard Fretz, Kokomo — 70.14% June 10
Bill and Linda Odell, Sturgis, MI (49er game) — 77% June 21
Dorothy Harrell, Kokomo and Jim Davis, Kokomo — 71.41% July 20
Charlotte Davis, Kokomo and Carol Mahoney, Kokomo — 71.88% August 19
Dave Fred, Granger & Rony Adelsman, South Bend — 69.79% September 3
George Cramer, South Bend & Bill Blauvelt, South Bend (199er game) — 73.22% September 13
Bill and Linda Odell, Sturgis, MI (199er game) — 73.43% September 13
Bonnie Carter, Kokomo and Dorothy Harrell, Kokomo — 70.00% September 30
Elaine Delaney, South Bend and Don Wertheimer, South Bend — 72.69% October 7
Charlotte Davis, Kokomo and Bonnie Carter, Kokomo — 78.13% October 14
Charlotte Davis, Kokomo and Dorothy Harrell, Kokomo — 74.31% October 21
Joseph Shull, New Haven and Richard Bredemeyer, Fort Wayne — 70.24 % October 23
Donald and Rose Ferguson, Fort Wayne — 70.37% October 26
Carol Miller, Valparaiso and Donna Beach, Valparaiso (49er game) — 71.25% October 30
Mark Ford, Fort Wayne and Robert Hannah, Fort Wayne (299er game) — 71.13 % November 3
Elaine Delaney, South Bend and Jimmy Cordas, South Bend — 70.64% November 8
Elaine Delaney, South Bend and Don Wertheimer, South Bend — 70.60% November 11
Mike Slaven, Elkhart and Charles Clark, South Bend — 69.86% November 29
Richard Mao, Mishawaka and Bud Hinckley, South Bend — 72.22% November 29
Joe Chin, Highland and Tom Hallum, Mishawaka — 70.83% November 22
RISING IN THE RANKINGS
Junior Masters: Carol Miller, Valparaiso; Pamela Satek, Fremont; Jean Watson, Shipshewana; Janet Troeger, Granger
Club Masters: Glen McGeady, Long Beach; Linda Hammes, South Bend; Mary Hintz, Granger; Douglas Jordan, Dyer; Sharon Snyder, Crown Point; Richard Willson, South Bend
Sectional Masters: Martie Black, Granger; Robert Grant; Fort Wayne; Thomas O’Connell, Michigan City
Regional Masters: Robert Blauvelt, Fort Wayne; Paul Morsches, Columbia City; Wini Morsches, Columbia City; Florence Retek, South Bend
NABC Masters: Sheila Kiefer, Fort Wayne; James McChesney, Fort Wayne; Sharon Novotny, Granger; Kimberly Grant, Fort Wayne
Life Master: Joseph Kohne, Fort Wayne
Silver Life Masters: Raj Kohli, Granger; Barbara Walczak, Munster
Gold Life Master: Marian David, South Bend
As of last count, there are 600 members in Unit 154 with Silver Life Masters (87) being the largest category. Sectional Masters (50 - 100) and Club Masters (20 - 50) are close behind with 86 and 85 members, respectively.
GOLD LIFE MASTER
Becoming a Gold Life Master is a major achievement for any bridge player, but to Sara Marcus it means not just being a better bridge player, but having experienced a wonderful connection with all the members of the South Bend Bridge Club, especially her partners through the years. All of us look forward to seeing her smile as she walks through the door.
Sara was born and raised along with her sister, Sharon, in South Bend. She graduated from Adams High School and received a degree from Purdue University where she met her husband, Abe, in her freshman year. They were married in 1964 and have three children — R-Jay, Eric, and Sharna.
Sara’s bridge playing started when her childhood girlfriend’s mother taught the two ten year olds how to play the game. When she was older, Sara found duplicate bridge at the Elks and, like so many of us, was hooked. She became a Life Master at the Fort Wayne Regional Swiss Team event with her partner, Pam Keller. We congratulate Sara on a much-deserved achievement — Gold Life Master.
SILVER LIFE MASTERS
Richard Mao (right) of South Bend began playing bridge at Ohio State in 1961. His mother hated how much time bridge took from his studies and wasn’t very happy when she saw his name in the newspaper club results! After graduation he became a certified club director for several clubs and earned certification as a Charles Goren Bridge instructor. When his job brought him to South Bend in 1976, the only player who played his brand of Stone-Age Goren was Dean Duncan.
Rich Mao cut way back on bridge to concentrate on work. His new avocation became learning the bagpipes. He was a founding member of the Thistle & Heather Pipe Band. He now teaches bagpipes and plays at special events.
A couple of years ago he started back in bridge. Finding his bidding concepts completely out of date, he hooked up with Howard Piltch and Bud Hinckley, and they are on their way to great things.
Richard Scheibelhut grew up in South Bend and graduated from Central Catholic and Notre Dame with a major in accounting. He started playing bridge at home and remembered his mother’s words, “Don’t bid No Trump with a worthless doubleton.”
Dick spent 30 years as an expatriate on the East Coast working for KPMG Peat Marwick ending up as Director of Accounting & Finance. During this exile from Middle America he played three-table duplicate and found it to be exciting and challenging.
His brother, John, was instrumental in Dick’s bridge-playing career, playing with him to earn the final points for Life Master in Fargo and earning the final points for Bronze. Dick now wears the title of Silver Life Master!
BRONZE LIFE MASTERS
Grant Van Horne became a Life Master about three years ago and has now reached 500 points to give him a new status in the bridge world. Grant has been playing bridge for about 61 years and has played duplicate most of them. He comes from a bridge-playing family, and they started him playing at a young age. His mother was Mary (Grant) Van Horne. Demaris and Lowell Grant who were well-known bridge players in the Fort Wayne area were his aunt and uncle. Grant is an almost-retired attorney in Auburn, IN. He plays in Fort Wayne and also spends time in Michigan where he plays at the Petosky Bridge Club.
Dan Clark was born and grew up in Toledo, Ohio. His parents taught him to play bridge before he was nine years old, but later he found a bridge soulmate who suggested they play duplicate. The rest is history.
However, Dan’s first love was music! He sang and toured with The College Choir (Bowling State University) and appeared in operas and musicals such as Man of La Mancha and various Gilbert & Sullivan productions. He enrolled in the Peabody Conservatory and sang with Baltimore’s Lyric Opera and Symphony Orchestra.
Dan says he ate better in the restaurant business, managing a Red Lobster, a health food store, and acting as managing partner in “Dan Clark’s Deli on the Green” in Terre Haute. About this time he discovered a desire to enter the Seminary School at the university in Findlay, Ohio, where he received a Master of Divinity. He served as pastor in several locations and is now the pastor of the Community Congregational Church on Cleveland Road. He still follows his love of music by singing with the St. Mary’s Chamber Singers and the Michiana Male Chorus.
Dan and his wife, Dolores, share their lives with a daughter.
LIFE MASTERS
Joe Kohne became a Life Master at the Fort Wayne Regional. He started playing bridge with the family when he was younger. He says they played "Kohne" bridge until they started playing duplicate. He and his brother, John, who is his favorite partner, first played duplicate in 2001. When he was still a new duplicate player, Joe played in a STaC game with Chuck Feustal. They won in Fort Wayne and ranked high in the nation. Joe won 17 silver points in that one event.
Sheila Keifer became a Life Master at the Fort Wayne Regional. She had played party bridge for many years and started playing duplicate in 2002. Her two favorite partners are Jim McChesney and Lillian Armentrout. She is grateful for the quality of bridge at the Fort Wayne Bridge Club. It has helped her to raise her level of play, and she enjoyed competing in the tournament. In particular, Jim McChesney has been a major help to Sheila, and she appreciates it.
Charles Gray earned his final gold points when his team won the Fri/Sat Knockout game for their bracket at the Fort Wayne Regional. He started playing duplicate in 1967. He played a lot of bridge and directed a game in Defiance, Ohio where he lives. He quit playing in the 80's and has recently started to play again. He usually plays Precision and his favorite partner is Gary Chaney.
WINNERS AT THE MERRILLVILLE SECTIONAL
Tied for first place in the Friday evening open pairs game were (left photo) Carol Mahoney, Kokomo; Ruth Westberg, Tinley Park; Jim Angell, Munster; and Wayne Carpenter, Chesterton.
Tops in A, B and C in the Saturday afternoon open pairs game were (right photo) Wayne Carpenter, Chesterton; and Laverne Niksch, Portage.
First-place finishers in the Saturday evening open pairs game were (left photo) Jim Feinstein, South Bend; and Richard Hastings, Bristol.
Winners in the 299er games with 2.34 masterpoints were (right photo) Sharon Snyder, Crown Point and Doug Jordan, Dyer..
SOUTH BEND SWISS TEAM SCORES #1 OVER NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
On Sunday, September 26, one of the South Bend teams who participated in the Fort Wayne Regional, came up as the winning team. Team members were James Feinstein, Lena Howard, Michael Slaven and Frank Yoder. With seven rounds of seven hands, the team finished #1, scoring 171 points to the second-place finisher with 162 points.
During play, the team came up against world champions Jeff Meckstroth (ranked #1 in the world), Eddie Wold (ranked #3), Eric Rodwell (ranked #4) and many other top players. Congratulations!
OUR LOSS
We mourn the loss of a truly lovely man who spent a lot of time with the players in the 49er and 199er games.
John Fremeau, 88, passed away early in September in the Sanctuary at St. Paul’s in South Bend. He really enjoyed the game of bridge and took many classes to improve. He always had a warm “hello” and a smile for everyone. We will miss him.
THE JIM DAVIS — DICK ELLIS PARTNERSHIP
Jim Davis (left) was born in Marinette, Wisconsin. He has been a bridge club director for over 40 years. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BBA degree in marketing. His wife, Charlotte, has over 2000 masterpoints. He has 5 children, 13 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.
Dick Ellis (right) was born in West, Mississippi on January 6, 1935. He began working for General Motors Corporation in 1957 after receiving a mechanical engineering degree from Mississippi State University. Most of his career (38.5 years) was spent on design and development of automotive heating and air conditioning control systems. Beginning in 1979 Cadillac/Delco Electronics manufactured the first ever outside temperature display system for automobiles. Dick and Jim evaluated the development system on various trips to bridge games. Dick’s wife of 52 years is Mary, and he has three daughters. Most of his spare time is spent with high school and college activities for his six grandchildren, ages 15 to 21.
Dick writes: I met Jim on August 10, 1972 at the South Bend, Indiana Regional. We started the evening session in the men’s pairs against each other. During our introduction I learned that both of us worked for Delco Electronics and that Jim would be transferring to Kokomo in the near future. We exchanged phone numbers and committed to stay in contact. Jim won the men’s pairs that night, making Life Master at the same time.
Jim moved to Kokomo, and we played our first game (71% for a win) on September 20, 1972 at the Kokomo Bridge Club. Our next game was at the Blackwood Bridge Club in Indianapolis, IN on October 10, 1972 (64% for a win). We were frequently participants at the Blackwood Bridge Club, playing most Tuesday and Friday nights, where the competition was best. For about the first 35 years we played Standard American with a weak no trump (10-13 HCP). We currently play Standard American with a strong no trump (15-17 HCP) since we play more team games. The results with strong no trump are more predictable than with weak no trump.
During 1973 Jim and I decided to get serious about our partnership and started making detailed notes on our system. This included both bidding and defense. We play Standard American with weak no trump, and leads are third and fifth best with Lavinthal carding (suit preference). We have a complete write up of our system. We continue to review and update. We get together often to bid hands from Challenge the Champs. We also read many bridge books and continuously seek input from better players. Sid Kilsheimer was a great ambassador for us as we enhanced our partnership/skills over the years. Sid was a special director, working hard to make everyone enjoy the games he directed.
Beginning in 1974 Jim and I decided to play in more tournaments outside our unit (Northern Indiana). In March of ’74 we won the two-session open pairs in Richmond, Indiana. Note: We played in this sectional the previous year and won the consolation event. In February 1974 we received a post card advertising the 1974 tournament. There was a personal note on each of our post cards inviting us back to defend our win. We had a few laughs about the post card before and after the tournament. At that time the Saturday event was a two-session open pairs game with approximately one third of the field qualifying for the finals that evening. There was also a consolation game in the evening for non-qualifiers. In April 1974 we also won the two-session open pairs at the Indianapolis sectional.
Jim keeps records for most events in which we play — date,
location, percentage score, results on weak NT openings, masterpoints won, number of
tables, etc. We have played bridge in more than 25 states and a regional in
Germany. We have won more than 200 sectionals and 50+ regionals.
Notable wins:
Hampton Swiss Teams at the 1979 Spring North American Championship in Norfolk, Virginia. There were 188 teams. For the win we received 45.99 masterpoints. (Teammates were Don Hitch and Stephen Morton (photo at right).
North American Pairs: Won two trips to the nationals.
Won first senior pairs we played.
Jim was quite vocal about his displeasure with the ACBL separating events by smoking, non-smoking, stratification, senior events, etc. We had always played in open pair events with a large number of tables where the competition was against everyone. In 1991, Jim and I decided to go to Louisville, Kentucky for one day to play in our first senior open pairs, where there were 54 pairs in the two-session event. We had a 61% game in the afternoon and a 68% in the evening game for first overall and 12.34 gold points. We played in very few senior events, as the masterpoints were reduced compared to open pairs.
I made Life Master at Dayton, Ohio in 1974. Mr. Blackwood always
had a party for new Life Masters who were members of his club. The photo at left shows Mr. Blackwood presenting me a plaque at the party along with adding
my name to the Life Master board. Note: This popular tradition of adding names
to the Life Master board continues to this day for members of the Indianapolis
Bridge Club.