Would you like to serve on the Unit Board?

If you live in one of the counties below, this is the year to elect your representative to the Unit 208 Board of Directors:

Area #1:  Peoria & Tazewell Counties. (Incumbent: Bill Bulfer)

Area #3:  Cass, Mason, Menard, Morgan, Sangamon & Scott Counties. (Incumbent: Jeff Ehrlich)

Area #6:  Champaign, Ford, Piatt & Vermilion Counties. (Incumbent: Dennis Fitton)

The Area Representative meets with the Board three times a year at our Unit sectionals.

Anyone from these areas who would like to run for a seat on the Board should send name and ACBL number to Unit Secretary Ann Schuyler by March 15th. Elections will be held in May or June and the new term will begin in July. You can contact Ann by email (annschuyler@gmail.com ).
 

Illini Champaign Regional -- May 19-25, 2015

Make plans now for our Unit's annual regional tournament, coming up Memorial Day week in Champaign.

We'll again be playing in the Hawthorn Suites hotel and offering lots of extras, including a speakers program, entry-fee discounts, nightly buffets and a hotel hospitality suite for socializing after the game. Bridge rate is $95 for a suite with kitchen, one or two beds, sleeper sofa and free wifi. Room rate includes daily hot breakfast and Wednesday-night dinner.  

Hawthorn reservations:  217-398-3400.  Please reserve early.

This year's schedule features three of the popular Gold Rush Pair events for 0-750 players. You can check out the 2014 events on the tournament schedule page.
 

♣   Central Illinois Top 100   ♣

Here are the top masterpoint holders in Central Illinois Unit 208 and their career point totals as of January 6, 2015. The first 18 players are ranked in the top 100 of all players in District 8 (see the District Top 100 list in this issue).
 

1    2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Colby Vernay, Lacon -- -- 19728.73 Gary Kessler, Springfield -- -- 13021.07 Chris Benson, Le Roy -- 11531.77 James Melville, Springfield -- 8983.81 Karen Walker, Champaign -- 8640.16 Mark Kessler, Springfield -- 7937.21 Dan Requard, Springfield -- 7433.61 Mike Halvorsen, Champaign -- 5460.01 Hugh Williams, Carbondale -- 5055.27 Nate Ward, Champaign -- 4670.81 Robert Butz, Kankakee -- 4506.90 John Seng, Champaign -- 4426.07 Phyllis Rahn, Dunlap -- 4006.53 Christine Carroll, Champaign -- 3728.09 Ron Sholes, Springfield -- 3684.14 Carl Brueckner, Champaign -- 3616.39 Betty Capodice, Bloomington -- 3602.70 James Carbaugh, Metamora -- 3579.48 Stephen Babin, Normal -- 3209.05 Leonard Kaufman, Peoria -- 3164.46 Ronald Simmons, Peru -- 3085.77 Charles Sheaff, Jacksonville -- 3028.14 Deborah Avery, Champaign -- 2889.74 Edward Horton, Champaign -- 2879.26 Elizabeth Zalar, Springfield -- 2699.91 Paul Lindauer, Varna -- 2660.32 Georgia Heth, Morton -- 2480.67 Chloe Trautman, Champaign -- 2469.59 Patricia Carrington, Champaign -- 2437.33 Robert Sievers, Champaign -- 2435.65 Phyllis Collins, Springfield -- 2419.75 Leah Newell, Springfield -- 2418.23 Raymond Russ, Henry -- 2385.77 Carole Sholes, Springfield -- 2359.51 Martha Leary, Urbana -- 2315.03 Zach Freehill, Bloomington -- 2305.75 Marciann O'Brien, Decatur -- 2304.50 Charles Zalar, Springfield -- 2301.80 Carol Umbach, Havana -- 2294.24 Margaret Hansell, Champaign -- 2254.17 Clay Cuthbertson, Quincy -- 2253.83 Doris Foltz, Springfield -- 2228.66 Janice Franz, Springfield -- 2224.86 Mary Raney, Normal -- 2189.51 John Weber, Watseka -- 2124.01 Mary Allen, Peoria -- 2117.16 Terry Goodykoontz, Champaign -- 2101.92           Larry Wilcox, Springfield -- 2072.91 Eunice Patton, Bloomington -- 2060.53 Mike Tomlianovich, Bloomington -- 2028.50

51    52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Aldo Mancinelli, Decatur -- 1972.63 George Veenstra, Springfield -- 1921.11 Mark Daily, Charleston -- 1898.47 Martha Stutz, Springfield -- 1870.39 Patrick Moos, Peoria -- 1867.45 John Parsons, Springfield -- 1862.08 Bernard Riley, Pekin -- 1829.45 Henry Hoffman, Bloomington -- 1803.75 Tim Cull, Springfield -- 1745.46 Beverly Bakunas, Decatur -- 1666.13 Sharon Ertz, Hull -- 1659.93 J. Nanda, Charleston -- 1610.92 Joan Green, Springfield -- 1579.05 Marilyn Stickel, Lacon -- 1576.85 Shirley Judy, Urbana -- 1567.58 Larry Richardson, Springfield -- 1557.20 Sherry Steigmann, Urbana -- 1555.46 Joan Burlingame, Champaign -- 1546.76 Ann Caparros, Springfield -- 1546.06 Martha Neal, Mattoon -- 1544.62 Dennis Fitton, Champaign -- 1539.45 Duane Gronau, Bloomington -- 1524.82 Bobbie Straker, Pekin -- 1523.21 Alan Stutz, Springfield -- 1485.16 D. Atteberry, Mattoon -- 1433.05 Marjorie Hanner, Springfield -- 1422.82 Mary Anne Parsons, Springfield -- 1402.03              Robert Shair, Champaign -- 1401.61 Robert Steigmann, Urbana -- 1381.07 James Scott, Rantoul -- 1366.03 Jay Poling, Decatur -- 1345.69 Gary Schechter, Springfield -- 1339.85 John Maloney, Champaign -- 1336.95 Ann Schuyler, Bloomington -- 1327.52 Gary Dell, Champaign -- 1305.03 Stephen Borbely, Dewey -- 1304.69 Cindy Moore, Bloomington -- 1292.65 Sylvia Lowry, Springfield -- 1283.90 Madhu Viswanathan, Champaign -- 1281.22 James Faulkner, Quincy -- 1277.59 Charles Young, Peoria -- 1275.72 Stanley Gutzman, Normal -- 1263.31 Donna Kaufman, Peoria -- 1246.04 Mary Jones, Champaign -- 1227.92 Randal Malone, Charleston -- 1209.85 Rea Jones, Champaign -- 1204.95 Bill Lindemann, Champaign -- 1190.55 Robert Hathaway, Decatur -- 1188.90 Marjorie Loewenstein, Springfield -- 1187.87       Lois Mott, Quincy -- 1187.38

♣  ACBLwide Senior Pairs -- Monday afternoon, March 2

This annual event, open to ages 55+, offers extra masterpoints, pre-dealt hands and online hand analyses after the game. The same hands are being played at clubs around the nation and will offer District-wide and nationwide awards. The sanction fee is $1 more than your club's regular entry fee. Central Illinois clubs that will be hosting this game are:

    Champaign:  Bridge at Ginger Creek  (12:30 pm) -- Karen Walker  (217-359-0042)   kwalker2@comcast.net

♣  2014-15 North American Pairs -- Club qualifying games in June, July & August

Cheer on our Unit's winners:  The 2014-15 North American Pairs concludes in March when District winners play in the national championship in New Orleans. Seven pairs from our Unit will be representing District 8 in the national finals. 

     Flight A:   Mark Kessler, Springfield & Colby Vernay, Lacon  
                    Nate Ward & Karen Walker, Champaign 

     Flight B:   Kenneth Koh & Peter Yeh, Champaign
                    Martha Leary, Urbana & Bob Sievers, Champaign
                    Cindy Moore & Lori Moore, Bloomington

     Flight C:   Jane Grieser Jane Crawford, Springfield
                    Martha Leary, Urbana & Bob Sievers, Champaign

Play begins on March 11 (Flight A) and March 15 (Flights B & C). You can check on their results in the online Daily Bulletins from New Orleans.

Visit the ACBL Unit Awards page to view lists of the top ten Unit players in each category (type 208 into the box that asks for your Unit number). Official results will be posted in mid-February. Year-end results for our Central Illinois Unit will be published in the April issue of this newsletter.