There has not been a District newsletter or Pairfare since October. I hope you are staying connected to your bridge partners and friends!

Upcoming tournaments: I look forward to our March 25-27 tournament and our April 2nd annual meeting at Jameson’s in Huntley. It was the first day of the March 2020 tournament that we were shut down because of the virus. Now we are vaccinated and we wear masks; let’s stay healthy and stay at the table!

Welcome to new members: Since October 1st, we have added these new members – Belinda Potts (Geneva,) Mary Ann Stern (Geneva,) and Carol Kraft (Rockford).

Rank advancements: During that same period, some of our friends have reached new milestones:

Junior Master – Anne Grindle (Rockford)

Club Master – Jim Gramm (Cary) and Cheryl Peacock (West Dundee)

Sectional Master – Barbara Helzing (Huntley)

Regional Master – Bruce Jasper (Rockford)

NABC Master – Tom Looman (Crystal Lake) and Steve Lowe (Geneva)

Advanced NABC Master – Ray Tower (Crystal Lake)

Life Master- Douglas Giloy (Rockford)

Ruby Life Masters - Daniel  Chamberlain (Venice FL) and Rich Gunderson (Earlville)

Silver Life Master – Judy Bonardi (Arlington Heights)

Gold Life Master – Platt Hill (St. Charles)

Rich Gunderson is a Ruby Life Master!

I, like most of us knew how to play bridge, but didn’t have time to play duplicate bridge. Once I retired I found that there were games in Sandwich and Yorkville. I was very fortunate to find a partner the very first game of duplicate I played in late 2006 in Sandwich, Illinois. Bob Lee has been my regular partner ever since and I do owe a lot of my success to him.

I live outside a very small town of Harding, Illinois, It’s a suburb of Earlville and only about 15 minutes from Norway, Illinois. Yorkville is my home club and it’s about 37 minutes away on a good day. Aurora is about an hour away and Rockford about an hour and ten minutes away. In other words I live in the country and really want to play bridge.

I was lucky enough to play with some very good players ie. Jim McKinney, John Kinst, Ron Anderson, Greg Rozborski, and of course Bob Lee (The General).

I tried to average 100 points a year. Once the pandemic hit I found I could play anytime I wanted. The last two years I averaged more than a 150 a year and didn’t have to travel. The big downside is not seeing all the friendly faces! The Yorkville game is probably the most friendly game in the state. It’s also directed by Karl Anderson which makes it the best game in the state.

A big thanks to all that helped me achieve this goal! Bridge On!

 -- Rich Gunderson