HATS OFF to the District 223 players who have reached bridge milestones!!!
     New Regional Master -- Vicki Brantley, Paducah KY

Bridge Consortium Update

Since many bridge clubs have begun to meet face-to-face, players are asking questions about the Central and Southern Illinois Virtual Bridge. An email blast was sent to players that answered questions about the future of virtual games.

To quote from the email blast, "The virtual games have been going on for over 15 months and they have been a great way to offer online games and learning opportunities on a scale scarcely possible at the local level, but also to form friendships and partnerships across all of our 19 clubs. We are committed to maintaining those vital connections!"

The three main points from the blast are: As long as we have players who wish to play online, our consortium, or virtual club, will continue to offer online games. It is also important that we play in face-to-face games at our local clubs in order to maintain our personal connections and to enable our local clubs to keep the F2F games viable. Fortunately, both virtual club games and in-person games support your local club.

There have been a few changes in the virtual games, but, for the time being, they are staying basically the same. The major changes are that on the Fridays where there is not a mentor game, the 199er and 999er games have been consolidated and that game starts at 11:50 a.m. The Sunday evening 499er game has been cancelled; the Open Pairs on Sunday night is still running.

To view the schedule of virtual club games and other opportunities, go to the FAQ page (http://illinibridge.com/virtual.htm).

Also, Lori Moore will continue her free bridge lessons, which can also be accessed through the FAQ page. Her beginner class will begin on June 8th from 11:00 to 12:30. Her intermediate class will begin on June 10th at 3:00 p.m.

More Bridge News

There will be an Online Youth Bridge Summer Camp from July 19 to August 6th. It is for youth, grades 4-12, located anywhere in the USA or Canada. Sessions are available for all skill levels. The camp is sponsored by Bridge for Youth and their Facebook page is b4youth.org. To register for this camp, contact camp@b4youth.org.

ACBL is offering an online teaching workshop on June 14 and 15. If you are interested, go to the ACBL website and look under Teacher Certification Programs. .

Also, tournament director Melody Euler is offering a free Club Director Refresher Course on June 12, from 1-5 p.m. central time. If you feel like you are a little rusty, this class will give you the tune-up you beed to get back to directing at your local club. The class is on Zoom so there is no need to pre-register. Just click the following link to attend: http://acbl-org.zoom.us/j/8724793885