70% + GAMES
Florence Retek, South Bend & LaDora Sloan, Mishawaka (599er game) — 71.43% August 1
Jim Feinstein, South Bend & Lena Howard, Elkhart — 73.15% August 1
Suzanne Watson, South Bend & Tom Hallum, Mishawaka — 74.49% August 2
Jim Feinstein, South Bend & Dick Hastings, Bristol — 75.52% August 4
Robert Porter, Saint John & Trudi McKamey, Ogden Dunes — 71.96% August 6
Jim Feinstein, South Bend & Dennis David, South Bend — 70.60% August 22
Alice & Don Geidemann, Valparaiso (99er game) — 70.50% August 31
Julie Nelson, Granger & Judy Grossnickle, Granger (299er game) — 73.00% September 2
Cappy Gagnon, Notre Dame & Doug Scripture, Mishawaka — 70.75% September 9
Elaine DeLaney, South Bend & Don Wertheimer, South Bend — 78.79% September 19
Carol Miller, Valparaiso & Elnora Washington, Gary (99er game) — 72.50% September 21
Jim Feinstein, South Bend & Dick Hastings, Bristol — 71.53% September 22
Chuck Schultz, La Porte & John Teshima, Michigan City — 74.05% September 23
Jim Feinstein, South Bend & John Scheibelhut, Notre Dame — 71.76% September 26
RISING IN THE RANKINGS
Junior Masters: Jim Lively, Highland; John Mowry, Fremont; Robert Lill, Fort Wayne; Vicki Turek, Valparaiso
Club Masters: Vicki McIntire, South Bend; June Reisinger, Hobart; Ann Ullman, Granger; Bill Hahn, Hobart; Elnora Washington, Gary; Jill Wirth, Portage
Sectional Masters: Nora Allen, Elkhart; Madge Kollar, Chesterton; Sally Lanier, Fremont; Laurell Law, LaPorte; Reggie Lowenhar, Granger; Holly Skekloff, Fort Wayne
Regional Masters: Irene Cooperrider, Elkhart; Jill Mroczkiewicz, New Carlisle
NABC Masters: Indra Gupta, Munster; Yuan Hsu, Hammond; Bill deFuniak, Long Beach; Gale Osgerby, Dyer; Paul Silberman, Mishawaka
Life Master: Barbara Piltch, South Bend
Bronze Life Master: James Doyle, Merrillville
Gold Life Master: Richard Mao, Mishawaka
GOLD
LIFE MASTERS
In August 2010 Richard Mao was celebrated for becoming a Silver Life Master. Now he is celebrated again for becoming a Gold Life Master.
Rich Mao started playing bridge at Ohio State in 1961. His mother disapproved of how much time bridge took away 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 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.
About 4½ years ago Rich returned to bridge, playing what he describes as "Goren Grotesque”. He felt the need to improve his bidding so he asked Howard Piltch to teach him modern bidding and better bridge playing. Fortunately, Bud Hinckley also wanted to learn Howard's system, so that's how they partnered up.
It was necessary to have someone stay with his elderly dad when Rich played at the club, so he had to find the time when his wife, Helen, could cover for him. Mostly he could only schedule regional events.
Since he has started back, he has partnered with Bud and with other special teammates and has placed first in the various district masterpoint races (in his category), and placed 2nd in the District 8 North American Pairs in November 2012 to earn a paid appearance at the NABC finals in St. Louis.
Rich claims playing with him as a partner is like playing with Jekyll & Hyde. “There is always the danger that my ‘Goren Darkside’ and ‘fraidy cat’ bidding will spring up and give my partners a heart attack. Just ask Bud and Howard!”
Four or more times a week you will find Joan Tobler sitting at Table 6 welcoming players to talk about hands, discuss bidding and playing problems, and just spend some time visiting. She may play fast (when she has a late play it hits the bulletin board), but she has great patience with newer players to explain the intricacies of this game. She is a great addition to the South Bend Bridge Club.
Joan lives in Niles, MI but hails from the East Coast where she attended the University of Connecticut, majoring in food and nutrition with an aim of becoming a dietician. During her college years, she met the man would become her husband and best friend, Erwin. He was in the military which, through the years, took them and their four children (three boys and a girl) to Texas and later to Ohio. At the end of his military service, a job at IBM brought the family to the southern Michigan area.
Joan's first love, outside of the family, was golf which she played with as much gusto as she brings to the bridge table now. Joan became a Life Master while playing with John & Trish Killeen, Ray Aguas and Linda Podlin in Lake Geneva.
Over the years she has cruised to many fascinating places thought the USA, Canada, Europe, and Russia. Many of her fellow players have been entertained by the voluminous supply of books that Joan brings for anyone to read. Nowadays, when she is gone from the bridge table, it is usually due to activities with her six grandchildren (five girls and a boy).
Joan mentors players, teaches intermediate classes, schedules hostesses, and causes Special Events to be a celebration. Many members have been involved with her becoming a Gold Life Master, but she particularly wants to thank Jo Ann Steigmeyer, Linda Podlin, John & Tricia Killeen, Lee Boser, Ruth Minish, and Marian David for their partnerships and friendships.
SILVER
LIFE MASTERS
The list of South Bend Bridge Club Silver Life Masters continues to grow with the addition of David Irwin, who earned another well deserved 15 minutes of fame as he became a Silver Life Master.
Dave enjoyed his first 15 minutes of fame during a televised program presented by Easley Blackwood in the late 60s. His partner was Chet Brown. The following bidding and Dave's logic produced a win for their team. Chet opened 3 spades, RHO bid 4 spades, and Dave, holding Axxx, 10xxxx, void and Axxx bid 6 spades (preemptive sacrifice). He pictured RHO holding a spade void and thought their team could make a slam. Chet held 7 spades, heart void, 4 diamonds and 2 clubs. After cross ruffing the hand, Chet gave up a club for a well earned 6 spades. All this on television!
Dave was born and raised in South Bend 83 years ago. After graduating from John Adams High School, he continued his education at the University of Notre Dame earning a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Mathematics in 1951. He served with the Armed Forces from 1951 to 1953. It was during his stint in the Army that he visited the ACBL Nationals, watched top players win, and noticed that they would rather bid 3 NT than 5 of a minor. He learned that lesson well. When he returned home he began playing and winning with Don Jordan. One of his favorite partners was Al Rossow who passed away last year.
Dave and Merrus have been married 58 years as of June 18th and have a son, David J, and a daughter, Stacey. Their “grandchildren” have consisted of many spoiled dogs and now a cat, Toby, who is proving to be a wonderful companion.
Linda
Podlin has led an interesting and busy life — enjoying skiing, sailing,
biking, golfing, and marrying four times. But then she found a more sedentary
activity — bridge. She has cruised to many wonderful places with her bridge
friends, who were never without cards.
Linda says, “I never thought I’d live long enough to become a
Silver Life Master. I would like to thank all of the people who have helped me
get to this level, especially Joan Tobler (my longest partner), Louise Tickfer,
John and Trish Killeen, Jo Ann Steigmeyer, Don Groch, and Cappy Gagnon (whose
emails and tips have not gone unheard). I haven’t mentioned everyone, because
the list would be too long. I am still amazed at how I thought I’d seen or heard
it all, and then I pick up the next hand to be humbled once again. Thanks,
Bridge!”
BRONZE
LIFE MASTER
James Doyle writes:
I first learned to play duplicate
bridge in 1995 as a high school student at the Illinois Mathematics and Science
Academy. At the residential school, bridge had a role beyond just a pastime. A
member of the math faculty (Dr. Micah Fogel, an ACBL member) ran a duplicate
bridge program for students, who would participate in tournaments against other
high schools with similar bridge programs.
I went on to join the ACBL in 2002, playing my first club games at Bridge Bulletin author Karen Walker's Champaign, IL bridge club. I earned my Life Master certificate in 2010, when a team consisting of me, Cory Perkers (my current partner), Doug Fischer, and the late Russ Rojakovick won the right to represent District 13 in the flight C Grand National Teams in the summer NABC in New Orleans.
I currently play a few tournaments a year with Cory, when
time allows. I work in the IT department for a manufacturing division of
Illinois Tool Works, and moved to Merrillville with my wife Kim in 2010.
LIFE
MASTERS
Dee Stevenson was born in Lyons, Kansas, but spent his teenage years in Tulsa, OK.
He came to Notre Dame where he earned a BS and an MS in Mechanical Engineering and later an MBA from LaSalle University. While at Notre Dame, Dee played on the tennis team, including the 1959 National Championship team — the last one for Notre Dame in tennis. He continues to play to this day and has been nationally ranked several times.
Dee was also a licensed basketball official for thirty years and was asked twice to be a Big Ten official but he says — “Two words explain why I declined — Bobby Knight.” He has hiked the Appalachian Trail for many years logging in 1836 miles out of 2180. This month he plans to do 29 more miles.
After living in NYC, LA, and other places, Dee and his family made their home in Niles, MI for the past 44 years. He started playing duplicate bridge while in Boulder, CO with a friend and earned several masterpoints, but after moving here he quit playing for almost forty years due to other activities — raising four kids, a wife, job, and tennis. Upon retiring, he coached the tennis team at Saint Mary's College for eight years.
People have commented that his wife must be a saint to put up with him for 52 years. He says she is one!
In
Emory Jeffers' words:
I was introduced to bridge 43 years ago by my son
Tony when he was attending Lakeside Junior High. The school was giving bridge
lessons and when Tony came home and showed me how bridge was played, I was
hooked.
I started playing novice bridge once a month with seven other people. About 1990 I started going to the Fort Wayne Bridge Center.
While attending a Regional at Gatlinburg in 2005, I played on a team with Craig Herold (my partner), Jane Shultz and Jack Myers. We won enough gold for the three of them to become Life Masters. Unfortunately, I still needed 0.48 of a gold point.
I attended more regionals with excellent partners, but only won red points. On September 15, 2013, Gary Chaney suggested we have a five-man rotation team with me, Tom Carpenter, Kim Grant, Jim Kart (my partner) and Gary. We succeeded in getting the rest of my gold points!
I have now achieved the following — Teaching Certificate (taught at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and at country clubs), Director Certificate (directed at Fort Wayne Bridge Club), and now Life Master.
I now know how Bob Newhart felt when he said, “So close, so many times, to winning an Emmy!!”
James
Kart writes:
It seems like I grew up with a deck of cards in my hand. My
brother and I used to play cribbage when I was five, and I played double-deck
pinochle by the time I was seven. I have played canasta, hearts, spades, euchre,
oh hell, and on and on. However, my favorite game, as well as most frustrating
game, is bridge. I started learning it just after I turned seven and started
playing when I was eight. Mom and Dad would play party bridge and I would watch.
When I was eight and they would have only three people to play, I said I could
be the fourth. I was not very good at first, but I did get better.
We started playing duplicate bridge in Fort Wayne, IN in the spring of 1968. Dad was the reader. Mom was just a really good player. They would discuss new systems, and, of course, I would listen. We would go over the monthly Bridge Bulletin, do the bidding boxes and just look for any information we could glean. Back in the late sixties, it was not unheard of to place first in a session and end up with 0.19 masterpoints. Naturally, they didn't add up too fast. That, and the fact that I was still in high school, meant I didn't play all that often.
I played once in a while with Mom and Dad, various partners, and a new wife until 1976. In 1976 I got a job as a signalman for Conrail (later Norfolk Southern) and spent over thirty-six years working on the railroad. I tried to keep up with bridge, playing seldom and following the bridge columns as much as possible. At the end of March 2012, I retired from Norfolk Southern Railroad. In May of 2012, I started playing bridge more seriously — 3 to 5 times a week.
I love to bowl, hunt, fish, play golf, cook, and eat! However, for good entertainment and a challenge, bridge is my favorite activity. I am playing with a variety of partners and enjoying myself immensely.
A
SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT
It’s always fun to try something new, and this experiment proved to be more than just fun. The South Bend Bridge Club initiated a PRO-AM SWISS TEAM event. It was so popular that they had EIGHTEEN TEAMS!
An experienced player (Life Master or 500+ points) partnered with a non-life master (having fewer than 500 points) on the team. What a wonderful turnout!
The winners were (photo at left) Karsten and Ilse Grove of South Bend, Geoff Hadlock and Michael Heimann, both from Warsaw. All participants experienced a delightful evening.
The director, Bill Searcy, served as the chef preparing barbecued hot dogs, and the Program Commitee, headed by Joan Tobler, provided tasty side dishes and mouth watering desserts.
CONSENSUS — They’re going to do it again!
NORTHWEST INDIANA SECTIONAL
October 11 - 13, 2013
St. Mary’s Orthodox Center, 8600 Grand Blvd., Merrillville IN
Silver points — Refreshments — $5 entry fee for 299er events
For more information, contact Chuck Briggs: (219) 947-1140