Unit Tournaments

Thanks to all who joined us for the Rockford Open Sectional and Non-Life Master Regional on September 8-10 at the Tebala Event Center. The Rockford Club, tournament chair Dave Jenkins, and hospitality chair Kyle Larson combined forces to make this a fun event. Event winners in the Open Sectional are here. Non-LM Regional winners are here.

The next District 8/Unit 239 online news is in March so this is my only chance to remind you about the Turkey Bowl Silver Sectional on November 29th and 30th. We are playing at Northwestern Medicine Field, home of the Kane County Cougars. Game times are 10:00 am and 2:30 pm. If there are enough players, there will be a 749ers game as well as the open. A list of nearby dining places will be available at the game.A full schedule is here.

New members:  Since the last Pairfare, we have gained two enthusiastic players: Nayana Desai (Crystal Lake) and Mary Chesek (Algonquin.)
    Do you know players who would enjoy duplicate: Bring them to a game and get them started!

Job opening:  I heard Arlington Heights IL is looking for a person to teach senior bridge and run a Saturday game. Does this sound like you?

Here are some players to celebrate:

NEW JUNIOR MASTERS:  James Parker (St. Charles, Nayana Desai (Crystal Lake) and Mary Chesek (Algonquin)

NEW CLUB MASTERS:  Mary Fairchild (Rockford), Michael Haller (Huntley) and MaryAnn Stearn (Geneva) 

NEW SECTIONAL MASTERS:  Daniel Mihalcea (Montgomery), Alex Cuda (McHenry) and Barbara Sellers (Elgin)

NEW REGIONAL MASTERS:  Jeff Duckworth (Sugar Grove) and Daniel Mihalcea (Montgomery)

NEW LIFE MASTERS:  Tom Looman (Crystal Lake) and Tim Kleimeyer (Sleepy Hollow)

NEW BRONZE LIFE MASTERS:  Shelley Johnson (Yorkville), Elaine Sebastian (Huntley) and Gary Schaefer (McHenry)

Gary Schaefer is a Bronze Life Master and shared his bridge story.

I began playing bridge in college as many of us did. Started duplicate in Crystal Lake with a college friend but stopped after getting married. Started playing again while commuting to Chicago on the train.

Met Bob Korte, who some may remember was an outstanding player from Woodstock. Bob really accelerated my bridge education playing every day into and out of Chicago from Crystal Lake. Played frequently with Kay Korte, Bob’s wife, who is also an outstanding player, and we teamed with Bob and Harold Legel frequently.

Became a life master in 1996, then stopped playing for nearly 25 years as business and life intervened. Started playing again in Florida during the winter after I retired and played frequently online during and after COVID. Did not start playing face-to-face again until summer 2023. Have continued playing in the excellent and well-managed Crystal Lake game when in Illinois.