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Did you hear James Holzhauer give a plug for bridge on Jeopardy? He also noted he was the youngest person at tournaments. Let's hope his popularity, and his success, bring other younger players to the game we love! But it's time to set aside your remote, tape Jeopardy (and all your favorites) and get out to Valley Forge for the big Regional, June 24-30. Good luck and enjoy!
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Questions? Comments? Concerns?
Contact your District 4 board members.
PRESIDENT
Meyer Kotkin
guymath@comcast.net
VICE PRESIDENT
Dave Kresge
kresgede@aol.com
SECRETARY
Bill Bauer
william.baueriii@verizon.net
TREASURER
Pat Civale
pat@csa-accounting.com
DISTRICT DIRECTOR
Joann Glasson
joannglasson@msn.com
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District 4's (D4) first Regional of the year is nearly here. I hope that you, your friends, your bridge acquaintances and partners have all marked your calendars and made your plans to attend the Philadelphia Regional at Valley Forge June 24 - 30. Tournament Chair Meyer Kotkin (U141) and his all U141 Tournament Committee, Joann Glasson (Publicity, Hospitality and Bulletin), Bob Glasson (Hotel Liaison and Sommelier), Elaine Weintraub (Partnerships), Pat Civale (Finance and Hospitality), Tom Purl (Technology and Caddies),
Joan and Bill Goldstein (Intermediate and Newcomer [I/N]) and Marc Labovitz (Logistics) have made some changes to provide an even better player experience at the Philadelphia Regional.
First and foremost, in 2019 the Philadelphia Regional will serve complimentary breakfast and lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday! That is right - we will feed you breakfast and lunch every day of the tournament except Monday (because of the 2pm start). The Committee also changed session starting times to 10am, 2:30pm and 7:30pm. This time change allows for an earlier lunch and more time for a leisurely dinner before the 7:30pm Fast Pairs Side Series evening sessions. In the true tradition of Operations Research (look it up), this change was not made until a careful and detailed study of traffic in the Philadelphia area confirmed that there was no significant difference in commute times to the DoubleTree Hotel from Philadelphia and its suburbs between 8:30 and 9am. You can read about these changes and other great happenings at the 2019 Philadelphia Regional at Valley Forge
here.
Rooms at the heavily discounted bridge rate are still available but that rate ends June 7, so book
here now to get in on all the fun and food.
On a semi-sweet note, the Tournament Committee of the Philadelphia Regional at Valley Forge is saying good-by and good luck to two valued members: Allison Brandt (U141, soon to be D9) and Mike Geisler (U141, soon to be D9). There is not enough space, nor are there adequate words, to describe the many valuable contributions Allison and Mike have made to the Philadelphia Regional, U141 and D4 Bridge. For a decade, they have been tireless in promoting and improving the
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player experience at our tournaments and in serving on U141 and D4 boards and important positions to promote, advance and enhance bridge. When I first became U141 Sectional Chair in 2010, I had no idea how to run a tournament. Allison and Mike stood by me every step of the way and made sure that the U141 Sectionals lived up to the goals of providing the ultimate player experience including implementation of the now famous Dupli-Swiss. When I became Tournament Chair for the Philadelphia Regional at Valley Forge, Allison and Mike did all the work while I took all the credit in reviving the Regional. D4 and I wish them well in D9 and hope they will come back often to visit and play in D4.
Congratulations to the Open and Flight B D4 teams that earned $2K per team and the right to represent D4 in the ACBL Grand National Teams finals in Las Vegas July 17 - 21. The Open Flight winners were: Tom Weik (Non-Playing Captain - U121), Dan Boye (U112), Larry Sunser (U112), Art Korth (U141), Jay Apfelbaum (U141) and Meyer Kotkin (U141). Since 11 teams played in Flight B, D4 can send two teams to the National Flight B Finals. Flight B winners were: Larry Plotkin (U141), Jonathan Brill (U141), Steve White (U190) and Peter Schulman (U141). The runners-up were: Linda DiLucco (U141), Judy Robbins (U141), Caroline Hughes (U190) and Patrick Corn (U141). These players will join D4's Flight A and Flight C winners (determined last month) as D4's representatives in the National Finals of this prestigious and fun event.
I often receive e-mails asking why I don't include interesting bridge hands or plays in my monthly D4Spot article. Frankly, this article is not supposed to be about bridge hands and I will never be able to write as well as the 4Spot's rotating crew of three authors: Larry Cohen (D9), David Wachsman (U133) and Marti Romenus (U168); as well as Nick Straguzzi (U141), who handles the D4 Master Solvers Club. That being said, here is a suit combination. Think about how you would play with plenty of entries to both hands:
♠
Q8765 (Dummy)
♠
AJT92
OK, stop sneering. You're thinking this card combination is easy - you would go to dummy and lead the Q planning on finessing your right-hand opponent (RHO) for the King. Well, that is the correct technical play (congratulations) in a vacuum but is it the right play at the table? If the opponents do not know you have a 10-card fit, there is an argument for leading the Q and playing the A if RHO does not cover. That is because most players are taught to always "cover an honor with an honor" and when they don't know you have 10 cards, it could be very wrong not to cover so they instinctively tend to cover the Q. This "psychological" play was made famous by Zia Mahmood (D25) but was taught to me way before anyone ever heard of Zia by my mentor and hero Zeke Jabbour (D9). (More about Gentleman Zeke, and why I want to grow up to be like him, at some other time).
Now, what would you do if you lead the Q and RHO hitches, hems, haws, plays around with the cards and/or breaks tempo? It is illegal for a player to act in any manner as if there is a problem when there is no problem as to what to play, and when RHO has a singleton or a small doubleton, RHO should have no problem following suit in tempo. Even though players make inferences about opponents' hesitation at their own risk, your opponent cannot take an illegal action. So if RHO hesitates with no problem (another example: you lead towards the KJ in dummy and your opponent hesitates with the Q to indicate the A), especially with a singleton, you might call the Director if you finesse and find your left hand opponent with the K. The Director might give you redress depending upon the situation, your arguments about the play and his overall assessment of the table facts and situation. Just as importantly, you should file a Player Memo.
The purpose of a Player Memo is to alert the National ACBL Recorder's office of a potential problem and to establish a record of the issue. If a pattern of a player's unethical, illegal or suspicious behavior is brought to the attention of the National ACBL Recorder via these Player Memos, the National Recorder (Robb Gordon [D17]) will begin an investigation into the player's actions. You can also use Player Memos for Zero Tolerance issues or suspicions of cheating or overhearing the results at another table. There is no problem with filing truthful Player Memos. If the incident you report is an isolated incident, the National Recorder may not take any action. However, if there are multiple memos about the same type of behavior, the National Recorder will certainly act and address the situation. You can obtain Player Memo forms from any Director of fill one out confidentially online
here
.
Jess Stuart (U190) is the District Recorder, and many D4 Units have their own Recorder. Jess and those local Recorders investigate local behaviors and actions referred to them either by the National Recorder or by Player Memos originating at local tournaments and clubs. As an aside, the ACBL National Recorder's Office gave Jess and the D4 Disciplinary Process rave reviews in Memphis because of Jess and D4's handling of a very difficult incident. D4 and I are proud of Jess, Disciplinary Chair Barry Gorski (U168) and Appeals Chair Bob Glasson (U141). On behalf of D4 and myself, I thank them for their service, often in very uncomfortable and highly contentious situations.
As always, I welcome all comments and suggestions on any D4 matters and issues. My e-mail is
guymath@comcast.net and my cell is 856.986.5109
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From the District Director
New Appointments to the ACBL Goodwill and Charity Committees
It is my honor to appoint new lifetime members from District 4 to the Charity and Goodwill Committees of the ACBL. These appointees are chosen because of the extraordinary contributions that they have made to bridge and the bridge community.
GOODWILL COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
Betsy Cutler - Allentown, PA
Betsy has been a leader in promoting bridge for new players and has been successful in creating a very successful non-life master sectional and creating new club games for new players. District 4 is lucky to have players who work to spread the enjoyment of our wonderful game.
Betsy is legally blind but has progressed in bridge to be a life master
and is always willing to complete against the best players in Unit 133.
Her commitment is to expand bridge to the newer players, which is what our game needs. Betsy is a great example for all players of bridge.
Jeanne Gehret - Lancaster, PA
Jeanne is co-chair of the Lancaster Regional and she gives all her energy to the job. The Lancaster Regional just keeps getting better and better because of her efforts.
Jeanne is a retired executive who brings her great sense of detail to the Lancaster role. She is vigilant about everything in order to provide a great player experience.
Besides providing wonderful lunches for the players each day, this year Lancaster will offer our District 4 exclusive Dupli-Swiss.
Tom Coxey - Lancaster, PA
I have never seen Tom Coxey without a smile on his face. He quietly stands behind Jeanne Gehret in his role as co-chair of the Lancaster Regional. He takes care of a million little details, not the smallest of which is the terrific restaurant guide that helps visitors know all Tom's foodie secret spots.
If you ask Tom, he will modestly say that Jeanne does all the work, but we all watch as he puts his time and efforts into making sure that every bridge player who comes to the Lancaster regional has a terrific time.
No task is too small for Tom - he's everywhere
making sure that the tournament is a success.
Elaine Weintraub - Philadelphia, PA
Elaine does one of the most difficult jobs in District 4. She is our District 4 Tournament Coordinator. She's the gal who has to make all the tough decisions about when and where our District will run regional and sectional tournaments and deal with all the questions and problems that are part of the job.
Elaine does all this with a smile and with grace. As with many of our volunteers, Elaine was a successful business person before retiring and brings her skills to her volunteer position.
Elaine also worked continually for ten days at the Information desk at the 2018 NABC in Philadelphia and serves as the Partnership Desk Chair for the Valley Forge Regional.
CHARITY COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
Lynn Ackerman - Pittsford, NY
Lynn is a kind person at the table, both to partners and opponents. She is especially welcoming to, and supportive of, newer players. Lynn has chaired the Welcome/Registration desk at the Upstate New York Regionals for the past four years. She recruits volunteers who, like herself, make intermediate and novice players feel comfortable figuring out what events best fit them and takes time to seek out our Intermediate/Newcomer prize winners to congratulate them on their success.
In 2018, Lynn was one of the hard-working Registration chairs who took time off from her own business to handle that busy job with an amazing amount of energy.
Walter Mitchell - Bear Creek, PA
Walter S. Mitchell, Jr. has devoted most of his free time to local non-profits and public service in Northeastern PA. He is a past General Manager & current Director of Development of the Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, celebrating its 97th consecutive year of existence. Walter also serves as president of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Theatres. He is the founding chair of KISS Theatre Co., a training program for youth 5-17 years old, and recreated summer stock performances at Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola, PA. Walter is a founding member of the Millennium Circle of the Luzerne Foundation, a community-based agency raising funds for a wide variety of worthy causes, and he helped start the Luzerne County Arts Council in the 1990s. Politically, he has served as Mayor of Bear Creek Village Borough for more than 25 years, and filled a brief vacancy in the office of Luzerne County Controller in 2013. He is a contributing member of the Wyoming Valley Historical Society, the North Branch Land Trust and WVIA Public Radio. A District 16 Little League umpire for 20 years, Walter served as president of Unit 120 for 10 years and is a past president of District 4.
Walter also serves as the chair of the District 4 Wilkes-Barre Regional and Sectional Tournaments.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions on this and any other matters of concer
n.
Joannglasson@msn.com
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June 1, 2
July 13
July 13-14
August 11
August 23
Regionals
June 3-9
August 26-Sept.1
NAP Flight C October 5
NAP Flight A October 5-6
NAP Flight B October 12
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Our Monthly Feature
The 4Spot features fantastic contributors, on a regular rotation:
Larry's Learning Center
by Larry Cohen:
January, April, July, October
For Novices Only by Marti Ronemus:
February, May, August, November
The ABC of Bridge by Dave Wachsman:
March, June, September, December
You and your partner may try to discuss every possible bid, but it's unlikely you can. In unexpected situations, logical thinking can go a long way to getting you to the right place -- and a high board.
The ABC of Bridge
by Dave Wachsman
The Communicating pillar of the ABC of Bridge can sometimes default to good old- fashioned logic when your partnership is confronted with an "un-discussed" bidding situation. Take a look at the following hand and try bidding it with your favorite partner.
North
♠
Q53 Vulnerability: Both Dealer: North
♥ K7
♦ AJ65
♣ AJ82
South
♠
4
♥ AQ65
♦ KQ32
♣
KQ109
Assuming you play strong NT openers, you would most likely wind up in 3NT going down when the defense succeeds in taking five spade tricks. The 4-4-4-1 hand, with game going values opposite an opening NT bid, is often a difficult hand to bid in order to arrive at the optimum contract. To handle this type of hand Janis and I play the following:
A jump to 3 of a suit shows a 4-4-4-1 hand with game forcing values with the singleton in the paired major or minor. Thus,
3♣ = 4
♠
4♥ 1♦ 4♣
3♦ = 4
♠
4♥ 4♦ 1♣
3♥ = 1
♠
4♥ 4♦ 4♣
3
♠
= 4
♠
1♥ 4♦ 4♣
When I had the North hand I did not hold the two minor suit Jacks and as we play 12-14 opening NTs, I actually opened a weak NT. Janis, holding the magic 4-4-4-1 hand jumped to 3♥. I then threw her a curve ball - a never discussed bid. I chose to bid 3
♠
, the suit in which I knew she had a singleton.
Janis, after thinking for a bit recognized that my bid did not "exist" in our system so she applied some bridge logic and concluded that I must be asking her to choose her better minor. The auction proceeded as follows:
1NT P 3♥ P
3
♠
P 4♣ P
4♦ P 4♥ P
5♥ P 6♣ P
P P
After selecting the club suit as her better minor, the subsequent bidding prior to 6♣ was cue bidding controls. The above average result for bidding and making 6♣ gave rise to our removing this auction from our "never" discussed inventory.
Unless you and your favorite partner have comprehensive notes (ie 100+ pages like Meckwell) you are likely to encounter a bidding situation that was never discussed. Communicating entails using bridge logic to solve the riddle that a thoughtful partner may throw your way. Always remember the three Cs: Counting, Communicating, and Curiosity.
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Master Solvers Club
Moderator: Nick Straguzzi
OK. Partner opened and doesn't give you a support double. You have values -- but what's the best bid?
First,
click here
to read the analysis of this month's problem.
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Valley Forge Regional
Don't forget to reserve your partners -- and your hotel room -- for the District 4
Valley Forge Regional, June 24-30. New starting times are 10:00 and 2:30. Complimentary breakfast and lunch are served Tuesday-Sunday, and (of course) lots of events to mine for gold, at all levels!
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Awards Day at PCBA Membership Meeting
The 2019 Annual PCBA Membership Meeting and Jane Segal/Sonny Jaspan Trophy Game at Bala was a big success. Joann and Bob Glasson took first place to earn the 2019 memorial trophy. Congratulations!
Mini McKinney and Ace of Clubs winners, as well as those achieving new master point status, received well-deserved recognition, certificates and game vouchers.
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New Life Masters
Deborah August and Gerry King
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Howard Kahlenberg (3rd from r.), Unit 141 President, presents Ace of Clubs awards
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Howard, far right, presents Mini McKenney awards
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Silver Points at Clubs!
June 3-9, 2019
ST
aC = Sectional Tournament at Clubs, and like all Sectional tournaments, the awards are silver. It's your chance to win lots of silver points playing in a familiar setting. The next District 4 STaC week will be held June 3-9 when many clubs will run STaC games in place of their regular games. Check here or with your club manager/director to see if your club is running STaC games. Good luck!
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Calling Future Directors
ACBL needs you -- find out how
you can become a Director in just four (4) evening sessions, held at the Valley Forge Bridge Club during the week of the Valley Forge Regional.
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NAP Qualifiers start in June
Ask your club director when NAP (North American Pairs) qualifiers will take place. Qualify in June, July or August and you will be eligible to play in the
District Finals in the fall. The winning pair will receive $1400 to go to the spring NABC, with dollar amounts for runners up, as well.
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Congratulations to our GNT winners!
The Grand National Team winners are on a roll! It's on to Las Vegas where we wish them the best of luck.
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Open Flight Winners
Larry Sunser, Art Korth, Dan Boye, Meyer Kotkin
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Flight A Winners
Paul Amer, David Venetianer,
Elaine Clair, Peter Kyper
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Flight B Winners
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Judy Robbins, Linda DiLuco,
Patrick Corn, Caroline Hughes
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Steve White, Larry Plotkin,
Peter Schulman, Jonathan Brill
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Flight C Winners
Frank Feng, Michael Xiong Mark Donovan, Jerry Jia
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News from Around the Units
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Unit 112: Central New York
pstad145@aol.com
CONGRATULATIONS
to our Unit 112 members on their new master point rank achievements:
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Junior Master
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Donna Montgomery, Fairport
Charles Negus, Massena
Jean Tennant, Ogdensburg
Julie White, Fairport
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Club Master
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Martha Gilchrist,
Fairport
Dr Azalea Noronha, Pittsford
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Sectional Master
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Suzanne Logue, Ithaca
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Bronze Life Master
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Craig Smith,
Syracuse
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Silver Life Master
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Elaine Badain, Rochester
Edythe Krauss, Ithaca
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Ruby Life Master
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Patricia Carrier,
Clinton
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Sapphire Life Master
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John D'Errico, Alton
William Foster, Rochester
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Rochester Holds CAMBODIA Fundraiser
The Cambodian fundraiser was held May 9 in Penfield, NY at the Penfield Country
Club. It was chaired by Patti Lee, Sally Hill and Pat Smith. Barbara Seagram and
Patti have been involved for seven years in raising funds for schools in Cambodia.
They are now supporting 5 schools plus building toilets and bringing in clean water.
The day started with an excellent lesson by Patti on all types of doubles. Lunch
followed with Patti giving a power point presentation on their many projects. In the afternoon, there was a sanctioned bridge game. Just over $5,000 was raised by
contributions and a silent auction (auctioning off bridge players and lessons).
All-in-all a fun, informative day for a great cause.
Looking for Silver Points?
Play at your local clubs during District 4 STaC week - June 3-9
Support the Alzheimer's Association
by being a part of
The Longest Day
and
play
bridge
. By playing bridge you'll show
the world there is a fun game that may help
slow the onset of the disease; upgraded masterpoints.
Ithaca Bridge Club - Monday - June 17
Canandaigua Duplicate Bridge Club - Wednesday June 19
Joan C Powell Duplicate Bridge Club - Friday June 21
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Unit 120: Northeastern Pennsylvania
Hello Unit 120!! Now that we are drying out from the cold, wet Spring, it's a pleasure to announce great achievements that have occurred over April and May rain showered months. Please join me in a standing ovation congratulations to the following:
April
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NEW LIFE MASTER
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Patricia K Rosenthal
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Dallas
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PA
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NEW CLUB MASTER
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Warren G Todd
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Dallas
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PA
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NEW JUNIOR MASTER
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Lucy Stone
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Buck Hill Falls
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PA
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May
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NEW JUNIOR MASTER
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Edna Friedberg
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Clarks Summit
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PA
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Exciting news..mark your calendars for August 5-11-2019
THE REGIONAL IS COMING!! THE REGIONAL IS COMING!!
We've all played with a deck of cards, but there are many interesting facts about the origination of card designs. Here are just a few.
-
The first recorded account of the use of cards was in the 12
th
century in the Orient.
- The four suits are thought to have started out as being coins, cups, swords and sticks. The suits evolved into coins being diamonds, cups (which stood for "love") turned into hearts, spades replaced the swords, and sticks are now clubs.
- The King of Hearts is the only King in the deck without a mustache. The King of Diamonds only shows half his face.
- Before 1765, decks sold in England were stamped to indicate that taxes or duties had been paid on them, according to the International Playing Card Society. In 1765, an official ace of spades was printed; each deck had to use this stamp on its ace to indicate that taxes were paid. And the Stamp Tax mandated that the American colonies had to pay the same tax. The law changed in 1862, when printers were allowed to produce their own stamp designs. Though that law was abolished in 1960, the tradition of making the Ace of Spades ornate and decorative remains.
- To avoid paying the tax that was tacked onto the Ace of Spades, people wouldn't buy that card when they got a deck of cards. Hence, they were not playing with a full deck!!
See you all at the Bridge Tables!!
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Unit 121: Berks Montgomery
Brian C Snyder
484-838-0977
Our next Intermediate Newcomer Sectional (0-500) will be held Friday August 23 at Sacred Heart Villa.
CLICK HERE
for more information.
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Lois Fuini
lafuini@yahoo.com
Hope you all enjoyed a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend. It was a time for us to remember and honor all servicemen and women who gave their lives to keep us free. Unit 133 has lost one of our own servicemen.
C. Donald McLean, age 97, passed away May 6, 2019. Don and his late wife Bettie were avid Duplicate Bridge Players. Together, they won many Sectional, Regional, and National Tournaments,and attained the rank of Diamond Life Masters. Don also directed local area Duplicate Bridge Games, and in later years Don and Bettie served as Bridge Directors and Instructors on several cruise ships. They will both be missed by family, friends, and the Duplicate Bridge Community.
Congratulations!
New Rank Achievements
New Club Masters
Rosann Behringer
Richard Hyman
Susan Weidner
New NABC Master
Success in Gatlinburg!
Several of our players traveled to Gatlinburg in the pursuit of gold/red points.
We are very proud of their efforts to bring these points back to the Lehigh Valley.
Please congratulate them when you see them at one of our games.
Gary Hillenbrand and Clarence Komondor - 74.83 points
John Schwartz and Jane Havighurst - 59.25 points
Barbara Miller - 25.15 points
Beth Dimler - 24.16 points
Betty Abrams and Betsy Cutler - 20.27 points
David and Janice Wachsman - 16.94 points
June STaC Games
Mark your calendars for STaC Games in June. Earn silver points at our home clubs. Thanks to
Betsy Cutler
for scheduling the STaC games.
Monday, June 3
0-100 game and 0-500 game, 12:30pm at LVAL in Allentown
Wednesday, June 5
0-50 game, 9:00am at LVAL in Allentown
Thursday, June 6
0-299 game & Open Pairs game, 12:30pm at LVAL in Allentown
Open game, 6:45pm at Brith Sholom in Bethlehem
0-100 game, 6:00pm at Brookside Country Club in Macungie
Friday, June 7
Invitational game, 12:30pm at LVAL in Allentown
Unit 133 Spring Sectional
Thank you to all the players who supported our Spring Sectional. We are very pleased with the turnout, especially the number of players in the NLM sections. For some, it was their first tournament and we hope they remember it fondly. For others, it was an opportunity to add to their silver points and we hope they did. But, for whatever reason you attended - the competition, the comradery, the experience, or the points - we hope you all left happy! Special thanks to Pat Saeger, Tournament Chair, for all her efforts to make this event a success!
Overall Winners
Friday Morning Open Pairs
Walter Bell/David kresge
Michael Fried/Lewis Lefkowitz
Friday Morning 0-500 Pairs
Bryan Snapp/David Sullivan
Friday Afternoon Open Pairs
Glenn Robbins/ Jiang Gu
Ronnie Freedberg/Carole Maisel
Carl Ziegler/Nancy Machusick
Friday Afternoon 0-500 Pairs
Sue Machet/Donna Meilinger
W Gentry/Douglas Cleland
Bryan Snapp/David Sullivan
Saturday Morning Open Pairs
Madison Morgan/Barbara Stabile
Barbara Berk/Mary Geschel
Saturday Morning Open Pairs
Jean Pryzbylkowski/Sharon Sherman
Janet Morganthau/Sunny Kline
Nelson Rabenhold/Robert Davenport Jr.
Saturday Afternoon Open Pairs
Dennis Shaun/Beth Menges
Craig Bailey/Joseph Miller
Saturday Afternoon 0-500 Pairs
Don Baker/David Turkey
Jane Davenport/ Robert Davenport Jr.
Bryan Snapp/David Sullivan
Sunday Open Swiss
Thomas Krisen/David Kresge/Walter Bell/Valerie Barber
Charles Campbell/James Kenny/Arup Mukherjee/Bagisa Mukherjee
Jack Willgruber/Dave Willgruber/Mike Willgruber/Lou Primavera
Sunday 0-500 Swiss
Michael Dopera/Barbara Dopera/Lois Fuini/Rita Keiper
Meet Your Directors - Part Two
Bob Cole
Bob learned bridge while he was attending junior high school. His first lessons were from his father who taught him Culbertson. Bob played in high school and according to him "too much in college." In 1978, Bob started playing tournament bridge. After playing for a while, he became the manager of the Easton Duplicate Bridge Club and eventually started directing. In 2011, Bob decided to take the ACBL Tournament Assistant test and became a part-time ACBL Tournament Director in 2013. Bob feels "remembering the customer service aspect of directing is probably the most important thing about directing."
Stan Yellin
Stan played a lot of bridge (and poker) in college. Fortunately, he studied enough to get into medical school. They had a weekly student-run duplicate game that Stan was asked to direct in his senior year, so he took the ACBL Director Course. He remembers there were no computers then. They had to match point the travelers and add up all the scores by hand. Stan played very little and didn't direct for many years. Then 10 years ago when Ed, John, Frank and Stan took over the Bethlehem Monday/Wednesday games, they starting taking turns directing. Stan directs about once a week in Pennsylvania and twice a week (with as many as forty tables) at the Vero Beach Center in Florida. Stan feels "a good director needs organizational skills, computer skills, interpersonal skills, as well as being knowledgeable about the Laws of Duplicate Bridge." But most of all, Stan really enjoys playing with his favorite partner, his wife Karen.
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howard.kahlenberg@gmail.com
Thanks to all who attended the brunch, annual meeting and 21-table Jane Segal/Sonny Jaspan Trophy game -- and a special thanks to Joan Warren for her superb organization of the day's events. Winners and photos are in a separate article, above.
Congratulations to the following new Life Master, and those who achieved a new Life
Master rank:
Life Master
Thomas Bang
Sapphire Life Master
Joe Murray
Gold Life Master
Ken Shatoff
Ruby Life Master
Linda Zelnick
Bronze Life Master
Joan Goldstein,
Nancy Tyson
I have gotten feedback that folks would like to see the names of players who have achieved new ranks below the level of Life Master. Because I am nothing if not malleable, here are those folks for the last two months.
Club Master - A Richard Stefanowicz, Andrea Benack, Barbara Kieffer, Catherine Wester, Cynthia Clough, Eileen Stefanowicz, Emily Losciuto, George Kieffer, George Wiemann, Haryce Waks, Janice Meeks-Boriss, Jerry Najarian, Joan Zuckerman, Joan Kellett, Joan Zylkin, John Smith, Joyce Pinkston, June Knight, Karen Meehan, Kathleen Najarian, Linda Blickman, Pamela Ratigan, Patricia Long, Pincus Sall, Richard Greenberg, Sandra Gillette, Shelley Goldfarb-Goldner, Suzan Willcox, Traci Highbloom, Virginia West
Junior Master - Alice George, Bruce Eberwein, Carole Swartz, Christine Berrettini, Cissy Thompson, Cyma Satell, Dennis Swartz, Jay Yanoff, Lee Guertin, Maude Kent, Nan W Hamilton, Paul Dimuzio, Phyllis Birch, Rosalie Brownstein, Shelley Schwartz, Susan
Royer, Valerie Hughes
NABC Master - Debbie Jones, Dianne Meyer, Patty Shaughnessy, Richard Patterson
Regional Master - Alan Meyers, Anola Vance, Barbara Bronstein, Elizabeth Reading, James Davis, Lois Meyers, Michael Basch, Sharon Lewinter
Sectional Master - Barbara Kahn, Barbra Shotel, Gene Loielo, Janice Troncelliti, Jinny Riddell, Joan Bernard, Kathy Evans, Mindy Goldberg, Rui Marques, Satya Kunapuli, Sherry Scena, Thomas Turner, William Hankin
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Unit 168: Central Pennsylvania
The Lancaster Regional at Spooky Nook Sports is only 5 months away, October 28 - November 3, 2019! Take a look at all the tournament has to offer and make plans now if you want to stay at the host site or any of the other area hotels (the "flyer" now contains a list of many hotels within a short drive of the tournament site).
This year, you can look forward to a slightly earlier game time and quieter playing area. Also, if you're a fan of Barometer Pairs games, that's been added to the schedule on Wednesday!
CONGRATULATIONS
to these Unit 168 members on their new masterpoint rank achievements:
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Sectional Master:
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Bobbie Goodyear, Art Kress
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Bronze Life Master:
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Pamela Stackhouse
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Ruby Life Master:
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Ruth Ellen Maddock
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Gold Life Master:
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Ronald Clawson, Robert Miller
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Stay tuned next month, for wacky hands & gadgets.
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PLAYER ADVANCEMENTS
CLUB MASTER
:
Barbara Angermeier
SECTIONAL MASTER
:
Betty Diznoff
REGIONAL MASTER
:
Sally A. Humphrey
BRONZE MASTER
:
Anne J. Cullom
RUBY MASTER
:
Kurt H. Engleman
Dorothy Hand of
Winning Hand Bridge
in Rehoboth Beach, ran a Player Appreciation Game on Monday May 20th. In an effort to thank both the local supporting players and the returning snowbirds, this special event provided free lunch, including dessert, and half-price game fee. The game and the fellowship were enjoyed by all!
For news and results from around Unit 190, click on the links below:
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Please check back next month for Unit 217 news.
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4Spot | June 2019 | Editor: Janet Johnson | janet.johnson210@gmail.com
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