THE
American
Contract Bridge League – District 20 – Unit 490
Volume II — Issue 1
— January, February, March 2010
|
GAYLE NOMINATED
“BRIDGE TEACHER OF YEAR” Donna
Sheets learned through The Bulletin
that Masterpoint Press, a bridge publishing company in The
Salem Winter Sectional (January 15-17) saw 194 tables in play, including 21
tables in three sessions of 299er games on Friday and Saturday. Swiss Teams:
37 teams participated on Sunday:—21 in the BCD brackets and 16 AX
bracket teams. 27/28-
Paul Graham, Jackie Mishler, 6.61. UNIT 490
WINS FIRST INTER-UNIT CHAMPIONSHIP The first championship
bridge match between Salem Unit 490 and Albany-Corvallis Unit 477 was held
Sunday, March 7 at KSAS. Thirty-two
pairs participated—22 from LESSONS Currently, bridge lessons are being offered— Mondays, KSAS, Tuesdays, Applewood Retirement Comm,
6-8, Dick Pitzer. _____________________________________________________ President’s Message – Unit 490 Mark Sunday, August 8, on
your calendar. That’s when we defend our newest piece of hardware, the
Inter-Unit Championship Contest trophy we, Unit 490, won from Unit 477
(Albany-Corvallis) on March 7. — Led by A-strat pair Zina Galaka/Lois Bonnes, who racked up 197
points and a 63.14% game, Unit 490 outdis-tanced
our neighbors to the south, 1,644 to 1,441.5. Other A strat
leaders were Carol and Jim Sanner, 189.5 points and 61.7%; and Art Duraski/Winnie
Clausen, 182 and 58.33%. — Leading B-strat were Shain Oleson and Mo Smith, 190 points and
61.06%, follow-ed by Jackie Mishler/Susan Palmer with 178.5, 57.21%. Norma Stofiel and Tom McGuire topped the C strat with a 190.5, 61.7% combo, followed by Beth Mosher/Melissa
Beyer, 173.5, 55.61%, Ellen Doty/Judy Thompson, 177.5, 56.89%; and Gloria
Crenshaw/ Diana Fowlds, 163.5, 52.4%. — The event drew a First Sunday game high
of 16 tables (thanks to 10 pairs from Unit 477) and featured drawings for a
free game, “I Free play winners in the
six Unit Games during the first quarter were Darlene Clark, Randy Jordan,
Dick Koford, Al Ozias, Susan Palmer and Judy Lathrop. The
Unit Game for April has been moved back from the first Sunday to the second
Sunday to avoid conflicting with Easter (April 4). The April 11 event will feature a “Crazy Hat” theme—wear your
favorite funky bonnet. Wearer of the
coolest chapeau wins an “I Financially, Unit 490 is
operating at a slight loss, down $40 for the first two months of the year. As
of March 9, there was $27,053.70 in our Vanguard Prime Money Market account
and $4,994.37 in checking. If you have
any questions about Unit 490, please don’t hesitate to ask. Tom McGuire, President, Unit 490. |
Board and Officials _______________ President
David Astle Vice-President
Martha Farmer Secretary
Rose McGuire Treasurer
Shain Oleson Hospitality
Shirley Scofield Board Members
Jan Suggs Bill Anning Winnie Clausen
Jean Ozias Partnership
Gayle Goodman
Wilkins 503-371-3556
Club Manager
John Gram Club Calendar
Wes Alderson Unit 490 Board and Officials _______________ President Tom McGuire Vice-President Susan Helm-Palmer Secretary Carol Sanner Treasurer Judith Ferguson Director/Hospitality Peggy Swindling Board Members Dennis Craig - Open - Webmaster J. W. Sanner Business Manager John Gram |
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President’s Message —
We’re three months into 2010
and it’s time for an update on what’s going at SBC:
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!! 1) SWISS
TEAMS. Currently, Swiss Team games
are held on fifth Fridays. Turnout for
these games has been less than we’d like.
This is in marked contrast to Albany-Corvallis where turnout for teams
is often 18 or more. One of their
members has the job of facilitating team formation. We’d like to try this here and would very
much appreciate a volunteer for this job.
Gayle does a superb job as
partnership chair and we are hoping someone else will provide the spark
necessary to build up participation in our team games. 2) TRANSPORTATION/CARPOOLING. As our membership ages, some of us find it’s
more difficult to get to KSAS or Avamere for games. We are hoping that those who don’t mind
driving (and going a bit out of their way) will volunteer to drive club members
to and from games. If you’re interested,
let us know—we’ll try to develop a system to help get people to games.
SPECIAL
GAMES CALENDAR. Martha Farmer and Rose McGuire have donated many hours producing a calendar of
special games for the months ahead. When
their task is complete, we will include the special games calendar for the
coming quarter in each Salem Slam. Also, we again thank Martha for providing the cake each month for our celebration of
members’ birthdays.
FRIDAY NIGHT GAMES. Thanks again to Dick Pitzer for finding us a fine venue for our Friday night games
and to Judy Lathrop for finding new
players for those game.
FINANCES. We all owe a
major thanks to Shain Oleson. He has been outstanding as our
club’s treasurer. (It almost makes it
easier to lose to him at the table.) At
our last board meeting he provided charts showing how much we gain/lose based
on table fees and number of tables in play.
As a result, we now know that at $4 per player, it takes at least 11
tables on Tuesdays and Fridays and 9 tables for each of our Wednesday games just
to cover our rent and director expenses—not including the other expenses we
incur. Until recently, it was rare to
have fewer than 11 tables in play on Tuesday/Friday, but we have consistently
fallen far short of nine tables at each of our Wednesday games. If we raise table fees to $5 per player, our
break-even point on Tuesday and Friday becomes just over eight tables—six on
Wednesday. (Jean Ozias points out that
table fees were $8/person in
CLUB POLICIES: 1) POLITICAL
MATERIAL. At our February board
meeting, the board voted unanimously that written political material supporting
or opposing ballot measures and/or candidates should not be placed on tables
for distribution to club members at games.
Your board would like our playing area to be as free as possible from
the increasing rancor associated with politics these days. 2) FIFTH TUESDAYS/
FRIDAYS. In the
future, all Swiss Team and Pro-Am games will be held ONLY on fifth Tuesdays and
fifth Fridays. We hope this policy will
minimize disruption to regular partnerships.
BOARD
MEETINGS. Salem Bridge
Club’s board of directors meets on third Tuesdays at
Dave Astle, President,
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UNIT GAME
RESULTS: January, February, March
January 3—BIRTHDAY BASH FOR GAYLE.
The First Sunday game of 2010
coincided with Gayle Goodman-Wilkins’ 80th birthday. Fifty players (including Gayle) turned out to
help her celebrate. Edible treats were
plentiful and our honoree expertly cut the cake.
Overall winners:
1-Teresa Ozias, Dick McCluer 66.48%
2-Dave and Kathy Astle 60.40%
3-Dick Pitzer, Ellie
Hall-Pitzer 59.85%
4-Ellen Doty, Judith
Thompson 58.22%
Note: Everyone understands that if
Gayle hadn’t been
directing, she would have been first overall.
Wednesday, January 20, six tables—overall winners:
1-Jack and Arlene Mayfield 67.78%
2-Carol Brown, Carolyn Canoy 58.52%
3-David Canoy, Rick
Dellenback 55.93%
4-Shain Oleson, Mo Smith 53.70%
Sunday, February 7, nine tables:
1-Henri Jansen, Rick
Dellenback 643.33%
2-Jan Suggs, Chris Sawyer 61.67%
3-Dave and Kathy Astle 56.67%
4-Kevin Kacmarynski, Shain
Oleson 55.00%
Wednesday, March 17, six tables:
1-Dave and Carolyn Canoy 64.07%
2-Jan Suggs, Chris Sawyer 61.11%
3-Carol Brown, Jackie
Mishler 56.67%
We need more participation at Unit Games!!
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North
K
x x Bidding: South bids 1C, all pass.
8
x x x Opening lead: 10 of spades
10
x x x x
x This
situation comes up more often than we’d
like, but despite the fact that we’d rather be
South playing this hand in diamonds,
our job is to make
A J x one club. How would you play this hand to
A
K x maximize your chances of
making 7 tricks?
A
K x
7 x x x (Answer on page 7.)
Source:
Upcoming Area Tournaments
REGIONALS
SECTIONALS
Redding Sundial Sectional April 9-11,
Eugene Sectional June 4-6, N W
Regularly Scheduled Games:
6
At
Salem/Keizer Senior Center —
(near Cherry Ave &
Tuesday (Open)
Wednesday (NLM only)
Wednesday Night (Open)
Friday (Open)
1st Sunday (Unit
Game–Open)
At
Friday Night (Open)
At
1501
S. Baker (recreation hall), McMinnville - 1-503-472-4086
Game Directors:
John Gram 503-581-1725 Frank Neisius 503-362-7333
Gayle Goodman 503-371-3556 Dick Pitzer 503-390-3863
Steve Drew (McMinnville) 1-503-472-6092
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MASTER POINT RACES FOR
2010—RESULTS POSTED THROUGH
ACE OF CLUBS STANDINGS:
(Points won at bridge clubs)
0 to 5 Master Points 20 to
50 Master Points*
1.22 Ann Teal 3.20 Bill Anning
1.36
Stan Page
1.05
Chris Owens
50 to 100 Master Points 100 to 200
Master Points
5.24 Joan Page 7.81 Shirley Scofield
5.18 Allen Carter 7.56
Dick Koford
4.17 Beth Mosher 6.48
Tom McGuire
200 to 300 Master Points 300 to 500
Master Points
8.07 Marty Heer 9.57 Ellie Hall-Pitzer
5.42 Judith Ferguson 9.42 Dick
Pitzer
3.48 Sharon Oliver 6.67
Jerome Gordon
500 to 1000 Master Points 1000 to 2500
Master Points
12.92 Carolyn Canoy 12.83
Norma Frechin
14.52 Susan Palmer 14.26
David Canoy
11.43 Jackie Mishler 11.73
Kathy Astle
2500 to 5000 Master Points
13.62 Greg West *No results posted for 5 to 20 point range
5.96 J Gram
4.68 Suzanne St. Thomas
MINI-McKENNEY
STANDINGS: (Total points won)
0 to 5 Master Points 5 to 20
Master Points
1.22 Ann Teal 7.46 L. L. Ball
3.63
Jan Petroski
3.63
Jerry Bowman
20 to 50 Master Points 50 to 100
Master Points
5.39 Bill Anning 11.01 Jack Farmer
1.36 Stan Page 7.42
Beth Mosher
1.05 Chris Owens 6.07
Rose McGuire
100 to 200 Master Points 200 to 300
Master Points
13.71 Tom McGuire 11.35 Marty Heer
11.66 Jeanette Brandt
7.37 Judith
11.48 Shirley Scofield 5.07
Sharon Oliver
300 to 500 Master Points 500 to 1000
Master Points
10.33 Ellie Hall-Pitzer 28.28 Carolyn Canoy
10.18 Dick Pitzer 25.63 Zina Galaka
9.95 Jerome Gordon 18.97 Susan Palmer
1000 to 2500 Master Points 2500 to 5,000
Master Points
30.69 David Canoy 82.19 Isolde Knaap
20.34 Kathy Astle 33.90 Suzanne
20.09 Darlene Clark 28.92 Greg West
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GAYLE’S GOLDEN RULES:
Don’t push opponents to the four level unless you’re ready to double
Do not preempt (bid 3 of a suit) with an outside Ace
DIRECTOR’S
COLUMN: Dick Pitzer
Thumbnail Bio: Native Oregonian (
The Official Laws of Duplicate Bridge were revised in September, 2008. Many players are still unaware of the scope
of the changes and may be surprised when they encounter a ruling involving one
of the altered laws. Here, and in
upcoming issues of the
CARD EXPOSED
DURING AUCTION: Situation: A card drops face up on the table before or
during the bidding or is exposed sufficiently for dropper’s partner to see
it. Call:
“DIRECTOR!” Ruling: The card (or cards) must remain face up on
the table until the auction ends.
Additionally: 1) If the card is
an honor (10-A), or if more than one card is dropped, partner of dropper must
pass (once) at his/her next opportunity to bid.
2) If it is a spot card (2-9), the auction continues normally. (Partner doesn’t have to pass.)
If card
dropper’s side is declaring, the card returns to declarer’s hand or becomes
part of the dummy. If dropper’s side is
defending, the card(s) remains face-up on the table as a penalty card(s),
subject to the laws governing penalty cards during play of the hand. .Remember, the card(s) doesn’t have to be
dropped—just exposed enough for dropper’s partner to see it.
KNOW THE PROCEDURE
Calling the Director: Do not
try to adjudicate a problem at the table without calling the director, whose
job is to be an unbiased referee. When you call the director,
everyone will get a chance to speak, but ONE AT A TIME. Try to remain calm. The person who initiated the call should
start by explaining the situation as plainly as possible (without interruption
from others at the table.) Let the
director ask what he/she needs to know to help you set things right.
News Item: One of our long-time members, Dick Arenz, served in the 31st Army Division during
World War II. This division was known as
the “Dixie Division”—with all but one member, Dick, being from the Old
South. On Tuesday, March 23, Joe Winter,
a member of Capital Carvers, presented Dick with a cane topped with a carved
eagle in honor of Dick’s service to his country. Capital Carvers has given many such canes to
war veterans at the Veteran’s Hospital.
Answer to Bridge Hand Box (page 5): Even though there are seven top winners with a
spade lead (if the hand were being played in no trump), you are not likely to
make this hand unless you lead a club at every opportunity. This is a situation where the trump suit has
become the biggest threat to making your contract. You must try not to let the opponents get a
chance to start cross-ruffing. (For instance, in this case, if you try to
cash your top diamonds before pulling trumps, opponents may trump in and set
you.)
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MY
CHOICE FOR MASTER POINT TEACHER OF THE YEAR!
Returning from the
My husband Jack and I
joined
Since she also
directs 3 or 4 games a week at our club, her ‘formal’ lessons are always
augmented by ‘informal’ Q & A sessions after the game. She also makes it clear that she’s available
by phone for answers to frustrating bidding problems which she cheerfully explains…
as long as it’s AFTER
Our weekly 299-er
game is always preceded by half an hour of instruction, using books that bear
testimony to many years of constant reference.
Gayle’s total commitment to and continuing enjoyment of the game is
infectious… and her total recall of hands played at games weeks before is
almost uncanny. My own inadequate recall
has prompted me to keep a notebook of her one-liner ‘words of wisdom’. I call them Gayle’s Golden Rules… for reference as needed – which is
often!
Just last week during
a session at the Reno Nationals when we were exchanging ‘point of origin’ info
with our Florida opponents, the gentleman of the pair said, “Oregon…I remember
a teacher in Portland that inspired me to take up the game. Her name was Gayle
something or other, and 30 years later I’m still hooked.” Well, I knew right away who that had to
be… I mentioned her last name and sure
enough I was right!
In closing, I want
all who read this to know that Gayle Goodman-Wilkins has the ability to prove
wrong, at least in our case, that greatly overused cliché, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”.
We are definitely old dogs and we are ‘taking’ new tricks every time we
play bridge.
Martha
Farmer
________________________________
OUR THOUGHTS AND BEST WISHES ARE WITH: Dennis Craig, Betty Dixon,
Jack Lathrop, Jim and Judy
Kleen, Shirley Oden, Don and Dessa Scheelar, Mary
Wright
MINUTES OF MONTHLY SBC BOARD MEETINGS ARE POSTED ON THE
BULLETIN BOARD EACH MONTH. We encourage you to read them!
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