Happy New Year!
My 2023 resolution is to ask somebody I have missed at the Palo Alto Bridge Center (PABC) to come back and play. I hope to reach out to a different person each month… I ask you to join me. Let’s welcome our old friends back in 2023.
January starts with the Monterey Regional from January 2nd through to the 8th. It is not a Unit 503 event, but one of our own is being honored. Kathy Harper will be receiving the District 21 Goodwill award. The award is in recognition for her efforts to teach bridge to the community on the Peninsula for over 20 years. The award will be presented in absentia between the morning and afternoon sessions, if you are in Monterey feel free to join us.
The North American Pairs are coming up. Flight A Finals will be in-person at the Monterey Regional on Saturday and Sunday. Flight B and C Finals are online at BBO. Participants must pre-register by Jan 7. Flight B is January 14 while Flight C is January 15. Use this link to see if you are qualified. More details can be found here and here.
On January 10th, our own Anna Ravenscroft will be giving a free lecture on “How to Complete the New Convention Card”. The lecture will begin at 9:30 and it will be targeted for Advanced-Beginners through Intermediate players. Following the lecture we will host a 499er game for $4.99. Please sign up here.
Speaking of lectures, we continue the Celebrity Lecture series under Kathy Wheeler’s steady hand. The first two lectures feature Gavin Wolpert with the topic “Reverses, Jump Shifts and Common Questions” on January 28th and followed by “Continuing After Reverses” on February 4th. Both lectures start at 9:30 and you can register for one or both. I have had the pleasure of attending several of Gavin’s lectures, they are not to be missed.
Longer term, the PABC will be the site of two sectionals in the coming months:
- Unit 498 will use our facility to host their Sectional on February 25 and 26
- Our Unit will host an Open/Non-Life Master Sectional March 31 – April 2
Looking back at December, the highlight has to be the holiday party. We had 30+ tables of players for our charity game and we raised a lot of money for the Community Services Agency and Second Harvest. Gerry MacDonald was awarded the 2022 Service Award. Gerry has been a vital contributor to the Unit through the pandemic serving as President for two years and co-chairing the HUGELY successful Firecracker in 2022. She did not win this award, she earned it!
On behalf of the Unit 503 membership, I would also like to congratulate the following Unit 503 members who achieved a new ACBL Rank in December:
Junior Masters: Solveig Kjartansdottir, Pearl Renaker, Lina Reznik
Regional Masters: Kathy Lee
NABC Masters: Cornelia Hornstein
Advanced NABC Masters: Jonathon Yue
Bronze Life Masters: James Hlavka
Ruby Life Masters: Valerie Baldwin, Stephen Lubeck
Gold Life Masters: Mukund Thapa
A final note, I would like to thank Unit membership for their generous donations in 2022 to the Peninsula Bridge Education Foundation. The PBEF funds the Unit’s lecture series and library and provides grants to the Unit to ensure its financial viability. Your donations to the PBEF are greatly appreciated.
As always, if you have questions, comments or concerns I can be reached at merenbach@yahoo.com.
May your New Year be happy, healthy and prosperous AND may you bid all the slams you are dealt –
David
P.S. If you know someone who is not a member of Unit 503, but who plays often at the PABC and would enjoy this newsletter please feel free to forward it.