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Happy New Year! As I start my second year as Palo Alto Bridge President, I am proud of the many accomplishments our group of wonderful volunteers have achieved in 2024, and am excited about the new activities we have planned for area bridge players in 2025.
Upcoming events for you at Palo Alto Bridge Center:
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Highlighting some of the new events/initiatives and changes for the new year:
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Team games are fun! Join us at our monthly Swiss teams game event, next held on Monday, January 20 at 11:30AM, where the boards are already shuffled with hand records. If you need a partner, or help to be matched with another pair, let us know. Swiss Team games SignUp 10 teams played on December 9 – congrats to the winning team: Edward Lechner – Dale Kramer – Rob Boucher – Jackie Lowenberg – a notable achievement as a strat C team beating many more experienced players!
On the international scene at the 2024 World Bridge Championships in Buenos Aires, a couple of Palo Alto Bridge members came home with medals: World Bridge results
The recent Las Vegas Fall NABC drew a competitive group of top players from around the world. We would like to recognize all our Palo Alto Bridge members who earned a large share of the total masterpoints awarded. Special congrats to three members who came within the top 300 highest masterpoint earners: Ming Sheng (96mps), Susan Zhang (85mps), and Vinita Gupta (73mps). |
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Our Holiday Party on December 15 brought out 164 players, filling up our Bridge Center, to gather for great bridge with friends, an array of delicious appetizers and showing off our ‘ugliest’ sweaters. Huge thank-you to new Board member Alex Narasin (second from left in pic) and her crew of volunteers – Mary Steele, Gretchen Wyatt, Dana Bisconti, Lucy Ballard, Kathryn Barnard, Josephine Ventura, Will Watson and Greg Gauthier – for organizing a hugely enjoyable event and collecting many prizes for the drawings. In lieu of game fees, thank you for donating a total of $1,130 to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and $750 to Community Services Agency (CSA). |
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Gretchen, Alex, Lucy, Will, Josephine & Mary |
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Stephanie Youngquist receives award from David Merenbach |
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At the annual party, Stephanie Youngquist was recognized for Exceptional Service and awarded the 2024 Palo Alto Bridge Service Award. Stephanie, currently our Vice-President and Board member, has volunteered for many years for Palo Alto Bridge and SiVY. A special mention was made as we recognized Kathy Wheelerfor her significant contribution in the last 3 years organizing the pro-celebrity seminars, bringing in much needed revenue for Palo Alto Bridge. |
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December 18 was the retirement party game for club directors/owners Lori Spaeth and Marolyn Imaoka – 123 players turned up to honor and show their appreciation for Lori’s and Marolyn’s contribution to the Doubleton Club on Wednesday nights, and their impact on many players over many years. Thank you to Stephanie Youngquist for making this party even more special! The Wednesday night club game will continue and be run by Paul Davis and Allen Simon. Check out our Facebook page for more photos from these two special events! |
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Lori and Marolyn happy to retire! |
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Thank you to all those people who made a tax-deductible donation to Peninsula Bridge Education Foundation (PBEF) – your contribution goes a long way to preserving bridge in our community.
We are delighted and very proud to announce that Marc Cervellino, representing Palo Alto Bridge, is a 2024 District 21 Goodwill Award Winner. Every year, D21 seeks out the best volunteers from the units, and Marc is one of 4 winners. In addition to baking cupcakes for our Halloween party, Marc does almost everything else! He is Treasurer, Board member, tournament co-chair, great ideas generator and a wonderful person to work with. He makes volunteering look easy! So join our volunteer group!
Here’s a New Year resolution for you! We need volunteers, in particular for special events, marketing and publicity, coordinating our free lecture series, and help organize a bridge tournament. Please contact either our Volunteer Chair, Gerry MacDonald (geraldinem@aol.com), or me.
Newer Players: we have novice/0-49 masterpoint games at the Bridge Center on Tuesdays at 10:45AM, Wednesday evenings at 6:45PM, and Thursdays at 11:30AM starting January 16. Gain experience and improve your game in a relaxed environment. SignUp
Sad news: Alan Cummings recently passed away. Many of you will remember Alan – he was a great volunteer for Palo Alto Bridge: a former President, Board member, free lecture organizer, mentor, and led many other initiatives. He was awarded the 2009 Palo Alto Bridge Service Award.
Congrats to the following Palo Alto Unit 503 members who achieved a new ACBL Rank in December: Junior Master: Marilyn Wiley, Mike Wyatt. Club Master: Ronnie Aronowitz, Lela Hunter, Will Wood. Bronze Life Master: Virginia Dare. Silver Life Master: Clive Surfleet. Ruby Life Master: Gary Sheerer. Gold Life Master: Ying Liu.
A very warm welcome to our new Palo Alto Unit 503 member: Elizabeth Roney. Play, Laugh & Learn!
Liz Koh
P.S. Feel free to forward this to others who play at Palo Alto Bridge but who are not members of Unit 503. |