March 2008

 ACBL Unit 503 Minutes   3/4/2008

President David Wheeler called for approval on last month’s Minutes.  Those present were Alan Cummings, Martie Moore, Dave Wheeler, Steve Lubeck, Mike Atherton, Elinor Tanck, Nita Girand, Trina Bowman, Alan Templeton and Susana Krulevitch.

Elinor informed us that the next issue of the Kibitzer will have 6 pages. Alan Templeton gave a financial update. Unit games are not in the Financial Report. Stanford Bridge Club is a new asset, as well as the heating air conditioning unit. Heating A/C unit is also a maintenance cost. Beginners’ courses regularly bring in $5000 to $7000. Table count went up in February, partly because games stayed open during the Sacramento tournament. 1415 tables in February, up 15% from last year. Next year’s tournament will be in San Francisco, near the airport, instead of Sacramento.

Nita informed us that per ACBL we have 785 members and seem to outgrow the Bridge Center.

Steve gave us an update on the Firecrackers tourno. Gene Simpson will be one of the speakers.

He will have a Q & A session and will do this without charge. Several means of compensation were discussed and it was decided to give Gene five free plays at the Firecrackers.  This will be a Firecrackers expense. Lore was suggested for the Newcomer’s lesson. Steve will also try and get Frank Smoot or Kathy Harper. Equal gift certificates will be given to these speakers for their

sessions. Firecracker ads will be in the May and June Bridge Forum. Space and time for lectures were discussed.The Tournament Director inquired as to the degree of strictness desired for players’ behavior.  It was decided to leave it up to her discretion. David suggested that the Heating A/C cost be deducted from the rent in monthly increments.

There are 30 months left on the lease.  It was decided to have a talk with Twisters before taking action.

Martie – Braille cards may not work in the dealing machines because of the different thicknesses. They may work with modified machines. The Bridge Club “strongly encourages” directors to have a stack of pre-made Braille playing cards, if they wish to use the dealing machines. Fred to let directors know if he will attend or not. It seems that not all regular cards work in the dealing machine either. Problem lies with machine not being properly calibrated. Decks will be replaced by Bridge Club as needed.

Dave suggested raising the bridge fee to $8.00 per person. Extra dollar would go to directors. Alan Templeton said that if we do not need the money, why raise the fee. Alan C. congratulated Mike on the success of the Swiss game. However, the success was so great that some people had to be sent home and a slight chaos ensued trying to seat all those present. To assure a place at the game it is strongly suggested that players sign up and show up at the designated time. Mike asked about Charity Games. 16 unit games per year are allowed. Our unit usually has 10 or 11 games. Proceeds of the first Charity Game go to the ACBL who designates the charity. Alan T. thinks it to be a great gesture. On subsequent Charity Games the Bridge

Club can designate the charity. This was voted on and approved.

Life Masters will be announced at the Charity Game on April 13^th.  Table fee at the next Charity game will be $36.00 per table. Schedule of unit games will be published in the Kibitzer and posted on the bulletin board. Alan C. suggested that we add more team games because of their popularity. Swiss or Compact Knockout. Leave pair games for end of year. No specific season for team games. David recommended a pay raise for caddies. Standard fee is $30.00 for the session. A motion was made and approved to raise the fee to $50.00 for extra work done by caddies. Unit game fees for directors were discussed. Two directors at every unit game. $75 flat fee for intermediate – novice director. Tourno director to receive $5.00 per table with a minimum of $75.00 for unit games. Add $25.00 for team games. Unit games make a small profit of $200. Profit is not the incentive.