Greetings from Doha, Qatar! I am here to watch the World Cup and will miss you at the holiday party (more on that below). I wish you all a joyous and peaceful holiday season.
This month’s newsletter is a group effort. Actually, they all are, but I am acknowledging it this month! Thank you to Marc Cervellino, Carl Baeuerlen and Dan Thatte for filling in the gaps this month.
I want to begin by inviting you all to the Unit Holiday Party on December 11th at 1:00PM. A free game with Royal STaC bonuses will be held which will be followed by a raffle, dessert and some special prizes. Thank you to Stephanie Youngquist for her leading this effort. This is a Charity Game and the first $1,000 in contributions to the Community Services Agency (CSA) or to Second Harvest will be matched by two anonymous members of the unit so please give generously. Sign up here.
In November we re-elected several board members including Jon Rayden, John Schwartz, Stephanie Youngquist and myself. The Board officers will remain the same:
- David Merenbach, President
- Stephanie Youngquist, VP
- Marc Cervellino, Treasurer
- Eli Wiesner, Secretary
There will be no December board meeting and in 2023 Board Meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of each month; visitors are welcome.
The second half of the Super Silver Sectional Doubleheader was held Friday – Sunday November 4 -6th. Once again, the competition was fierce and the event well attend. I appreciate all the volunteers who helped make the event so successful.
We held our second $4.99 game for 499ers in November. It was a success and included a lesson by Will Watson. In December, the lecturer will be Robert Ng with the topic of Losing Trick Count, a method of hand evaluation. The event will be on Friday, December 16, at 9:30AM. There will also be a 499er for $5 with a lecture by Patricia Steel on DONT (Disturb Opponent’s No Trump) on December 12th. Sign up for the 10:30 AM games at our normal site.
We will once again be participating in the Royal STaC the western conference is running from December 5 to 11th. All in person games in the Unit will offer 25% black, 25% red, 25% silver and 25% gold points during that week. Once again, Sign up for the game at our unit site.
Kathy Wheeler has again agreed to organize our celebrity lecture series in 2023. Gavin Wolpert, Adam Parrish and others will be featured. Stay tuned for details.
Are you a Newcomer to bridge? We have a game just for you on Wednesday nights! Come play with other novices and ask a question or two if you are confused about a bid. Please let us know in advance if you are playing.
As we think about the holidays and year-end, we often think about charitable giving. We want to thank all of you who have included the Peninsula Bridge Educational Foundation (PBEF) in your charitable gifts in the past. This newsletter is full of examples of how the Foundation and the Unit use your funds. If you believe that our facility, our games and face-to-face bridge is good for our community, please consider including the PBEF in your year-end charitable gifts.
The North American Pairs are coming up. Flight A Finals will be in-person at the Monterey Clambake Regional, on Sat-Sun Jan 7-8 2023. Flight B and C Finals are online on BBO. Participants must pre-register by Jan 7. Flight B is Saturday January 14 while Flight C is Sunday January 15 (10am and 2pm, 24 boards each). Use this link to see if you are qualified.
More details can be found here and here.
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 November:
Junior Masters: Douglas Boyle
Cub Masters: Lee Goines
Sectional Masters: Dimitry Goder, Debra Willrett
Regional Masters: Youfeng Wu
NABC Masters: Liz Koh
Advanced NABC Masters: Gill Barsley, Paul Barsley, Gretchen Wyatt
Life Masters: Sue A Bockmann, Stella Q. Wan
Bronze Life Masters: Eva Cheung
Silver Life Masters: William D Bushnell, Lynn Giusti, Susana Krulevitch
As always, if you have questions, comments or concerns I can be reached at merenbach@yahoo.com.
I hope your holiday season is joyous and peaceful and I hope to see you in the New Year –
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.