We will start and end this month’s letter with a BANG! The FIRECRACKER is coming next week July 5th to 9th. The Firecracker is going to be bigger than ever! We have dual sanctions so Non-Life Masters will be able to earn Gold & Red points in the Non Life Master (NLM) Regional while all the traditional Open and Mid-Flight games will be played in the Open Sectional and award silver points. The tournament will feature NLM games each day, four days of team games, 99ers games and a 0-20 point game and more. If you need a partner, you can sign-up here in advance, or go to the partnership desk at the tournament itself which will be hosted at the Palo Alto Bridge Center (PABC) and IFES Hall.
I am excited that the Firecracker is coming on the heels of our most successful month since we returned to in person play after the pandemic:
- Our face-to-face table count in June was up more than 50% from three months earlier.
- Our second NLM Local Sectional on June 16th featured 19 tables in total.
- On June 27, we hosted a warm-up Swiss game featuring an introductory lecture followed by a game which had 16 teams with players ranging from less than 3 Master Points in the NLM section and a player with more than 17,000 in the open section. Players had such an amazing time we will be repeating the event on August 22.
- Our Celebrity Lecture Series featured Michael Berkowitz. The lecture discussed slams featuring highly distributional hands. Thanks to Kathy Wheeler, as always, for arranging these wonderful events.
Take a breath before you read on. The coming days and months are packed with great opportunities to play and learn bridge at the PABC:
July 1st – July 5th – The ACBL is hosting an Auction to fund their educational foundation. You can buy games or lessons with bridge professionals and celebrities. Some of the names are locals and some you will recognize from the Bridge Bulletin. More details and bidding status can be found online.
July 5th – July 9th – THE FIRECRACKER. The Firecracker is going to be bigger than ever! Team games, newcomer games, Gold & red points for the NLM games, silver points for the open games. Go see the colors in the sky on the 4th, but join us after that to see the colors fill the score sheets. More info is available online.
July 10th – Please help make Ed Barlow’s 90th Birthday special. Join us for a face-to-face celebration at the PABC 10:30am game. Ed is a Grand Life Master with more than 17,000 masterpoints and as good a bridge player as he is, he is a better person. Currently, 20 tables have signed up and we are expecting more to participate in this NAP qualifying game and Ed’s party. Let’s show Ed how much we appreciate his huge support of the club through the years, his generosity in giving advice, and his sense of humor. Whether you can make it or not, sign this ecard, add a photo, share a favorite memory.
July 22nd – Anna Ravenscroft returns with her Saturday Sampler. Info here.
July & August – North American Pairs qualifying games are being played twice a month each day of the week during the next two months. Check their newsletters and on our website for specific dates of qualifying games, which award 50% red points.
August 22nd – Prepare for the All Western Silicon Valley Regional by participating in our second face-to-face warm-up swiss game. Our June game was a huge success and we anticipate this one will be even better. A pregame lecture will be held to talk more about the difference between playing team games and traditional pairs games.
August 29th to September 4th – District 21 is hosting the All Western Regional.
All this activity would be impossible without the help of our many volunteers and the Club owners. Thanks to you all for all you are doing to bring our game back.
On behalf of the Unit 503 membership, I would like to congratulate all Unit 503 members who achieved a new ACBL Rank in May:
Junior Masters: Melinda Byerley, Sidney Chen, Steve Cheng, Yuchen Jiang, RitaTetzlaff, Aryeh Zax
Club Master: Nicole Batchelder
NABC Master: Susan Griffin
Life Masters: Dianne Giancarlo, Eunice Menezes, Nathaniel Munger
Ruby Life Master: Brenda Hatton
If you have questions, comments or concerns I can be reached at merenbach@yahoo.com.
As always, we have regularly scheduled games throughout the month at the PABC, 432 Sterlin Road, Mountain View. Check the website for times and to sign-up.
Did I mention that the Firecracker starts this week? I will see you there.
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.
P.P.S. You can also find us of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/PABC503