We are delighted to see the largest face-to-face participation at our daily Monday – Saturday club games at the Bridge Center since the pandemic PABC club games. It is wonderful to see old friends and new faces alike. If you have not played F2F bridge in a while, please join us! Sign up: Unit503 SignUp
We need you! Volunteer positions are open for our marketing and publicity committee, coordinating our free lecture series, and help organize a bridge tournament. If you are interested, please contact either our Volunteer Chair, Gerry MacDonald (geraldinem@aol.com), or myself.
Feedback? The Unit Board is surprised to see that only 14% of Palo Alto Unit members play in our sectional tournaments, despite the large attendance, amazing snacks, buckets of silver masterpoints awarded, well run games, and fun had by all. Please let us know why you are not participating and what we can do better to entice you to play in our events.
At our next sectional tournament, would you prefer to play:
- 24 or 27 boards per session in the Open section?
- 21 or 24 boards per session in the NLM section?
- 18 or 21 boards in the 0-20 game?
In general, please let us know how we can improve your tournament and club game experience at the Bridge Center.
Thank you for your suggestions – we made a change to the weekly Monday club games at the Bridge Center, which will start later at 11:30AM, forgoing lunch, but there will be light snacks. Table fee will be lower at $12. We hope this change will accommodate those who want to play in-person but spend a shorter time at the Bridge Center playing bridge.
Our monthly Swiss teams game continue to be popular! 17 teams played on April 8 – congrats to the winning team: Lynn Yokel – Daniel Kroll – Clark Millikan – Arif Janjua. Don’t forget to sign up for our next one – and let us know if you need to be matched with another pair to make a team.
Congrats to SiVY’s Amber Lin and her teammates for winning District 21’s Grand National Teams Open Flight championship. Palo Alto Unit members Bruce (Bo Han) Zhu and Ming Sheng will be part of her team competing at the national level in Toronto. Congrats also to Alan Malloy and his teammates for winning the Flight A (under 6000) championship. They will be representing our district at the Toronto NABC.
Highlighting some upcoming events for you:
- Monthly Swiss Team club games at the Bridge Center: upcoming Mondays, May 13, June 10 at 11:30AM. Swiss Team games Sign up: Unit503 SignUp
- Royal Sectional Tournament at Clubs (STaC) at the Bridge Center: win gold/red/silver/black points in any club game during the week of Monday – Friday, May 6 – 10. Sign up: Unit503 SignUp
- Barbara Seagram Celebrity Lecture – via Zoom – Saturday, May 11 at 9:30AM: “Opening Leads”
Barbara Seagram webinar - Palo Alto Unit Open Sectional & Non Life Master Sectional at the Bridge Center: win more silver points during four days on Thursday, May 16 – Sunday, May 19. Separate NLM sections. Palo Alto Unit 503 May Sectional
- John Schwartz’s 90th birthday celebration at the Bridge Center: on Thursday, June 13 at 10:30AM – come and help us celebrate our beloved club director and Unit Board director John’s milestone!
- Palo Alto Unit Firecracker Open Sectional & Non Life Master Regional at the Bridge Center: Open players win silver points while NLMs win gold/red points during five days onWednesday, July 10 – Sunday, July 14. Mark your calendar!
- Kathy Harper’s Spring classes at the Bridge Center: Bridge classes
- Silicon Valley Youth Bridge (SiVY): Casual Fridays for youth players at the Bridge Center; also check out their Spring/Summer programs: SiVY website
Newer Players: we have novice/0-50 masterpoint games at the Bridge Center on Tuesdays at 10:45AM and Wednesday evenings at 6:45PM. Gain experience and improve your game in a relaxed club game environment. Sign up: Unit503 SignUp
A reminder we have a Mentor Program where we match aspiring players with more advanced players to encourage our Unit’s newer and less experienced players to develop their skills and increase their enjoyment of the game. To apply as a mentee or to volunteer as a mentor, please contact our coordinator Sid Chen: Unit 503 Mentor Program
Congrats to the following Unit 503 members who achieved a new ACBL Rank in April:
Junior Master: Yu-Shih Chen, Ilya Sherman, Lucia Steinhilber.
Club Master: Ron Morris.
Sectional Master: Steve Cheng, Pearl Renaker.
NABC Master: Maggie Zhao.
Silver Life Master: Debbie Lundahl.
Ruby Life Master: Margaret Wilson.
A very warm welcome to our new Unit 503 members: Louisa Bussing, Jian Fang, Jackie Lowenberg, Christopher Rojahn.
Liz Koh
P.S. Feel free to forward this to others who play at PABC but who are not members of Unit 503.