We have an incredible amount of information to share this month and I want to thank everybody who continues to ensure that Unit 503 and the Palo Alto Bridge Center (PABC) thrives. Thrive, you ask? Read on to see what happened in October and what is coming up.
We held the first half of our Super Silver Sectional Doubleheader from October 14-16th. We had 161 tables where over 200 people earned silver points! The second half of the double header is this Friday – Sunday November 4 -6th. Don’t miss out, sign-ups are encouraged.
Our inaugural $4.99 for 499ers game was a huge success on Halloween. We had 19 tables in total. Lynn Yokel honored us with a one hour class before the game and prizes were awarded for the best costumes. The event was such a big success we are doing it again. On Tuesday, November 15, at 9:30AM, Will Watson will offer a one hour free lecture followed by a $4.99 game for all people with less than 500 points. Sign up for the game at our normal site. Missed the Halloween celebration? Attached are some of the Unit leaders/members in costume… perhaps our personalities are reflected in our costume choices?
Vote on or before November 8th for the state election! For Unit 503 Board Members you can vote until November 11th at the PABC or at the Los Altos Golf and Country Club or the V if you play there.
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.
October started with what we thought would be our last celebrity lecture of the year. However, Adam Parrish’s class on October 1 which discussed pre-empts was so popular we added part two on October 22, it was a big hit! I cannot thank Kathy Wheeler enough for all her efforts in running this series for us in 2022. Also, many thanks to H. Paul Davis for relaunching the free lecture series.
November’s unit games are scheduled for November 13th (pairs) and November 20th (Swiss). Sign-up to play online or in-person.
Unit 503 was delighted to host the Silicon Valley Unit’s Open sectional on October 29th & 30th. Our Unit is fortunate to have the PABC which allows us to hold sectionals for our own and nearby units in our home facility. There were 40+ tables on Saturday and Sunday. By all accounts a good time was had by all.
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.
‘Tis the season… or it will be soon. Our IN-PERSON holiday party is scheduled for Sunday, December 11th at 1PM. This will be a charitable game where we can play bridge with our friends, recognize our volunteers, raise money for the un-housed, win prizes in the raffle & celebrate the season. Mark your calendars now and sign-up here. Thank you to Stephanie Youngquist for leading this effort again this year.
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 August. Fully 2% of our 865 members achieved a new rank this month:
Junior Masters: Gaurang Desai
Sectional Masters: Chase Dearborn, Peter Moulds
NABC Masters: Judy Huckabay, Matthew Shi
Life Masters: Leigh Cassidy, Alexandra Narasin
Bronze Life Masters: Leigh Cassidy, Bob French
Ruby Life Masters: Robert Horowitz
Our Next Board Meeting is November 14th at 4pm. Please contact me if you would like the Zoom link to attend.
As always, if you have questions, comments or concerns I can be reached at merenbach@yahoo.com.
I hope your November is filled with family, friends, football, fantastic food, but don’t forget face-to-face bridge –
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.