The end of the year is a busy time for Unit 503 and the Palo Alto Bridge Center (PABC). In the coming 60 days we have our annual membership meeting, board elections, two sectionals, a Royal STaC and our holiday party. After the holiday season, we will all need to take a vacation!
Yesterday, we had a super Halloween event. We had 12 tables in the open section and 5 tables in the newcomers game and 20 people showed up in costume. We had bridge zombies, witches, a pirate, an amazing flapper from last centuries roaring 20’s and many more. Thank you to Trish Steele and Prue Sanders for running the newcomers game and as always, many thanks to Lynn Yokel for her free lecture that preceded the game.
Last month, we received a generous gift of several air filters from Cynthia Yock… we appreciate her generosity and her focus on the health and comfort of our membership.
Here is what is coming up on our calendar:
· We are currently running elections for the Board of Unit 503. Votes are made in person in our library. Five members are up for reelection… you may vote today through November 15.
· This weekend Unit 507 will be hosting a sectional at the PABC. The flyer notes that the Friday game starts at 10:30 and the Saturday & Sunday games start at 10:00.
· The annual membership meeting will be held via Zoom on November 8 at 4:30. This meeting is an opportunity to hear about the “State of the Unit” and to ask the board questions. The membership meeting will be followed immediately by a board meeting where members are also welcome.
· Paul Davis is directing a Saturday game on November 18. He is excited about rebuilding our weekend presence.
· Also on Saturday November 18, Anna Ravenscroft is running her Saturday Samplerclass. You need not attend the class to play in the game nor vice versa. Register here.
· December 1st through December 3rd we are hosting our own Open and Non-Life-Master Sectional. The tournament info can be found here.
· The Western Conference to which we belong will be holding a Royal STaC from December 4th to 10th. All games will offer the opportunity to win 25% Gold, Red, Silver and Black points.
· The last game of the Royal STaC week will be held at our free charity game and Holiday Party December 10th. Celebrate the holidays with us at the PABC. The game is free and we hope to raise significant funds for those less fortunate than us. The featured charities are Community Services Agency (CSA) (donate) and Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. Sign-in and appetizers begin at 12:30pm. We always fill the room, so reservations are required.
· One other note on coming events. World Champion Amber Lin is re-launching Silicon Valley Youth Bridge(SiVY) and introducing a SiVY winter bridge camp for young bridge players as well as Casual Friday classes. Details of these events can be found on the SiVY site.
On behalf of the Unit 503 membership, I would like to congratulate all Unit 503 members who achieved a new ACBL Rank in October:
Junior Masters: Brittany Dutra, Doug Macklin, Bharti Rishi
Club Masters: Chuck Jones
Sectional Master: Mary Francis, William Somers
NABC Masters: Nuño Rebelo
Ruby Life Master: Qing Lu
I wish you all a joyous Thanksgiving. I am thankful to all of you who make this community so special. If you have questions, comments or concerns, I can be reached at merenbach@yahoo.com.
See you at the tables –
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