This month’s letter was delayed by technology problems and by family events. Rather than share my technology woes I thought I would make family the theme of this month’s newsletter!
Let’s start our family discussion with Olivia Schireson who was named 2023 “Queen of Bridge” by the ACBL Educational Foundation. This is an amazingly prestigious award that recognizes the best player in US based junior bridge. The award includes receiving a college scholarship. Oliva is part of our Unit 503 family and her father Max has been our District 21 representative for many years. Among the people she credits with helping her achieve success is the Rosenberg family (Debbie, Michaeland Kevin). Debbie who founded SiVy years ago continues to mentor our young players and Kevin is clearly following in her footsteps even though he is still a young player. Read more about Queen Olivia starting on page 12 of the August edition of the Bridge Bulletin.
After 23 months of face-to-face bridge, including many sectionals, we had a Covid outbreak in August. The Palo Alto Bridge Center (PABC) is like a family. We all have a shared interest and a common passion. Please remember to treat each other with respect as you would members of your family. Specifically:
· Don’t come to the club if you are feeling ill. Even if it is not Covid, illnesses are communicable.
· Do test yourself at home if you believe you have been exposed to Covid.
· Do wear a mask if it will make you feel more comfortable at the club. And do ask others to wear a mask at your table if you wish.
· Don’t refuse to wear a mask if requested by others at your table or by the Director. If a player refuses to properly wear a mask when requested, they will be asked to leave and they may be asked to leave if they are coughing or sneezing excessively.
· Do contact us if you test positive after playing at the PABC.
Our community is a unique mosaic made up of all our members. We owe it to each other to be kind, considerate and understanding. Please be careful and stay safe.
We postponed Frank Smoot’s lecture following the covid exposure at the club. Frank had been very cautious about returning to the club because of the age/health of his parent-in-laws. I personally apologize for anybody who was not notified in advance of the postponement, but we felt that the circumstances required a quick call and without notifying everybody in the unit we chose to focus on the Non-Life-Masters that had pre-registered.
August and early September featured fun for the whole family with our “Pratice Swiss” game, followed immediately by a StaC week and the the All Western Regional in Santa Clara. September will also be a fun filled month:
Kathy Harper’s in-person classes: “Beginning Bridge”, “Deadly Defense”, and “Supervised Play” return in September. Find the details of Kathy’s classes and all our educational offerings on the PABC site.
Kathy Wheeler has scheduled another blockbuster in the Celebrity Lecture Series when Adam Parish returns September 23rd & September 30th. Adam’s topic is “Everyone can improve on Defense”. Adam is AMAZING… sign up here. Kathy and her husband John, who is an excellent social bridge player, will be unable to attend the lecture live as they will be in Turkey so they remind us that you can stream the lecture later if you sign up.
Unit 503 will be hosting an Open + NLM Sectional October 6th – 8th. Bring the whole bridge playing clan or at least your partner. In our last four sectionals 77% of players have been awarded some Silver Masterpoints. Schedule details can be found here.
On behalf of the Unit 503 membership, I would like to congratulate all Unit 503 members who achieved a new ACBL Rank in August:
Junior Masters: Jessie Becker, Kathy Mach, David, Scherer
Club Master: Solveig Kjartansdottir
Sectional Master: Gary Ho
Regional Master: Barbara Fregoso
NABC Masters: Jerry Machle, Vincent Wu
Advanced NABC Master: Her Royal Highness, Queen Oliva Schireson
Bronze Life Masters: Greg Gauthier, Eli Wismer
Silver Life Masters: Eva Cheung, Anna Ravenscroft
Ruby Life Master: The Queen Father, Max Schireson
If you have questions, comments or concerns, I can be reached at merenbach@yahoo.com.
May September bring a sweet, prosperous and happy New Year to those families who celebrate Rosh Hashanah.
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