ACES, PLACES, AND FACES

PRESIDENT’S DAY WEEKEND SECTIONAL
February 16-19, 2018
Once again it’s time for our annual spring sectional, again over President’s Day weekend.  We’ll have a two session Swiss teams event starting at 10 am on Sunday.  Other days we’ll have two pairs events at 10 am and 2 pm.  The Friday afternoon game is dedicated to the memory of Mary Jo Davila, who always had a smile and made our games fun for everyone.  Each session is scheduled to have an open game and a 499er game, except Saturday morning, which has a 199er game instead of a 499er game. Members with less than ten master points can play free on Saturday morning.
We also have a special game on Friday at 6:30 pm for those who can’t get enough bridge. It’s the Fast Pairs, where you are allotted less than the normal 7 ½ minutes per board. That game should finish around 9 pm so you can get home in time to rest up for Saturday.
Call Mary Lou Pease at 559-288-2340 if you need a partner. Or shoot her an e-mail at marylou121@comcast.net.

PLACES and FACES
At the Glendale Regional, Anthony Toto won flight C of the Saturday afternoon Swiss teams and flight C of the Sunday Swiss teams. Rose Boot and Fred Hamilton won one side game and were second in another.
At the Monterey Regional, Denny Tweed and Cathleen Burden were second in the 299er pairs and sixth in flight B of the Gold Rush pairs. Kim Morris won a side game. Howard Arquette and Avis Morse were fifth in flight B of a side game. Howard also won another side game. Rhonda Hampton, Renee Laquerriere, Angie Heisdorf, and Judy Nibler were third in KO bracket 4, fourth in Flight C of the evening Swiss teams and fourth in Flight B of another Swiss team contest. Dick Powell, Pete Weber, and Avis Morse took third in Bracket 3 of the KO teams. Suzanne Sobenes and Joann Hollenbeck won Flight B of the 99er pairs and won another 99er pairs. Farid Assemi and Richard Meffley were second in the KO teams and fourth in the A/X Swiss teams. Anthony Toto and Jackie Finn were fifth in Flight C of the Fast Pairs.
Congratulations to all our regional winners!     Pat Huston is now a Bronze Life Master. Karen Matthews and June Oeser are Club masters. Julia Kendall and Alan Sakamoto are now Junior masters. Congratulations on your rank upgrades.

Welcome to new member Tom Callahan.
Get well wishes go to Barbara Kelley and Ann Sadler.
Our condolences go to the family and friends of Paula Baraldi. She was very active in the Madera community, and frequently enjoyed playing bridge at the Madera Bridge Club.

UNIT NEWS
Our officers for 2018 were re-elected:
President            Richard Meffley
Vice President  Laura Da Costa
Secretary             Kay Chrisman
Treasurer            Don Austin
 
Chairmen and appointments are the same as 2017 with the following changes
Membership                                       Sally Stern
Forum                                                   Laura Da Costa
Marketing, Recruitment,          Mary Lou Pease
and Publicity
Historian                                            Laura Da Costa
 
Our Bidding for a Life Master was very successful, with $1,055 pledged which may go toward Bridge Center improvements, such as carpeting.

WINNERS

NEW YEARS EVE GAME FAST PAIRS UNIT CHAMPIONSHIP
1AB     Jane Bragg - Rosalie Jorgensen
2AB     Rhonda Hampton - Renee Laquerriere
 
UNIT CHAMPIONSHIP
1AB     Lowell Gist - Anthony Toto
2A       William Glass - David Haberstich
2B        Jason Mcalexander - James Sweet
 
UNIT CHAMPIONSHIP
1ABC  Anthony Toto - David Haberstich
2ABC  Al Crane - Alex C. Sherriffs               
 
 3/4A   Lowell Gist - Gerard Laquerriere
 3/4A   Barbara Thacker - Joseph Tang
 
1A                   Laura Da Costa - Ray April
2A                   Monique Irion - Margaret Mahaffey
3A2B1C          Mary Lou Pease - Kay Chrisman
3B                    Gerard Laquerriere - Mun Takeda
2C                    Carol Kaufman - Al Crane

CHAMPIONSHIP
1          Laura Da Costa - Mary Lou Pease
2          Avis Morse - James Sweet
 
CHAMPIONSHIP
1AB     Andrew Graves - James Sweet
2A       Ray April - Gerry Jones
3A2B   Laura Neville - Ruth Christensen
3B1C   Renee Laquerriere - Judy Nibler
2C        Karin Blanchard - Debbie Kemp
 
NEW YEARS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
1A                   Bob Cross - Richard Meffley
 2/3A               Monique Irion - Irene Whelchel
 2/3A 1BC       Sheila Smith - Gerry Jones
 2/3B2C           Nancy Holley - Donny Graham
 2/3B                Jim Mckoane - Barbara Thacker
 
CHAMPIONSHIP
1          Mark Stern - Sally Anne Stern
2          Skip Miller - Barbara Thacker
3          Bob Cross - Carol Kaufman

750 SPECIAL
Marilyn J. Kendall - JoAnn Huebner
Jonel Mueller - Rita Gladding
Edward Grootendorst - Therese Grootendorst
Sandra Beebe - Judy Pardun[C]
 

January Treasurer’s Report
As I reported at the membership meeting in December, we are now on sound financial footing. We did not burn through our reserves to stay afloat. Our rent is manageable. As mentioned in an earlier report, we were able to get the attention of Starpoint Management because a club member gave us the chance to threaten to leave. So we got to negotiate and our rent is stable for the next five years. If you, the membership, are up to the challenge, we can grow.
A further bright spot is called our table count. Basically, this is the number of players over a given time. When we raised our table fees from $8 to $9, we saw a drop-off in attendance, or table count. When I took Economics 101 in my distance past, I remember the chapter about how when a fee like this is raised, you can expect a drop off in number people participating. I remember it because a similar situation with golf green fees was on the final exam for that course. The lesson was; if you raise the green fees, fewer people play golf, but revenue stays the same. That is exactly what happened when we went from $8 to $9; we took in the same amount of revenue with fewer people playing. This was before the lease negotiation so I saw the revenue stay flat. In other words, that increase in table fees ($8 to $9) didn’t help us. We were still bleeding.
I was a little worried about the next change the board made, but I was wrong. With the change from $9 to $10, there has not been a drop off in attendance, or table count. That means we are taking in a little more money. Not enough to make a profit, but now, enough for us to break even. The Econ 101 lesson was about finding that sweet spot on the supply/demand curve. If we were about making a profit, we could search for a price that makes us the most money. But we are not here to make a profit; we are here to create a space for us to have fun playing Bridge in the most cost effective way.
It looks like we have reached that spot. We have a nice place to play the game we enjoy and we are not losing money.
How can we do better? If you play regularly during the week, play at one of the occasional Sunday games. They are fun and challenging. OR play on a Saturday or on Wednesday night or at Richard’s Friday night game. Don’t drive at night? Learn about Uber. OR, if you know someone who would be interested in learning, encourage them to take the new lessons we are sponsoring.
Keep playing nice and have fun!
Don Austin, Treasurer Unit 522

CLUB NEWS
Carol Kaufman and Barbara Diebert were the top winners for January at the Madera Bridge Club, followed very closely by Larry and Gay Slates. Jim Sweet was the top player at the Fresno Bridge Center in December, followed by Bob Cross, Bob Durbrow, Victor Greener and Jim McKoane. Margot Cegielski topped the 99ers, followed by Mary Claire Ewing, Steve Johnson, Jonel Mueller, and Fred Schellack.  The top player for 2017 was Mark Stern, followed by Maggie Mahaffey, Bob Durbrow, Ray April, Skip Miller, and Lowell Gist. Top 99er for 2017 was Mary Claire Ewing, followed by Debbie Kemp, Jonel Mueller, and Kathryn Miller.

750 CHAMPIONSHIP
1A       Jackie Finn - George Efthemon
2A1B   Patricia Creede - Sandy OwYoung-Chu
3A2B   Deb Petersen - Barbara Wiedel
3B1C   Don Myers - Doris Myers
2C        Larry Miller - Andrew Graves
 
 MEMBERSHIP GAME
1AB     Mary Ann Florio - Mike Florio
2A       Robert Durbrow - Belva Quattrin
3A       Lowell Gist - Gerard Laquerriere
2B1C   George Dalition - Virginia Johnson
3B2C   Peter Weber - Susan Vildosola
3C        Carol Miller - Judy Shuster
 
BAROMETER
James Sweet - Bob Cross
Richard Meffley - M. Steve Johnson
William Glass - Debbie Kemp [B]
Laura Da Costa - Mary Lou Pease[C]
 
OAKHURST WINNERS
Judy Smith - Gary Smith
Claire Molnar - Ken Doig
Grant Sturm - Burke Zane
Burke Zane - T Srinivasan
Wally Wallace - Paul Mertens[2]
Nancy Hays - Burke Zane
Joni Roberts - Alfred Ellis
Ken Doig - Burke Zane
  
SPECIAL
Anthony Toto - Byron Steinert
Margaret Mahaffey - Laura Da Costa
Laura Neville - Jim Mckoane
Lowell Gist - Gerard Laquerriere
Robert Cherry - Tay Cherry
David Haberstich - Mark Stern
Irene Whelchel - Sheila Smith
Laura Da Costa - Sally Anne Stern
Gay Slates - Larry Slates
Gary Nelson - Richard Meffley
Lowell Gist - Mun Takeda
Laura Da Costa - Carol Miller
Byron Steinert - Skip Miller
Dick Powell - Peter Weber
Steve Johnson - Margot Cegielski [B]
Larry Miller - Carol Miller [B]
Dick Powell - Peter Weber [B]
Paul Messner - Jane Bragg [B]
Don Austin - Marion Austin [C]
 
99er
Margot Cegielski - M. Steve Johnson (2)
Fred Schellack - Walt Kelso
Walt Kelso - Fred Schellack(B)