aces, places, and faces

PRESIDENT’S DAY WEEKEND  SECTIONAL
February 16-19, 2018
      Attendance was good for this year’s tournament. We even had a couple fly in from Carson City to play.  Diane Barton-Payne directed a smooth tournament, with a lot of help from tournament chairman Laura Da Costa, who saw that boards were duplicated for all pair events, as well as several other tasks.
         Special thanks go to Jackie Finn, who again saw that we had great hospitality, including enough to satisfy everyone during the games and between sessions. Many of our members donated awesome food, including Belva Quattrin, Deb Petersen, Monique Irion, and many others. Thank you all. More thanks go to Mary Lou Pease, who saw that those without partners got to play.
     On the playing field, Richard Meffley won just .30 master points more than Mark Stern to win the President’s award. Kathryn Miller won the 99er Award, with Steve Johnson and Margo Cegielski tied for second. Congratulations!

PLACES and FACES
Gerard Laquerriere and Mun Takeda were third once and fourth twice in the open pairs at the San Luis Obispo sectional. Richard Meffley was fourth in the open pairs at the San Mateo sectional.
Our auction for partners raised nearly $1,500. Thanks to all who participated.
Welcome to new member Clint Hudson.
Ann Keag and Fred Schellack are now Club masters. Angie Heisdorf is now a Bronze Life Master. Congratulations!
     Our condolences go to Larry Miller, whose mother recently passed away.
 
     We are saddened that Steve Sharp recently passed away.  He was one of the top players at the Fresno Bridge Center, winning the most master points in 2007, and 2009 through 2012.  Up until last year, he was in the top five every year.   He and I never forgot when he was starting to play duplicate nearly forty years ago and we played in the annual unit KO teams with Bob and Marion Steinmetz. We won all our matches and played in the final round, nearly 50 imps behind at the half. But we persevered and won by a few imps.  We will miss Steve.


LESSONS
Saturday morning and Tuesday morning lessons continue in March. Call Laura Da Costa, 999-2825, or Mary Lou Pease, 288-2340, for more information. The second series of lessons at Clovis Adult School starts on March 13. You can sign up through the adult school, or come to the first lesson at the Bridge Center and sign up.

2 over 1 LESSONS
Mun Takeda will be teaching 2 over 1 bridge lessons in May on Tuesday nights from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. There will be 4 lessons, starting May 8th, May 15th, May 22nd and May 29th. The cost will be $60.00 which includes $15.00 for a Larry Cohen 2 over 1 workbook, and 4 lessons.  Please tell Kay or Mary Lou if you are attending, so we can order a workbook for you.  Please note, Mun will be donating the bridge lesson fees to the Bridge Club.

ANNIVERSARY PARTY
April  8, 2018
This is the ninth anniversary of our moving into our “new” location. For our newer members, we spent over forty years at our “old” location on Clinton Avenue. We hope we’ll be able to enjoy the Bridge Center here for many years to come. Please come and enjoy lunch and a great afternoon of bridge.

TOURNAMENTS
            You can find out about all tournament schedules and results by looking on our website. On the right, scroll down under SCORES to click on “Look up all ACBL tournaments.” Use the drop down menus to get the right month and year.  You can limit it to one state, usually California, with another drop down menu. Then press search. You then might check one of the six tournaments in California in March.  Also, we have flyers for some tournaments near the front door of the Bridge Center. You’re free to take a flyer.

WINNERS
Fresno   Sectional

PRO-AM PAIRS
1A           Richard Meffley - Patrick Carroll
2A1B       William Glass - Joan Fritz
3A2B1C   Carol Kaufman - Debbie Kemp
3B2C       Gary Nelson - Deb Petersen
 
UNIT CHAMPIONSHIP
1A           Mark Stern - Sally Anne Stern
2A1BC     Don Austin - Jason Mcalexander
3A           Howard Arquette - Margaret Mahaffey
2BC         Mary Lou Pease - Jane Bragg
 
UNIT 99ER CHAMPIONSHIP
1              Ann Keag - Cheryl Ryder
2              Alvin Fred Schellack - Walt Kelso
3              Barbara Gaudin - Julia Kendall
 
CLUB CHAMPIONSHP
1A           Robert Durbrow - Bob Cross
2A1BC     Cynthia Tingey - Sheila Smith
3A           Skip Miller - Byron Steinert
2/3B2C    Renee Laquerriere - Judy Nibler
2/3B         Barbara Thacker - Jim Mckoane
 
1A           Mark Stern - David Haberstich
2A1B       Patrick Carroll - William Glass
3A2B1C   Paul Messner - Jane Bragg
3B2C       Don Austin - Marion Austin
 
 BAROMETER CHAMPIONSHIP
 1/2A       Robert Durbrow - Bob Cross
 1/2A1B   William Glass - Debbie Kemp
2B            Mark Stern - Sally Anne Stern
 
750 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
1A           Angelina Heisdorf - Barry Druffel
2A           Mary Ann Clark - Beverly Little
3A1BC     Karen Matthews - Cheryl Johnson
2BC         Don Myers - Doris Myers
3B            Marilyn J. Kendall - JoAnn Huebner
3C            June Oeser - Alan Sakamoto
 
OAKHURST WINNERS
Dana Brown - Wally Wallace
Ken Doig - Burke Zane (2)
Gary Smith - Judy Smith
Grant Sturm - Tom Upton
Kirk Moulin - James Cosby
Diane Mcdonough - Nancy Hays
Burke Zane - T Srinivasan
Pearl McGinnis - Alfred Ellis
  
INDIVIDUAL
1              Bob Cross
2              Anthony Toto
3              Marion Austin
4              William Glass
 5/7          Carol Kaufman
 5/7          Don Austin
 5/7          Joycelyn Kauder
 

CLUB NEWS
               Larry and Gay Slates, followed by Carol Kaufman, were the top master point leaders in Madera for February. The same three lead for 2018.
                    The top players at the Fresno Bridge Center for  January were Bob Cross, followed by Mark Stern, Sheila Smith, Gerard Laquerriere, and Laura Da Costa. The top 99er was Pamela Pigg, followed by Debbie Kemp, Fred Schellack, and Ann Keag.
                    Club championships this month are on Friday afternoon, March 23; plus Unit Championship games on Sunday March 11 and 25; Saturday March 17(Open and 99er); and 99er Championship on Tuesday March 6.

ZERO TOLERANCE
          You’ve heard the saying, if you see something, say something. That applies to bridge conduct as well. If someone’s conduct makes you uncomfortable, whether at your table or another table, whether it's your partner or opponent, call the director. The director can issue a penalty. If the conduct continues, the director can remove offenders from the game and send a zero tolerance message to our recorder.  You can also fill out a recorder memo for the recorder. Mark Stern is our Unit Recorder. Bad conduct won’t stop if you just gossip to your friends. Call the director and fill out a recorder form.

Treasurer’s report for March 2018
If you have been looking at the financial records, which are posted at the center after being approved at the monthly board meeting, you will see a change in the format and structure. We are now working with a budget. That is to say we are now trying to predict what we will be spending over the next twelve months. If expenditures in an area go higher or lower than expected, we can better examine the situation and make adjustments. The annual budget presented to the board in January needs a few tweaks, but it projects that we will break even over the year.
Going forward, the reports will be formatted to reflect working from a budget.  It will take a few months to get it balanced out, so to speak. In the few years I have been treasurer, January has never been a great month. The end of January report will be the first month with this format and it may seem odd; interest earned in January will be reported in February and some payments show up twice.  (Think of it as January has 31 days and yet some payments are made every 30 days.) All will balance out in February. This is a good example of how we should be focusing on our quarterly finances, not monthly.
That having been said, with an unofficial peek ahead to February’s totals (which are not official when this is written) thanks to Laura and others, we had a successful tournament, financially speaking. I hope everyone earned a few points to make it successful for the important stuff.
And thanks to Sally and Mary Lou and of course all the pros, the Bid-a-Pro was a successful fundraiser. This extra income will offset the cost of some club house improvement expenses which doesn’t include new carpet. The board is working on it.    

ROSTER
    We’re planning an update to our membership roster. We’ll have a membership list at the bridge center soon. Please check to verify that your information is correct. If you don’t want information printed in the roster, please line through it. Please put a check if the information is correct and it’s OK to be in the roster. If the information is incorrect, please write the correct information that you want in the directory.

SPECIAL
Sheila Smith - Mary Lou Pease
Mun Takeda - Gerard Laquerriere
Gerry Jones - Sheila Smith
Lowell Gist - Gerard Laquerriere
Kent Billeter - George Dalition
Belva Quattrin - Mark Stern
Margaret Mahaffey - Jim Mckoane
Lowell Gist - Robert Durbrow
Carol Kaufman - Barbara Diebert
Gay Slates - Larry Slates
Ray April - Bob Cross
Margaret Mahaffey - Ruth Christensen
Lowell Gist - Margaret Mahaffey
Rose Boot - Lowell Gist [B]
Jim Mckoane - George Dalition [B]
William Glass - Debbie Kemp [B]
Al Crane - Laura Da Costa [B]
Jane Bragg - Paul Messner [C]
Laura Da Costa - Carol Miller [C]
JoAnn Huebner - Ruby Buttereck [C]
Delia Green - Paul Messner [C]
Olivia Stockton - Annie Chiljian [C]
 
 
 
750 SPECIAL
John Oakshott - Peggy Oakshott
Karin Blanchard - Mary Gullo
Sandra Beebe - Judy Pardun
Madeline Lynes - Joyce Aiken
Mary Ann Clark - Renee Laquerriere
Andrew Graves - Larry Miller
Robert Cherry - Tay Cherry [B]
Patricia Creede - Sandy OwYoung-Chu [B]
Mary Claire Ewing - Sandy OwYoung-Chu [C]
 
 
99er SPECIAL
Barbara Gaudin - Alvin Fred Schellack
Madeline Lynes - Pamela Pigg
Brenda Ward - Walt Kelso
Clint Hudson - Robert Heisdorf [C]
 
99er
Juan Sobenes - Suzanne Sobenes
Fred Schellack - Julia Kendall
Steve Johnson - Margot Cegielski
Fred Schellack - Walt Kelso
Carol Fiorentino - John Cadwalader [B]
Ruby Buttereck - Robert Heisdorf [B]
Tom Callahan - Julia Kendall [C]
Clint Hudson - Robert Heisdorf [C]
Clint Hudson - Joan Clark [C]