| Volume LXXI Number 2 FRESNO WINTER SECTIONAL February 15-18 We’re having another four day sectional over the President’s weekend. Be sure to get your partners lined up. The schedule includes pair games at 10 am and 2 pm on Friday, Saturday, and Monday, plus Fast Pairs at 6:30 pm on Friday. Sunday is two session Swiss Teams starting at 10 am. Each day will have open and 499er games in the morning and afternoon, except Saturday with a morning 199er game instead of a 499er game. If you don’t have a partner for a session or two, call Partnership Chair Mary Lou Pease at 288-2340 or marylou121@comcast.net PLACES AND FACES We had lots of winners at the recent Monterey regional. Olivia Stockton and Annie Chiljian were second in the side game, and first in flight B. Richard Betcher and Kim Morris were fifth and fourth in two side games and fifth in flight B in another. Denny Tweed and Cathleen Burden were seventh in the Gold Rush pairs. Dick Powell and Pete Weber won flight B of the side game. Howard Arquette and Avis Morse were sixth in flight B of the side game. Farid Assemi, Richard Meffley, and Gerard Laquerriere were second in the KO teams. Dick Powell, Avis Morse, Peter Weber, and Howard Arquette were third in bracket 2 of the KO teams. Richard Meffley was second in the evening Swiss teams. Jim Slinger, Farid Assemi, and Ed Wojewoda won the KO teams. Mary Lou Pease, Judy Jessick, Renee Laquerriere, and Rhonda Hampton took third in bracket 4 of the KO teams and third (first in flight B) in the Swiss teams. Anthony Toto was fourth in the Swiss teams and fifth in flight B of the Fast pairs. Renee Laquerriere and Rhonda Hampton were 14th in the Gold Rush pairs. Dana Brown and Wally Wallace were sixteenth in the Daylight pairs. Dana Brown was seventh in the open pairs. Wally Wallace was 17th in one open pairs and ninth in another. Paul Boyd won the 999 Swiss pairs and was fifth in the Swiss teams at the Santa Clarita sectional. Steve Johnson and Debbie Kemp were sixth in the Palm Springs NLM Regional Gold Rush pairs. Congratulations to all our tournament winners! Curt Reeves is now a Gold Life Master. Former Fresnan Sandra Zovod is now a Silver Life Master. Ed Hampton is a new club master. Well done! Maggie Mahaffey appreciates all the cards and well wishes she has received. She especially likes visits from all her friends. She is at Pro Hospice 474 W. Twain Fresno, Ca 93711 CLUB NEWS Steve Johnson was the top master point winner in Madera for January, followed by Barbara Diebert, Richard Meffley, and Carol Kaufman. Bob Durbrow was the top master point winner in Fresno in December, followed by Gerard Laquerriere, Bill Glass, and Ray April. Mark Stern was tops for 2018, followed by Bob Durbrow, Ray April, Laura Da Costa, and Lowell Gist. Clint Hudson was the top 99er for December, followed by Joan Fritz, Walt Kelso, Ann Keag, and Barbara Gaudin. Pam Pigg was the 99er leader for 2018, followed by Mary Claire Ewing, Ann Keag, and Fred Schellack. Bill Glass was the top player in Fresno for January, followed by Richard Meffley, Belva Quattrin, and Bob Durbrow. Karen Matthews and Cheryl Johnson were the top 99ers, followed by Ann Keag and Pamela Pigg. WALLY WALLACE Our good friend, teacher and fellow bridge player Wilson “Wally” Wallace passed away in January. His family will join us for a memorial service on Saturday, March 2 at 1 PM followed by a fellowship time and bridge game. More information about the day’s events will be available soon. Wally was a frequent player in Fresno and Oakhurst. He was a fine bridge player – he and Dana Brown are listed in this month’s Bulletin for their 75% game in Sonora. | MUN TAKEDA’S LESSONS Slam Bidding Mun Takeda’s latest lesson will be Thursday, February 26 at 6:00 pm. The topic is How to Bid Good Slams and Avoid Bad Slams. You’ll learn that slam bidding is more than just counting your Aces. The cost is $25 including a book. You can sign up at the Bridge Center or RSVP to: muntakeda@gmail.com We thank Mun for the fine lessons and for donating her services to the Unit. POKER NIGHT Friday March 1 We’re having another Poker Night on Friday, March 1. We’ll have raffles, prizes, more poker chips, new poker tables, plus pizza dinner. Join the fun for $20. If you can’t go, you can still get raffle tickets for nice prizes. Talk to Jackie Finn or Deb Petersen for more information. Treasurer’s report Here is my end 2018 and start of 2019 financial year report. Our club isn’t out of the woods yet, but we enter 2019 in better financial shape than we did in 2018. In 2018, we lost $3,258.02 over the entire year. Two years ago, before the rent re-negotiation, the projections were that we would have been losing that much each month. I suppose you could say we are 12 times healthier. Still sick, but the fever has broken. If you look at the balance sheet, posted at the bridge center, you might see some things that need explaining. At the beginning of 2018, we had our reserve money in Security First Bank because of a good rate of return. But when they merged with Suncrest Bank, it wasn’t as good. Being worried we might need to tap into those funds immediately; we moved it all into our Chase Bank checking account. The hope was that we could set up a separate account providing a similarly higher rate of return at one bank. After waiting in a Chase Bank lobby for over an hour, twice, and a one-hour phone call with their national customer service office, they didn’t seem to care about providing us with the kind of account we needed. I asked permission from the board to search out a new bank to use. I did a little research and then went into three different regional banks to find out what they could offer us and to find out if they wanted our business. We started transitioning to a new bank in December. Two new lines on the balance sheet shows show Premier Valley Bank. Premier Valley has been rated by Forbes as one of the top banks in the nation, 5-star ranking. It looks like it will be a good move. We can earn a little higher interest rate on our reserves and avoid paying fees on our regular checking account. If you play bridge in the day game on Tuesday, you will see a courier from the bank come by and pick up our deposits. They come to us. And for the treasurer, when I go in to transact business, they greet me by name immediately instead of having me wait for up to an hour, often to be told the person who can help me has gone for the day. So far, the transition from a zombie bank is going smoothly and should be complete next month. A new budget has been approved for next year. Considering this is only the second year we have been operating from a budget basis, I am pretty sure the big first-year kinks are fixed. As with any budget, it is an estimate of what we expect to do, so there will be a change or two over the year. Want to improve the club’s financial health? Attend our fundraisers, like Mun’s intermediate lessons, Poker night party in March and others. Share our club with your friends; show them our video on the internet at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1z_sZGma6k or view it late night on digital TV channels 13-1 to 13-8. Play an extra game each month. There is a 99er and open game on Saturday morning. Play a Sunday game. Pro-Am’s are fun, not scary. Consider Richard’s Friday game. It’s a party: can you say ice cream? Lots of opportunities to have fun while playing bridge. |
| WINNERS UNIT CHAMPIONSHIP 1A Lowell Gist - Gerard Laquerriere 2A1B William Glass - Alex C. Sherriffs A2B1C Laura Da Costa - Jason Mcalexander 3B Mark Stern - Sally Anne Stern 2C Debbie Kemp - James Bushman UNIT CHAMPIONSHIP 1AB Steve Johnson - David Whitesell 2AGerard Laquerriere - Mun Takeda 3A2B Rosalie Jorgensen - Jim Mckoane UNIT CHAMPIONSHIP 1A Lowell Gist - Gerard Laquerriere 2A Robert Durbrow - Mary Lou Pease 3A1B Laura Da Costa - Ray April 2/3B Cynthia Tingey - Avis Morse 2/3B Mark Stern - Sally Anne Stern UNIT CHAMPIONSHIP 1A Richard Meffley - Steve Johnson 2A1B William Glass - Rose Boot 2B Al Crane - Laura Neville UNIT 99ER CHAMPIONSHIP 1 Clint Hudson - Walt Kelso 2 Barbara Gaudin - Sandra White MEMBERSHIP GAME 1A Robert Durbrow - Laura Neville 2A1B William Glass - Larry Miller 3A2B Skip Miller - Cynthia Tingey 3B1C Carol Miller - Laura Da Costa 2C Debbie Kemp - Steve Johnson MEMBERSHIP 1A Gerard Laquerriere - Lowell Gist 2A Robert Durbrow - Cynthia Tingey 3/4A1/2B Ray April - Gerry Jones 3/4A1/2B1C Donny Graham - Nancy Holley 3B2C Judy Jessick - Rosalie Jorgensen CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 1 Robert Durbrow - Olivia Stockton 2 Dick Powell - Peter Weber 3 Skip Miller - Byron Steinert 750 CHAMPIONSHIP 1ABC Cheryl Johnson - Karen Matthews 2AB JoAnn Huebner - Ann Keag 3AB2C Joan De Yager - Marsha Infausto 3C Don Myers - Doris Myers | 99ER CHAMPIONSHIP 1 Clint Hudson - Barbara Gaudin 2 Tom Callahan - Julia Kendall OAKHURST WINNERS Karen McCartin and Paul Mertens Clem Bingham and Jim Luther 2 Ken Doig and Claire Molnar 2 Ken Doig and T. Srinivasan 2 Diane McDonough and Nancy Hays Paul Mertens and Clem Bingham INDIVIDUAL 1A William Glass 21B Laura Da Costa 3A2B Anthony Toto 1/3C Mary Lou Pease 1/3C Carol Kaufman 1/3C Marion Austin SPECIAL Robert Durbrow - Belva Quattrin JoannE. Evans - Skip Miller Barbara Diebert - Richard Meffley Gerry Jones - Ray April Ray April - Laura Da Costa Gay Slates - Larry Slates [B] David Whitesell - Jim Mckoane [C] Mary Claire Ewing - Sandy OwYoung-Chu [C] Marion Austin - Don Austin [C] 750 SPECIAL Deb Petersen - Paul Boyd Marge Field - Joan Fritz Kathleen Coit - William Coit Diane McDonough - Ken Summers Robert Cherry - Tay Cherry[B] Judy Geary - Doris Myers [C] 99er SPECIAL Tom Callahan - Julia Kendall Pat Heckathorn - Sandy Petrie 99 Margot Cegielski - Ed Keller Julia Kendall - Tom Callahan Alvin Fred Schellack - Walt Kelso Sandy Petrie - Pat Heckathorn Barbara Gaudin - Sandra White |
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