Our bridge club games are sanctioned by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) and directed by a staff of professionals. The Bridge Deck Club is easily accessed from Naples and Marco Island located at the parish hall of St. Peter the Apostle Church, 5130 Rattlesnake Hammock. For more information please call (239) 262.5334 or send us an e-mail via our contact form.
Newsletter
BRIDGE DECK CLUB OF NAPLES
February 2012 Editor – Liz Saxon
There is so much great news to share it’s hard to know where to begin! Our new Board, headed by President Ken Dixon, is in place; our hospitality chairman, Syd Blum is hard at work, as is Janet Dixon, our Partnership Chairman; our 299er Saturday lesson and game is a smash hit, our membership drive includes lots of new members, the education program is going very well AND we are starting a mentor/mentee game as part of our regular open game on Thursdays in February (sign up at the club). We have our second Senior/299er Sectional scheduled for mid-April! Betty McKenzie is our new Good Will person, please let her know if someone is in the hospital and a card needs to be sent.
Valentine’s Day Party -- Valentine’s Day falls on Tuesday this year and Bridge Deck will have a party prior to the Tuesday game. If you would like to bring a “special Valentine’s Day treat”, please let Syd Blum, our hospitality chairman know about it. Luncheon starts at 12 noon.
President’s News –President Ken Dixon would like all of you to know that an internal audit of our finances was completed by three members with accounting backgrounds. Thank you to Paul Goldman, Brian Jenner and Dick Willson for your efforts. The internal “Club Points Program” initiated by Marketing Director Tom Urso is successfully moving forward. You earn internal club points for attending, winning your section, prevailing over A players (B and C players only) and more. A total of 100 points earns a free game. Ken would also like to thank all of the volunteers who took care of hospitality, while Syd was away for two weeks and to encourage volunteers to help out with the Saturday game as well as participate in the Mentor/Mentee program on Thursdays. Special thanks to Angie Maranger who provided a special birthday luncheon honoring Ellie Goodrich during that time. Finally, our STaC (Sectional Tournament at Clubs) is coming up Feb. 13th-18th and members will be able to earn silver masterpoints as part of their regular club game. The next Board meeting is Monday, Feb. 13th, after the game.
Membership-- Membership drive for 2012 is winding down. While new members are accepted at any time during the year, you must sign up or renew prior to Jan. 31st to be included in the 2012 Directory expected to be available in late February.
Education-- Our education programs are progressing nicely. Marcia Reff is teaching intermediate-level bridge on Mondays and Joanna Sarkisian is teaching beginner bridge on Wednesdays. Both days are drawing lots of attendees. Joy Schick is continuing her lessons on Saturdays at 9:45 am prior to the 11 am Saturday game, including a 299er section. Bob Parlin’s chalk talks have been a popular precursor to the Tuesday games in January.
April 299er/Senior Sectional – Bridge Deck Club will hold its second Senior/Non Life Master (NLM) Sectional April 18th-20th in St. Peter’s Parish Hall. Yes, if you check your calendar it’s Wednesday, Thursday and Friday rather than the weekend. We will still have our regular June Sectional June 7th-9th with a 299er game as part of that program. Check out our flyer on the website or pick one up at the Club.
PS – Sadly we lost longtime club member Rosemary Weber Jan. 15th at the age of 93. (Rosemary and other nonagenarians were honored last Feb. at the 2011 Valentine’s Day Party). She was preceded in death by her husband, Dick, and three sisters. She is survived by three children, a number of grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. This editor, for one, will miss Rosemary’s twinkling eyes and smile as she looked at you across the bridge table before making her bid or playing a card. Funeral services were in West Lafayette, Indiana, where she was born and lived until moving to Naples in 2004. We were also saddened by the loss of William “Mickey” McDowell, 90, January 7th. Mickey (a World War II veteran) owned a Pepsi Cola bottling plant in Parkersburg, WV and was known as Mr. Pepsi. He was the beloved husband of Evelyn McDowell (Bridge Deck member) for 48 years. Between them, there are six children, 14 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. A contribution to Avow Hospice, 1095 Whippoorwill Lane, Naples, FL 34105 would be appreciated.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We now have a data base of e-mail addresses for more than 75% of the membership, plus some additional non-members who play at our club. We will be delivering the newsletter electronically as well as periodic special announcements. If you have e-mail and would like to be included in this, please speak to Glenda, Liz or Jim Saxon.
PARTNERSHIPS – Please call Janet Dixon at 331-8803 if you need a partner for a particular day, but be sure to let Janet know in advance if you find one on your own. By the same token, if you are available to play and willing to come the last minute, please tell Janet or Ellie.
EDUCATION – Marcia Reff is teaching intermediate bridge Monday mornings at 9 am. Joanna Sarkisian is teaching beginning and continuing beginner bridge on Wednesdays at 9:30 am. Joy Schick provides a lesson on Saturdays at 9:45 am before the 11 am 299er and regular open game.
UPCOMING AREA TOURNAMENTS
Unit 128 STaC Week, Feb 13th – 18th
Sarasota-Manatee Regional, Feb. 20th - 26th
Fort Myers Sectional – March 8th-11th
Senior and Non-Life Master Sectional April 18th - 20th hosted by the Bridge Deck Club or Naples.
In addition to earning ACBL masterpoints by playing duplicate bridge, the Bridge Deck Club has now added "club points" that could earn you a free game! Starting January 2nd, every player who comes to play duplicate at Bridge Deck Club will receive 2 club points for attendance. If you win your section, you receive 5 club points; B and C players will receive one point extra for everyone they beat in a higher strat than theirs. Therefore, if a C player wins first place in A, they would win five points plus get one extra point for everyone playing that day in A and B strats. A free game is earned when you receive 100 club points; these points earned are good for 90 days. Director Tom Urso installed this system at his former club in Philadelphia and it was quite popular. Tom has now added the software to the Bridge Deck Club's computer and it will automatically award, accumulate and remove points after they are used or 90 days have passed. Start your New Year off right and earn lots of "club points" as well as ACBL masterpoints!
Bridge teacher and author Joy Schick restarts her popular lessons for 299ers on Saturday, Jan. 7th at 9:45 am. The lesson will be followed by a 299er game at 11 am, ending at 2:30 pm. Attendees should bring their own lunch. The Club will provide coffee, tea and snacks. Cost of the lesson and the game is $10 per person. It is not necessary to bring your own partner for the game. The Director will pair up attendees.
On December 2nd and 3rd, the Naples Bridge Center will hold a Naples 299er Sectional providing silver points. Bridge Deck Club will not hold its Saturday 299er event on that day, but will hold its regular open game on Friday at 1 pm and a special open game on Saturday at 11 am. Persons with less than 300 mps should attend the Naples Bridge Center tournament on that Friday and Saturday.
Shell Coast Bridge Unit
As you read this article a petition is underway to form a new ACBL bridge unit in southwest Florida, entitled Shell Coast Bridge Association. We need half of the almost 2100 ACBL members living in the zipcodes submitted to ACBL to sign the petition for it to be accepted. A new unit would then be formed, bringing the number of units in Florida to six and giving sw Florida (Marco Island north to Venice) its own local Board of Directors, control of its own sectionals and educational bridge programs. Unit 128 (our current unit) is bigger than any other district in the United States with currently 14,000+ members of the 19,667 ACBL members in all of Florida. Shell Coast believes a smaller, more geographically compact unit focused on specific SW Florida bridge needs will improve the quality of bridge in our area, change tournament formats to fit our needs and look at rebates and revenue-sharing for local clubs that close for other clubs' tournaments. Your help is needed to create our unit. We ask you to click on the link below, print and sign your name, ACBL number and zipcode and date at the bottom of this form. Mailing directions are on the printed copy of the petition. Thank you for your help.
Click on this link to print a petition for Shell Coast Bridge Unit
Editor’s Note: Petitions should be available at your local bridge club. Signing this petition will in no way affect your regular duplicate bridge game – down the road it will enable SW Florida to better organize educational programs and sectional tournaments in the area. If your club does not have any petitions please have them contact Val or Rick Covalciuc, at valerierick@comcast.net or lizsaxon@yahoo.com for more information.