Here's a draft column for the unit board to review. Tom if there are
corrections, I'll send an update. Dear board, please review for
corrections and omissions!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm home from Providence, Rhode Island, where I spent two full weeks
doing bridge activities. (And came back healthy this time.)
The trip started with the first in-person meeting of the American Bridge
Teachers Association since Las Vegas 2019 (I'm currently their Recording
Secretary). I received my Master Teacher pin, and ABTA gave out awards
for Teacher of the Year and Books of the Year. If you're looking for a
new bridge book, this is a great place to start. https://abtahome.com
Following was a ten-day binge of bridge, receptions, evening activities,
and even a new play called /Bridge to Nowhere/ by playwright / bridge
pro Adam Parrish.
If you have friends who have been thinking about learning the king of
card games, there will be new face-to-face classes for absolute
beginners starting in September at Arcadia Bridge Center on Saturday
mornings and through Pasadena City College Extension on Wednesday
evenings. I'll update the schedule on https://bridgemojo.com/class as we
get closer to class dates.
In July we held two Unit Games, though the second game is happening just
as this column goes to press. Winners on July 17 were North/South A
strat: *Fredy Minter* and *Lulu Minter*, B strat *Madhu Sudan* and *Stan
Majcher*; East/West A strat: *Arthur Moore* and *Dominique Moore* in A
(Overall winners), and B strat *Miriam Harrington* and *Mark Hartzell*.
Unit Game results can always be found on ACBL Live for Clubs by
searching for "Unit 559," or bookmark this link for club results:
https://my.acbl.org/club-results/905596 (ACBL promises that hand records
will be included in the results after fixing some bugs.)
Congratulations to new Sectional Master *Liza Billington*. (I'm the
proud teacher as well.)
August Unit Games will be held on Sundays the 14th and 28th. Game time
is 12:30 p.m. and reservations are required. Contact MIriam Harrington
to save a seat for your partnership (626) 232-0558. (I'll suggest that
we make those games NAP qualifiers instead of Unit Championships.)
--
Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA
BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com>
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org>
Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>
They should put all that creativity into something positive and legal.
On July 5, 2022, at 3:22 PM, Linda Stuart <geohnze(a)gmail.com> wrote:
WOW.....what will they think of next!!!! 😡
On Tue, Jul 5, 2022 at 2:10 PM Morris Jones <mojo(a)whiteoaks.com> wrote:
BTW if you ever get a message like this and question it's authenticity (justifiably so) ... take a look at the actual email address it came from. In this instance, it's "my4(a)pjpolkecm.org" which is certainly not a Jan email address.
Mojo
On 7/5/22 2:08 PM, Morris Jones wrote:
If anyone gets a message like this, be aware that it's "spearfishing" looking pilfer some gift cards.
Jan is sitting right across from me here at the tournament.
Mojo
-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: ACBL - Pasadena-San Gabriel Valley Unit 559Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2022 16:59:42 -0400 (EDT)From: Jan Wickersham <my4(a)pjpolkecm.org>To: mojo(a)whiteoaks.com <mojo(a)whiteoaks.com>
Hello Mojo
Are you available to assist? I'm unavailable for now but I've got credence in you taking care of this. ACBL - Pasadena-San Gabriel Valley Unit 559 needs some gift cards for donation to Veterans at Hospice and Palliative care units for preventive items from Corona Disease(COVID 19) due to their vulnerability.
I will be responsible for the reimbursement.
Thank you for your confidence and support.
Jan Wickersham
President
ACBL - Pasadena-San Gabriel Valley Unit 559
www.acblunit559.com
_______________________________________________ Unit559board mailing list -- unit559board(a)bridgemojo.com To unsubscribe send an email to unit559board-leave(a)bridgemojo.com
--
Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA
BridgeMojo
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers
Mojo's Blog
_______________________________________________
Unit559board mailing list -- unit559board(a)bridgemojo.com
To unsubscribe send an email to unit559board-leave(a)bridgemojo.com
If anyone gets a message like this, be aware that it's "spearfishing"
looking pilfer some gift cards.
Jan is sitting right across from me here at the tournament.
Mojo
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: ACBL - Pasadena-San Gabriel Valley Unit 559
Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2022 16:59:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jan Wickersham <my4(a)pjpolkecm.org>
To: mojo(a)whiteoaks.com <mojo(a)whiteoaks.com>
Hello Mojo
Are you available to assist? I'm unavailable for now but I've got
credence in you taking care of this. ACBL - Pasadena-San Gabriel Valley
Unit 559 needs some gift cards for donation to Veterans at Hospice and
Palliative care units for preventive items from Corona Disease(COVID 19)
due to their vulnerability.
I will be responsible for the reimbursement.
Thank you for your confidence and support.
*Jan Wickersham*
President
ACBL - Pasadena-San Gabriel Valley Unit 559
www.acblunit559.com
Please review for omissions and corrections!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pasadena San Gabriel Unit
Morris Jones
We're continuing to hold two great Unit Championship games (also known
as a "unit game") every month on alternate Sundays.
The dates for this month will be *July 17 and 31*. Game time is 12:30,
and we're finished by 4:00. Space is limited, so reservations are
required! Call Miriam Harrington to reserve your seat at (626) 232-0558.
The game will be seeded, as best we can, for a fair competition.
North-South seats can not be reserved if your pair is able to move from
table to table.
Winners from the June games: June 12, North-South *Peter Szecsi* and
*Amr Elghamry*, East-West *Arthur Moore* and *Dominique Moore*. June
26, North-South *Fredy Minter* and *Lulu Minter*, East-West *Gregory
Tapia* and *Hanna Zhuang*.
Congratulations to new Junior Master *Denise Botsford*, and new NABC
Master *Janelle Morton*!
Looking forward to seeing you all at the Bridge Week regional in Long
Beach! After that I'll be traveling to Providence, Rhode Island, for the
American Bridge Teachers Association convention and the NABC.
--
Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA
BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com>
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org>
Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>
Please review for corrections and omissions!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pasadena San Gabriel Unit 559
Sorry for missing last month's Bridge News! April was a weird month for me.
Let me start with the Mini McKinney and Ace of Clubs winners for 2021.
There was lots of bridge to be played last year, and here's who did the
best in our unit.
The Mini McKinney is for most points overall, including club games and
tournament play:
Starting Rank
Name
Points
>10000
John Jones
167.2
7500-10000
Lulu Minter
663.0
5000-7500
Rae Murbach
284.4
3500-5000
Ernie Wong
568.9
1500-2500
Cathy Martin
97.9
1000-1500
Fredy Minter
155.7
500-1000
Sadika Elewy
69.7
300-500
Paulette Burkitt
144.5
200-300
Hilary Clark
69.5
100-200
Kim Ebner
153.4
50-100
Mariann Nolan
86.3
20-50
Ming Hu
28.3
5-20
Julie Miller
25.9
0-5
Susan Kane / Jonathan Fuhrman
22.8
The Ace of Clubs is for most points earned in regular club or VACB games:
>10000
Rebecca Clough
80.1
7500-10000
Lulu Minter
601.3
5000-7500
Rae Murbach
268.5
3500-5000
Dominique Moore
135.3
2500-3500
Ernie Wong
497.1
1500-2500
Cathy Martin
97.9
1000-1500
Fredy Minter
146.8
500-1000
Sadika Elewy
69.7
300-500
Paulette Burkitt
139.1
200-300
Hilary Clark
67.9
100-200
Kim Ebner
134.2
50-100
Mariann Nolan
81.0
20-50
Ming Hu
27.4
5-20
Julie Miller
23.7
0-5
Susan Kane / Jonathan Fuhrman
21.2
Our Unit 559 players who did best in 2021:
1
Lulu Minter
662.6
2
Ernie Wong
568.9
3
Rae Murbach
284.4
4
John Jones
167.2
5
Fredy Minter
155.3
6
Kim Ebner
153.4
7
Paulette Burkitt
144.5
8
Dominique Moore
143.9
9
Mike Connell
130.4
10
Angela Peters
123.9
We had great attendance at our four Unit Games in April and May:
April 10: N/S Madhu Sudan and Stan Majcher. E/W Greg Tapia and Hanna
Zhuang (First overall).
April 24: N/S Peter Szecsi and Amr Elghamry. E/W Karen Arase and Gitta
Earll (First overall).
May 1: N/S Lulu and Fredy Minter (First overall). E/W Bob Shore and
Kevin Lane.
May 22: N/S Elliott Mazur and Rose Boot (First overall). E/W Arthur
Moore and Dominique Moore.
*June Unit Games* are scheduled for June 12 and 26. Reservations
required! Contact Miriam Harrington (626) 232-0558 to reserve a seat.
Games are held at the Arcadia Bridge Center, with boards ready to play
at 12:30 p.m.
*Rank changes*: Congratulations to new Club Masters *Nina Huang* and
*Premi Thomas*, new Advanced NABC Master *Karmen Armoudjian*, and new
Bronze Life Master *Michael Lo*.
--
Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA
BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com>
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org>
Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>
First, a reminder about this email list server:
I've updated the list members to include Richard. Welcome (back) to the
board!
When writing to the board, if you address your email "To:
*unit559board(a)bridgemojo.com*" it will be forwarded to all of the board
members. Replies will also be sent to the list, and forwarded to all
board members.
Be careful about replies -- if you intend for a message to go only to
the original author, be sure that "unit559board(a)bridgemojo.com" is not
in the To: or Cc: lists.
My personal calendar only has May 1 as a Unit Game date. I also see that
May 8 is Mother's Day.
But I wanted to point out that May 8 is also within the week of the
Western Conference STaC.
So we might find it worthwhile to hold the May games on May 8 and 23
rather than May 1 and 15.
How does it balance out for you?
Best regards from Barcelona,
Mojo (home Saturday night)
--
Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA
BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com>
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org>
Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>
First, an apology to Karmen for inadvertently leaving her name off of the list of board members on our website, and second, thank you, Lisa, for catching it.
Now…. Have I left anyone else off the list?
I’ve played bridge more than half my life. The lesser half I wasted.
OK, let's go with this:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I happy to see March behind me this year. I spent 10 days at the Reno
NABC -- some of it playing, some of it "working." I gave a talk at the
teacher's breakfast about teaching online, and even took along my
equipment to teach some of my classes from the hotel room.
Bridge wasn't great for me, and I managed to catch COVID. (I can't help
but think I caught it in the casino where the guests were uncurated and
not the playing area where everyone had their wrist bands.) Rather than
bring it home with me, I extended my stay at the Eldorado, and spent
five days not leaving the room and eating drop-off room service. My
symptoms included a day of a mild fever, and a runny nose that's still
dragging on a bit.
Nevertheless, eleven days after testing positive, I'm again testing
negative, and I'm on my way to work a Sectional at Sea on the Regent
Seven Seas Splendor, traveling from Miami to Barcelona. I have the
weirdest luck and timing.
At the March 13 Unit Game we held elections for unit board members. Long
time member Peter Szecsi is leaving the board, and Richard Halverstadt
is returning to fill his seat.
Our officers remain *Jan Wickersham* as President, I'm being relieved as
Vice President by *Lisa Walker*, with Treasurer *Miriam Harrington* and
Secretary *Linda Stuart*.
Winners at the March 13 game were *Peter Szecsi* and *Amr Elghamry* N/S,
*Arthur and Dominique Moore* E/W.
The March 27 game is one I had to miss, not wanting to bring my COVID
infection into the bridge club. We did have two players who tested
positive shortly after playing on March 27.
Winners at the March 27 Royal STaC game were *Patrick Cardulo* and
*Carolyn Cohen* N/S, and *Arthur and Dominique Moore* E/W. I haven't yet
seen updates for STaC-wide awards, but there was certainly a rainbow of
point colors available for that game!
We have unit games scheduled for Sundays at 12:30 on April 10 and April
24. Reservations are required! Contact Miriam Harrington at (626)
232-0558. Don't forget that proof of full vaccination is required, and
honestly I think it'd be a good idea to wear a mask during the game.
Don't go through what I had to go through!
Rank changes for this month: New Club Master *Nina Huang*, and new
Bronze Life Master *Michael Lo*.
--
Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA
BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com>
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org>
Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>
Well here I am in an airport lounge writing a column for the Bridge
News. We're all running behind. I know that my email reflector for
unit559board is out of date, and so is my own memory of what the changes
were. So I'm not catching all of the new board members.
Please review my draft column below, help me out with who left and who
joined the board, and at some point this week I'll also update the email
reflector so the new members are in the list, and old ones taken off.
It's been a weird and crazy month for me.
Lew I need help from the unit board, I'll get this to you as soon as I can.
Best regards,
Mojo
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I happy to see March behind me this year. I spent 10 days at the Reno
NABC -- some of it playing, some of it "working." I gave a talk at the
teacher's breakfast about teaching online, and even took along my
equipment to teach some of my classes from the hotel room.
Bridge wasn't great for me, and I managed to catch COVID. Rather than
bring it home with me, I extended my stay at the Eldorado, and spent
five days not leaving the room and eating drop-off room service. My
symptoms included a day of a mild fever, and a runny nose that's still
dragging on a bit.
Nevertheless, eleven days after testing positive, I'm again testing
negative, and I'm on my way to work a Sectional at Sea on the Regent
Seven Seas Splendor, traveling from Miami to Barcelona. I have the
weirdest luck and timing.
At the March 13 Unit Game we held elections for unit board members. Our
thanks to /(who?) /and /(who?)/ who are departing the board, and welcome
to /(who?)/ and /(who?)/ who have volunteered to serve for the next two
years.
Our officers remain *Jan Wickersham* as President, I'm being relieved as
Vice President by *Lisa Walker*, with Treasurer *Miriam Harrington* and
Secretary *Linda Stuart*.
Winners at the March 13 game were *Peter Szecsi* and *Amr Elghamry* N/S,
*Arthur and Dominique Moore* E/W.
The March 27 game is one I had to miss, not wanting to bring my COVID
infection into the bridge club. We did have two players who tested
positive shortly after playing on March 27.
Winners at the March 27 Royal STaC game were *Patrick Cardulo* and
*Carolyn Cohen* N/S, and *Arthur and Dominique Moore* E/W. I haven't yet
seen updates for STaC-wide awards, but there was certainly a rainbow of
point colors available for that game!
We have unit games scheduled for Sundays at 12:30 on April 10 and April
24. Reservations are required! Contact Miriam Harrington at (626)
232-0558. Don't forget that proof of full vaccination is required, and
honestly I think it'd be a good idea to wear a mask during the game.
Don't go through what I had to go through!
Rank changes for this month: New Club Master *Nina Huang*, and new
Bronze Life Master *Michael Lo*.
--
Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA
BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com>
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org>
Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>
