[Unit559board] Draft SCBN column

Draft for the monthly unit column in the Southern California Bridge News. Please review for accuracy and typos! :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We had two great unit games in January, with 11-1/2 tables on the 9th, and 11 tables on the 23rd. Winners on the 9th include *Fredy Minter* and *Lulu Minter* N/S and *Stan Kosowski* and *Harish Singh* E/W. On the 23rd it was *Marie Nimmrich* and *Diane Gulbrandsen* N/S with *Arthur Moore* and *Dominique Moore* E/W. We're planning another two unit games in February on the 13th and the 27th. The game on February 13th is also Super Bowl Sunday, but the unit game will be over about 4:00. That should be the perfect time to get back home, start up the game on the DVR, skip the commercials, and catch up to the live finish by the end of the game! Space is limited for our unit games! Reservations are required. We've come close to running out of tables on previous Sunday afternoons. Please contact Miriam Harrington at (626) 232-0558 to reserve a seat. Remember that proof of vaccination is required, and masks must be securely in place throughout the game -- noses and mouths covered please! No thin cloth masks, or masks with ventilators. Send a picture of your vaccination card to Roy Wilson unit559webmaster(a)gmail.com. I believe we're close to putting this all behind us, and I don't want to drag it out! We've had real difficulty balancing the seeding of our unit games. On the 23rd we had nine flight A pairs playing N/S, and one playing E/W. This really makes it difficult to have a fair bridge game. We're going to have to insist that A pairs who can move from table to table play E/W, saving the stationary seats for those who truly cannot move without extreme difficulty. This is not just a problem at our club, obviously. The most experienced bridge players are also the ones with the most mobility problems, for obvious reasons! I know a lot of players like playing N/S for the convenience, but that can't be an option, for the sake of the game. If you are requesting a N/S seat, please let Miram know that you are unable to play E/W. "I don't like to play E/W" is no longer a valid reason. We have two new Regional Masters, *Susanne Hollis* and Suzanne Wilcox. Special congratulations to new Life Master (and Bronze Life Master) *Ramesh Sawhney*. *Madhu Sudan* is a new Silver Life Master. Marking a major milestone is *Dominique Moore* as a new Diamond Life Master. Congratulations all! Mark your calendars for our next unit games, reservations required!: * February 13, 12:30 p.m., Arcadia Bridge Center * February 27, 12:30 p.m., Arcadia Bridge Center -- Morris Jones, Monrovia, CA BridgeMojo <http://bridgemojo.com> Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers <http://otastro.org> Mojo's Blog <http://mojo.whiteoaks.com>