Mary Ann duFresne and Marion Ellingsen are just back from Toronto and the annual conference of the American Bridge Teachers Association. If you’ve noticed their big smiles, that’s because they received a much-coveted award at the conference – ABTA’s Best Book of the Year Award – for Bridge with Bells and Whistles!

All the nominated books for the year were reviewed and voted on by an expert panel of ABTA officers as well as bridge pros Jerry Helms and Karen Walker. Mary Ann and Marion were especially proud to win out over titles by more renowned bridge writers like Seagram and Bird. It was quite an achievement for two little known bridge teachers from Spring Hill!

Marion had this to say to The Daily Recap: "O Canada! O Toronto! O what a wonderful experience!

"Imagine our delight winning the book of the year award for best intermediate bridge book. A plaque was presented to us Thursday night at the annual banquet of the American Bridge Teachers Association. There were 100 or more bridge teachers exchanging bridge tips and anecdotes, and treating us like visiting dignitaries. What a wonderful group of people – all down to earth, sharing their stories and ideas. It was so gratifying to actually talk to people like Barbara Seagram and Jerry Helms!

"Friday morning was a panel discussion and question/answer session. What a wealth of information we gleaned from Larry Cohen, Lisa and David Berkowitz, David Bird and Mel Colchamiro. Laughter rocked the room as each question was answered with a dose of humor.

"On Friday evening we had a book signing along with Jerry Helms who was promoting his own book ‘Helms to Hello.’ Gerry told us that he had actually voted for our book. How gratifying! As we trudged home – thoroughly exhausted – our spirits were lifted again by the kind words and congratulations of our own dear friends here at Nature Coast Bridge Club. Thanks for all the encouragement!"

Mary Ann commented also: "Marion really said it all. It was wonderful being stars for a day or two!

"But I wouldn’t want anyone to think we came home with inflated egos. After two days of glory, we spent Saturday playing in the A/X Pairs event. If you don’t know about that event it’s exclusively for pairs which include a player with 3000 or more master points. The pros put us firmly in our proper place! Slightly bloody at the end of our great experience, it’s wonderful to be home again with all our Nature Coast friends."