The team of Michael Miller, Greg Lagos, David Marks, and me scored a 166 out of 210 in the Bracketed Swiss at the Clearwater Regional today, winning 6 of 7 matches.  166 is 79% of the available victory points.

The team was slotted in the middle of their bracket, so it was pretty satisfying for them. 

Claire Hulit reports that Dorothy has died.  According to an e-mail previously received by Claire from Dorothy's son, "She had a stroke on Sunday a week ago today and has been unresponsive ever since.  She had been in Hospice Care Center there on Hwy. 50 since Thursday the 12th."

She was 98 years of age and had been absent for many weeks, but was one of our better regular bridge player for many years. 

Congratulations to the 299ers selected for our first mentoring program.  And thanks to the expert players who've offered to work with them to improve their game.  Mentors and students are cordially invited to a brief reception and orientation next Tuesday, 8/24--right after the game.

Program participants are:

• Christie Bendickson, mentored by Jim Somma.
• Judy Kortier, mentored by Tom Madden.
• Bill Martin, mentored by Marion Ellingsen.
• Margie Mullarkey, mentored by Gerry Panos.
• Jutta O'Connell, mentored by Don Samuel.
• Sandy Ollar, mentored by Lois Knight.
• Rosemary Stanton, mentored by Lee Hargrave.
• Paula Storch, mentored by Mary Ann Dufresne.
• Ellie Tebbetts, mentored by Wilma Kimberly.
• Patti Van Matre, mentored by Carol Hargrave.

OK. Now for the revelation of the secret.

Gerry Panos and I attended the NABC in New Orleans. We wanted to bring some of the flavor home to our club members.

So today was New Orleans Day at the club. We had cornbread and jambalaya; Dixieland music, and beads, beads, beads.

Following is a speech I made to our members: A good time was had by all!

Just to let you know that Marion Ellingsen and I will be starting a course of beginner bridge lessons on Tuesday, 9/14.  The lessons will run from 9:30-11:30 for six weeks.  The cost is $60, plus $15 for the text book.  If you've taken the course before, you may review it for just $30.

Please let your friends know and if anyone is interested, ask them to contact me (592-4882, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Marion (688-1182).  We look forward to seeing you there!

In early fall NCBC will be introducing our first mentoring program.  We’ll pair 10-15 expert players with an equal number of less experienced players who have been working hard to improve their game.  Over a three-month period, experts will help their stud­ents grow and develop.  We expect the pairs to play together at least once or twice a month and to spend time together outside the game to work on problem areas.

Twelve excellent senior players have already generously agreed to act as mentors.  We’re now looking for student players who’d like to capitalize on this great opportunity. Any­one with fewer than 150 master points may apply.

What will we expect of you?  A commitment of time and effort to improve your game. That might even include some outside read­ing or “homework” suggested by your men­tor. There’s no charge for the program but you may want to say “thanks” to your mentor by picking up his game fees or buying lunch once in a while.

If you’re interested, please tell

Carol Hargrave (200-7578, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ), or
Mary Ann Dufresne (592-4882, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

We’d love to put your name in the hat!

According to the July 9 minutes, published for logged in users only, the Board has enacted a final policy on strats.  Newcomers, except for NAP games, will continue to split at 20 and 100, yielding 0-19, 20-99, and 100-299.  NAP games cannot be stratified for non-life-master sections.

Open games will have floating strats, arranged as follows.  "In a Mitchell move­ment, the C strata will have a minimum of 5 pairs. The rest of the players will be divided as evenly as possible in the A or B strata. In a Howell movement, the C strata will have a minimum of 3 pairs. The rest of the players will be divided as evenly as possible in the A or B strata."

Furthermore, the Board says: "Stratification for each NCBC game will be at the discre­tion of the director after all names have been entered in the computer."

The previous strats of 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 was an interim policy until the July 9 meeting, and has now been revoked.