Teams Event
Many thanks to the 15 teams who played in the teams event on Friday.  Congratulations to our winning team of: Lyn Deegan, Lorna Wardle, Jan Griffiths and Miki Drewitt-Smith.  The podium was rounded out by two teams shared the silver medal position: Team 1 was Cathy Cole-Clark, Maureen Stewart, Marilyn Wright and Wayne Courtney; Team 2 was Silke Britten, Ann Bristow, Barry Krone and John Hetherington.

A big thank you to John Hetherington for his support before the event and to Ken Horne and John again for their backup on the day.  It’s not much fun sitting on the sidelines but we had a number of generous members who offered to act in the role of reserve, if needed. Thank you to Carol Wett and Mary Raftery who offered to be called on short notice and to Linda Harper, Halina Gadsden, Peter Muller and Mike Monaghan who were all called on to fill vacancies.

Melbourne Cup Event
Our annual Melbourne Cup event is being held on Tuesday 1 November.  Please note each pair is asked to bring a plate. As usual there will be an early start to the bridge session on that day.  Thanks to Ken and/or Richard who will be coming in early to direct.  Players are asked to arrive at 10am for a 10:30am start to bridge. There will be a mid-session break and then lunch will be taken at the conclusion of bridge and before the running of the cup.  There will be spot novelty prizes as well as a gents’ and ladies’ prize for best cup related hat/fascinator.  Thanks to Gwen and Jim who will again be conducting the sweeps for our enjoyment.

Technology
Recently, some players have been holding up other players and slowing play by taking excessive time to look at past results on the bridgemates.  I particularly noticed several players on Thursday doing this whilst players following from the previous table were left standing around. (And if you get stuck behind a repeat offender, you’re left standing around every time you move to another table.)  Once, the director calls for players to move, if you are playing E/W, put the bridgemate down and follow the director’s instruction to move to the next table. If you are playing N/S, put the bridgemate down and greet your new opponents.  Last year, the committee removed the option of looking back at past results, as other clubs have done, for this very reason but later reinstalled the option on the condition that it did not slow play.  If you want to see this option retained, don’t abuse the opportunity and as a common courtesy, consider the other players in the room.

Secondly, John has installed a chromecast device on our TV that allows us to beam our computer screen onto the TV. On Friday we were able to view the results of the teams event on the TV. There will be many more similar opportunities. Thanks, John.

Helpers’ Thanks
We have had members come forward to help in the kitchen on a Monday (Helen Stirling) and Tuesday (Marea Allen). Thank you ladies and thank you also to Katie Emms who is overseeing any helpers.  I will again list here the tasks that need to be looked after each session. If you don’t currently have a job assisting the club in some way, consider this.

BEFORE BRIDGE
•Check toilets have enough soap, toilet paper and paper towels.
•Put money slips on each table.
•Fill/switch on urn. (2 on Tues, Thurs and Fridays.)
•Put cups, coffee (decaf and normal), teabags (decaf, normal and herbal) spoons, near urn(s).
•Put 3 types biscuit on table.
•Put brown and white sugar and spoons on table + a small dish for dirty spoons.
•Fill 2 jugs of milk and leave in fridge- ready to go on the table. (Small plate underneath jugs)
•Open 2 dips, put a few dry biscuits around them, cover with glad wrap and leave in fridge.

AFTER TEA
•Load and switch on dishwasher.
•Quick tidy up.

AFTER BRIDGE
•Ensure that the urns are switched off.
•Finish tidying kitchen.
•Unload dishwasher or leave a note to say it needs emptying.
•Empty kitchen and recycling bins (including the bins from the toilets) into big bins outside.

Katie has been one very consistent kitchen captain, doing a great job of looking after the kitchen each Thursday. Since taking on this extra role of co-ordinating the kitchen, we may have to look at a promotion to Colonel Katie.  Thank you also to Annie Macinnis who has offered to help out as a shopper. I haven’t had a chance to talk with our other shoppers but we may be able to include Annie as a backup or as an extra in the roster.  Once again, this reminds me of just how many people work so hard for our club. Let’s be careful we don’t take it for granted.  At the recent inter-club we hosted, players from other clubs commented on how much they enjoyed the day. I had  been out of teh country leading up to this, so my apologies if I get any of these wrong (and I’m happy to post an apology).  Players commented on the organisation and directing (John), the catering (Lynda), the wine with lunch (Jim) our clubhouse (Barry co-ordinates the cleaning) and even the quality of the playing cards we provided on the day (John and/or Barry).

If you are aware of any other good things around our club that I haven’t covered, please let me know.

Two Positives
Finally, over the past year, I’ve noticed two positive changes.  There are far fewer people arriving late, in fact, we are often able to start our sessions earlier. This is a great help to your directors.  Secondly, your committee has noted that behaviour at the table is much, much more consistently as it should be. That is one of the defining features of our club, let’s all work to keep it that way. 

And, on that note it seems appropriate to say,
Happy bridging,
Wayne

Kitchen Helpers
Thank you to all of those people who step up to help out in the kitchen.  I see some pretty regular faces always collecting cups and glasses and loading and starting the dishwasher.  As I mentioned in my last email, we need some more helpers in the kitchen.  If you can commit to helping out at a session, please let me know.  We need two volunteers on each Bridge day (except Thursday which we already have covered).  Thanks to Katie Emms who has put this list together for us.  The elves are all busy at the moment so we need helpers for the following duties, and ideally, someone to oversee that it is happening at each session.

BEFORE BRIDGE
•Check toilets have enough soap, toilet paper and paper towels.•Put money slips on each table.
•Fill/switch on urn. (2 on Tues, Thurs and Fridays.)
•Put cups, coffee (decaf and normal), teabags (decaf, normal and herbal) spoons, near urn(s).
•Put 3 types biscuit on table.
•Put brown and white sugar and spoons on table + a small dish for dirty spoons.
•Fill 2 jugs of milk and leave in fridge- ready to go on the table. (Small plate underneath jugs)
•Open 2 dips, put a few dry biscuits around them, cover with glad wrap and leave in fridge.

AFTER TEA
•Load and switch on dishwasher.
•Quick tidy up.

AFTER BRIDGE
•Ensure that the urns are switched off.
•Finish tidying kitchen.
•Unload dishwasher or leave a note to say it needs emptying.
•Empty kitchen and recycling bins (including the bins from the toilets) into big bins outside.

Many hands make light work and make our clubhouse the enjoyable place it is.

Teams Event
Thank you to all of the members who nominated as a pair. And thank you to those members who put themselves forward as an individual wanting to take part in the teams event, that’s a great way to get involved in another aspect of your club.  After pairing up those individuals who had contacted me, I have today closed the entries for Friday’s teams event at 15 teams.  The thirty pairs listed below are confirmed starters.  If you are listed below it is important that you play, as any withdrawals will cause problems to the organisation of the day.  On Friday you will find I have put your pair into a team.

It is important that, you sit in the seat I have designated for you. If I have stipulated that your pair is N/S, you must play N/S although it doesn’t matter which of the pair plays North and which plays South. I have seeded the teams but have also seeded the balance of pairs across N/S and E/W so that our newer players will get to play against a balance of less and more experienced players.  I have also tried to be mindful of the players who play N/S for mobility reasons and tried to ensure this was catered for.  So some players may not be in their preferred seat but if that is so, it needs to be that way for the day’s organisation.

Happy bridging,
Wayne

Teams Event
This is being held next Friday. So far I have fourteen teams.  All of those players who submitted their names by lunchtime today, Friday, are included.  We are limiting the event to 16 teams, so there is room for another four pairs, eight players.  From now, players will only be included if we can form another full team(s).  Please email me or phone me on 0432332635 or 42321967 to nominate.  Preference will be given to pairs but I will also look at pairing individuals.  Please note, that if you have nominated, it is vital that you give me early notice if you cannot play as the event is dependent upon everyone turning up.

Chairs
We have recently been trialling two different chairs and seeking member opinion.  The majority of members who expressed an opinion preferred the smaller chair as it was lighter and took up less room around the table.  The minority of members who preferred the larger chair mostly did so as they saw it as more comfortable.  Our treasurer, Lynda, who has driven across half of the state to pick up chairs and spent a good deal of time on the matter has today started trying to find a version of the larger chair without arms that may be lighter, to trial.

Xmas Party
The organisation seems to be well in hand, thanks Jeannette who is currently off travelling.  Carol Marriott will be putting up a list asking for people to make dishes.  Dot Blomley has the dishwashers organised.  John and Jim have the tree decoration in hand.  John is handling drinks on the night and there will be beer, wine, fruit juice and ice available with Bronwen Jones overseeing the “Responsible Service of Alcohol”.  Libby, Pam and Dot H have the table decorations in hand.  The cooking and carving of the turkeys is already organised (Ian and Sandy Rutter I suspect?) which is good news for us but not so  much for the turkeys.  There are ninety-two tickets to go on sale on Friday 28 October for members. If you are going to be away, please arrange for a friend to purchase a ticket for you. Unsold tickets at 11 November will be offered to spouses/life partners on the waiting list at a cost of $20.  The suggestion was made to move our party to a larger venue. Whilst we are committed to using our clubhouse as our venue this year, we will evaluate how this year’s organisation has worked.

Defibrillator and Charitable/Community Donations
John has done a lot of work in examining different models, purchasing the defibrillator and mounting it on the wall. We will now be approaching the sporting bodies who use the oval as this purchase was  always intended to be a community resource.  We haven’t forgotten our commitment to making charitable and/or community donations and we are currently looking to identify where these donations may be made.

Library
Thanks to Graham Bradley who has made the purchase of nine new books for our club library. These books were suggested by Nerelle as reflecting best current theory. We will be looking at more purchases in the new year. 

Split Session
The suggestion, as I’ve mentioned previously, was put forward to divide the room into two to run parallel sessions so that each round could be three or four boards rather than two board rounds. Great in theory but it doubles the dealing workload which is already considerable. We have however, purchased an additional two sets of boards which we will stock with duplicate hands, in reserve, for any day where we have more than 16 tables.

Club Noticeboards
The matter of whether we allow the use of our club noticeboard for the advertising of external matters was discussed. Our noticeboard is small  and the stance taken, similar to our policy on our club website was that we only publicise bridge related matters.

Annual Subscriptions
Our annual subs are currently set at $25 per year for a home club member. For each new member, we pay affiliation fees and a capitation fee. These costs are actually more than $25, so unfortunately, players who wish to join as a home club member later in the financial year will still need to pay the full $25. Players may opt to defer payment until after 1 January but need to be aware that they will forfeit any MP’s earned whilst they were not registered.  Players who have already had a home club other than ours pay these affiliation and capitation fees for them may join our club for $20 from 1 January to 30 August, or for $10 from 1 September to 31 December.

Nation Wide Pairs
Currently, we advertise on our website that certain sessions will be NWP events. We then upload the hand records for community access.  The concern was expressed that someone could study our hand records and then play the event at another club.  So, in future, our club website will not advertise that any particular session is NWP. It will be written on the physical calendar in our clubhouse and announced at any relevant session.

Joan Butts
Ann Blue will again be organising a weekend with Joan Butts at our clubhouse, most likely in February 2017.  Not to be missed, these are great. Watch this space for further details.

Inter-club
Our club was represented this week by Dawn and Cathy, Gwen and Vonnie, Graham and David, and Margaret C. and Mary. Thank you for your efforts in representing our club.  And thank you to those who also brought along a slice.  And an extra big and special thank you to John Hetherington.  John not only organised the day but came along to spend the day, two sessions, directing, as a non-player. That’s a big ask.  As I said in a previous email, preference will be given to Lorraine and Margaret W, and Lynda and Val for participating in the next inter-club event.  Please consider putting yourself forward, it’s fun but hard work with a minimum of 48 boards to play.

Kitchen Volunteers
As with every organisation, we need to revisit tasks that we need to manage.  We need to tidy and tighten up some of our preparation and cleaning practices around the kitchen.  I have asked Kate Emms to give me a rundown on the everyday tasks that need to be done each session in the kitchen.  I’ll publish these and ask for people to nominate to help on different days.  This really is a case of “many hands make light work”.

Maintenance
Thanks to Barry Krone who has organised the handyman work around our clubhouse. It’s looking good.

Welcome
To Pam McDonald who has joined our club as a non-local club member.

Happy bridging.

Teams
Our second teams event is on in a little under two weeks , on Friday 21 October.  This is a seeded event.  Players will need to nominate as a pair and I will then match pairs to make equal teams, a stronger pair with a less experienced pairing.  John has placed a list in the clubhouse for players to add their names.  Alternatively, players can contact me directly, by email or phone (0432332635).  As it is a teams event, we will need not only an even number of pairs but I suspect an even number of teams.  With that in mind, I may have to make a cut-off date, with first in best dressed.  We may also need to have a volunteer pair prepared to act as reserves and be on notice to play on the day, if another pair doesn’t turn up.

Teams Congress
IBA is hosting the 2016 State Novice and Restricted Teams Championships on 12-13 November.  This is a state title for Novice players (<100 MP’s) and Restricted players (<300 MP’s).  It is being held in the Illawarra Bridge Association Hall, at Figtree.  The organizer is Steve Hurley. Steve can be contacted on 0432 229 299 or at tamma2@optusnet.com.au and entries may be made online at www.nswba.com.au/tourn/calendar.asp.  The entry fee is $65 per player which covers both days including lunch.  I have attached a flyer for your information.

Defibrillator
Our new defibrillator has been purchased and is now mounted in a locked box on the exterior northern wall of our clubhouse, all thanks to John Hetherington.  A key will be made available to the AFL ground canteen and the AFL ground manager.  The local cricket club doesn’t use the canteen so we will have to make different arrangements with them, if they would like access.  Our key is mounted on the interior northern wall next to the emergency exit.  The defibrillator is battery powered and has self-checking technology. You just need to push a button and it will talk to you, telling you it has enough power and showing you a display of a tick.  What we do need, though, is someone to take on the role of checking the battery once a week, using the key to open the box, turning he defibrillator on and checking that it shows a tick.  Your committee will be discussing training needs at this Friday’s general meeting.

Inter-club
The last of our inter-club events is on home ground, being held next Wednesday in our clubhouse.  Kiama has had a good record this year with two wins and a second placing from the three events so far.  We received  more nominations than we had positions and your committee decided to recognize those players who had previously travelled distances to inter-club events, such as those at Goulburn and Bowral, to represent our club.  There was then a vacancy for one pair and a draw was held, at a Wednesday evening bridge session, from the three nominating pairs left.  Our team on Wednesday will be Vonnie and Gwen, Dawn and Jan, Graham and David, and Mary Raftery and Margaret Cole.  The two pairs who were not successful in the draw (Lynda Johnson and Val Hodsdon, and Margaret West and Loraine Penhall) will be given preference at the next inter-club event if they wish to participate. 

Chairs
We are purchasing one chair with sled runners, of a different style, for members to trial. It is being upholstered in a gunmetal grey colour and should arrive in a couple of weeks. Once again, thank you to our treasurer, Lynda, who has spent hours and hours on researching this issue.  When we do replace our existing chairs I would expect that there would be many of the old chairs that could go to good homes free of charge.

Christmas Party Tickets
As I noted in the last newsletter, the tickets for the sit-down meal at the evening party are this year being restricted to members only, with spouses and members who didn’t purchase a ticket free to come along and enjoy the music and beer and wine, after the meal.  I have been playing bridge and am in my fifth year having been a member of the committee each year. After the first year, the committee has extended an invitation to my wife, each year, to attend the Christmas party as I have been supplying and playing in the band. And for exactly the same reason upon which the committee based its decision, my wife has declined every year as she would have taken a member’s seat. Most years she has gone out to dinner with friends and then has come along after dinner to enjoy the music and the company of the members she knows. The committee is not asking anyone to do what the committee members aren’t doing themselves.

Having said that, we do know: that we do not have enough tickets to go around each year when spouses are included. With this new policy we may have tickets left over. Your committee has today discussed this at its monthly meeting and decided the following. Tickets will go on sale from 28 October at a cost of $15 for members. A waiting list for spouses will also be started on this day. Members will then have priority to purchase tickets for two weeks exclusively. From 11 November onwards, if there are tickets remaining, that members haven’t purchased, they will be offered to spouses on the waiting list, in the chronological order that the names were given. As has been the case in previous years, the cost of a ticket to non-members would be $20. Whilst this is only a two week window of priority access to members, the committee felt it important that early notice be given for any surplus tickets.

RSA
Directly related to the previous point is the matter of “The Responsible Service of Alcohol”. One of our members, Helmut Engel, advised me that we have been lacking in this area at previous Christmas parties, a good point. Whilst John Hetherington has offered to renew/update his certification (it’s probably out of date and we would have to find a training opportunity in the interim) , is there any member out there who has a current certificate and who would be willing to oversee the RSA responsibilities on the night? Or, even better, more than one who could share the responsibility?

Australia Wide Pairs
At the time of writing, Mary Raftery and Margaret Cole are placed 44^th in Australia in the Australia Wide Pairs competition. Well done ladies.

Partner Policy
As I noted in the last newsletter, Dot Blomley has kindly offered to continue in her role assisting members to find a partner. I mentioned that it is important to approach Dot with an appropriate attitude to the issue and not merely expect Dot to find you a partner. In most cases, Dot will give you a name and the phone number of another player who also requires a partner and then let you do the leg work. Fair enough.

Dot has absolutely no workload, in regard to the Thursday session, as it is a walk-up start as the committee always has an “extra” organised. This week’s Thursday “extra” was Jenny Bolden, bless you Jenny. At Dot’s suggestion, the committee today discussed, the possibility of introducing another walk-up start session, possibly Tuesday. A great idea but completely dependent on five members putting their hand up to take on the commitment be rostered on to be a Tuesday “extra”.

My gut feeling is that we won’t find another five members extremely generous of their time to make this commitment but will be most happy to be proven wrong. The volunteer “extra” does not pay table fees. If you would like to make this commitment, being cognisant of the fact that many times you will play with new members still establishing themselves in a regular partnership, please contact John Hetherington to put your name forward as I am flying out of the country in about 40 hours. (That will also explain why I don’t answer the phone or return your calls for the next month.)

Mobile Phones
At the next session which I direct, I’m bringing a wooden mallet so be advised if you leave your mobile phone on. On a serious note, please switch your mobile phone to silent during play. There is nothing worse than sitting at the table near the shelves and a phone keeps playing Barry Manilow while you’re trying to make 7 Hearts. (Not that I’ve ever made 7 Hearts.)  But we do understand that at times members are waiting to hear from a relative or friend who’s been hospitalised or undergoing treatment etc.. That’s understandable but please, just let the director know you have to keep your phone on and keep it at the table with you so the ring time is short. And once again, I’m not asking you to do anything I’m not prepared to do myself. Thanks for your co-operation.

Constitution
Yesterday, a new model constitution came into effect which the club automatically adopts by default. Within the next year we can make changes to the model constitution, free of charge. An example is the one of the continuous tenure of the president. In 1994, the membership voted that it should be limited to two years. As that was a long standing part of the club culture, a discussion and vote will formally be taken on that issue at our next AGM. Other changes may also be considered and put to the membership for discussion and a formal vote. Thanks to John Hetherington for his expertise and ongoing work in this area.

Defibrillator
We are going ahead with the purchase of a defibrillator. John Hetherington is looking around to find someone to make a secure, steel lockbox. He is going to approach the Kiama Men’s Shed as a start. If anyone knows of anyone skilled in this area, please contact John.

Under 100 MP’s Championship
We are not hosting a final this year but are running five qualifying heats. You might ask, “Why bother?” For each of these qualifying heats, red points rather than green points will be up for grabs for our members and, importantly, at no cost to the club. Some players may not realise that we pay for each and every Masterpoint and it is a significant amount. This is a no-brainer.

Saturday Parking
Thank you to all of the Saturday players for your efforts last Saturday. When I came down to the club there was not a single member parked in the car park. I went to see the AFL to inform them of our successful effort and whilst the president wasn’t present I did talk to the ground manager and did ask him to pass along a message. (And then a wedding turned up at 1:10pm but that’s not our fault.) John and I plan to approach the AFL to talk about parking options for 2017 when I return.

Bridge Library
Thank you to Nerelle and John for your input to Graham Bradley’s enquiries about which books to purchase for our library which will reflect the most modern bridge theory. Graham is going to bring a list of recommendations to our next committee meeting.

Maintenance
You may have noticed that the soap dispensers have been once again mounted in the toilets and kitchen and they do have soap in them. Please use them. There has also been a sanitiser dispenser mounted on the wall near the urn and all members are urged to use this before play and before morning or afternoon tea. We expect members to use common sense if they are carrying some contagious bug and stay at home but if you have a slight sniffle, please make that extra effort. The toilets will be repainted and shelving added to the ladies toilets, starting within the next two weeks. Thanks again to Barry for his efforts.

Members’ Bridge Diaries
The idea of organising bridge diaries was brought up and discussed by the committee. It was decided not to proceed with a diary due to the workload and the fact that most members can access the club website for upcoming calendar dates which is more accurate and up to date.

Christmas Party Catering
There is an immense amount of work that goes into the catering for the evening Christmas party and it’s important to get an early start. This week the catering committee has its initial meeting. The committee comprises Jeannette Horrocks as chair, thank you Jeannette, with members Dot Blomley, Ian Rutter, Sandy Rutter, Dot Hall, Libby Hanan and Carol Marriott. And a special thank you to Jenny Bolden and Gwen Hinchliffe who have offered to act as mentors when needed. At the meeting, Dot Blomley outlined to range and scope of the tasks ahead. The committee will meet again in the next two weeks to start allocating responsibilities. You may be approached to assist with a one-off task, or you may be asked as a group session to help stack away the bridge tables if it’s the session before the day of the party. Many hands make light work, so please consider giving your help.

Christmas Break
The last day of play for 2016 will be Saturday 17 December. The club will then be in recess until we return for play on Tuesday 2 January 2017. (Suckers for punishment aren’t we?)

Happy bridging everyone. I’m off overseas for the next five weeks but will be watching our website with interest to see how folk are going.  Which reminds me Chris Huddle, that you are a legend! Thank you for your outstanding work on our website, it is an exemplar, not only for other bridge clubs but for anyone who’s serious about keeping a website current and relevant.

Regards,
Wayne

Goulburn
The Goulburn inter-club is on 14 September. At this stage it looks like we have three pairs who have put their names forward: Jeannette Horrocks and Peter Muller, Graham Bradley and David Wardle, and Gwen and Vonnie. Goulburn always travels and supports every other club, including ours each time. It's important that we have two teams to represent our club.
If you have a pair who could complete a second team, please let John Hetherington know, jhetherington@vtown.com.au or phone 0415526977. Our club can't compete without two full teams and we'd certainly like to defend our trophy. I would but unfortunately I'm in Washington DC on that day.

Figtree
The Illawarra Bridge Association is holding a Swiss Pairs event at their clubhouse, at 11 Princes Hwy, Figtree, on Sunday 18 September, starting at 9:30am.
They have asked for our support for the event. The event has been approved for red points and will be directed by Jeff Carberry and convened by Jill MacRae. There will be three morning rounds, lunch and then three afternoon rounds. The cost is $35 per player which includes lunch. Entries can be made directly via the nswba.com.au website.
I have also attached a paper entry form. Entries close on Wednesday 14 September with late entries at the discretion of the director.

Thanks
Thanks to Barry Krone, we now have wall mounted soap dispensers again in each of the toilets and the kitchen. There is also an antiseptic dispenser located near the urn for members' use before morning or afternoon tea. Thanks is warranted in this issue to Gloria Silvio and Lynda Johnson.
Marilyn Wright is one of our hard working invisible members who is taking some time to travel with hubby David. Thanks to Jeannette Horrocks who is stepping in early to cover Marilyn's shopping duties.

Happy bridging.
Wayne

Chairs
We are still looking at finding suitable replacement chairs for our clubhouse. We are purchasing a single chair from one supplier to trial and paying freight on two others as samples from another supplier to trial. We have listened to member feedback and with an investment of this size, it’s important we get it right.

Xmas Party
The previous committee faced a difficult decision in regard to our Christmas party. After several discussions, the matter was left for our incoming committee.  In previous years, we have had 180 or so members and only 96 tickets available for sale. Your previous committee and your current committee have both been guided by an undertaking to offer every member an equal opportunity to access events and resources.  There were several different alternatives which were well considered by your committee before they made their decision.

These options included:
a) retaining the existing arrangement where members and spouses could buy tickets (members at $15 and spouses at $20);
b) retaining the existing arrangement but “opening the doors” at 7:30, after the meal, to other members and spouses to enjoy drinks and entertainment for $5;
c) limiting ticket sales to financial members only;
d) limiting ticket sales to financial members only for the sit down meal but “opening the doors” at 7:30, after the meal, to other members without meal tickets and all spouses to enjoy drinks and entertainment at no cost: and finally
e) explore another venue.

Not one of these options is going to please everyone. Your committee has made their best informed choice.  I won’t go into all of the “fors” and “againsts”.  Your committee’s decision is: d) limiting ticket sales to financial members only for the sit down meal, at a cost of $15, but “opening the doors” at 7:30, after the meal, to other members and all spouses to enjoy drinks and entertainment at no cost.  As I said, this won’t please everyone but please support your committee as we try this arrangement this year.

The catering for the party takes a lot of work and as I mentioned before, Libby, Carol Marriott, Dot Hall and Ian and Sandy Rutter have put their hands up to work on this. Today, committee member, Jeannette Horrocks has offered to act as co-ordinator and Dot Blomley is going offer her wealth of historical knowledge and assistance. Thank you ladies and gent.

AWP
We are participating on Thursday 25 August. The cost is $5 per player but the club will be covering this so there is no cost to members, apart from the normal table fees.

Inter-club Events
Congratulations to our two teams who travelled to Berry on Wednesday and after 55 boards came away victorious. My most special memory of the day was not just our winning but as I mentioned in the clubhouse on Friday morning the look of absolute excitement and joy on the faces of such experienced players as Vonnie, Gwen, Jan, Dawn, Ann and Ian. It made me appreciate how much pride our members have in their club. And it does feel good to come home winners.

There are two more inter-club events in the next two months. The next is at Goulburn on 14 September and it is important that our club supports it by sending two teams. Goulburn always supports our event and will do again, travelling here in October. I’d put my hand up but I’ll be overseas. Please consider helping your club by putting yourself forward as a pair. Please do so by emailing John jhetherington@vtown.com.au

Our own event is being held on 12 October when we will host other clubs. Again, we will be looking for two teams and John will call for nominations at a later date.

Partner Finding
A couple of months ago your committee put forward the idea of moving away from the policy of having one person as the contact for finding people a partner. This was done out of concern for the workload it placed on Dot as our membership has now clearly passed 200 members. This suggestion was to take effect after the AGM.  Suggestions of whiteboard lists and website lists were considered and rejected.

Some people obviously misunderstood my message and assumed, when I first communicated this months ago, that Dot was no longer finding partners. Dot has continued up until last week and has asked me what the arrangement now is.  Over the past couple of months when people have assumed Dot wasn’t available, members have struggled to find a partner.  I have contacted Dot, after the committee meeting, and Dot has agreed to continue as a contact for members.  I thank Dot greatly and ask partners to respect Dot by abiding by these three very important principles;

• firstly trying to find your own partner and certainly not taking an attitude of placing an order for a partner with Dot;
• secondly, understanding that Dot simply may not be able to find you a partner, despite her best efforts; and
• thirdly, understanding that Dot has her own commitments and sometimes will be able to find someone to fill her role when she’s unavailable and sometimes won’t be able to. At those times, members will need to find their own partners.

Thank you Dot!

Walk Up Start
This is a related issue to the previous point. Dot having to find partners isn’t relevant to Thursday sessions as we have a walk up start as there is always an extra player provided. Dot has suggested we adopt this same practice for either a Tuesday or Friday session. I told Dot that I would take it to the committee at our next meeting but at a minimum, we would need at least four members willing to commit themselves to filling the role as an extra.

Two Zone Sessions
Coincidentally, within a three day period, I spoke with 3 different members who all mentioned the suggestion of splitting the room on busy days into halves and running two sessions, so that instead of 12 tables playing 2 board rounds, we could be playing two parallel sessions of six tables playing 4 board rounds. Your committee could see the logic behind the suggestion but decided to retain the status quo due to what would be increased demands  on our dealers and directors.

Constitution
The recent issue that was raised about the period of the President’s tenancy has highlighted our need to formalize our club’s constitution. This is not an area that I am familiar with but my understanding is that an organization such as ours is bound by the model constitution of “Fair Trading”. This model constitution does not include a term considering a President’s term. Your committee will look at adopting the model constitution in the near future with the caveat of taking a motion to the 2017 AGM with an amendment, that reflects the members’ intent, defining the term of a President’s tenancy.

Napkins and Pencils
Feedback from the table asked that napkins be supplied at the “biscuits” tables during morning/afternoon tea. The kitchen captains will be approached to put this into place.  There was also a suggestion for pencils to be placed on each table. This was considered but not supported as pens are supplied in the drawer of the small directors’ table.

UHMP
The Under 100 MP’s qualifying sessions will be taking place sometime in September and October. We will not be hosting the regional final this year. Don’t be too concerned about which days. We’re only taking part as players can earn red points if the club says it is a qualifying session. Possible red points to members at no cost.  Our newer members may not realize it, but on every other occasion, we pay club money for every masterpoint we get.

Saturday parking
Our club lease agreement with the council is binding. It states that we cannot occupy the premises on any day that the Kiama Australian Football Club has competitive play. Originally, we worked around their schedule, playing some Saturdays and sometimes on a Sunday. In recent years, due to the goodwill of the local AFL we have still used the clubhouse during days they played. Recently, the number of cars parked on the streets on a Saturday has been an issue raised with the council and the local AFL. Basically, there are more cars on the street because we use many of the car park spaces. Many of our Saturday players play regularly on a Saturday and would know the other Saturday regulars. It would be a good idea if players could car pool for Saturday bridge which would reduce our impact on the street parking issue. Players wouldn’t have to travel together from their homes if that was impracticable but could park and meet at a street around the corner and travel the short distance to the clubhouse together, reducing the number of car spaces we would use. If we cannot play on Saturdays during the AFL season when the AFL had home games at Bonaira Oval, it would mean the possible reintroduction of a roster of Saturday and Sunday sessions. Not only do members have to keep note of the roster, it makes it very difficult for visitors to know which day we would be holding sessions.    

Library
At our meeting, Graham Bradley raised the issue of modernizing our library of bridge books. The committee accepted the idea and has pledged $500 per annum towards the purchase of new books which reflect the current best thinking on bridge theory. When this starts up, please take advantage because others will.

Charities/Defibrillator
As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, there were two motions carried at the AGM, one about the purchase of a defibrillator and one about charitable donations. John and I met with a rep of the local junior AFL club who seemed keen on the idea. John is going to make contact with the senior section of the club. There is a possibility of some form of contribution from the local AFL but that’s not critical to us. John also spoke with the Kiama Sports Association who fully supported the idea and offered to make a 50% contribution. John also has to approach council about possibly using their metalworkers to build a secure box and about permission to mount the box to the external clubhouse wall. So it’s looking positive, and if it goes ahead, it will be a matter of what size our contribution will be.

The size of our contribution will have flow over to our charitable donations. At the AGM we decided as a club to donate money in the order of $3000-$4000 each year for charity. The committee was charged with determining an exact amount and selecting charities. The committee decided on Friday that the amount would be $4000 per annum. In the future if this is unsustainable, a future committee may decide to change this arrangement. The committee also decided that we would try to target local need which may not necessarily be a registered charity but could be a local need of a different nature, in need of charitable support. Before the next meeting your committee members will be collecting ideas to this end.

Phone List
I have attached a phone list to the email as the contact numbers for the committee have changed.

Happy bridging.
Wayne