The Monday Duplicate Bridge Club is a small, private bridge club. Membership is by invitation only. The following is a brief history.

In January of 1959, Kate opened the Kate Buckman Bridge Studio at 10 Eglinton Ave. East. Most of the top players went there, including Eric Murray Q.C. and Sami Kehela. Both men were international world champions. Amy Biggar, who was a three-time Canadian champion and her husband, a life-master, also enjoyed the challenge of playing at Kate's with these top players.

At the same time, Maurie Howard, a friend of Kate's, started a duplicate bridge game with her friends, in their homes. Amy Biggar was in the group. There were three tables plus spares.

Kate asked Amy if she would start an afternoon game at her Studio. Amy asked her friends to come with their friends in order to have enough tables to have a proper game. They began with eight tables. Amy asked two things of Kate:

• That it should be a membership club.
• That Kate give a short lesson before each game.

It was called the Monday Lunch Club. Kate had a good cook and a delicious luncheon was served at a minimal cost. The annual fee was $5.00 of which $2 .00 was sent to the A.C.B.L. and $3.00 was used for flowers and annual prizes etc. Joan Ross was the first President. There was also a secretary and a treasurer, whose names are long forgotten, unfortunately.

The original members and spares were:

Mary Arkell, Kay Batten, Peg Berry, Amy Biggar, Martha Boone, Tizzy Burden, Muriel Fulford, Eve Gilbert, Irene Hewitt, Maurie Howard, Louise Jones, Kay Lewis, Elsie May, Marg McCausland, Betty Moysey, Sally Redpath, Joan Ross, Pauline Scott, Miriam Smith, Marg Summers, Gwen VanStraubenzee and Pat Walton.

In October 1973, there was a disastrous fire in the Studio. It was a big financial loss for Kate. She lost all of her records as well. Within a month, the club moved to the Muir Park Hotel, 2900 Yonge St., south of Lawrence Ave. and remained there for seven years. Out of the blue, the management gave Kate and the permanent residents of the hotel two weeks to vacate.  After a frantic search, Kate found a new location at the Roehampton Place Hotel at 808 Mount Pleasant Rd. The club had its first game there in November 1980.

In 1984, there were 150 active members with 38 on the waiting list. Kate continued running the club until 1990 when she became ill. On November 30, 1990, Barbara Seagram bought the Bridge Club from Kate. Kate thought we were a special group of ladies who played the best calibre of bridge of all the private clubs in Toronto! Kate Buckman lived from 1902 until 1996. She was, without a doubt, a great lady who left a legacy of her love of the game of bridge to all of us!

Patti Lee joined Barbara at the club in 1993. She was the Monday Club's Director for thirteen years. Upon her retirement, Patti was made an honorary member of the Monday Club.

In the summer of 2006, Barbara Seagram sold her bridge club at the Roehampton Hotel to Eric Platt. The Monday Club remained at the hotel as part of the deal. Daniel Bernstein was appointed as the new Director. As the year progressed, the Executive and members felt the need for a change in the premises.

In 2007, we started playing at the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church at 230 St. Clair Ave. West. Barbara Seagram returned as our full business partner with her husband, Alex Kornel as Director. As of the 2008/2009 season, the annual fee is $35.00 which pays for prizes, subsidies of the Christmas luncheon and assistance with the annual rental of the room at Timothy Eaton. We now have 188 members and will maintain that number. The Monday Duplicate Club is a happy group of bridge ladies averaging 18 plus tables per week.

Mary Britnell Past President May 2009

Thanks are given to those who have written previous histories: Phyllis Meech 1984, Joan Ross 1991 and Kaye Harkness 1995.