Newsletter 10
September 2012
It has been a busy summer for members of Rugby Bridge Club, matches have been played, the Rubber Bridge competition has been rolling on, several events have taken place, teaching at Clifton continues and the Management Committee has been working hard to enlarge and develop the Club especially hoping that more members will become involved in the running of the club.
RUGBY BRIDGE CLUB’S STRATEGY
As you may or may not remember, we produced our first ever Strategy last year, looking ahead five years or so. We are now taking another look at it and bringing it up to date where necessary. The new Strategy will be circulated in draft to all members and there will be an opportunity to comment on it in writing or during the AGM in November.
The original Strategy included a target of increasing membership of the Club by 2 each year. We have easily exceeded that target this year, with a net increase of 6.
What about attendances? We estimate that there has been a slight increase overall, with on average about 130 attendances at our 5 sessions each week. However this conceals some variation, with Tuesdays declining slightly and Thursdays and Fridays both increasing. Wednesday attendances had decreased significantly, but the improvements we introduced a few weeks ago seem to have led to an increase once again and we hope this will continue.
The Strategy will reflect the latest position on the search for premises. At the time of writing, there is nothing new to report, but hopefully things will have moved on by the time we get to the AGM. It looks as if the proposed Cawston Community Centre continues to be our most promising opportunity.
The summer rubber bridge tournament, organised by Terry Bradbury, has been a very valuable innovation. We will consider whether a regular rubber bridge session throughout the year would enhance the Club’s appeal, possibly bringing in some new members.
We are paying particular attention to marketing and publicity this year. The demonstration match in the Clock Towers Shopping Centre evoked a lot of interest and is likely to be repeated. We hope to have gained several new members as a result of it. Another improvement is that Patti Jarvis has kindly agreed to take pictures for us of key events for submission to the local papers and John Bolton has agreed to join the weekly newspaper report team. Many thanks to you both.
We remain keen that everyone should play some part in the running of the club. We estimate that only a little over half our members do so, so if you are one of the ‘missing half’ please consider what you could contribute.
A review of our training programme has recently been carried out and a number of improvements will be made as a result (more on this later).
One issue on which we cannot update the Strategy yet is the invariably thorny one of EBU affiliation. By the AGM in November, it will be 18 months since members voted not to affiliate via Pay to Play, and it is right to check our members’ views once more. A paper setting out the pros and cons of affiliation is in preparation, and will be circulated to all members prior to the AGM, at which a vote will be taken.
This is just a selection of the issues we are currently addressing. If you want to raise others, now is the time to do so. Please contact Peter Langley on 024-7654-0211 or pelangley@btinternet.com
EVENTS PAST and FUTURE
As you know, over the summer we have played matches against Lutterworth and Coventry and have won both. Congratulations to all concerned. The next match will be against Daventry on 17th September, 7pm at Hillmorton Ex-Service Men’s Club. Good luck team.
Congratulations to Nicky Cook and Jim Bainbridge on their recent wedding.
A big welcome to Rod Larter, it is great to see you back at the bridge table .
RUGBY and DISTRICT LEAGUE SUMMER EVENT 12th August 2012.
The event this year attracted twelve tables, one more than last year, we saw some new faces this year as well many of our regular members. The winners on the day were Wendy Pattinson, Sue Osborne, Cassie Malisova and Petr Malish of the 'Discards Team', Congratulations! The event went smoothly due to the team efforts in organising the event. The Ex-servicemen’s club provided an excellent buffet during the break, Liz Edwards organized the raffle while I co-ordinated the event. Special thanks to Graham Clarke who was the Tournament Director on the day. The event finished about 9.30pm, in time for those interested in seeing the closing ceremony of the Olympics.
We have had several compliments from players who attended the events on how much they enjoyed it; we look forward to another successful event next year.
Thanks to all who made the event such a success. Jane Carrington.
Many thanks Jane for all the hard work you put into organising this most enjoyable day.
THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting of Rugby Bridge Club Ltd will take place on Tuesday 13 November 2012 at the Sacred Heart Church Hall, Bilton at 7pm. Bridge will be played afterwards. This will be an important meeting on a number of fronts, and we hope as many members as possible will attend.
As you will know, we have been taking another look at the Club’s Articles of Association, while a Constitution, Management Committee Procedures and revised Disciplinary Procedures are being drawn up. All these documents will be circulated in advance of the meeting, which will be an important opportunity to comment on them.
We are also updating and rolling forward the Club’s Strategy, which was drawn up last year. This too will be circulated with an opportunity for comment.
Last and not least, we will be revisiting the question of whether Rugby Bridge Club should affiliate to the English Bridge Union. A decision not to affiliate was taken in 2010 following a vote, but we now have two years’ experience of the operation of the EBU Pay to Play scheme, and of the performance of RBC outside the scheme. It is right that members should again have the opportunity to express their views. A paper setting out the pros and cons of affiliation will be circulated in advance.
Peter Langley, Terry Leary
WEDDING-CASSIE & PETR
Here is Cassie’s review of her wedding.
Our big day was set for 2nd June in Valtice, Czech Republic. We managed to transport my eighty-year old parents out there. Close family and friends including some from Rugby Bridge Club also came out to join us and Petr's family to celebrate for three days. Fun can be quite exhausting, we found.
Petr, very romantically, asked me what I would like as my wedding present and I suggested that a pair of diamond earrings would be nice. However, Petr had a different sort of stone in mind and I actually received a six-ton masonry barbecue, which was delivered to the front garden of our new house in Moravskiy Zizkov and left there!! Moving it piece by piece in the back of the car to manoeuvre it into the corner of the back garden was very entertaining to watch for us girls!
On the way to the castle.
Celebrations started on the evening of 1st June with a welcome to the 15th century vaulted wine cellars in the basement of the castle where Petr had organised a wide selection of local wines for visitors to taste.
251658240 In the cellar ready for the guests.
The following morning, after some last minute nerves were being settled with slivovice, the formal part of the day kicked off with bartering for the bride, a Czech tradition in which the groom asks to buy the bride from her family. My brother, Alan, was designated chief negotiator on behalf of the Baxters and after a brief barter accepted a bottle of local champagne for me - I think that they were glad to get me off their hands!!
After battling through a coach load of Japanese tourists, we managed to make it to the beautiful chapel where the marriage ceremony actually took place. It was a truly special place and we both feel very privileged that we could marry there. It made up for all the struggles with UK and Czech officialdom and translations etc. to get to this point. The service was quite short but we needed an official translator to put Czech into English for us non-Czech speakers. Pavla, Petr's niece, was accepted as our official translator and she was almost as nervous as me, as her old English professor was one of our friends in the congregation. Apparently, I have promised to iron Petr's shirts for the rest of my life......................
Following the ceremony, Pavla's daughter sang a moving version of 'Make me feel your love', which was lovely and a complete surprise to us. I think my mother finally shed a tear!
After that there were formal photos and then off to eat and drink and sing and dance into the wee small hours...........thanks to Patti there was Scottish dancing organised on the terrace by the light of the moon. The pinnacle of the food was the fantastic cheese wedding cake made by the hotel; we have no idea how much it weighed but we think that the leftover cheese will keep us going for the first year of our marriage.
The following day we welcomed everyone to our new home in Moravsky Zizkov and served up leftover pork, cheese and wedding cakes until we all could eat no more...........and wine, port and slivovice until we could drink no more...................
Although we had not requested presents as we have pretty much all that we needed, we thought, we welcome very much the kind gift of gardening vouchers from all of our friends at Rugby Bridge Club. As some of you know, there is quite a bit of gardening to be done at our new home. So far, we have bought some tools and some cloches but we still have more to spend thanks to your generosity. We just have to get it into hand luggage!!
We both had a wonderful few days and have a lot of happy memories and although not all of our friends were there, your kind thoughts and best wishes will continue to warm our hearts.
Cassie
BRIDGE IN THE STREET
Rugby Bridge Club staged a “Bridge in the Street” demonstration match on Saturday in the Clock Tower shopping mall. Competitive matches each of 24 boards (hands) were played by two teams of four, the Reds and the Blues while other club members were on hand to explain and answer questions from the passing public. This turned out to be very successful with sixteen members of the public expressing a wish to participate in RBC events – mostly through joining in the Beginners’ lessons starting in September.
Both matches were very competitive in different ways. In the morning session it was all square at half-time after twelve boards but in the second half the Blues A-team strode away to a 14-6 overall victory. In the afternoon match the Reds B-team looked sure to avenge their colleagues defeat as they built up a massive lead by half-time but the Blues came storming back and secured the narrowest of 11-9 victories by outplaying Reds on the very last board!
The event drew a lot of interest from passing shoppers. Further information on RBC’s Beginners offering can be obtained from Wendy on 842258
The winning Blues were Chris + Maureen Ursell, Sue Osborne + Roger Ward, Peter Langley + Val Wormleighton and Chris Malthouse + Marion Dixon.
TEACHING STRATEGY
The Clifton teaching team met recently to look at how it should be moving forward. It was decided to ensure that players would be made aware of the teaching programme, and that details of modules for both beginners’ and improvers’ sessions would be published at monthly intervals on the website and at the teaching sessions. This would enable all members to attend if they felt it would be useful.
The intermediate sessions will continue but with one addition. – from now on, once a month there will be a choice of seminars which will cover topics like, Houdini (how to escape from 1No Trump doubled, Lebensohl (how to deal with opponents Weak twos and their interference over your 1 no trump), Cue Bids (locating the cards you need for a slam), advanced playing techniques (or how Peter Langley can help you make those irksome additional tricks). Of course if there are any other topics you would like us to cover please let any of us know.
It was felt important that players should feel free to attend any session they feel would be useful, back to beginners’ sessions if necessary. Improvers will hopefully soon move to the Wednesday evening sessions where experienced players are on hand to help and treat this experience as a stepping-stone to Thursday and Tuesday evenings.
See you soon at the Townsend Memorial Hall.
Your teaching team. Chris Malthouse, Wendy Pattinson, Clive Toll, Val Wormleighton, Sue Osborne, Marion Dixon and Peter Langley.
The next beginners’ course will be starting on Saturday 29th September at 10 a.m.
WENDY JACKSON
On Saturday 1st September friends of Wendy Jackson went along to see the sculpture that had been carved in memory of Wendy. The carving has been done on a mature red cedar tree situated outside the Spa Centre in Leamington. It stands approximately 10 feet high and incorporates reminders of Wendy, i.e. a cat, a glass of wine, Lily, a dancer’s leg, and a sash across the front with the words 'Spirit of Wendy'. We went on to Wendy's favourite eating-place for a meal, to celebrate Wendy's life.
Jane Carrington
OUR ROVING REPORTER CORNERED TERRY LEARY who is a Director and a member of the Management Committee and currently wrestling with Articles of Association, Constitution etc.
This was the result………..
1. When did you first start to play bridge, and why?
In the 1970s I worked alongside a Maori named Thompson Wingate, who I think had played bridge for New Zealand at a junior level, and he encouraged a few of us to play rubber bridge at lunch-times. Then I stopped until 2010 by which time I was retired and looking for more mental stimulation. Duplicate bridge at RBC provided the perfect answer!
2. What other games, sports and hobbies do you enjoy?
I like outdoor pursuits, mainly walking and cycling with some skiing and sailing. I also enjoy reading history, because it has such wonderful stories, and languages fascinate me. I study both French and German - French partly because I'm regularly in France but German purely out of intellectual curiosity. When my German teacher recently asked me, 'When was I planning to go to a German speaking country?' I replied, 'Never'. I don't think he'd ever had that response before.
3. What bidding system(s) do you use, and why?
Standard ACOL because it's logical and effective, together with a form of ASPRO which I find useful to prevent opponents stealing the contract with a weak 1NT. It's also fun making up a new system every week to cope with 4-4-4-1 distributions. Is there a perfect solution?
4. What is your idea of perfect happiness at the bridge table?
Partnering Ingrid Bergman (as in Casablanca) against Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslet.
5. Do you have a favourite bridge writer? Why?
Probably Paul Mendelsen for his two books, 'Bridge for Complete Beginners' and 'The Right Way to Play Bridge'. These are simple, clear and logical and an excellent introduction to playing bridge seriously.
6. What do you think are Rugby Bridge Club's main strengths, and what could we do better?
A large and friendly membership provides a valuable diversity of people, many of whom play bridge to a very good standard. Could the club focus on raising the overall standard of play? Also perhaps play more against other clubs, possibly join the EBU to demonstrate its commitment to raising its profile and maybe have a long-term aim of positioning RBC as one of the pre-eminent bridge clubs in the Midlands.
7. You have recently been wrestling with the Articles of Association, a Constitution and the like. Why are these important and how can members influence them?
Getting the governance framework of an organisation right is necessary to ensure it runs smoothly. It's a bit like a carburettor - when it's working properly you don't think about it but when it’s not working properly you have a problem. Some of the friction in the club during the past twelve months was caused, I feel, by the lack of a documented and agreed method of operation. I hope that when the present work is finished we can all stop thinking about it and concentrate on playing bridge. A proposed constitution was recently circulated and I'd love to hear members' views on it.
8. What (if anything) keeps you awake at night?
The Articles of Association and the Constitution.
9. Do you prefer to play with one partner or a variety of people?
I usually prefer to play with one partner because I like to play competitively and I believe that once you get to know how somebody bids then you can achieve better results. On the other hand, with its hosting system the club offers excellent opportunities to partner a variety of people and I have never regretted meeting more people this way - and more often than not I've learnt something extra, too.
10. What advice would you give someone new to the game and to Rugby Bridge Club?
Buy (and refer to often!) 'Bridge for Complete Beginners' and 'The Right Way to Play Bridge'. Be friendly and simply ignore any bad manners. Attend the Saturday morning, Wednesday evening and Friday afternoon sessions and offer to host once every three months. Play with a variety of partners to start with. Before long you'll be looking forward to playing - and achieving reasonable scores! - on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Thanks Terry
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
None received.
EDITOR’S COMMENT
WOW! What a good newsletter (well I think it is!). I always start off thinking it is time to get into print but what on earth am I going to say. Then all kinds of articles appear, some as a result of gentle bullying, some voluntarily. However they are generated, a huge thank you to all who have contributed. As Peter has said, it is your club (and your newsletter) and we hope more and more of you feel you can become involved in its activities.
Wendy Pattinson
Editor
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