Brian Gersten, Ruth Houkom
The strategic complexity of bridge has led it to be called the “ultimate war game.” This no doubt is part of its great appeal—but also part of its great challenge to beginning players, who must learn how to work with—and read the mind of—a partner on offense and defense in the play of a hand, while they can see at most half the deck. Ruth Houkom, after 3 years of play, recognized that there was a need for a bridge club in Tucson that had a mission to develop new and junior players, especially in an atmosphere that would not cause them to feel intimidated by “Life Masters,” who had won many “master points” in tournaments.
And so, in January 2011, she formed a new bridge club, the Tucson Charity Bridge Club. Its name also indicated a second mission, namely, to assist charities in the Tucson area, by contributing a major share of the Club’s table fees. Streams in the Desert Lutheran Church, on Pima just west of Craycroft, agreed to make its meeting hall available for a weekly game, and a second game, on Monday evening, was added at the Ventana Canyon Golf & Racquet Club.
Mrs. Houkom and her husband loaned the funds necessary (since repaid) to purchase the necessary tables, chairs, bidding boxes, cards and duplicate boards. As it happened, the Club’s first game was played right after the tragic shooting rampage in Tucson that took the lives of 6 people, and seriously injured our Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and several other people. A beautiful 9-year-old girl by the name of Christina-Taylor Green was one of the people fatally injured. We donated our proceeds that day to the Christina-Taylor Green Fund, to help children in our community, in her memory.
From that time on, the Club has made a monthly donation of all proceeds in excess of expenses (with only a small amount retained as savings). In 2011, this amounted to $4,805. The Club more than doubled that figure in 2012, donating $10,585. In 2013, donations increased to $18,750, and in 2014 they increased to $30,900. A list of the ___ charities which have received help from the Club can be found at the “Charities” link.
Each year a significant donation is made to Streams in the Desert Lutheran Church, in addition to the monthly rental payment, to express the Club’s appreciation for the hospitality extended by Pastor Tom Dunham, and church volunteer Will Gokey, who keeps the premises clean. New charities are chosen upon the recommendations of members, and vetted by Mrs. DiAnn Plunkett, the Director of Charitable Contributions. The Board of Directors then passes on proposed organizations, and if it approves them, it puts them to a vote of the members.
The growth in donations has been a function of increases in membership and the number of games offered—both those sponsored by the Club under Mrs. Houkom’s ACBL sanction, and those facilitated by experienced bridge instructors who operate games under their own ACBL sanction. In the winter months, 18 or more tables can be expected for the Thursday afternoon game. To preserve the mission of the Club as a social club where less experienced players can learn both from instruction and from playing, and can readily earn master points, Life Masters cannot vote, or be an officer or director of the Club. Moreover, in the Club’s regular Tuesday and Thursday afternoon games, Life Masters are ineligible to be ranked or earn master points. The Club from time to time also offers so-called “749’er” games, in which even Life Masters can compete for points in a separate stratum, provided that their pair does not have an average of more than 749 master points.
A significant reason why the Club has been able to put aside so much money for charity is that it has no employees and, with rare exceptions, it has not had to pay anyone to direct its games. Mrs. Houkom has directed most of the games over the years, but Robert Griffin and Robert Dendinger have taken on significant responsibility in that area, and a handful of other members are qualified to fill-in directing games. Game directors are assisted by members volunteering to set up, and take down, the bridge tables before and after games as needed.
A cordial social atmosphere is encouraged by members customarily bringing in generous amounts of fresh vegetables, cheeses, fruits, and cookies—unsolicited—for players on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, to go along with coffee and iced tea provided by the Club without charge. Mrs. Patsy Fontaine is the Director of Hospitality. For two years, she and her husband, Dick, were fixtures in the kitchen.
Mrs. Pamela Shoemaker, Director for Education, has supervised a program of instruction, with ACBL certified instructors teaching mini-classes, or teaching learn & play classes which combine instruction with games in which new players can earn master points. In one-shot events, Mrs. Houkom taught a whirl-wind day of bridge to acquaint non-players with the game, and on another occasion, the Club changed its standard matchpoint duplicate game to a team-of-four game, to introduce members to that different format, which is an option at every tournament
One of the essential tools for the Club is our website. It not only publicizes our existence and describes our mission to the community, it enables us to post important announcements and the scores of all the games for our players to view at their convenience. In 2011, Barry Abrahams, the president of Unit 356, purchased our domain name and assembled the skeleton of the website, and Brian Gersten, as Webmaster, volunteered to step in to flesh out the bones to make the website functional. The “second generation” website we currently use is a product of Bridgewebs; it facilitates learning by showing, immediately after each game, what contracts can be made for each hand through good play against good defense, and also showing how each pair in the game actually did on that hand.
Another essential tool is our on-line reservation system, which allows a player to sign up with a partner or declare himself available to be paired with another single player. Advance reservations are becoming more and more necessary as the number of tables in play increases, especially in the months when winter visitors are here. Our reservations website and matching program was set up by Ted Lane, and is maintained by James Kerr.
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