We all know the problem.  ACBL membership is aging and membership numbers have been shrinking.  Something needs to be done to ensure ACBL continues to grow and flourish.

How do you do it?  Ask Susan Bridges.

As a retired professor living in Huntsville, Alabama, Susan realized the problem shortly after beginning to play bridge in Huntsville prior to the pandemic.  Her love of teaching prompted her to volunteer to establish a structured bridge education program in Huntsville. This program has grown by leaps and bounds as Susan experimented with the best ways to market bridge and encourage locals to try out her bridge lessons, zeroing in on neighborhood email services as the approach that produced the best results. 

Like many volunteer enthusiasts, Susan found her efforts curtailed by the pandemic, but she started up again in earnest in the spring of 2022. Her efforts were so successful in gaining newer players that the traditional Mentor-Mentee program she had previously established did not have enough Mentors—what a wonderful problem to have! So Susan shifted to “Learning Tables” on BBO where she found experienced volunteers to each help four newer players on BBO. 

Susan’s track record in retaining students is admirable, with close to half of all students who have gone through her teaching courses still playing bridge at a face-to-face club more than two years later—a percentage that bests several-fold the ABTA estimate of just 5% nationally. Susan attributes a great deal of her success to the unique Huntsville club culture where experienced players regularly volunteer to play with people of all skill levels to help them learn. Not only does Huntsville Bridge Club rank first in District 10 in membership gains and new member retention in the last year, it also ranks eleventh out of the ACBL’s 3,200 clubs in new member gains for the most recent one-, two-, and three-year periods.

When Patty Tucker first began promoting Jump Start Bridge (JSB), Susan immediately began plying her considerable leadership skills to recruiting volunteer teachers of gifted students and was able to enroll over 100 students in a Huntsville JSB program, with virtually all students remaining in this program and competing in the First Annual Huntsville JSB Tournament, one of the largest JSB tournaments in all of ACBL, and accruing numerous accolades for her efforts from Patty.

Susan is truly an outstanding Volunteer, transforming the Huntsville Bridge Association from a stagnant club of mostly aging retirees to a growing organization of new bridge players. Her local area is Huntsville, but her reach is large and will impact ACBL far beyond the club’s boundaries. She is highly deserving of the ACBL Volunteer of the Year Award for 2025.

Susan is a member of Unit 232, District 10.

"Practical Counting"

Bryan Howard is a lifelong resident of Nashville and a long-time member of Vanderbilt Bridge Club. Bryan has won a National Championship event (the North American Pairs, Flight A with long-time friend and partner Terry Spector) and, additionally, Bryan has high finishes in several other National Championship pairs and team events, including a top ten finish in the most prestigious pairs event, perhaps in the world – the Platinum Pairs. He will, before long, become Nashville’s newest Grand Life Master, the highest level of ACBL rankings. All of this despite rarely being able to play in club games or tournaments but devoting most of his time to family and career. Away from bridge, Bryan, an attorney, is a foremost expert in the fields of trusts, estates, and taxation. He is currently a Partner in the national law firm Holland and Knight.

Bryan Howard Lecture recorded at the Grand Ole Regional, Nashville, October 18, 2025

Chuck Said's lecture, "What Should I Bid? How Best to Solve Awkward Choices", recorded October 16, is available on our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@d10bridge

Save The Date For These District 10 Regionals in 2026

• Flowood [Jackson], MS, January 23-25
• Birmingham, AL, March 10-14
• Huntsville, AL, April 9-11
• Gulfport, MS, April 23-26
• Little Rock, AR, July 16-18
• Baton Rouge, LA, August 20-22
• Nashville, TN, October 5-11
• Hot Springs, AR, November 11-14

Check back later for more information.