A Message from the President

Greetings, all. Hope you are all doing well and made it through the last tornadic cyclone event safely. As some of you may know my spouse and I have lived in the Outer Banks for over 20 years. Our home is on the Albemarle Sound which frequently misbehaves, but the sunsets more than offset the occasional disruptions.

I want to thank Peter Haglich for his leadership of Unit 146 and know he will continue to represent all of us in his new role as President of District 6. The District is lucky to have the talents he will bring to his role.

There is a lot of exciting activity going on at the national ACBL offices. Our new Executive Director Bronia Jenkins is leaving no stone unturned in respecting the past but forging a road to a better future for those of us who are members, were members and could be members. I have participated in two of her recent meetings with Unit Presidents and have been so impressed with her listening skills, her patience, her deep love of the game of bridge and willingness to try to engage members. One of the challenges in any organization is growing the membership, as ACBL suffered mightily during and post Covid. One of the new initiatives was the mailing of thousands of postcards to lapsed members and offering the opportunity to renew their membership and in return receive $20 to play in a face-to-face game. We are trying to reach out to our lapsed members as well.

The Website committee met recently to discuss some changes and/or additions to the web page, specifically including information of member advancement and our desire to share in their well-earned accomplishments. Another area I had interest in addressing was the return of "the Dummy Speaks."  I reached out to Barbara Duer to see if she would be interested in resurrecting the Dummy, and she has agreed. If members have a topic they feel warrants asking "the dummy," please feel free to contact Barbara or myself.

My current sanctioned club is Outer Banks Duplicate which I acquired from Richard Gillespie after he and his wife managed it for 40 years. The club was not functioning post Covid, and I am pleased to report we just had our 2nd birthday. We are growing one month at a time. I recently had my former club re-sanctioned as a 0/20- 0/50 game to accommodate our players who are new to the game or striving to play in a setting which can help them earn Masterpoints a little easier rather than relying on the Open game. The game also includes a brief lesson followed by 15 board play. I am thrilled to report our first game had 5 full tables, 2 new ACBL members and 2 member renewals. This game is held monthly.

It goes without saying that I am very appreciative of the work of our board and its committee members. Please take an opportunity to thank those who strive to make playing the game we love a fun, safe and energizing activity at the Bridge Center and other venues in our Unit. If you know someone who would be interested in learning Carolyn Reigle has a class going. We are open to suggestions or areas which may need improvement.

I look forward to meeting some of you soon at the events we have planned, especially the upcoming Sectional and the Holiday party.

Judi Passerini

Norfolk/Virginia Beach Locally Directed Fall Sectional

Norfolk/Virginia Beach Locally Directed Fall Sectional
Date: October 20-22, 2023
Location: Unit 146 Bridge Center, 4966 Euclid Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23462

Lunch Menu: (Provided between sessions)
October 20:  Croissant chicken salad sandwiches, chips, and cookies
October 21:  Turkey or ham and turkey subs, chips, and cookies
October 22:  Ham, turkey or roast beef croissants, chips, and cookies

Master points awards are at 100% Sectional rating in quantity.
80% Silver and 20% Black

Please come join us! Flier

In this news update:

1. Beginner Bridge Lessons
2. Special Games at the Unit Game
3. October Sectional
4. Nearby Sectionals
5. New Unit President

Beginner Bridge Lessons

This is another reminder that Carolyn Riegle will be starting a series of beginner bridge lessons on Saturday mornings at 9:30 AM at the Bridge Center.  The first lesson will be this coming Saturday, September 9th.  If you have any friends who have expressed any interest in bridge this is the best way for them to start.  Each lesson will be about 2 hours long.  The first lesson will be free and subsequent lessons will cost $10/lesson.

If you have free time you can also help with the instruction by serving as a table monitor, reinforcing the lesson themes as the students play some prepared hands.

Special Games at the Unit Game

We will have a lot of special games on Sundays in September in October.  I've been very pleased at the increase in attendance over the last few months.  The following special games will pay increased master points but we won't increase our entry fees for them.  Also, NLMs and their partners get a $2 discount on their entry fees.  The special games will be:

• September 10: International Fund Game
• September 17: International Fund Game
• September 24: District 6 Royal STaC.  Your results are compared across participating District Six clubs, so if you have a big game you could bring in a nice haul.  What makes it a Royal STaC is the spectrum of master point colors:  1/4 Gold, 1/4 Red, 1/4 Silver, 1/4 Black.  (Sorry, no Platinum, Uranium, etc.)
• October 8: Club Appreciation Pairs
• October 15: Club Appreciation Pairs
• October 29:  Unit Championship

October Sectional

Please make plans to attend our last 2024 Sectional October 20-22.  We've had increasing turnout each Sectional this year and I hope that the trend continues.  Our Sectionals are completely volunteer-run and you can help by bringing nice desserts or snacks or helping out with end-of-the-day cleanup.

Nearby Sectionals

• Richmond VA (Unit 109) October 6-8
• Williamsburg VA (Unit 110) November 2-4.  Note that this is a Thursday to Saturday Sectional.

New Unit President

By now, most of you have received a District-wide email where I announced that I am honored to have been elected President of District Six for a one-year term.  It would not be prudent for me to retain my office as Unit President, so I have resigned that position.  The new Unit 146 President is Judi Passerini.  I really admire her business acumen and I think that she will be a fine Unit President as long as she is willing and able.  I will still be active in Unit events, including the Sunday Unit Game and directing some events at our Local Sectionals.

Cordially, Pete Haglich

In a meeting at the Bridge Center today, the Unit 146 Board of Directors approved increasing Sectional entry fees to $14 per player per session.  As Unit members you deserve to know why we believe that this is necessary.  First, I'd like to point out that we have maintained the $12 entry fee level for at least 5 years.  We've been able to do that in the face of increasing costs by adjusting our meal service and running our Sectionals as Local Sectionals, which are more appropriate to our turnout.  Unfortunately, we are at the point where these measures are not sufficient to allow us to break even in our Sectionals.  The July Sectional had our biggest post-pandemic turnout of 84 tables but we ended up losing a small amount of money.  As compared with the April Sectional, which produced a small net intake for the Unit, there were two main drivers flipping us from the black to the red.  The larger driver was an increase in ACBL sanction fees by more than $2/table.  The second cause was an increase in the price of food and supplies.  Together, these resulted in an increase in our costs per table of $3.62, which works out to just less than $1 per player per session.  Given the current rate of inflation, we expect our costs to continue to increase over time.  Therefore, we decided to increase the entry fee by $2 per player per session now so that we don't need to adjust it again soon.  This increase will take effect starting with the October 2023 Sectional.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or other Board members.

Pete Haglich, Unit 146 President

Carolyn Riegle will start a new series of bridge lessons for beginners on Saturday, September 9^th at 9:30 AM at the Bridge Center.  Beach Bridge for Beginners will target people who have never played bridge before.  The first lesson is free and subsequent lessons are $10.  The lessons will last approximately 2 hours.

We need current players to volunteer to serve as table helpers. Our goal is at least one helper per table who will reinforce the concepts that have been taught.  Any member of the Unit may be a helper. You may come any Saturday that you are able, and need not commit to the whole season!

Carolyn will have flyers available soon.  She asks that Unit members take the flyers and post them at churches, recreation centers, and any place that may have a trove of potential players. 

If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help, contact Carolyn Riegle at 757 635 1516 or wizard5753@yahoo.com.

A Special Meeting of the Unit 146 Board of Directors has been called for August 18, 2023 at 1:30 PM, in accordance with Article VII, Section 3 of the Unit By-Laws.  There will be two items on the agenda.

1. Discussion of Sectional Entry Fee Adjustments given recent increases in costs.
2. Reimbursement for a minor (~$35) overrun in Directory printing.

Unit members are invited to attend, as is your right in Article IV Section 2.a of the By-Laws.  The Board values your input and engagement.

Pete Haglich, Unit President

Happy July to all of you.  Here are some items of note for Unit 146:

1. The Jim Vroom Summer Sectional will be held at the Bridge Center July 28th to the 30th.  We will run this as a Local Sectional, which means that we award the full Sectional rating for the total number of points and 80% of those points are Silver.  Our entry fee is still the same low $12/person/session and includes a bag lunch between sessions.
2. The Unit 146 Board of Directors will hold the 3rd Quarterly Meeting of 2023 on July 16th at noon at the Bridge Center.  Topics to be discussed will include the planned comprehensive by-laws revision and selections for Nominating Committee and Goodwill Committee chairs for 2023.  Unit members are encouraged to attend and to participate in discussions.  Not only is this your right in the By-Laws, it's something that I encourage.  If you have any new business items that you would like the Board to consider please send me an email by July 13th.
3. We are in the midst of club qualifying season for the North American Pairs.  This represents the first step in your opportunity to win a berth to represent District Six at the Spring 2024 NABC and to receive a stipend towards your expenses.  Click here for details.  Each club is permitted to hold two club qualifying games each during June, July, and August.  These games pay bonus master points, half of your total is in Red points.  The Sunday Unit Game will hold qualifiers on July 16th, July 23rd, August 13th, and August 20th.  Also, for those of you who can't get to a club qualifier in person, District Six has two more scheduled BBO qualifying games on July 11th and August 7th.
4. Speaking of the Sunday Unit Game, please try to join our friendly group on Sunday afternoons.  Any pair that includes at least one non-life master receives a $2/person discount on their entry fee.
5. The last District Six Regional for the year will be in Baltimore August 21-27.  Click here for details.

Cordially,

Pete Haglich, Unit 146 President

The Bridge Center recently modified the COVID-19 Vaccination policy so that individual club owners may set the policy for their games.  Currently, none of the clubs playing in the Bridge Center require COVID-19 vaccination for participation.

Know someone who would appreciate a get well or condolence card.
Select the "Contact Us, Sunshine" from left menu and fill in form.
A card will be sent to the person by the Unit.

Congratulations to Doug Lahammer and Bob Pfeiffer for their results at last week's Gatlinburg Regional.  Doug placed in the overalls in 4 different team events, playing with teammates from Northern Virginia and West Virginia.  Bob came in the overalls of an A/X Pairs game, playing with a regular partner from Culpepper, VA.

(Hat tip to Barbara Duer for first alerting us to their participation in her virtual and F2F club email.)

P.H.

Many of you are receiving email from club owners about upcoming events and other bridge topics, even if you never signed up for them.  The club owners probably obtained your email from the ACBL roster.  The ACBL terms of use (found at https://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/about/termsofuse.pdf) allow them to send information about ACBL-sanctioned bridge events and announcements and newsletters discussing activities of the respective club, Unit, or District.  If you don't want to receive their emails then send them a note to direct them to remove you from their mailing list.  If they won't honor your wishes then let me know.

Emails from the Unit will be sent using the database we maintain on BridgeWebs, which is also updated with the ACBL roster.  If you want to opt out of those, you can either use the Contact Us form on the web page or else you can update your member profile in the Member Area (under Membership).  If neither of those work then contact the webmaster, Wrus Kristiansen, or myself.

P. Haglich

Jim and Judy Fox won the 0-10,000 KO Teams Event at the NABC in New Orleans, playing with teammates Maximo Crusizio and Rodrigo Garcia Da Rosa of Fort Lauderdale FL.  Details of their win and their team are found in the Thursday March 16 bulletin. 

(Thanks to Barbara Duer to pointing me to the result and the correct bulletin.)

Please send me any other tournament successes and I'll add them to this item.

P. Haglich

There has been some confusion in the past on the rights of the membership in regarding the participation at Board Meetings.

Article IV Membership Section 2. Rights
Each member shall be entitled to:

(a) Attend all membership meetings, meetings of the Board of Directors, and Committee Meetings with the approval of the Committee Chairman;

(b) Participate in the nomination and election of Unit Directors, and all business of the membership. Participation at a Board Meeting, by a non-board member, is limited to discussion of an issue already on the floor. A new subject may be introduced by obtaining permission of the President, prior to the Board Meeting;

(c) Participate in all Unit tournaments and other activities, subject to any proper rules that may be duly established therefore.