Introduction

On July 30th you all received an email from the ACBL regarding a delay in the return to face-to-face tournaments.  As the Unit President I’d like to use that as a good reason to provide more information on that and other subjects as we experience this detour in the return to normalcy.  

What’s Happening in 2021?

First, I want to describe the Unit Board’s plan for the remainder of this year.  Right now we have 3 major events planned.  These are the Intermediate/Novice Sectional (aka the NLM Sectional) on 21 and 22 August, the Open Sectional September 10 – 12, and the Annual Membership Meeting.  The COVID-19 situation is very fluid, especially with the problems caused by the Delta variant and the general society-wide response.  The ACBL, the Commonwealth of Virginia or the City of Virginia Beach could place restrictions that will change what we can do.  I’m going to provide you with our plan as of the date that I write this.

I/N Sectional August 21-22

ACBL’s latest email to membership included a statement that “August face-to-face tournaments have been canceled.”  This only pertains to those tournaments that use ACBL Tournament Directors, such as Open Sectionals or Regionals.  If you click on the “Click Here” link in the email you learn that this prohibition does not pertain to I/N Sectionals that use local directors, which is how we staff our I/N Sectionals.  We still want to have the I/N Sectional.  My wife Kathy is the Tournament Chair and I’ll be directing, so we’ll be communicating our plans to the neighboring units and to our local clubs.

Open Sectional September 10-12

We’ve had the September Sectional on the calendar all along and we still want to hold it.  ACBL’s latest information states that they will make a decision about September face-to-face tournaments on August 16th.  The Board wants to move ahead with plans for the tournament until the ACBL tells us otherwise.

Annual Membership Meeting and Holiday Party Early December

It was not possible to hold our Annual Membership Meeting and team game last year for obvious reasons.  The situation this year is better but still uncertain.  We don’t think it’s practical or fiscally responsible to try to rent a facility such as Westminster Canterbury this year.  What we’re going to do instead is combine the Annual Membership Meeting with the Unit Holiday Party, typically held in early December at the Bridge Center.  We hope that we can resume the usual format for the Annual Membership Meeting in 2022.

Vaccination and Masking

Right now, the ACBL policy for participation in tournaments requires a player to be vaccinated or to claim a religious or medical reason prohibiting them from getting vaccinated (these persons would be required to mask up.). This is a bit looser than the current policy set by our independent Bridge Center Board for club games, which only allows vaccinated players to enter.  Recently, District Six surveyed the District membership and the general sense is that players are only comfortable in an environment where everyone is vaccinated.  That is the impression the Board has from the Unit membership as well.  Therefore, the Unit Board voted to restrict participation to players who can present proof of vaccination from the CDC.  Currently, we will not require masking but that could change if civil authorities issue such an order.  As required by the ACBL, our tournaments will have an Event Safety Coordinator responsible for taking temperatures and checking vaccination documentation in order to allow entry.  Carolyn Riegle has graciously volunteered to fill this role at the upcoming Sectionals.  We will set up pre-registration for vaccination documentation prior to the tournaments and will post details on the website.  The Event Safety Coordinator will need to see your proof of vaccination even if you’ve already shown it to the Bridge Center representatives.

We understand that this policy will prevent some of you from participating.  We did consider this, but we sincerely believe that the vaccination requirement satisfies the best interests of the membership as a whole.

Meals at Tournaments

The current COVID-19 environment will prevent us from serving our usual between-session meals on the days with pair games.  On those days we will adjust session start times to allow for an approximate 90-minute lunch break.  We will still provide boxed meals on the days with two session team games (i.e. Sunday Swiss).  

Players will be welcome to bring their own snacks or lunches.  Our beverage service will be limited to coffee, tea, or water.

Goodwill

We didn’t have a Goodwill nomination process in 2020 but we will have one in 2021.  The Goodwill nominee is not necessarily a service/worker individual but rather someone that you enjoy meeting at the table, someone who follows all the basic bridge rules – courtesy to all including Directors.  Someone who represents the true spirit of bridge – both at and away from the table.  Unit members in good standing are eligible provided that they have not already won the award.  Nominations may be submitted via a form on the Unit website which should be available by Friday August 6th.  If you don’t have email or web access (in which case, you might not be reading this) then you may provide a written recommendation to the Goodwill Committee Chair, Stephanie McLeod.  Nominations will be open until September 30th.  

Nominating Committee for Unit Board of Directors

In returning to the normal order of business we will have elections for the Unit Board at the Annual Membership Meeting.  Jackson Bell, Jr. is organizing the nominating committee, assisted by Jim Vroom.  If you would like to run for election for the Board please let Jackson or Jim know.  We welcome new Board members with their variety of experiences and expertise.

2022 and Beyond

I sincerely hope that 2022 is more normal than 2020 and 2021 have been.  I would love to see full participation in all of our Unit events.  Making that happen will require volunteer support from you, the members.  Our number 1 need for 2022 is a Tournament Coordinator.  Running tournaments is one of the most important functions of the Unit and we can’t do it without your help.  Please contact one of the Board members if you are willing to take on that role for 2022.

Closing

 It is my privilege to serve you all as Unit President.  Please feel free to email or call me with any questions or suggestions.

Peter Haglich,

President of ACBL Unit 146

Introduction

On July 30th you all received an email from the ACBL regarding a delay in the return to face-to-face tournaments.  As the Unit President I’d like to use that as a good reason to provide more information on that and other subjects as we experience this detour in the return to normalcy.  

What’s Happening in 2021?

First, I want to describe the Unit Board’s plan for the remainder of this year. ..........