Tyler Rose City Duplicate had a Halloween party Wednesday, October 30. We celebrated with hot dogs with all the trimmings. Some players came in costume - everybody had a great time 

Rose City Duplicate Bridge Club celebrated Karlyene Hall's 95th birtghday. She is a Ruby Life Master and still loves the competition and comrade-ship of the game. She is well known for her wit and expertise at the bridge table.

Tom Spradlin’s Life Master achievement was celebrated at the Longview DBC on Sat., Sept 28, 2024.

Tom attained the rank of Life Master and Bronze Life Master on May 15, playing Swiss at the DFW regional with Carol Kinsey and Jo and Gary Britt.

Decorated in a Caribbean theme, the bridge studio was filled with laughter as friends received “leis” upon entry and then enjoyed pizza for lunch.

Palm tree balloons flew over tables decorated with island cozie centerpieces.  Petit fours with tiny umbrellas topped off the Caribbean theme.

Giving a nod to all his lady partners, Tom was presented a sheik’s hat to wear as the head of his harem.

Partner Carol Kinsey presented him with a pound of “gold” (Hershey’s chocolates) and remarked that she never wanted to worry about gold points again!

Mike Graham, club director, presented Tom with a plaque noting his Life Master accomplishment and read an original poem marking his bridge journey in East Texas.

Our thanks to Janie Wolaver, party planner extraordinaire, who spear-headed the event. The lunch and festivities were followed by 8 tables of bridge.

Two of our members came home with Gold from the Houston Regional. Mark Reynolds, a rising star in our club, got 5.71 Gold points playing Swiss teams with Gay Roach and a father and son duo from Michigan. Gay got 30.77 Gold playing with Mark in the one Swiss and with the Baylor Boys—Jonathan Ernest, Charles Newton, Jr., and David Farris--in three other Swiss Team games.

Longview DBC held a 2024 Halloween party with pizza and bridge - 

The April 2024 unit game was unique. To make up the pairs, Director Mike Graham paired amateurs with less than 700 points with advanced players. On a related note, 44 Percent of Unit 225 players are Life Masters. Twelve pairs made up the field.

A light lunch was served prior to the game.

When winners were announced, there was less than 1 full point between the first place pair and the third place pair.

Players reported that they had a great time and enjoyed the format

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On Saturday, April 20, 2024, Longview DBC (LDBC)  honored Ann Haynes with a party celebrating her milestone of becoming a Life Master on January 25, 2024 playing with her partner, Dee Norris.

The studio was decorated by Janie Wolaver with Queens, Hearts and balloons! Also, Lanora Bogue and Mike Graham handled the set up of the room.

A pizza and salad lunch was compliments of Dee, the partner that Ann had worked so hard with to achieve Life Master.

A beautifully decorated red and white cake was served up to the guest and Ann’s son and daughter who also attended the party.

On behalf of LDBC, Mike Graham presented Ann with a beautiful plaque and a nice sterling heart link chain and James Avery queen of heart charm.

In addition, Mike Graham wrote and presented an interesting poem describing Ann’s Life Master journey called, “Ann, You’re the Queen of Our Hearts”.

The bridge game followed with 32 players there to celebrate Ann and her Life Master milestone!

Congratulations to Suzanne Smith, Sanjay Santhanam, Gay Roach, and Melba Lee for their 2^nd place finish in Bracket I Swiss at the Shreveport Regional! Celebrating at Crawdaddy’s was a delightful way to commemorate their achievement.

The Sheila Bell Duplicate Bridge Club in Texarkana has exciting news. We have two(2) new Directors, several new players, and growing numbers in tables per week.

Some of our newer players are from Lisa Looney’s classes as well as one couple that moved to the Texarkana area two years ago. Fortunately, we have many faithful members who have played for several years. 

Fred Borum, the former Club Manager, had to step down for health reasons. Molly Chambers has assumed the role of Club Manager.

Fred directed the club for 10+ years. The Club hopes he and Sammie will return when his health allows. 

The Sheila Bell DBC plays on Monday and Wednesday afternoons at 12:30. We welcome all levels of players.

From Linda Harrison

On Friday, June 21, 2024, Pittsburg DBC had 5 tables for a Mitchell movement and lots of fun participating in the 2024 ACBL partnership with Alzheimer’s Association-The Longest Day!

I think our PDBC players are AMAZING!!!  So far, they have raised $1150.00 toward our $1500.00 PDBC Goal for Alzheimer’s Assoc.

ALL Table fees from the June 21st game were also included in the donations. We are also planning a silent auction in July to raise the remainder of the funds.  

ACBL has been partnering with Alzheimer’s Association for the past 10 years and raised $10M to help address Alzheimer’s Disease.

This money goes toward research in search of a cure or a way to slow down this devastating disease.  It also supports patient needs and caregiver support.On Friday, June 21, Pittsburg DBC had 5 tables for a Mitchell movement and lots of fun participating in the 2024 ACBL partnership with Alzheimer’s Association-The Longest Day!

I think our PDBC players are AMAZING!!!  So far, they have raised $1150.00 toward our $1500.00 PDBC Goal for Alzheimer’s Assoc.

ALL Table fees from the June 21st game were also included in the donations. We are also planning a silent auction in July to raise the remainder of the funds.  

ACBL has been partnering with Alzheimer’s Association for the past 10 years and raised $10M to help address Alzheimer’s Disease.

This money goes toward research in search of a cure or a way to slow down this devastating disease.  It also supports patient needs and caregiver support.

Gail Cogbill and Dena Hill have earned their Director Certification.   Congrats to both.  And, this is a good time to say a big THANK YOU to all who take on this voluntary role.  They provide an essential role that keeps our games and Unit going.  

Lisa Looney has been teaching beginner bridge lessons in Texarkana since Jan 2018.  She runs classes from Jan-May each year.  She was nominated for Teacher of the Year in 2020, losing out to well-deserved teacher from Austin.  Since bridge is a passion, she saw a need for lessons in her community and took it on.  This is a huge reason why the Texarkana club is growing.

Congratulations to Pat and Diane Patrick, Gary and Jo Britt and Ann Haynes who graduated Thursday, 4/25/24 from PITTSBURG DBC’s Two Over One 4 week course! 

The class material and exercises were taken from Audrey Grant and Eric Rodwell’s, 2 Over 1 Game Force.

Suzanne Smith assisted Linda Harrison, ACBL Certified Instructor.

The Sheila Bell DBC is now on the map!! Our club participated in the ACBL-wide International Game on Wednesday, September 11. A pair from our club, Michelle Shores and Cliff Smith, scored a 76.85%. They placed first overall and earned 20 MPs. They have never played together before.

Michelle is a native of Shreveport. She has been playing for seventeen (17) years. Her mother, Betty Hastings who lives and plays in Shreveport, is also an excellent player. Michelle’s original teacher was Sheila Bell. In addition, she took lessons from Stewart Angel and Lisa Looney. 

Cliff, who lives in Marietta, TX, has played bridge since high school. He joined ACBL in 2015 and earned his Life Master in 2019. Cliff’s wife, Kathy, also plays. Cliff drives to play in Texarkana, Pittsburg, and Longview.

Upon hearing about their win, both Michelle and Cliff affirmed their love of bridge and the opportunity it offers for playing with many people.

Frank and Linda Harrison hosted an open house, foursome(Liz, Janie, Jackie and Frank) birthday party and 8 table Mitchell game on Friday, March 1st.

The birthday honorees are Frank, Janie, Liz and Jackie.

Overall, a fun afternoon of birthday celebration, food, drinks ,bridge and friends!

 On Friday, March 29th, Pittsburg Duplicate Bridge Club hosted a D16 STaC game with  7 even tables and 28 players.

We welcomed the excellent turnout of guest players to Pittsburg!