The Life Master Party and Game for Sanjay at Longview DBC was a big success on Saturday, March 15th. The theme of the party was ,” A Celebration of Sanjay”. Players were wearing black and white and greeted at the door by selecting a stick-on black mustache. Janie Wolaver and Jo and Gary Britt decorated the room with black and white everywhere. The party started with pizza, salad and delicious Bundtette (miniature bundt cakes).

Janie Wolaver welcomed everyone and introduced Linda Harrison, Pittsburg DBC.  Linda announced that the party was co-sponsored by Longview DBC and Pittsburg DBC.  In addition, Janie Wolaver, Jo and Gary Britt, Beryl Cobb, Susan Doty and Mike Graham hosted the party. Linda Harrison presented Sanjay with a beautiful black plaque from Longview DBC, Pittsburg DBC and friends. The front of the plaque was engraved with a silver plate plate acknowledging Sanjay's achievement as an ACBL Life Master on October 30, 2024 playing with this partner, Beryl Cobb, in Denton, Texas. Mike Graham then read a poem he had written describing Sanjay's Life Master journey. Susan Doty presented Sanjay’s wife, Margaret, with a beautiful cut flower arrangement.  Following the presentations, the game kicked off with eight tables in play.  A fun time was had by all in “Celebration of Sanjay”! Congratulations to Sanjay on this significant milestone and Life Master achievement in record time!!! 

The Longview DBC held their Christmas Party on Dec 11, 2025 at the Bridge Club.  Members brought an abundance of food, and Mike Graham was presented a gift by Janie Wolaver on behalf of the club members.  This was followed by an afternoon of bridge with 5 tables.

Fredye Alford reaches Life Master

What a fun day we had honoring Fredye Alford's achievement in reaching Life Master!  We celebrated on November 14, 2025, but she made Life Master playing with Suzanne Smith in October.   We had a good turnout with 6 tables!  We enjoyed our guests, Nancy Green, Peggy Singer, and Joanna Jewett.  We do hope you will return soon to play with us!

Thank you to Suzanne and Linda for the planning and decorations and to Jerrell for the horseshoes.  Snacks, drinks, and desserts were provided by almost the entire membership.  We all toasted Fredye with Sonic cups, filled with Sonic ice, and lime diet coke.

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On Friday, March 28th, PITTSBURG DBC (PDBC), Tom Spradlin, Jo and Gary Britt as well as Carol’s many East Texas Friends hosted a fabulous party honoring Carol Kinsey! It was an opportunity to celebrate our friend, Carol Kinsey who achieved a huge milestone of ACBL Life Master (LM). The theme of the party was, “World Traveler and Bridge Queen”.  Party Planner, Janie Wolaver, and her assistant planners, Jo and Gary Britt carried out the theme perfectly! Thanks to a terrific PDBC work crew who brought Janie and Jo’s plans alive, the American Legion Building was transformed into a venue of world travel and bridge queens that were mounted all around the walls. World maps, globes, suitcases, travel brochures and world balloons at each table projected  the theme. The party kicked off with attendees enjoying delicious appetizers, Linda Morton’s chocolate chip cookies and yummy Italian Cream cake.Linda Harrison, PDBC Director, crowned Carol as “ Bridge Queen”. Next, on behalf of PDBC and East Texas friends, Linda  presented Carol with a beautiful plaque, date engraved Queen of Hearts charm and chain, and a dozen red roses. Jo Britt wrote a beautiful poem that she read describing Carol’s well rounded life, many friendships and her bridge journey.Carol described her bridge journey acknowledging that her husband, Pat, taught her Goren bridge years ago and they played socially for several years. Once they moved to Longview, Carol took lessons from Mike Graham and started playing duplicate bridge with Sherry Kay Russell. Then Carol and Linda H played on a regular basis and attended tournaments in Longview and Tyler. Carol’s partners kept asking Carol if she wanted to work toward her LM but she always told them that her friendships were more important than bridge. As Linda and Carol both got busier, Carol formed an excellent partnership with Tom Spradlin. They won points to move Tom closer to his Life Master goal.  In this quest for Tom's LM, they teamed up with Jo and Gary Britt.  During the early success with this team, Carol decided to go for her Life Master with encouragement from Tom, Jo, and Gary.  In one year everyone on the team achieved their Life Master playing teams in tournaments.  Tom also achieved his Bronze and Silver Life Master.

Next, players enjoyed lots of fellowship with Mitchell movement and 8.5 tables in play. We all enjoyed visiting with Carol’s many friends, including Unit 225 President, Suzanne Birdwell  (Canton DBC )and her partner Susan Ford( Canton DBC); Texarkana DBC friends, and many Longview DBC players as well as lots of PDBC friends! Carol and Tom came in first with 71% game to top off a fabulous day of celebrating Carol and her amazing achievement as Jo Britt, reminded us that Carol got her LM of bridge and that she was a Master of Life!

A BIG THANK YOU to all who made Carol’s LM celebration a huge success!  Linda Harrison, PDBC Director 

Playing with Gay Roach, Sandra O’Bannon, and Cheryl Landers in a Swiss Team at the Houston Regional on February 6^th, 2025,  Mark Reynolds earned 7.76 Gold to put him over the top realizing a long-held dream.

And just to sweeten the excitement, Mark got notice that he had passed his Director’s test!

Come play in Longview!  It's a beautiful time in East Texas.

Click here for a larger view of the flyer. 

Linda Harrison celebrated her 80th birthday with friends and family on Nov 7, 2025 at the Friday bridge game in Pittsburgh.

Click the link below for more info and lots of pictures.

        Linda's 80th Birthday

Pittsburgh celebrated their newest Life Masters.   Congratulations! ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣ 

Ann Haynes, Sanjay Santhanam, David Worrall, Karen Bell, Larry Brough, Jo Britt, and Gary Britt.

June 2025 == The Pittsburg Duplicate Bridge Club (PDBC) continues to participate in The Longest Day event to support Alzheimer's research and care.Each year ABCL partners with the Alzheimer Association on The Longest Day. This is a fundraising event advances the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer's Association. Last year ACBL members raised $1.1 M. This is the third year PDBC has participated in The Longest Day.  This year our small Pittsburg Duplicate Bridge Club raised $3,000.00 to support this important event. It was a fun week with players coming from Texarkana, Longview, Gilmer, Linden, Daingerfield and Tyler to play bridge and shop at the Silent Auction that raised half of our funds!

Raising $3,000 is a significant achievement, especially when combined with the efforts of so many players from the ACBL bridge community. Events like these not only raise important funds but also raise awareness about Alzheimer's disease and the impact it has on individuals and families. With over 50 million people affected by Alzheimer's worldwide, initiatives like The Longest Day are crucial in supporting research and caregiving efforts. PDBC's commitment to this cause underscores the importance of community involvement in making a difference. Above is a picture of PDBC’s players wearing purple to show their participation in The Longest Day. 

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.

Pittsburg newcomers Diane and Pat Patrick attended three sessions of the Tournament of Stars and played in the gold rush pairs events. They said “We did not play the other days because of scheduling conflicts. We have been playing since 2019 in Pittsburg, Texas. In our club we are C players. We did not play online or in person during COVID-19. This was our first tournament playing pairs. It was an enjoyable experience. We were reluctant to play in a tournament because we had heard tales about how some players at tournaments are very serious and we went to just enjoy playing the game of bridge and to try to keep our minds sharp.  I would recommend that new players play in tournaments sponsored by Unit 225 because we found the people super nice. The venue was good and the proctors were helpful. We look forward to going to other tournaments.”

Larry Brough celebrates Life Master with Linda Harrison, Feb 2025.

Beginner Bridge lessons are nearing completion. On Wednesday, April 22, 2025 we celebrated with a Crazy Hat Day/SLAM Party.

They will be visiting our Cub on May 7.  Let’s give them a warm welcome!

Pictured above L to R
Becky Phillips, Elle Formby, Kirsten O’Donnell, Donna Abernathy, Lisa Looney (teacher), MaryAnn Fricks, Linda Leach, Pam Hamilton, Nancy Smith.
Not pictured - Laura Turner

2025 Accomplishments

New Rank Achieved in 2025

70% Games in 2025

2024 Ace of Clubs Winners  (Presented in 2025)

The ACBL members who earn the most masterpoints during club sanctioned events during a calendar year. Only black points are counted.

0-5         Sassy Crookshanks

5-20        Donna Bullard

20-50       Darwin Patrick

50-100      Karen Schmidt

100-200     Robert Aylor

200-300     Sanjay Santhanam

300-500     Earl Wright

500-1000    Charles Spradlin

1000-1500   Sandra O'Bannion

1500-2500   Peggy Singer

1500-3500   Nancy Green

3500-5000   Gloria Rowland

5000-7500   Mary Bartley

Over 10,000 Royce McCray

2024 Mini-McKenney Award (Presented in 2025)

Recognizes the ACBL members who earn the most masterpoints in sanctioned tournaments and clubs within a calendar year.

0-5                 Sassy Crookshanks

5-20               Donna Bullard

20-50             Doug Letsch

50-100           Karen Schmidt

100-200         Gary Britt

200-300         Sanjay Santhanam

300-500         Suzanne Smith

500-1000       Charles Spradlin

1000-1500     Sandra O'Bannon

1500-2500     Peggy Singer

2500-3500     Liz Jacobson

3500-5000     Gay Roach

5000-7500     Mary Bartley

Over 10,000 Royce McCray