Dear Bridge Lovers,
 
Welcome to the Asheville Bridge Room Annual Meeting! Due to the pandemic, we will not be meeting in person. Instead, this email summarizes the past year, presents changes to the bylaws of the ABR to match the changing circumstances, and offers a slate of candidates for open positions on the ABR Board. Linked you will find financial statements, as well.
 
Obviously, this has been a hard year for all of us; with the pandemic forcing us to limit human contact, it has been impossible to play bridge face-to-face. Many of us have been playing online at BBO, others are waiting to return to live play. We anticipate that fewer people will be playing in person, even with combining of the clubs (see below). Therefore, we have had to release our space in River Ridge, and are looking for a smaller, less expensive home once we resume live play. Due to the virus, it’s variants, and state law, we are not yet able to predict a starting date. On a positive note, we were able to get out of the lease, with ran until 2025, without penalty.
 
Majors change will occur to bridge in Asheville once live play is safe:
The ABR and the Grand Slam clubs are joining forces. The combined ABR will become the only ACBL sanctioned club in Asheville. All games will be owned by the ABR; no longer will there be individual game owners. Instead, we will have a Club Manager, responsible for making sure each scheduled game has a director (and a backup), and that all games will follow the same rules. The ABR Board will continue to seek input and guide the membership, education, facility and financial needs of the organization.
 
In order for these changes to be realized, we need to make two changes to the bylaws to match the new structure:
1) eliminate the mention of Game Owners and
2) note that the Club may appoint a Club Manager.
 
(Vote below)

Three candidates for Board membership have been nominated by the Nominating Committee of the ABR Board:
Max Shaw
Doug Hibshman. 
Nick Frost (who will move from being Game Owner Representative)
 
We feel confident that they will help the Board continue to serve the membership as we start the new era of Asheville bridge. We also want to thank the retiring Board members for their hard work: Rich Levy (who also served as Room Manager) and Eleanor MacCorkle.
 
(Vote below)

 
Thanks also go out to the many people who have helped ABR keep going during this difficult year. Dave Lehrer has done a wonderful job with our website and email blasts. Elaine Colokathis has taken over from John Wynes as Treasurer without missing a beat. Lee Wilcox and the Asheville Bridge Task Force have devised the plan to unite bridge in Asheville which we will use when we can resume face to face play.
 
We thank you for participating in our annual meeting. Feel free to add your comments/requests/complaints etc. in your reply. To cast your votes, simply mark your desired responses above (For or Against) and reply to the email.
 
Until such time as we are able to meet in person: Stay home (until vaccinated), stay safe, stay sane.
 
Rob Rich, President, on behalf of the ABR Board.