Education Fund Week - Double Points!! Extra I/N Games:

• Double points on BBO:  extra 499er games on Tuesday 2/22 and Saturday 2/26 at 6:50 PM
• Double points on BBO:  99er game, lesson and hand review on Thursday 2/24:
  • 6:00 PM  Lesson on Communicating with Partner  (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88010406460?pwd=a2VuYVA5RXJ4NzVkOFpXaEUyOHFudz09 )
  • 6:30 PM FLM Discovery 99er game
  • 9:00 PM (or so): Hand Review (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86866477113?pwd=SFN3QlBoNTYrMlZKRmFLd25EdElsUT09 )

499er / NLM Tournament at the Club (click here to view the flyer)
Come get those SILVER points!

• Thursday 2/24:  Pairs at 10 AM and 2 PM
• Friday 2/25:  Pairs at 10 AM and 2 PM
• Saturday 2/26:  Pairs at 10 AM and 2 PM
• Sunday 2/27:  “Ask the Expert” at 12:45 PM and Swiss Teams at 1:30 PM

We wish everyone lots of luck in Providence.

Click here to review the results.

♠   ♥   ♦   ♣ 

With the help of Liz Gorman from the Alzheimer’s Association, the following events are in development:

A kickoff game at the club on Friday, May 25. Liz Gorman from the Alzheimer’s Association will be coming to the club to cheer us on.  I would like to encourage all board members to come if possible and to talk up the game to encourage attendance that day.  Judy Cupps has scheduled Pizza Day to coincide with this event.

A face -to-face game at the club on Monday June 20 with proceeds going to the fundraiser.  This is a national holiday, so I am hoping for good attendance. Daniel Jackson has volunteered to give a lecture at 11:00 entitled “Third Hand High ??” and he will do hand analysis after the game. 

We have a club donation page set up. All donations welcome.  Click here to go to the club donation page. 
 

Double points - including 25% GOLD - awarded in all online games April 25 - May 1!

Extra games

• Tuesday, 6:50PM:  499er
• Thursday, 6:30PM:  99er
  • Zoom lesson, "Make a Plan" at 6:00PM.  Click here for Zoom link.
  • Hand review after the game
     

March 2 - U174 Board Member Joyce Gore (center) was on hand to present Life Master plaques to Robert Hannasch and Patti Dunnell.  Well done, Robert and Patti!

The American Contract Bridge League is deeply disturbed by the crisis in Ukraine. The incalculable human suffering is heartbreaking.To assist during this crisis, the ACBL will support special charity games to raise funds for humanitarian aid.   First, all net proceeds from the Hollywood Magic regionally-rated event, March 24-27, will be donated to support humanitarian efforts.  Also from March 28-31, every virtual club game will be run as a charity game. All ACBL proceeds from these charity games will be donated to the United Nations World Food Program, where your donation will be earmarked to go to the Ukrainian people.  ACBL players can join in this effort by donating at this site: www.wfpusa.org. (Bridge Base Online has announced a $10,000 donation to this charity, which has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.)

Congratulations to our own Sam Khayatt, recognized at the Lone Star Regional as Unit 174's Teacher of the Year!! Well done, Sam!

BCOH Board President  cut his birthday cake and shared it with 8 1/2 tables at the game on Monday, May 23rd. Happy birthday, Mike!

Letter to the Editor:

BCOH has had several members who played at the club games in June  test positive for COVID. Obviously we are not staying 6 feet apart while at the bridge table.  What are we ALL doing to keep the club a safe and healthy place to play?

Are we ALL wearing masks whenever we are in crowded public spaces? Not just at the club, everywhere.  We certainly see very few people being thoughtful enough to choose to  wear masks at the club.

Are we ALL boosted? We all know that vaccinations over a year ago are affording very little immunity at this point. Even the immunity from a recent COVID illness fades after a month, as new variants start to spread.

Are we ALL staying home when we feel unwell, or have been exposed? Obviously not.

Keeping our club to be a safe place for ALL of our members is the responsibility of ALL of us. How many of us are immune compromised? How many of us end up missing work  unpaid if we get sick from COVID? How many of us end up bringing COVID home to loved ones after an exposure at the club?

What are we ALL doing to keep our club a safe place to play and keep funds in our club coffers? It is up to ALL of us.

$2022 in 2022!

The BCOH Longest Day fundraiser kicked off on Friday with a visit from Liz Gorman of the Alzheimer's Association.  Please join us in our effort to raise $2022 toward fighting Alzheimer's Disease.  Click here to view pictures from Friday's game.
 

Make a Donation
Click here to make a one-time or recurring donation on our club page.
 

Play Up a Little, Play Up a Lot
Fourteen (14) Houston-area players have volunteered to play one or more games with donors who contribute a specific amount (or more!)  on our club page. 

Click here to see the list of volunteers and to pick your partner.
 

Play at the club on June 20
Join us at the club for our Longest Day game. You will earn extra points and the game proceeds will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association. At 11:00, Daniel Jackson will present a free lesson, "Third Hand High ??". He will also conduct a hand review after the game.

 When a player who has played F2F at the club tells us of her/his positive COVID test, our practice is to notify solely the individuals who played that same day at the club.  Due to HIPAA confidentiality guidelines, we cannot share the name of said individual.  Everyone should have a valid Email address attached to the individual Bridgewebs account to receive such notification.

We  continue to require COVID vaccinations before entering the club.  Hand sanitizers are visible throughout the playing space.  Some players wear masks.  Some have asked about bringing personal bidding boxes, which is also acceptable.  We continue to be concerned about the health and safety of all players, and masks are encouraged.

All players are encouraged to read this news release from the CDC. 

Gossett Air Conditioning performed their regular semi-annual  HVAC inspection in December. The system is working as designed, and the internal filters were inspected. The internal filters were upgraded to 3M Micro Allergen Extra Filtrete 1085D filters.  The new filters are more precise at filtration than the previous ones; see photo above, new filter on the left. Thanks to facilities coordinator Charles Woody for handing this important task.

In case you have not yet checked out our online games… we now lead with “CHOOSE HOUSTON!”. We want to draw attention to the fact that the support of local clubs is important for the health and stability of our bridge-playing community. When a local virtual club game is bypassed for an out-of-town game, we lose the revenue that pays the bills for our local clubs. Especially now, with reduced F2F table counts at clubs around town, virtual club game fees cover the expense of operating local facilities.  

Beginning Monday, August 30, the Houston pool (Apple, BCOH, Clear Lake-Galveston) offers open and IN online games in the morning and in the afternoon. Open online games are offered three evenings a week.

Click here for the Choose Houston schedule.

For each club's full schedule, follow the appropriate link below:

Apple:  https://www.appledbcs.com/Home.html

BCOH: www.bridgeclubofhouston.org

CLBC-GBC:   www.clearlakebridgeclub.org

Do you remember reading "Highlights for Children" magazine?

If you do, I bet you recall the Goofus and Gallant page, featuring gentle suggestions for good and not-as-good behavior.

While Gallant might say "Thanks for giving our Open game a try!",

Goofus might say "Nah, I'll never try that."

While Gallant might say, "We are glad to see you at our F2F game!",

Goofus might say, "Forget that online stuff. Ugh! I only play REAL bridge."

Let's all try to be less Goofus and more Gallant. Some friendly messages:

Thanks for driving all the way to our club for a F2F game!

We appreciate your giving our online game a try.

We know you have moved out of town, so thanks for supporting our club by playing in our games online.

Thanks for being an Ambassador/ online game sub. You help us be successful!

Your financial support is a big help. Thanks!