Hemel Hempstead Bridge Club

Chairman’s AGM Report 2010-11

During the past year we have continued to run Duplicate Bridge nights on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (including Bank Holiday Mondays).  All evenings use duplimated boards and I would again like to thank David Blasebalk for running the Duplimate machine.

The club’s membership has remained constant, but the average number of tables per week has fallen slightly and is half a table down on four years ago.

We remain affiliated to the EBU and as such all HHBC members are automatically members of the EBU. The Club now pays 39p per player per session to the EBU with 31p remaining with the EBU and 8p transferring to Herts Bridge Association.

Table money was increased last year to pay for this scheme, but I’m pleased to announce that the committee has decided not to increase table money or the annual fee for this coming year.

During the past year we replaced the old green legged metal tables with 15 new black tables. We kept the old wooden tables in case they are needed for big events such as the Xmas party & Swiss pairs.

We didn’t use outside caterers for the Club’s Christmas party. Instead, Susie organised the food with herself, the committee members and Pat Henry bringing specific items. From the comments I’ve received,  the food was much improved on the previous year when we used outside contractors. Again we managed to hold the ticket price at £9; I think that’s pretty good value for food and wine plus the hire of the hall. The event was a little later than previous years and clashed with a few golf club events. We will revert to holding the event on the first Thursday in December.

I’m afraid we didn’t have any success in the inter-club teams events this year, although we have six members that now represent the county.  The standard continues to improve on both Monday & Tuesday evenings and I’m confident that the club will soon have more winners.  That said, our main aim is to organise friendly duplicate bridge sessions for all competent bridge players.

Finally a big thank you to all those who served on the Committee. Cliff Short, Derek Peers, Paula Morton, Susie Bond, David Blasebalk, Fiona Littlewood,  Pat Jacobs, Jean Walters and John Pelley.

Jean, Derek & John are retiring from the committee,  All have served the club well with John and Derek forming part of the Director team.  We all recognise the great contribution Jean has made to this club, serving on the committee for more than  30 years with over 25 years as club secretary, so an extra special thank you, Jean. Also a big thank you to   Derek Gowlett for organising  Tuesday’s bridge, all our Directors, Roger Edmonds for the web site, Anne Short as our new membership secretary, Lys for providing tea & biscuits.

In the past, Jean & Clive (as life members) and Mike Hudson (as President) have been recognised for their contribution to the club. There is another, Terry Neal, our longest serving member, who had long service on the committee and served for many years as secretary & chairman. In recognition of his years of dedicated service, Terry will become an honorary member of the club.

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David Stimson

Hemel Hempstead Bridge Club

Chairman’s AGM Report 2009-10

During the past year we have continued to run Duplicate Bridge nights on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (including Bank Holiday Mondays).  All evenings used duplimated boards and I would again like to thank David Blasebalk for running the Duplimate machine.

We have  had a slight fall in our membership, but the average number of tables per week has remained constant and is the same as three years ago.

We remain affiliated to the EBU and as such the Club now pays 37p per player per session to the EBU under the pay2play scheme implemented on 1st April 2010. The 37p is split and 29p remains with the EBU and 8p is forwarded to Herts Bridge Association.

From 1st April 2010, all HHBC members are automatically members of the EBU and those who previously belonged to the EBU no longer pay their £23 annual subscription.

In view of this the Club has had to increase it’s table money by 50p to £2.50 per session as agreed at last year’s AGM. The Committee decided to delay the increase until 1st June 2010 in line with the Club’s Financial year.

Following the success of last year’s open “50th Celebration” Swiss pairs event, we ran another one on the last Sunday in February 2010. As this also proved popular, we will include this event in the coming years calendar.

This year we used external caterers for the Club’s Christmas party. We managed to maintain the ticket price and I’m pleased to say that again the party appeared to be a great success.

Hemel Hempstead Bridge Club did not repeat the success of 2009 when it won the Desmond Flockhart trophy for the first time in its history. It did however come a fairly close second to a very strong Welwyn A team. Quite a few members now represent the county, and it is my judgement that the standard at the Club has improved. Mondays is now a much higher standard than even a few years ago mainly due to most members improving.  Many congratulations to Jackie Davies on becoming a Grand Master.

It is with much sadness that Paddy Dymoke & Bert Morton passed away. Both were cheerful members and will be sadly missed.

Finally a big thank you to all those who served on the Committee, all the Directors,  Derek Gowlett for organising  Tuesday’s bridge,  Susie & Pat for doing the scoring, Liz Irvine for all the weekly catering with Jean Bunyan helping on Thursday, Roger for running the web site, Pat Henry for the Newsletter, Cynthia Wheatley for Membership, Sue Fleming for Trophies  and those members that helped by setting  up and clearing away or volunteered for standby.

David Stimson