Dear Members

Christmas Decorations

The Christmas decorations in the club looks amazing this year thanks to the very talented Carol Marriott and her band of helpers, including Johanna, Margot, Patrick on the ladder, and many others on the day who helped cut and glued bows and assisted Carol. Thank you all. An incredible effort.

Membership

Payment of membership will be due in January and not before. Cost is $50 for home members and $20 for alternate members. Please don't pay before January.

Mentoring

We will be running a mentoring course next February. It will run for 4 weeks on a Friday morning.

There will be a list on the board in January for those who wish to be mentored by a more experienced player. We ran this a few years back and it was very popular with the newer players. If you are available to be a mentor for 4 weeks, please let me know.

Joan Butts Workshops

It's been a while since Joan has been at our club but I'm pleased to say she will join us in 2026.

Joan will be presenting 2 workshops on Saturday 28 February 2026.

The morning session will be Card Play, suitable for beginners and Improvers.

The afternoon session will be 2/1 convention, open to all who may be interested. 

More details next year.

Spares for Wednesday and Thursday 2026

Please let Christopher Dawes know if you are able to be a spare on a Wednesday and let Helen Stirling know if you are able to be spare on a Thursday.

Inter club

Next year Kiama Bridge Club will be hosting an interclub bridge day. The clubs who participate include Illawarra, Berry, Nowra, Mollymook and Southern Highlands. More details next year and the date to be confirmed.

Online Supervised sessions for beginners

Bridge NSW has been running online supervised bridge sessions for beginners. No partner required.

There is more information on the NSW website.

RealBridge links are on the Play Online webpage. If you need help with RealBridge, contact

onlinesupervised @bridgensw.com,au

Christmas Party

There is an invitation for all members to the Christmas Party on the website.

Click on HERE on the website for more information about the night.

 The Committee wishes all our members a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Bridge will finish on Thursday 18th December 2025 and resume on Friday 2nd January 2026.

See you at the Christmas Party.

Warm regards

Ann Blue

Dear Members

Christmas Party--- CHANGE OF VENUE

The Christmas party will be held on Thursday 18th December 2025 after the bridge session.

It will now be held upstairs in the adjoining AFL clubhouse. There is a lift for those with mobility issues.

The Committee met with the President of the AFL, Dirk, on Thursday to check the facilities there. The room is more spacious, and the kitchen offers plenty of room for food to be stored and served as needed and a very big bar area. There is a lot more room for socialising and room to dance when our musician, Penny Hartgerink, entertains us from 6.30 to 8.30pm  

There is a very big verandah for pre-dinner drinks and canapes.

The Committee will have access to the club to set up tables and chairs on Wednesday afternoon.

More details regarding food and beverages to come and an attendance list will be on the noticeboard next month.

Charity Hamper

Thank you to everyone who has donated to the hamper for our nominated charity, Homestead of Hope. The hamper will be delivered to Sister Maureen early next week so there are a couple of days left to fill the hamper.

Christmas decorations

Carol Marriott has asked for some empty boxes of all shapes to be placed on the trolley near the front door.

Special Birthdays

If you know of a member who has an upcoming "special big birthday" please let Bronwen Jones know and she will put their name in the diary and the club will help them celebrate with a cake

Bridge Etiquette

There have been a lot of complaints recently about bids not being alerted and talking to partner during the bidding process.

You must alert any artificial bid and at no time should you verbally give any information to your partner during the bidding process.

Call the director if this happens at your table. This is not allowed at all. 

Kiama Bridge Club is not a social club and where masterpoints are awarded, rules need to be adhered This includes, not discussing your hands after the contract has been played, calling the director if dummy is not down when the buzzer has sounded and abiding by the club's Etiquette Policy which is on display on the noticeboard. Let's make it enjoyable for all at the bridge table.

Holiday Dates

The club will close after the Christmas party and resume on Friday 2nd January 2026.

Warm regards

Ann Blue

Dear Members

There will be the Australia-wide Restricted Pairs event held at the club on Wednesday 29th October 2025 at 9.30am. It is open to all players with fewer than 300 MP (calculated as at 31 August 2025). There are prizes and souvenir booklets (describing the recommended bidding and play for each hand. This event will replace the normal Wednesday morning session.

65% Competition

The 65% session will be held on Wednesday 10th December 2025 at 9.30am for those who have qualified. There will be a list of players who have qualified placed on the noticeboard next month. This will replace the normal Wednesday session that day.

Hi-Lo 

The Hi-Lo was held in September and once again a very popular event. Congratulations to the winners on the day, Margaret Barrett & Margaret Martin (N/S} and Jean Coleman & Julie Rollinson (E/W). Thank you to the Committee members, Bronwen, Judy, Angela, Christopher and other members, Julie D'Amico and Ian Blue on the day for organising the drinks and nibbles afterwards.

Quiche Night

Another enjoyable Quiche night was held in October and a big thank you to Ruth and Alan Gardner for filling in at the last minute to make up the table numbers. The next Quiche night will be held on Wednesday 12th November (not the usual first Wednesday of the month due to the Melbourne Cup event on 4th November). Please put your name on the list on the noticeboard. This will be the last quiche night for the year so please come along and enjoy a lovely night.

Melbourne Cup

Our Melbourne Cup Day will be held on Tuesday 4th November. It will start at 10am with bridge play followed by lunch and more bridge before the big race.

Please bring a plate between two for lunch. Bubbles and other drinks will be provided as well as lucky draw prizes. Don't forget to wear your hat as there will be prizes for the best hat as well. Sweeps for the race will also be available.

Bridge Certificates

There will be bridge certificates arriving soon. We have not received them for a while, so they have been requested by the club to the ABF.

Congratulations to Marilyn Wright and Julie Rollinson who were presented with their certificates yesterday. They were placed 2nd in the State at the recent Statewide Pairs Competition. A fantastic effort by them. Very fancy certificates as well.

Congratulations to Svetlana and John Hedge who also received special category certificates.

Well done to all for flying the flag for Kiama Bridge Club. 

Library Books

There are some new bridge books in the library so have a look and borrow them and put your name in the book. If you have a book that is recent and would like to donate to the library, please do. If there is a book you would like the club to purchase, let us know and we will add it to the library.

Christmas Party (Yes, it's here already !!!)

The Christmas party this year will be held on Thursday 18th December after the Thursday session. More information to come but save the date for an enjoyable evening.

Warm regards

Ann Blue