POSTED DECEMBER 3RD
 
We have been invited by the South Midland Bridge Club of the Republic
of Ireland to play a friendly team match involving 4-7 teams of different capabilities.
Each match will comprise 2-9 board segments and will be held on BBO.
No charge for the matches.
The event will be held at 3PM on either Thursday December 10th or 17th.
Martin Hunter will be in charge of putting our teams together.
If interested please email Martin (martinhunter@rogers.com) with the
following info: Name, email address, BBO ID and MP level.
You can sign up as a 4-person team, pairs, or individuals.
This is open to MOBridge members only.
If you can’t participate this time, there may be future opportunities.
This should be fun!
POSTED NOVEMBER 30TH
Join Us for a Coffee Chat via Zoom
Wednesday Dec 2, 12:30pm
Even though we are all grateful for online bridge, we sure miss the camaraderie and face to face interaction. So we thought maybe a virtual
MOBridge Coffee Chat
just might do the trick.
On Wednesday December 2nd, you are invited to join some of your MOBridge friends whom you have missed the past 8 months. We will meet online for 30 minutes shortly before the 1:15 (500) game, at 12:30.
We are pleased to have one of own, Jerry Howarth (Jerry49ers),
host this get-together.
For 36 years, Jerry was the Toronto Blue Jays radio broadcaster, through lean years, exciting playoff seasons, and two World Series Championships!
If you are planning to play in the 500 limited game, and we hope you will, please register before the Zoom call to avoid the last-minute rush.
Please sign into Zoom by 12:25 so our visit can start at 12:30 sharp.
We look forward to seeing you!
Meeting ID: 820 9911 6192
Or click here to join the meeting.
President’s Message - November 2020
It has been two months since our last update. We would have hoped to bring a more uplifting message. After all, the last two weeks have seen the release of very positive news on vaccines from multiple sources. Our governments are working to design a distribution method to effectively get the products to those with the most urgent risk. All of this is in the face of record numbers of new cases in Canada and a return to health-mandated lockdown in Peel, which is not to end for 28 days or more. So, still no news on an opening date.
The business of MOBridge continues, albeit with an unprecedented circumstance. We have completed our plans for strategic priorities and are in the process of considering a number of budget scenarios based on optional opening dates.
We are very pleased that our members continue to play the game they love at our virtual club. We are currently averaging nearly 140 tables per week and forecast we will reach our target of 7,000 for the year with your continued support. We are the second most active club in Canada and #34 in the ACBL. As a result, we have had many members reach new milestones. For the August, September and October period we have had 82 members step up in category:
- 11 new Junior Masters
- 14 new Club Masters
- 14 new Sectional Masters
- 9 new Regional Masters
- 8 new NABC Masters
- 3 new Advanced NABC masters
- 6 new Bronze Life Masters
- 8 new Silver Life Masters
- New Life Masters are Crystal Ingoldsby and Barbara Brocklesby
- Doug Andrews and Robin Stephens achieved Diamond Life Master
- Steve Mehta, his Sapphire Life Master
- Terry Bradley and Daniel Cecchelli passed Gold Life Master, and
- Bruce Hunter Reid and Max Rutherford achieved Ruby Life Master
Congratulations to all!
November is our month to start receiving membership renewals. The memberships are designed to cover the fixed costs of our operation, while the game fees take care of the operating costs. Good News! The Board has reviewed our finances and agreed to hold the annual membership fee at $40 for 2021. Better news! Our financial position continues to be strong thanks to your support of our virtual games and lower fixed costs than we expected, since we have been closed. Accordingly, all current paid-up members will have their membership extended until the end of 2021 at no further cost. Any new members joining in 2021 will be charged half the fee in recognition of our likely delayed start of in-person operations.
In my last update we asked for volunteers to help on a number of fronts. Thank you to the many people who stepped forward to support our Club.
- Our #1 priority is to plan for re-opening the Club. Eric Pinto (epinto@starvoy.com) and his team is hard at work to determine what must change and when we will be ready to reopen. They have conducted a survey of other clubs, are monitoring the government requirements and looking to develop revised operating procedures. Key points from the survey:
- Only one club is operating in-person and only at a very low level – Barrie
- Almost no one is prepared to start prior to a vaccine being effectively deployed in their community
- Most clubs are taking a ‘wait and see’ and looking for another club to take the lead
- The costs of PPE and new sanitation standards is felt to be substantial, and
- We will likely need to have multiple ‘re-open’ plans, ready to implement - depending on how the situation evolves and our membership’s risk tolerance levels.
- The Club outreach initiative continues with a large number of absent members having been contacted. Team leaders, Joanne Gilmore (jmgilmore14@gmail.com) and Jean Richards (jamrichards@sympatico.ca), report their volunteers have had a very positive response from those contacted.
- We are planning to launch a Coffee Chat before our Wednesday afternoon game December 2nd. Sign up for the game early and join your friends. Look for details in this weekend’s announcement.
- Education is back. Both the courses introduced in September were well received and will continue going forward. (Refresh Your Basic Bidding Skills: with Pam Husband (416-605-2091) Pam.husband@sads.ca and Competitive Bidding with Danielle Gosselin (647-997-0662) Dsgosselin58@gmail.com. Each is open to 4 people per class, so join as a foursome, pair or single. Timing is flexible. More information is available on the website under Lessons and Seminars.
- We are currently exploring the potential for an international virtual team event with the help of Martin Hunter.
Thanks again to our outstanding directors led by Cathy Kinsella for operating the virtual games efficiently (Phyllis Jones, Sherrill Bain, Martin Hunter, Danielle Gosselin, and Pam Husband). Great job all!
It is with regret that the Board received and accepted the resignation of Joseph Tortell at our last meeting. He had been responsible for the Financial portfolio. Accordingly, the board asked Laima Stem to join the Board until the next AGM. Laima is a finance professional who has served on the Club’s Finance Review Committee and is thus very familiar with the Club’s accounting/financial planning processes.
It is not too early to think about joining the Board at next year’s AGM – June 21, 2021. Board members are asked to commit to two years and manage one of the portfolios: Education, Strategy, Communications and Marketing, Finance or Vice President (Succession planning and physical environment). For more information contact Linda Planeta (lindaplanetaon@gmail.com).
Paul Inglis
President
Martin’s Drop-In
Plagued by a bridge bidding question or a tough hand? Who isn’t? Need some clarification about BBO? Pop by Martin Hunter’s Drop-In on Thursday 4pm* (note the new time) when he is available to help by answering your questions.
Join Zoom Meeting at https://zoom.us/ and then click on ‘Join Meeting’
Meeting ID: 720 2471 5943*
Passcode: G48b2Y*
And wait to be admitted
*Changed this week
POSTED NOVEMBER 21ST
Hope everyone is planning a busy week of bridge now that the weather
is making outdoor activities less attractive.
If anyone needs a partner for the Monday night Open game at 7:15
please contact me (roryjryan@yahoo.com) and I will match people up.
This will guarantee you a game.
Looking forward to a good turnout.
The Early Bird Catches The Worm
Trouble connecting at game time?
Here’s how you can reach the game director who may be able to assist.
In the ‘chat to’ area, bottom left of the BBO screen, enter ‘VACB207860’. This will send a message to the director who will then be able to respond to you.
Remember though, the game director is generally very busy in the minutes leading up to game start. Best to get there early (we recommend at least 30 minutes before the game) and ensure there are no connection/registration glitches. The earlier you are there, the easier it will be for the director to help you resolve the issue.
Also, if you are new to our games or want to add a friend, send an email to mail@mobridge.club before the game starts, the earlier the better!
MOBridge Mentoring Program Goes Virtual Too
We are excited to resurrect our great mentoring program. This is a fabulous opportunity for members to learn from those who have travelled and mastered the road before us. Watch this space for more details and the launch date.
Lessons from Marty Bergen
You may recall that MOBridge secured a great deal on Marty Bergen’s online lessons for the intermediate+ player. Click on the ‘Bergen’ box in the bottom left-hand corner of our home page for all of the details.
With the holidays upon us, you may want to consider a gift of a Marty Bergen lesson (or 2) for your friend, partner or even yourself.
Check out this tip from Marty: Think BEFORE Starting To Play.
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