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Membership Forms


BOTE membership application:
Membership Application.pdf

Waiver of Liability:
Waiver of Liability.pdf

BOTE Reopening Waiver
Reopening Waiver.pdf

2023 BOTE Membership Renewal

As the new year rolls in, it's once again time for all interested players to renew their BOTE
membership for 2023.  Benefits awarded to members in good standing include voting privileges and a one time complimentary name tag.  
Even though the past few years have been challenging from a financial
perspective, the Board has decided to keep the Annual Membership Fee at $25.00, as it has been for the past two years.
The Membership Fee provides a valuable source of revenue during these struggling times. More importantly, it confirms to the Club and the Board that our members remain interested in Duplicate Bridge and are committed to keeping our organization alive and well in St John's.
Fees may be paid by cheque or cash at any event at BOTE. Fees can also be sent by e-transfer
to treasurer@bridgeontheedge.ca (use Swilers as the answer to the security question). Cheques can
also be mailed to Treasurer, 5 Birmingham St., St. John's, NL , A1E 5C6.
Specific receipts will be provided to those who request same.
In addition to the regular $25 fee, any member who wishes to include an extra donation in the way of a ‘well wishes’ contribution to the Club can do so. It will be gratefully accepted and put towards lowering our yearly expenses and meeting our break-even goals.
Thank you for your ongoing support to Bridge on the Edge.

Contact Board Members

A link has been established that will allow
members to send ONE (1) email message
that will be viewed by ALL Board Members:   
allboardmembers@bridgeontheedge.ca

Books for Loan

Library:The "Information" tab
above provides a list of bridge books.

Scent-Free

Please remember that Bridge on the Edge is a scent-free bridge club. We have several members who are severely allergic to scent.

Waiver of Liability
During the Covid crisis, our Club, like many, had a serious revenue shortage that threatened its very existence. We were able to withstand those extensive losses due to two main factors, first, previous Boards had wisely reserved a ‘rainy day’ contingency fund that allowed us to continue to pay our bills and second, we made serious financial cuts to our operating budget, including Director fees and the Manager’s salary, in order to survive the lean months.

Previously, when we had a strong, steady revenue stream, the Club carried extensive insurance to protect all its volunteers, Directors, teachers and the Club Manager from any personal liability, that might arise in the course of carrying out their duties. The insurance cost over $2,000 a year, significant for a small club. At the fall ‘22 AGM it was proposed and accepted by the Membership that this insurance be cancelled as a financial saving. It was agreed that the actual risks of sustaining personal injury from playing bridge were minimal and that we all could, as responsible adults, accept those risks collectively and individually.It was also decided to include a waiver of responsibility, to protect our staff and volunteers, in the conditions of Membership to reflect the lack of insurance coverage.All present members will be asked to sign the waiver and any new members will be asked to sign on joining. Should any member be unwilling to agree to such a waiver and wish to rescind their membership please notify us of this choice and we will refund their membership fees. 

Our new Waiver of Liability form is attached. Please take the time  to read it carefully.

Your 2022-23 Board of Directors
 
Welcome to Bridge On The Edge

Web Site

Welcome to the website of Bridge on the Edge, based in St. John's, NL, Canada.  In 2016 we became a player owned bridge club.  We support a respectful culture, both at the bridge table and in all BOTE communications, for the enjoyment and growth of all members.  

Please check with any Board member if you need additional information.

Members who want to use the member's functions (ie bookings etc), please ensure you've accessed the site using the bridgeweb link bridgewebs.com/onedge/.

The Sweet, Sweet Taste of Success

England’s bridge expert Sandra Landy, once wrote “In club play, women always outnumber men in afternoon and evening play but men always predominate in serious competitive play.”
Well, this well-known English bridge expert got it dead wrong on BOTE’s hugely successful Soup & Sandwich Celebratory Game on Monday, as four woman did indeed ‘predominate’ in all aspects of the game, winning both sections handily. To make this performance even more remarkable, they accomplished their feat in the largest Open Pairs event we have run in more than three years. 

As any experienced player will tell you, there are more than a few reasons why a large field is hard to negotiate. More pairs result in more variable scores, especially on the marginal hands, so no great bid or expert play is guaranteed to be justly rewarded. Also, very good results (tops) are as scarce as feathers on a fish, as some of your better scores are sure to be matched or erased by both the lucky and the unlucky collateral damage. Just imagine?  You finally sort a nice hand, bid to perfection, and get a favourable lead; you go on to guess every finesse right and execute a Clash Squeeze to make two overtricks in 3 NT! Later you find three pairs took the sacrifice, in five of a minor doubled, going down for an international phone number.  Bye-bye those gilt-edge match points. It can get worse as some irascible gamblers, who feel their game is sub-par late in the session may throw caution to the wind and ‘start shooting’ trying to steal a few tops, as they feel they have nothing to lose, really! These long shots will certainly not duplicate the ‘normal curve’. - those difficult distributional hands played earlier, when caution & care were the guiding cerebral factors.

WELL IF THAT JUST DON’T TAKE THE CAKE
 

And back to those dominant women...
Leading the pack, North-South, with an impressive 63.07%, was no real surprise, as Mary Lou Martin and Deirdre Davis, collectively and individually, have as many wins over the years as any other pairs or players. Their consistency at the table is to be admired, and perhaps often envied. But the great scoop of Monday afternoon was what happened over on the East-West side.

“CHAMPIONS KEEP PLAYING UNTIL THEY GET IT RIGHT!” - Billie Jean King



The best news of the day, (other than the fabulous hospitality served up by Susan, Judith and the catering Elves) was some huge changes in latitude.  To win big in a large field you need to bid accurately, defend miserly, and declare astutely. With eight or nine ‘A’ pairs prowling the room, there won’t be many gifts up for grabs, so you will have to earn every one of your averages and somehow manage to mine a few tops.

All the World Loves M&M's.
Well, that is just what Mary and Michelle managed to materialize through a gruelling 24 board match, ending up with a Section Top score of 60.61%.  What makes this accomplishment all the more remarkable is that M & M are fairly new to duplicate at BOTE and they flat out won C, B, & A, completely. We are so proud of your dogged determination and it will be lots of fun to watch you grow your game.

Congratulations to all who played and or placed on Monday, it was a wonderful social gathering, a compelling set of boards and great to see so many old friends having fun together again.

Congratulations to Our Members!

“Our Club Championships for May will be held on 15th for Open Pairs and a Team game on the18th. Will Rick Comerford continue his winning steak or can he be toppled from his top spot?” So reads a main article on this web page all last week!
Let’s start with Monday’s event.

OPEN PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP
Bruce Watson & Maureen Volk won the East-West Section Top, enough to place them first overall in A and B.
Judith McIntyre & Marilyn Bennett were just behind them, to capture first place in the North-South Section to come second in A overall.
Sandra Tobin & James Brown took third overall
Elizabeth Woodrow & Claudia Shortall continued their winning ways taking first place overall in C, while Michelle Walsh & Mary Moore grabbed first place NS to come in second in C.
No Rick yet, but read on!!!

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Three days later, 8 teams squared off in what would be a very tight match through 24 boards during the entire afternoon. Indeed, four teams would go on to win 3 matches each, so the hunt for every single IMP was crucial. When the last card was played, our lead-in question was answered as YES - Comerfords continued their winning steak, as Rick & Margie, playing with Rahul & Marguerite eked out a 2 Victory Point margin to come in first. A fraction behind them, was our ever popular Web Artisans, June and Regina playing with Raye and Roy to capture second place. Next, for third place, came Michelle and Mary, teamed with Shakti and Jim. And just 1 VP behind them to squeeze into fourth, was Pramila & Mike with the Shortalls, Brian & Claudia. One of our more popular events was enjoyed by all.

Congratulations to all of our winners and everyone else who placed in these events.

Supervised Play Summer recess and Spring Activity


Supervised Play


Our popular Supervised Play is taking a well deserved summer break from June through September.  Thanks to Deirdre, Tom & Brian (and all the great volunteers who filled in) for their enthusiasm, tutelage, and bridge expertise they shared over the cold winter months.  Based on informal participant feedback, this educational experience was very rewarding. Everyone seemed to have a ton of fun, learned lots of bridge lore and are keenly looking forward to progressing further in the Fall Sessions. So as a farewell fling we will be serving refreshments to you for a relaxed get-together on the last game day, Monday 29th May.  See you all there.

Introduction to Duplicate

Now that you have had a great introduction to bridge and maybe are curious to explore further to expand your horizons or just because you think you’ll probably miss everyone too much over the summer, we are inviting all the Super players to come along and try duplicate on Thursday 25th May. This will occur at the same time as our regular game, 1:00pm.  There will be loads of people available to help with any problems and give all kinds of bidding assistance.  This is also the perfect opportunity for regular players with friends who play social bridge to bring them along as well. We think you will really enjoy this laid back introduction to the weekly games and have a enjoyable afternoon meeting new friends. Needless to say, this will be a special game, that will certainly will be slower paced than our usual games and our congenial Director will just be there help out as he will relax the rules for this amicable afternoon. Sign up, with a partner, on our website, or contact us if you need help.

50/50 Draws for The Longest Day Fundraiser

The Longest Day, an annual fundraising event held to support the fight against Alzheimer’s will celebrate the 10th anniversary of our ACBL partnership with the organization, and our community has raised almost $9 million! (Funds raised in Canada are donated to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.)  The event spans the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice, and recognizes the challenging journey of those living with Alzheimer’s, and their caregivers.
Bridge is uniquely suited for The Longest Day because studies have shown that playing strategic games, like bridge, help keep your brain healthy!
BOTE has always been a loyal supporter of the ACBL Longest Day event.  Our official event this year will be on June 22nd, more information on that later, but during the month of June we will be running a 50/50 draw at every game.  Tickets will be $2 so bring along some spare change when you are playing for a good cause, who knows you might win big!!

Our Library

We have a library of bridge books donated by club members. A new addition to our collection is Bruce Watson's recent publication “Strong Club, Unbalanced Diamond”.  (Thanks Bruce!).  Anyone interested in borrowing this or any other library book, stored at the club, should contact any Board Member.  The list of books available is on our webpage in the Information tab on the LHS. If anyone would like to be our librarian please contact us.

As ever direct any questions, comments or suggestions to info@bridgeontheedge.ca and (finally) don’t forget to sign up for our Celebration Lunch Monday 22nd. Phew!

What's Happening in May
What's Happening in May

Monday (In Person)  
Supervised Play 9:30am
Open Pairs 1:00pm


Thursday (In Person)
Open Pairs 1:00pm
0-99 MP 1:00pm

 

The Merry Month of May


Well, spring hasn’t sprung yet, unfortunately,  thank heavens the Bridge club is open to keep us sane while we wait patiently for better weather! In that vein, we’d like to update you on some things that will be happening at your club in May  and we hope that you’ll  come along and join us, Monday and Thursdays 1:00pm for our open pairs game and supervised play and mini lesson Monday morning at 9:30am.

Supervised play and the mini lessons will continue through May and finish up for the summer on the 29thMay.  They will start up again in September. As a finale, on Thursday 25th we will hold a ‘Introduction to Duplicate’ game at 1:00pm, same time as the regular Open Pairs game.  This will be a slower paced game than the regular game with fewer boards. there will be some help available for bidding and play. All supervised players are invited plus any regular player who would like to join in with a friend who plays socially would be more than welcome.  It will be a fun afternoon and give you an idea how duplicate works and why it’s so addictive, lol.

Our Club Championships for May will be held on 15th for Open Pairs and a Team game on the18th.  Will Rick Comerford continue his winning steak or can he be toppled from his top spot?  Come along and find out.  For the team game on the 18th, sign up as a pair and we will assign and balance the teams.

Monday 22nd we are having a 🎉🎉 Celebration 🎉🎉with a special game to celebrate more than one year of reopening since covid stopped us in our tracks.  We hope to welcome back some players we haven’t seen for a while, if you know anyone in this category please invite them along. More details on this later.

Finally, (we missed Volunteer week in April) so a slightly belated, enormous THANK YOU to all our dedicated band of volunteers, from our wonderful web ladies, June and Regina, (without whom you would not know what was happening or be able to sign up for games), to our merry band of dealers and table setter uppers, the supervisors at Super play, the Directors and your hard working Board members. We all work together to keep this club going so we can all continue to enjoy the wonderful game of duplicate bridge.


If you have any questions, suggestions or need help with anything contact info@bridgeontheedge.ca.

See you at the club!

3 (Three) Table Minimum

Please note: There is a 3 (Three) Table Minimum for bridge to go ahead. If less than the required number of tables are registered by 10:00 am, the game for that day will be cancelled.

Calendar
29th May 2023
Supervised Play
9:30 AM
  (Reservations)
29th May 2023
Mon Afternoon - Open Pairs
1:00 PM
Director: Brian Collins
Dealer: Patricia OBrien
Table Set Up: Mary Lou Martin
  (Partner?)
1st June 2023
Thur Afternoon- Open Pairs
1:00 PM
Director: Shakti Chandra
Dealer: Shakti Chandra
Table Set Up: Elizabeth Woodrow
  (Reservations)