There is a song from the 60’s or 70’s (I’m dating myself) by someone like Bob Dylan or Simon & Garfunkel with the lyrics “The times they are changing.  That is certainly true for Orlando Metropolitan Bridge Center (OMBC). It is exciting.  In my last missive I relayed how our lease would not be renewed in 2023.  I want to update you on what has happened since.  We had a meeting with the developer Bishop Beale Duncan and discussed ideas for us to more forward.  They promised to send us a list of properties that met our needs.  We got the first list from them and Chris Kindt has also found what might be a suitable place.  We will start to visit these sometime soon.  Since we have 20 more months, we are probably not going to enter into any leases soon but we do need to get an idea of what is out there and what it looks like.

This City has also put us in touch with the Orange County Real Estate division and we are swapping phone calls but I expect we will touch base next week.  They may also have something for us.  We won’t know until we talk to them.

We have formed an Advisory Committee to make recommendations to the Board of Directors (BOD) of the Orlando Metropolitan Bridge Center (OMBC).  The committee is tasked with looking at everything we do and figure out what is appropriate moving forward.  They will tackle issues such as do we need to become a 501-3c (Charitable organization), so that people who donate money can get a tax benefit? It is one of the ways we may pay off the Bondholders.  Also, to be discussed is should we merge with another club?  If so, what are the benefits and what are the disadvantages?  A third issue is how can the Center get more money?  Are there revenue opportunities or cost savings available? These are all issues to be tackled.  There are more but those will do for a start.  This will take some time but we have the time now.

Now for a bit of sad news.  David and Maureen Loeb have decided to stop directing games and giving lessons.  When they came, we hoped they would be able to grow the Thursday and Sunday games but unfortunately it didn’t work out and they made a decision to stop.  We thank them, wish them well, and hope to see them at the bridge table in the coming days.  Andrew Wilkin has also stopped the Wednesday night game.  It to did not attract enough players to make it worthwhile.  We also wish Andrew the best, thank him for trying, and hope to see him at the bridge table also.

Bob Buhrmann-President
Orlando Metropolitan Bridge Center