I witnessed an exceptional exuberance in the spirit of volunteering for this tournament. The chairpersons, Scott Miller and Naresh Kapila worked extremely hard to make this tournament a success. Sook Wilkinson and Kathy Twomey coordinated the partnership and welcome desk and as a result we had a number of Board members who volunteered to help in this area. In a number of cases, the Board member did not even play, but came to the tournament just to help. Congratulations to the entire Board for a job well done.

This year, the tournament turnout was very disappointing. We had a huge decline of 45 tables compared to the prior year. The Michigan-Michigan State football game was the primary reason contributing to the decline. In addition, the Farmington Motor City Regional which was just completed on Nov 3rd, did not help the cause.

We made a couple of changes to the tournament this year. First, we eliminated all of the evening events due to historically continuing and very disappointing evening turnout.

Our players in the past were not too happy with the Sunday lunch SOMBA provided. Many players did not desire to participate in lunch we provided and requested a refund. As a result we discontinued our lunch program and gave our players the freedom to either go out to the nearby restaurants or bring their own lunch. It appears that most players were happy with this new change.

In terms of entry fees, SOMBA continues to keep the entry fees very reasonable ($11 for 0-300 and $12 for all others). In addition, we continue to provide abundance of snacks and soft drinks. This despite the fact that we will have a financial deficit in this event.

Submitted by Satish Shah SOMBA President

I witnessed an exceptional exuberance in the spirit of volunteering for this tournament. The chairpersons, Scott Miller and Naresh Kapila worked extremely hard to make this tournament a success. Sook Wilkinson and Kathy Twomey coordinated the partnership and welcome desk and as a result we had a number of Board members who volunteered to help in this area. ..........

On 10/25 and 10/26, SOMBA held its 11th annual SPOOKTACULAR.   Thanks to a lot of hard work, we had a very festive tournament with stable numbers and many happy costumed players.

Dave Fletcher (a/k/a Harry Potter) directed magnificently with the earliest Saturday finish ever.   His suggestion of chicken for Saturday lunch won raves from players.   Naresh Kapila served as the steadfast co-chair, helping full time both days, always handling any task without complaint.   Posh Gulati’s Swiss lecture prepared the players for our favorite event.   Diane Kosuda was able to play, order Friday's lunch, shop, help and clean, always pitching in where necessary.   Dave Cleveland (and Laurie too!) did donut and bagel pick up then returned to pack up and help load, and clean the kitchen.   Dependable Deepak Dighe assisted with finishing tasks and took supplies away.   Our newest board member, Anita Green, pitched right in at the welcome desk.   Our treasurer, George Christian, stopped in Friday to help with lunch and pick up receipts.   President Satish Shah made multiple trips to bring over supplies to BUC.   Non board member helpers, Lynn Martin and Carol Burkett worked tirelessly, Lynn even filled in playing with a newbie.   Carol served as our capable caddie.   Josie Doherty, a new director, helped Dave direct the Swiss game and gained some experience to the benefit of the tournament.   Jane Hall served as assistant director for the Pairs game on Friday.

Congrats to our Winners:
AM PAIRS N/S- Claudia Snyder/Valerie Straith
AM PAIRS E/W- Ronald Zurilla/Alan Hassoun
PM PAIRS N/S- Teryl Asher/Carol Resnick
PM PAIRS E/W- Sheri Rotenberg/Miriam Forman
SWISS TEAM- A Tie For First Place
        Joannie Capuano/Jane Lehman/Jill Rastelli/Mary Robinson
        Gary Boyers/EJ Chiciac/Alan Hassoun/Gail Soderling

Thanks to everyone for making SPOOK a fun event.   Already looking forward to the 12th annual next year.   See you there!!

KathyToumey- Tournament Chairperson

On 10/25 and 10/26, SOMBA held its 11th annual SPOOKTACULAR.   Thanks to a lot of hard work, we had a very festive tournament with stable numbers and many happy costumed players.

Dave Fletcher (a/k/a Harry Potter) directed magnificently with the earliest Saturday finish ever. ..........

For those bridge enthusiastic players who strive to add more depth to their bridge game, here is a great web site that does not cost any money. This web site is by the prominent bridge player, writer and teacher of bridge, Larry Cohen.   Twenty five times he has been named as North American Bridge Champion, and two times as the winner of the Cavendish Invitational Pairs.   The Law of Total Tricks was popularized in the USA by Cohen.

Go to www.larryco.com and click on Learning Center.   This contains numerous learning tools such as:

I.   Articles:   This section contains numerous topics and sub topics.
II.   Quizzes:   Contains quizzes on topics like, Defense, 2/1 Game Force, Doubles, etc.   The online quiz will test your knowledge and provide instant answers and rate your knowledge.
III.   Bidding with Larry:   This section provides you various hands and tests your bidding knowledge.
IV.   Larry's eLessons:   This section provides articles and quizzes on various topics.
V.    Videos:   Provides brief videos on various subjects.  You can also print out handout material on the subject which provides practice hands and analysis. It also gives you quizzes to test your knowledge.

Submitted by Satish Shah, SOMBA President

For those bridge enthusiastic players who strive to add more depth to their bridge game, here is a great web site that does not cost any money. This web site is by the prominent bridge player, writer and teacher of bridge, Larry Cohen.   Twenty five times he has been named as North American Bridge Champion, and two times as the winner of the Cavendish Invitational Pairs. ..........

On Sunday, October 6th, The Somba Education Committee presented an excellent seminar on the bidding of 2/1 Game Force.   The seminar was well attended by nearly 50 people having Master Pointa ranging from Life Master to those with less than 50 points.
This was the fifth Educational Seminar presented by SOMBA on various bridge topics of interest.   The participants first played four lesson hands on the topic followed by a brief analysis and then a short break for Pizza and Pop.   The grand finale of the seminar had the participants watching a DVD presented by world famous bridge author, teacher and many times National Champion, Mr. Larry Cohen.

Mary Jo Campbell, one of the participants, said “ I was very happy with the session.   Larry Cohen made it sound so easy.   I am eager to try it out with my partners.   It will also help when I am competing with opponents who use the system.”

“It was extremely interesting and well organized” commented Linda Gosling, “I was very impressed with the turn out”

After Somba President Satish Shah led the seminar and guided the players though the session, he disclosed that Somba will continue these seminars with one being planned for January, 2020, and that a Pro-Am is being planned for April 2020.

On Sunday, October 6th, The Somba Education Committee presented an excellent seminar on the bidding of 2/1 Game Force.   The seminar was well attended by nearly 50 people having Master Pointa ranging from Life Master to those with less than 50 points.
This was the fifth Educational Seminar presented by SOMBA on various bridge topics of interest. ..........