The Gopher Regional was held last week and the St Cloud Bridge Cloud descended in mass to Bloomington and made their mark.. Thirty-five members of the club earned over 320  gold and red masterpoints over the course of the week.   John Koch was the point leader with 57 Master points. Other notable point earners were Scott and Shirley with 25.34, just edging out Jim and Connie with 25.04. Scott Krupke was close behind with 22.04.  And Nancy Schnepf earned over 15 Gold, enough for her Life Master. Now she just needs to get her Silver at the St Cloud Sectional!

Saint Cloud members were tops in a number of events:

Monday Team Game: Nancy Balfanz, Theresa Kornwolf, Greg Nastrom, David Hanson

Tuesday Connie Nelson Open 1st in B: Connie Nelson, Jim Schnepf

Thursday Open: John Koch,Terry Beckman

Thursday Team Game: Connie Nelson, Jim Schnepf, Bev Meyer, Peter Bock

Saturday Team Game: Scott Richardson, Shirley Richardson, Jake Olson, Lisa Olson

And the group enjoyed themselves in between events as well holding a picnic each lunchtime with sandwiches brought in by different members

Wednesday was the Roger Melaas Open celebrated by Saundy, Roger, Rhonda, Greg, Connie, as well as others!

We lost  another of our wonderful bridge players when Barb Johnson passed a way on Monday, April 28th. Barb loved playing bridge at the club and come to every afternoon Whitney session she could. She didn't think much of the early morning sessions. 

Funeral services will be Thursday, June 5, 2025 at 11:00 AM at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, St. Cloud, MN. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church on June 5. Burial will be North Star Cemetery, St. Cloud, MN. Along with her bridge skills, Barb was an accomplished organist who played at several churches in the community including Bethlehem Lutheran where her services will be held.  Her obituary can be found at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/barbara-johnson-obituary?id=58274936

It may seem that I wrote this not that long ago but that's because it happened a few short months ago and now again!

Sometimes, the finesses work and every debatable decision you make turns out to be the right one. When it does, you might end up with really good game! This was the case for Scott and Shirley Friday afternoon when they came within an overtrick or two of 75%  (74.81%) .  Congratulations Scott and Shirley on a fantastic game! We are all going to come and ask you for tips on how to play!

Ten intrepid St Cloud bridge players made the trek to Gatlinburg this year to participate in the big Regional. Everyone earned some gold points with Nancy Balfanz and Sandy Johnson leading the way with 11.61 Gold/Red points!

Judy Mosford, Joan Sand, (bear), Scott Krupke, Tara Krupke, Jam Gembol, Nancy Schnepf, Amy Roske, Saundy Fedor, Nancy Balfanz, George Schnepf, (bear) Sandy Johnson, and Theresa Kornwolf

Jan Gembol, Nancy, Theresa Kornwolf, and Sandy each earned 8.39 Golf for winning a two day bracketed team game. Congratulations!

But it was not all cards in beautiful Gatlinburg because just outside of the condos where everyone  stayed was a beautiful park and our players took advantage!

Theresa Kornwolf, Amy Roske, Tara Krupke, Scott Krupke and George Schnepf

St Cloud Duplicate Bridge Club… We did good! We had eighteen and a half tables in the morning, and sixteen in the afternoon. This is a new high for our NLM tournaments.

The ACBL director assigned our tournament wrote: “The excellent turnout makes me think we're back in 2018!  Bravo to everyone who helped promote and organize the event, and thanks for running it.  Since the end of the pandemic it has been difficult to get newer players to come back to the table to play in tournaments.  Every such event helps, and one as well-attended as this one was is a great sign for your local area.”

We hosted guests from Hudson WI, Detroit Lakes, Mankato, Rochester and the metro area. We heard positive reviews, especially for player friendliness and our food. The new facility worked great, providing a playing area filled with natural light.

Forty-three different players earned master points. Twenty-three St Cloud Duplicate Bridge Club players earned some Silver! All master point winners can be found at https://live.acbl.org/masterpoint-winners/2504369.

The Top Ten Winners included six from our Club, two from Rochester and two from St Paul.

Eight brave players played in an ACBL tournament for their first time – Connie Ginter, Lynn Kelzenberg, Phil Kronebusch, Tara Krupke, Kim Hellier, Samantha Smith, Janet Tilstra and Dave Tilstra.

Three players were college students, and sixteen entrants had fewer than 10 MPs. I view our new and low point players as our tournament’s Most Valuable Players. Introducing people to tournament play, and encouraging them to return, makes for a brighter future for all of us who enjoy Minnesota bridge.

Many thanks to everyone! I thank our entire hard-working Tournament Team, with special thanks to Nancy Balfanz, Jane Curtis, Sue Knauss and Jim Schnepf, who are Life Masters but came to help all day so that our advancing players could concentrate on their game.

I especially want to thank our Local Director Scott Krupke. These tournaments are hard to do. We had a few glitches, but he handled them with grace and finesse. Thanks, Scott!

Best, Connie Nelson, Tournament Chair

On Friday, we celebrated big milestones for 3 of our players. Bob Leighton and Nancy Balfanz have earned the title of Life Master and Greg Nastrom has earned the title of Silver Life Master! And the rest of us got to eat cake! Congratulate them when you have a chance for their well deserved new titles.

It must be spring! Last Thursday, we had our monthly team game with seven teams. The numbers are picking up! Shirley Richardson was kind enough to bring in a cake to celebrate Brian Crowder's Rookie of the Year status. Fun was had by all! Oh, and Jerry Westby, Sue Knauss, John Seldon, and Charlie Maternus took first place, edging past Theresa Kornwolf, Lynn Schnettler, Bill Schnettler, and Mary Jo Leighton.

The St Cloud Bridge Club celebrated Valentines Day a day early with a potluck game at the Labor Home last Thursday. 32 players made their way to the Labor Home for a small celebration and a great game. A fun time was had by all.  The success of our recruiting and lessons should be noted as almost a third of the participants did not play at our club 18 months ago! Special thanks to Sharon McKenzie for planning and decorating for the occasion and to Nancy Balfanz for recruiting players! Both also supplied door prizes for the occasion, Thanks to all for coming!

Lisa Olson                              Brian-Paul Crowder

Put May 4^th on your calendars.  We have people to celebrate! – as well as play a fun game of bridge.  For the first time, we will have all MN Awards Luncheon to acknowledge bridge players who did well in the 2024 masterpoint races across both Unit 103 and Unit 178. 

What kind of races am I talking about?  Each year, ACBL keeps a running tally of Master Points earned inside 15 different flights in these categories:  Ace of Clubs – Points earned at Club games; Mini-McKenney – Points earned at both Club games and Tournaments; and Ace of E-Clubs – ACBL Points earned in online games.

This celebration will be held at the Bridge Center of St Paul's Roseville location, with the festivities beginning at 11:00am.  Following the lunch and Awards Presentation will be a game of bridge for everyone attending.  Players who finished in the Top Three in each of the categories from each Unit will be recognized that day - and will have earned a free play in the bridge game.  Everyone else will be charged a small fee.  The lunch is free for every attendee!

Here’s who we will be celebrating from our Club –

Ace of Clubs Race   (The flight refers to the points you had as the year 2024 started.)

• Flight 0-5.  Steve He of Rochester squeaked out First Place win by less than one MP!  Second place was won by Brian-Paul Crowder (40 MPs) and Win Anderson (23MPs) won Third.  Brian is also Second in all of District 14!   Also, in our Unit’s Top Ten are:  Alex Warzecha, Rich Matthews, Jane Matthews, Mark Huseth, Phil Schloss and Marlene Devoe.

From Connie:  1 The levels of master points earned by our players starting with 0-5 is incredible.  Good job all!  2 Let’s declare Brian-Paul our Club’s Rookie of the Year!,  3  The fact that eight of the Top Ten players are from our Club is a testament to Scott Krupke and his beginning bridge lessons.  Kudos, Scott!

• Flight 200-300.  Charlie Maternus won Second Place with 60 MPs.
• Flight 500-1000.   Greg Nastrom (97 MPs) won Second.
• Flight 1000-1500.  Scott Krupke (133 MPs) won Second and Connie Nelson (130MPs) Third. 
• Flight 2500-3500.  Roger Melaas, with 154 MPs, won Second.
• Over 10,000.  John Koch won Third.

Also placing in the Top Ten were:  Lisa Olson (Flight 5-20), Sandy Johnson and George Schnepf (Flight 50-100),  Rhonda Rossman (Flight 200-300), Darlene Nastrom (Flight 300-500), Jane Curtis (Flight 500-1000), James Schnepf (Flight 1000-1500) and Jerry Westby (Flight 2500-3500). 

Mini-McKenney Race

• Flight 0-5.  First place was taken  by Steve He of Rochester.  Second and Third place were won by Brian-Paul Crowder (43 MPs) and Win Anderson (30 MPs).  Brian again won Second in all of District 14.  
• Flight 5-20.  Our own Lisa Olson won First Place w/ 71 MPs! 
• Flight 200-300.  Rhonda Rossman (72 MPs) won Second Place.

• Flight 1000-1500.  Connie Nelson (231 MPs) won Second, edging out James Schnepf (Third) by .5 MP!  Those partial points add up.
• Over 10,000.  John Koch won Third, after earning 308 Master points during the year!

Placing in our Unit’s Top Ten are:  Alex Warzecha, Rich Matthews, Jane Matthews and Mark Huseth (Flight 0-5); John Selden, George Schnepf and  Sandy Johnson (Flight 50-100);  Charlie Maternus and Saundy Fedor (Flight 200-300); Nancy Balfanz and Kathy Stadther (Flight 300-500); Mark Doucette and Greg Nastrom (Flight 500-1000); Scott Krupke (Flight 1000-1500), and Roger Melaas, Maury Evans and Jerry Westby (Flight 2500-3500).  Yay, to all!!

Ace of E-Clubs Race   

The only players from our Club who show in the Top Ten of this category were-

• Lisa Olson won First in the 5-20 MP category
• Paul Sitz won First in the 3500-5000 category (Paul is in Unit 178; I claim him as ours!)
• John Koch won Third in the Over 10,000 MP category

Mark your calendar for May 4^th.

Ginger Hinkemeyer died at her home Thursday, January 30. Visitation will begin at 11:00 AM and a Memorial Service will be 1:00 PM, Wednesday, February 5, 2025 at the Williams Dingmann Family Funeral Home in Saint Cloud Her obituary can be found at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/ginger-hinkemeyer-obituary?id=57421686. We will miss Ginger and her smile.

Spring cleaning came early this year as  a gang of bridge players went through all of the bidding boxes from all 3 of our locations and replaced worn and dirty cards and wiped them all down. We are ready for the NLM Tourney in April!

On Thursday night, December 19th,the club held the Chuck Stenger Crown Royal-Wine team game at the Labor home. Every year in early December, Chuck hosts a fundraiser Christmas party at his home to raise money for cancer research. Elaborate decorations with a dozen Christmas trees, wine, hors d'oeuvres, and piano music played by volunteers on Chuck's baby grand. Every year there are multiple baskets of donated goodies that are raffled off to raise money for cancer and SIDS research. !Over the years he has raised over $3 million! Each year, many members of our club pool money to buy raffle tickets and this year won the basket containing bottles of blackberry, caramel and regular Crown Royal along with glasses and miscellaneous accompaniments. What can you do but have another party? 40 members of the club participated in the team game with Crown Royal, potluck hors d'oeuvres, wine, and an ugly sweater contest - won by Theresa Kornwolf.  Oh, and Greg Nastrom, Jane Curtis, Alex Warzecha, and Win Anderson won the team game (and a gift card)!

Sometimes all the bids are right, every finesse works, and you have a great game, maybe even more than 65%! On December 13th, Charlie Maternus and John Selden joined the select group who had a 70+% game, the fourth pair since September 1!. Congratulate them when you have a chance!

Sometimes all the bids are right, every finesse works, and you have a great game, maybe even more than 65%! But then there are games that really go well like it did for Rhonda and Liz on Tuesday morning, November 19th and when the dust settled and the scores were all in, they recorded a game over 70%. Wow! We are going to have to have them start giving lessons!

On Friday, we celebrated milestone achievements by  three of our members. Kathy Stadther became a Lifemaster in July at the Nationals in Toronto. Jim Schnepf and Shirley Richardson recently became Ruby Lifemasters, Jim at the Rochester Regional and Shirley at Whitney. Congratulate all three of these on their achievement!

Sometimes, the finesses work and every debatable decision you make turns out to be the right one. When it does, you might end up with really good game! This was the case for Scott and Shirley Friday afternoon when they had an almost unheard of result of 76.64%.  Congratulations Scott and Shirley on a fantastastic game! We are all going to come and ask you for tips on how to play!

Shortly after Scott became Club Manager, he called John Koch to ask if he would write the history of the St Cloud Duplicate Bridge Club (John has been playing at the club since the mid-60s). Scott did not want us to forget who founded our club, and the important people who came before us. At the Harvest Festival, John Koch unveiled his new book and it is interesting reading!! He has spent the last ten months writing it, and traveling to libraries and historical societies to find pictures of the people I have always heard about, but did not know what they looked like. The book covers our Club from founding up to current days! John made multiple revisions with the help of Connie Nelson who did a first read and offered suggestions to John. 

Everyone who has read it, loves it! It is so great to read about the different characters who have been part of the club history. It's over 200 pages and contains lots of pictures of members from the past as well as now. And John sprinkled the book with a few bridge hands as well. The first and second printings have sold out, but orders can be accepted for a third printing. Copies are $35 each. If you are interested, contact Connie Nelson (connie@psg.us)

 Do you know someone who might be interested in playing bridge? Regardless of card playing experience, have them sign up for beginning lessons this fall!

Are you looking for something to fill your free time that stimulates your mind and connects you with other community members? 

Have you heard of the card game Bridge? If your answer is either yes or no, keep reading. Bridge is:

• A game for people of ALL card playing abilities
• A game for people of ALL backgrounds
• A game that is entertaining and FUN!!

Come join the St. Cloud Duplicate Bridge Club for BEGINNER BRIDGE LESSONS, and …

• Learn a game that is good for people of ALL AGES!
• Learn a game you can play for the rest of your life
• Learn a game that keeps your brain sharp (A 2017 Mayo Clinic study shows that playing bridge reduces the likelihood of mental decline.*)

Each session will include a lesson followed by coached play.  You will be able to play a hand of bridge at your very first lesson!

Cost:  $50 for six weeks of lessons

Where:  Sartell Community Center - 850 19^th St S, Sartell

When:  Mondays, October 7, 14, 21, 28 and November 4 & 18 from 6:00-8:00.   A light supper will be included (free!)

Preregister via Sartell Community Education Intro to Bridge, or by emailing Scott at: krupkebridge@gmail.com

The second annual Kory Solarz Knockdown Tournament was held on Thursday August 22nd. This event was started to honor the memory of Kory in a competitive, yet very enjoyable evening of bridge. The first one was such a resounding success! (Won by Rick Bredlie, Joe Lisbon, Saundy Fedor and Darlene Nastrom)  

It is an unusual event.   Partnerships are paired into teams by random draw and assigned a random place on a traditional bracket.   Play proceeds as in a regular team event.  However, at the conclusion of each round, winners play winners and losers play losers, until only one team stands as undefeated—the champions and one loser is alone at the bottom..   The   Champions are awarded a set of gift cards, and have their names engraved on the permanent traveling trophy—the Boushek Board, named to honor David Boushek, who in addition to playing virtually every session all year, prepares the boards for every session all year!   All finishers were given a chance for a separate set of gift cards—the higher a team placed, the better its chances of winning.

Darlene Nastrom (again), playing with a new partner, Mark Stiegel, and new teammates, Jane Curtis and Greg Nastrom, won the second annual.   Darlene is setting a high bar for the rest of us.

Winners: Mark Stiegel, Jane Curtis, Greg Nastrom, Darlene Nastrom

The winning team is awarded four gift cards, one for each player.   Among the losers, even that very last team need not despair.   There is a second set of gift cards awarded to the team lucky enough to succeed in a blind drawing.   It is not a random drawing.  The winners are eliminated from the drawing.   All other teams are assigned a designated colored set of  dice.  There are seven teams with the winners banished from this drawing.  The second place team is allowed 7 of its dice in a bag, third place six dice, all the way down to the last place team which is allowed one die.   The bag is shaken and one dice is blindly extracted.  What ever the color, the team assigned that color gets the second set of gift cards. The winners were the team of Scott Krupke, Mark Doucette, Pam Otto, and Howard Anderson.

The Kory Solarz Knockdown Bridge Tournament is a night of bridge played in the midst of some fun and frivolity. The evening featured much food, a 50-50 cash drawing, much laughter and gaiety.   A great time was had by all.   

Everybody's cards are going to get bettter! Scott has ordered a new dealing machine for making boards. After many years of useful toil, the old one was getting old. As all of you who have helped David make boards know, it has become a time consuming process because of problems with the machine. Once we have the new machine up and running, it is expected to be a much smoother process. Dealing machines are expensive - over $5000! We were very fortunate to have Unit 103 contribute $2500 toward the machine and one of our members, Roger Melaas, offered to cover the rest o the cost. 

So Roger, Scott thanks you, David thanks you, and the rest of the club does as well. Be sure to thank Roger in person when you get the chance. This is one that helps us all!

Jim Schnepf

We recently celebrated two milestones as Sue Knauss achieved Bronze Life Master and Nancy Balfanz achieved Life Master status! Be sure to congratulate these two on their accomplishments.

Granite City Open Sectional Wrap

June 20-22, 2024

We just concluded a fantastic tournament.  Our three-day Open Bridge Sectional had 169.5 tables, an increase of 44% from last year.  Several of our events had thirty tables.  We hosted players from eight states, as well as Canada.  We received great reviews — for our friendliness, fun, the setting, and the food. 

To me, tournament VIPs are those playing in their first ACBL tournament ever.  We had six! – including Lynn Reis (Maple Grove MN),  Pam Otto (St Cloud MN),  Patty Leighton (Grafton ND) and Win Anderson (St Cloud MN).  Welcome to tournament play.  Now, you are experienced!

               Pam Otto                           Patty Leighton                          Win Anderson

Director Kim Hayward commented that we had such an abundance of Flight C players that it made it difficult to find enough Flight A pairs to team them with for our Pair/Team games.  This is a good problem. It signals healthy tournaments ahead!

During our Tournament, one hundred fifty-seven different players earned master points, including seventy-three from our Club! 

Club Manager Scott Krupke, playing with Mark Doucette (both Little Falls MN), were the Master Point Co-Champions this year, earning 22.9 Silver!  Following them ever so closely was Lynn Schnettler (St Cloud MN) who earned 22.25.  

Concentration by Co-Champions Scott & Mark!      Lynn Schnettler – Over 22 MPs!

The Top Ten also included Maurice Evans (Willmar MN), Vernon Evans (Redfield SD), Michael Leighton (Grafton ND), Joe Lisbon (St Cloud), Bob Brower (Sauk Centre MN), Ann House (Minneapolis MN) and Barb Zipoy (Bloomington MN). 

Quite a few people were able to experience the fun of winning an event.  So happy for all of you!   Just look at these smiles….

Thursday

Kory Solarz Swiss Teams – First Overall                                 

   
Teammates: George & Nancy Schnepf (Sartell MN)
Sue & Paul Olstad ( Georgetown  TX)

Clara Henning Pair/Team – Firsts          

Scott Krupke             Mark Doucette     won the Pairs, while the Team of Jake and Lisa Olson (Rice MN), Barb Zipoy (Bloomington, MN) and Ann House (Minneapolis, MN) took 1st.

Friday     
Char Thul Pair/Teams – Firsts
Mark Doucette & Scott Krupke repeated their Pair 1^st place, while Terry Beckman (Brooklyn Park MN) and John Koch (St Cloud MN) were 2nd.

Terry Beckman and John Koch

There was a 1st Place Tie in Teams!  One team was comprised of Rick Bredlie, Kathy Bredlie, Lynn Schnettler (all St Cloud MN) and Michael Leighton (Grafton ND). The second team was Joe Lisbon (St Cloud MN), Bob Brower (Sauk Centre MN), Barbara Johnson and Janet Enger (both Fargo ND). 

Steve White Pair/Teams – Firsts

Laurie and Joel Kramer (Minneapolis MN) won the Pairs, with a 69% game!  The Kramers were also first in Teams when paired with Kathleen Stadther (St Cloud MN) and Ken Kappes (Henning MN).

Joel and Laurie Kramer

 Kathy and Ken, besting their opponents

Saturday    
Jean Leighton AM Pairs and Al Leighton PM Pairs – First Overall across both games

Sarah & Jackson Wahl (Minneapolis MN)

The Saturday games were a two-session Charity Pairs game.  This year, we chose to raise funds for 180 Degrees – St Cloud Youth Shelter, which provides emergency shelter and services to unaccompanied youth who are homeless, and for the Minnesota Bridge Education Foundation.  An anonymous donor “challenged” us, pledging to match the first $250 in donations for each charity.  I was hopeful we could do it, and was absolutely blown away by our players’ generosity.  We were able to donate $1,722.75 to 180 Degrees and $688.75 to the Minnesota Bridge Education Fund!

Barb Zipoy, Pres of MN Bridge Ed Foundation, receiving a check from tourney players

This was the first year we had Named Games at our tournament, thanks to Club members’ donations.  As a consequence, we were able to provide a small gift to every person playing in each game.  And, because of the generosity of KNSI (thanks, Bob Leighton!), we were able to offer a complimentary fajita lunch from Mexican Village on Saturday as well.  That day the named games were named for Jean and Al Leighton.  Seven of nine Leighton siblings played. 

I hope they make it a new Leighton tradition, don’t you?

Women from left: Patty Leighton, Lynn Leighton Schnettler, Michelle Leighton Rosha, Mary Jo Leighton
Men from left:       Bill Schnettler, Jeff Leighton, Bob Leighton and Michael Leighton
Not pictured:        Kathy Leighton Carton played on another of the tournament days

Thanks to each of you who helped make our Tournament such a success.  From those who contributed money, to those who helped with food, carried tables, answered questions, decorated, and welcomed our guests.  So many out-of-towners commented on our Club’s friendliness.  One person sent me this: “Your tournament is so welcoming.  It is so worth coming to.  It is so worth the trip!”

And, our Club did welcome people, most importantly at each table, and also after the bridge games ended.  Joan Sand chose and hosted our Thursday gathering place.  About fifty people came to Jim and my home after Friday’s game.  The rain held off, and we were able to gather in the house and yard!


Alex Warzecha brought his toddler son … starting our bridge players young!

Finally, please help me give a HUGE thank you to our Club’s tournament team, in alpha order: Nancy Balfanz, Saundy Fedor, Sue Knauss, Theresa Kornwolf, Wayne Reynolds, Rhonda Rossman, Joan Sand, Nancy Schnepf and John Selden.  Early on, Wendy Hennes arranged for our special hotel rate.  Scott Krupke attended every meeting and supported us all the way! 

This tournament was a lot of work, but to cite Nancy Balfanz: “It was a labor of love.” 

Thanks everyone!        Connie

Games at the club have been quiet this week. We have a over 15 people who are making a charge at the Gatlinburg Regional. Here are a few who are enjoying the tournament. The gold has been flowing! Good luck to all of them!

It was a busy week for St Cloud Bridge Players as over 30 players played at the Gopher Regional in Bloomington and earned over 335 master points!

There were many highlights for the St Cloud gang; one of the highest were Jake and Lisa Olson playing with Jake’s parents one day and Jake’s Grandparents another! (Jake and his dad took second in the Gold Rush on Monday, and Jake and his Grandfather took 2^nd on Wednesday!)

It was in the team games that St Cloud made their mark:

• On Thursday, John Kock’s team took first in the Bracket 1 team game, 
• Scott Krupke, Mark Doucette, Scott Richardson, and Shirley Richardson took first in the 2^nd bracket, edging out another St Cloud team of Jim Schnepf, Connie Nelson, Greg Nastrom, and Dan Finn,
•  Jake and Lisa and Jake’s parents, Jeffrey and Laura  Olson took 2nd in Bracket 4,
• A St. Cloud team of Alan Hanson, Kathy Stadther, Jan Gembol, and Sandy Johnson took first in the Bracketed team 3 competition on Friday,
• and on Saturday, Scott and Shirley Richardson, Greg Nastrom, and Dan Finn edged out another St Cloud team of Jim Schnepf, Connie Nelson, Wayne Reynolds, and Paul Sitz. (We try harder!)

Some of our players earned their first points at a Regional this tournament. Here is Theresa Kornwolf who earned her first gold points!

It was a golden opportunity!

 Herman Wittsack died on Friday, May 10th. We do not have any details about services at this time.

Herman was a retired CIA cryptographer with a highly interesting background... only some which we could have been told about.

Many, many of us remember Herman. He was a gentle man with a sweet smile. He had sight issues ever since I met him, but if he was declarer, once you told him what the dummy cards were, he could remember all them!

He started playing duplicate bridge at age 70. He and John Melancon made a pledge to each other: Herman was going to make Life Master by age 75, and John by age 65! He told me, "Roger Melaas, Kory Solarz, Al Leighton, Ken Voigt, John and I started going to tournaments. My first was at Lake Geneva. John and I played in a pair event and got 37%! Discouraged, we signed up for a second event and won that sucker with a 77% game. My first Gold points. We traveled to Omaha where we met Bill Gates and Warren Buffet; to the Dakotas; to Duluth. I made Life Master at the age of 74. John was 64."

Rest in peace, dear Herman.

We will keep you posted when we hear more regarding services.

Some of you may remember playing against Gail Mattson at one of our tournaments. Some of you may remember when she became a Life Master at our tournament in 2022. And many of you may remember her brother, Lynn Ziegler, who played at our club for many years. I'm sorry to say that Gail was killed in a Safari accident two weeks ago in Zambia when a bull elephant charged the safari vehicle she was in. Gail lived half time in Minneapolis and half time in Phoenix where she played bridge at the same club as Kathy and Rick Bredlie. Information regarding the incident can be found at: Charging Elephant Kills American Woman

Our sympathies go out to the Mattson/Ziegler family.

We had a full house at our Non-Life Master/0-749 tournament on Saturday, April 27th! No, we weren’t playing poker… our “house” was full of bridge tables, concentration – and laughter. We had seventeen and a half tables in the morning, and 16.5 in the afternoon. This was a new high for our NLM Sectionals!

Twenty-four St Cloud Duplicate players earned some Silver, as did our guests from Duluth, Fargo, Mankato, Rochester, and the metro area. Forty-nine different players earned Silver master points.

Special thanks to our local Tournament Director Scott Richardson, to all my tournament Team: Saundy Fedor, Rhonda Rossman, Joan Sand, John Selden, Sue Knauss, Theresa Kornwolf, Nancy Schnepf, Nancy Balfanz and Wayne Reynolds, and all the St Cloud Club members who brought food, carted tables and supplies, and helped make this tournament happen!

The entire recap can be found here.

Last weekend (March 23-24), four of us St Cloud Duplicate bridge players played in the National American Pairs event at the National ACBL Tournament. You qualify to play in this event by placing in the top three in our five state District qualifying event. Nancy Balfanz and Sandy Johnson qualified to play in Flight C (under 500 MPs). Pairs Jim Schnepf and Connie Nelson, and Scott Krupke and Jake Olson, qualified in Flight B (under 2500 MPs). Scott and Jake were unable to attend the National event, but the other four of us were off to Louisville!

First the very good news. Sandy and Nancy made the cut to play in the second day of the event at the Nationals! This is a big deal! In the time I have played at our Club, no one else from our Club has made the cut past Day One, with the exception of exceptional John Koch. They did not win or place in the finals, but they did earn $500 each to help underwrite the expenses of attending. So you could now say they are bridge professionals! Please congratulate them when you see them.

Also, if the tournament had handed out Miss Congeniality Awards, they would have won! At the close of two days of play, they were on a first name basis with over half the room of players from across the United States and Canada. When one ten-year old player and his Dad placed high, the first people they ran to tell were Nancy and Sandy!

One pair they met at our practice game on Friday were Gunnar and Anki from Sweden. That night we all went out to dinner together. Anki wrote the four of us: Thank you for the evening. It was so wonderful to speak to you all and feel your warmth. This is the best memory from our entire week at the tournament. I will keep it in my heart forever.

You can probably surmise that Jim and Connie did not make the cut to the second day. The event drew the line at 52 pairs to go on, and they were 57^th out of 88 pairs. One of these years!  They did play in other events and earned over six Gold and three Red points. Plus, it was so much fun to be here together!

Thanks to everyone who came to the Shortest Day Party! Forty-eight people came, roughly half of which were our new learners group. It was great to get a chance to meet each other. Fun evening!  We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the tables!

Our sympathies go out to Shirley Bell whose husband, Roger, died on Wednesday.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, 2024, at St. Boniface Catholic Church, Cold Spring, MN for Roger A. Bell, age 92, who died January 3, 2024, at the St. Cloud VA Health Care System, St. Cloud, MN. Inurnment will be in the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery, Little Falls, MN.

Visitation will be from Noon to 1:15 p.m., Thursday at St. Boniface Church Narthex.

The obituary can be found at https://www.wennerfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Roger-Bell-11/#!/Obituary

Merrry Christmas everyone! On Thursday we had the first (annual?) Ugly Sweater contest associated with our team game. People were encourage to wear an (ugly) Christmas sweater. Kathy Stadther was voted best in class.

Oh, and the winners of the team game were Rhonda Rossman, Jerry Westby, David Boushek, and Amy Roske! Congratulations to them and to Kathy as well!

Long time club member Susan Petersen passed away on Saturday, October 28. There will be a visitation on Monday November 6th from 5PM to 7PM and a celebration of life at the Williams Dingmann funeral home in Sauk Rapids at 3PM Tuesday November 7th with visitation at 2PM. The celebration will continue at the Sauk Rapids VFW with  dinner. Please feel free to attend.

The obituary can be found at https://www.sctimes.com/obituaries/sct075808

Cause for celebration! Bev Berg has reach the Bronze Life Master level. Be sure to congratulate Bev wehn you see her.

We have a new Life Master! Nancy Balfanz earned 2.67 gold points this weekend playing in the National American Pairs District competition, enough to qualify her as a Life Master - and she and Sandy Johnson qualified to compete in the Nationals in Louisville next spring!!! Congratulate Nancy for this big milestone next time you see her and wish her (and Sandy) well in the Nationals.

Nancy and Sandy will be competing in the C level competition. Scott Krupke and Jake Olson, as well as Jim Schnepf and Connie Nelson also qualified in the B level by tying for 3rd place in the district after 108 hands of bridge. Wish them well too! Our St Cloud Club will be very well represented in Louisville in the spring. 

A more detailed summary of the event and more pictures can be found on Connie's blog: Regional Wrap.pdf 

Tom Malterer-Bill Sozansky                           Joan Lossing–Dennis Shulte                         

Saundy Fedor–Wendy Hennes                       Nancy Balfanz–Nancy Schnepf

Results of the Sartell NLM Master

Robert Nairn Gold Rush Pairs (Overall/A & B): Tom Malterer-Bill Sozansky (Duluth MN)

            First in C:  Judy Mosford (Sartell MN) – Pat Yozamp (Estero FL)

 Chuck Head Gold Rush Pairs (Overall/A, B and C):  Joan Lossing – Dennis Shulte (Woodbury MN)

            Second overall:  Jane Schmidt (St Paul, MN) – Ruth Brunelle (St Louis Park MN)

 Saturday Gold Rush Pairs (Overall):  Saundy Fedor (Waite Park, MN) – Wendy Hennes (Sartell MN)

            Second Overall:  Nancy Balfanz (St Cloud MN) – Nancy Schnepf (Sartell MN)

    First in C:  Shari Pretzer (Sartell MN) - John Selden (Richmond MN)

GOLDen Fall Fest!  Masterpoint winners (top five)

1.  Jane Schmidt (St Paul MN) – 8.78

2.  Nancy Balfanz (St Cloud MN) – 7.71

3.  Saundra Fedor (Waite Park MN) – 7.65

4.  Kathleen Stadther (St Cloud MN) – 7.38

5.  Tom Malterer/ Bill Sozansky (Duluth MN) - 6.66

All results can be found at: live.acbl.org/events/2309110