On Wednesday, we held our October special Wednesday game, participating in the ACBL's Fall Instant Matchpoint Game. In true St Cloud Bridge Club fashion, we turned it into a party with a potluck loaded with goodies from club members and with many of the participants dressed in their Halloween best (See the pictures!). 

In celebration of the 100^th anniversary of contract bridge, ACBL leveled up the game to a special Royal game where the point awards were a mix of red, silver, and black. The game was played like any of our other open pairs games, but instead of scores based on how you do against the local competition, every possible score is predetermined based on the hands being played and scored at previous events. Winners in each direction were also awarded 1 gold point and the top five pairs in each district were awarded additional points  - first place received 10.0 masterpoints!.

Fifteen pairs competed, with Jim and Connie, playing in the East/West direction, coming out on top with a 64.8% game. In the North/South direction, Jan Gembol and Lynn Schnettler were first. JIm and Connie were second in the district and received an additional 7.5 masterpoints and Win Anderson and Amy Roske (2nd East/West) had the third highest score in the district and were awarded an additional 5.63 masterpoints! Congratulations to all on a great event!

While Mark Doucette was acknowledged as the King of Clubs for September, he is not the only one doing well. ACBL keeps track of how players are doing for the year based on their rank as of January 1st. This can be looked at by  District (5 state area) or by Unit. Minnesota is divided into two units. Unit 103 includes St Paul and most of outstate Minnesota; Unit 178 includes Minneapolis and the western suburbs.

St Cloud is doing very well in these masterpoint races. Here are some of the highlights for the Unit 103 races:

0-5  
1st Tara Krupke          15.07    

5-20 
1st Marlene Devoe     27.99 
4th Mark Huseth         23.02

20-50 
1st Win Anderson      46.35 
2nd Alex Warzecha   40.76 
3rd Brian Crowder     35.03

100-200 
1st John Seldon        77.87
5th Sandy Johnson   62.22

200-300
1st Charlie Maternus    82.85
2nd Rhonda Rossman 40.74
3rd Theresa Kornwolf  35.18

300-500 
3rd Kathleen Stadther  54.03
5th Cindy Carlson        33.35

500-1000
1st Mark Doucette       103.36
2nd Greg Nastrom       85.03
3rd Tom Buttweiler       76.71
4th Jane Curtis             71.72

1000-1500
4th Dan Finn                69.85
5th David Boushek      64.71

1500-2500 
1st Scott Krupke         144.62
4th Jim Schnepf          113.92

2500-3500
2nd Roger Melaas      139.26

3500-5000
2nd Maurice Evans     114.33

Over 10,000
3rd John Koch             54.25

Keep up the good work! 

We held another fun tournament on Saturday!  We had a great turnout with eighteen tables in the morning, and sixteen in the PM. We missed exceeding our all-time high by one table!

We hosted out of town guests from Rochester, Mankato, Detroit Lakes, and across the metro area. Volunteers were at every door of Midtown Square, welcoming players and directing them to our playing site. Those from outside our Club enjoyed seeing our new “home,” which worked great for the tournament. Guests also complimented on how well-run the tournament was, our friendliness and food!

At least five entrants had fewer than 10 MPs. As you know, I love seeing our lower point players, and call them our Most Valuable Players. Introducing people to tournament play, and encouraging them to return, is important for future MN tournaments.

One under ten MP player – Don Nierengarten – played in his first ACBL tournament. Playing with Wendy Hennes (both Sartell MN), Don earned his first Silver! In fact, Wendy and Don had a 63% game, earning a Section top in the morning, and 1.74 Silver!

Wendy went on to have a 68% game in the afternoon with partner Liz Hammer (St Cloud MN), winning First Overall and 3.13 Silver. Across both games, Wendy Hennes was Tournament Champion!

Fifty-one different players earned master points at the tournament, including thirty St Cloud Duplicate Bridge Club members. All master point winners across both games can be found at https://live.acbl.org/masterpoint-winners/2510352.

Top Ten Overall masterpoint winners were:

• Wendy Hennes, 1st 4.87 Silver

• Joyce Hoelmer, tied 2/3 3.32 Silver

• Arlyce Anderson, tied 2/3 3.32 Silver

• Liz Hammer, 4^th 3.13 Silver

• Mary Doucette, tied 5/6 2.99 Silver

• Eileen Johnsen, tied 5/6 2.99 Silver

• Therese Cowl, tied 7/8 2.54 Silver

• Joyce Piper, tied 7/8 2.54 Silver

• Lars Christensen, tied 9/10 2.49 Silver

• Maclore Christensen, tied 9/10 2.49 Silver

Morning Winners. In addition to Don and Wendy placing third, Arlyce Anderson and Joyce Hoelmer (Mankato MN) took First Overall and in Flights A & B; Jan Gembol (Clear Lake MN) and Sandy Johnson (St Cloud MN) 2^nd; and David and Huldah Niles 4^th (both Minnetonka MN).

Afternoon Winners. In addition to Wendy and Liz earning First, Eileen Johnsen (St Cloud MN) and Mary Doucette (Mesa AZ) took 2^nd Overall and Flight B; Cindy Carlson and Judy Knutson 3^rd (both St Cloud MN); and Joyce Piper and Therese Cowl (both Woodbury MN) 4^th. Lars and Maclore Christiansen (both St Paul MN) took first in Flight C.

THANK YOU to all in the St Cloud Duplicate Club for your help in putting on this tournament. Your food and cash donations helped us Wow! our guests. We served a free lunch complete with pumpkin pie, and gave out pumpkins as door prizes. Thanks to Jane Curtis and Sue Knauss who was in charge of food and beverages all day, to John Selden and Win Anderson who set up and took down the tables needed, to Win Anderson & Charlie Maternus who sold entries, to Jim Schnepf for assigning the tables, to David Boushek for making Boards, to Joan Sand and Nancy Balfanz who staffed our welcome tables, to Saundy Fedor for serving as Partnership Chair, and ALL other hard-working members of our tournament team.

Finally, thanks to Scott Krupke. Tournaments of this size are not easy. You don’t know the exact number of tables you will have until game time, yet you must determine immediately the game rotation needed. We started – and ended - each game on time, and we didn’t seem to have any ruffled feathers across many, many Director calls. Thanks Scott!

The following is pulled from the Minnesota Bridge Blog. (https://www.minnesotabridge.com/bridgeblog.html) If you don't read it regularly, you should!

YOUR KING OF CLUBS FOR OCTOBER

Who earned the most black points in Minnesota face-to-face clubs last month?  That would be Mark Doucette [Little Falls], who earned 26.90 points in our local clubs this past month - well done, Mark! This is the first monthly title for Mark, who played in sixteen in-person games this past month - and scratched in every single game he played.  In addition, Mark accomplished this feat by playing with eight different partners during the month of September.  Fourteen of the sixteen games Mark played in last month were matchpoint games, where he averaged 56.49% during that stretch - and two of the games were team games, where Mark came in 1st and 4th.  Here is a shout-out to the King of Clubs for this month, along with his many, many partners (and even more opponents) who helped him take the crown for October.

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! I used to think 70% games were relatively rare but I am beginning to wonder! On September 25, Mark Stiegel and Joe Lisbon had a 73% game and on October 3rd, Mark Doucette and Maury Evans followed with a 71% game! This follows the 2 70+ earlier in September ( Joe and Maury were also involved in those results).

Our two new board members are Charlie Maternus and Zach Wefel.    They will serve a 4 year term.    Welcome to both new members!

Continuing members are Kathy Stadther, Greg Nastrom, Jane Curtis, Nancy Balfanz and Connie Nelson.  Our next elections are in 2 years, as our bylaws require us to stagger members.

Thank you to Sue and Roger Knauss for their years of service on the Board.

The list of Board Members as well as the bylaws of the club can always be found under the Information tab on the homepage.

On Monday night, the Club held its annual Harvest Moon Party/business meeting/bridge game. And what a wonderful event it was! By any measure it was a roaring success (it was a bit loud) with over 90 people eating dinner and 88 staying on to play bridge. We now know what our new space can handle!

The event started with the chicken dinner catered by PJs of Avon and we had many positive reviews of the chicken. Of course, there were desserts brought by members of the club which also had rave reviews. And by popular demand, Jerry's punch made a comeback. 

At the business meeting, Club Manager Scott Krupke laid out his vision for the future of the club.  He set a hefty stretch goal of 75 new members in the next three years. As our next round of beginning bridge lessons starts October 6th, he challenged each of us to find at least one person! Scott and Connie each selected a unsung hero of the club to honor. The well deserved honors went to Shirley Richardson and Jane Curtis, Both quietly contribute to the club in uncountable ways and we are lucky to have them as members. 

Club members also voted for members of our Board.  Five Club members were running for four spots.  Happy to have the interest for serving on the Board! Results will be forthcoming.

As for the bridge—It was stupendous. Twenty two tables were set up with 15 in the open and another 7 for the 299er game. We maybe could have squeezed a couple of more tables but it was the most players at a club game in memory. Phil Schloss and Marlene came in first N/S in the 299er and Ken and Margie Kappes were first E/W. In the Open section, Scott and Shirley Richardson squeaked ahead of Mark Doucette and Scott Krupke N/S, and Cindy Carlson and Judy Knutson topped Roger Melaas and Dave Hanson in the E/W direction. 

It is hard to imagine how the event could have gone any better!

PS Thanks to all the unsung heroes who stayed after to help clean up. It makes things go so much better with so many hands.  

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! Last Tuesday, we had not one hot pair but two! Scott Krupke, and Saundy Fedor, playing N/S, and Joe Lisbon and Maury Evens, playing E/W, ended up with over 70% in the same game! Congratulate them when you get a chance!

Last week we lost another of our dear bridge players. Bob Brower died after battling cancer. Bob first played at our club in 2006. Prior to that he developed his bridge skills in the state of Washington with winters in Arizona, accumulating a mass of points - over 4500 by the time that he stopped playing this spring. After 2006, he spent winters in Arizona and summers in Sauk Center making regular trips to the club on Mondays and Fridays. He partnered with many other players and was ever the gentleman. His obituary can be found at  Robert "Bob" Brower Obituary September 4, 2025 - Patton-Schad Funeral Home. The funeral will be private with the family.

While we don't usually have a Wednesday game, we had one on August 27. On that date, the Club held a special game, the Robert Nairn game, For this game, everyone partnered with someone who they hadn't ever played with (or at least for a long while) in honor of former member Robert Nairn. 

Seventeen pairs participated in the event. In the North/South direction, Scott Krupke and Mary Olson eked out a victory over second place, Mark Doucette and Rick Olson. In the East/West direction, Shirley Richardson and Wayne Reynolds won out over Sue Knauss and Rick Bredlie, who had squeezed ahead of Shannon Quinliven and Kathy Bredlie by less than a point.

Many players thought the event was great and want to try it again!

Robert Nairn was one of our St Cloud Duplicate Club’s International Bridge players. Robert first played bridge as a teenager whilst growing up in Glasgow, Scotland. Then, for the next sixty-plus years, he set bridge aside as he worked and raised a family. He lived in New Zealand, Samoa, Somalia, and Great Britain before emigrating to the United States. In several of these locales, Robert took to the stage as a Shakespearian actor – and was a proud member of Actor’s Equity and SAG.

You’ve heard the saying, “Leave a legacy for Bridge. Encourage others to follow suit!” Well, Robert left a legacy all right. Not in dollars, but in sharing his love of the game with many different partners. How many different partners? On February 10, 2021, Robert turned 89 years young. He made this “birthday wish” … to partner with as many St Cloud Club members as he could before he turned ninety. How did he do? In twelve months, Robert played with fifty-nine different partners! He died 5 days after celebrating his 90th birthday. I know of no other player who has played with that many partners in a year’s time, or maybe ever!  Thank you, Robert, for showing us the way!

On Thursday night, the 3rd Annual Kory Solar Knockdown Tournament was held in our new home and a fun time was had by all. Sixteen pairs signed up for the match. Teams were drawn and the match was started.

Scott welcomed us all to the event with a remembrance of our longtime club manager, Kory, who died two years ago. 

As usual for a St Cloud event, there was lots of good snacks and we got to see some of our new decorations!

We might be the only bridge club in the district with a fireplace! (And our classic scoring board!)

We played with our new team game boards, complements of Matt Belau of the Rochester Club - Thanks Matt!

And then the battle began! and a hard fought battle it was.

The brackets played out 

Until a Champion team won the event!

Unfortunately, I am missing a picture of the "crown". Anybody have one for me?

There will be a lot of first time happenings in our new space - 1st winner(Rick and Kathy) , 1st meal, 1st tournament, etc. But we have already had one first that I would not have expected to happen so soon! At the Tuesday morning game, we had our first bid and made Grand Slam.  It is a rare day that someone bids and makes 7NT but Dan Finn and Roger Melaas did it on Tuesday hand number 1! 

Dan, sitting East, opened 2♣ and Roger bid 2♦ (waiting). Dan then bid 3♣ showing a Club suit. Roger has a weak hand but Dan's bid is forcing and Roger bid 3♥ showing his heart suit. Dan is now excited and bids 4NT (1430) and Roger responded 5♣ showing 1 or 4 key cards.  That's all Dan needed to hear since he has all 4 Aces and knows that Roger has the K of Hearts. These 2 have been playing together for years (see picture below) and most of us know Roger's tagline on his emails "7NT and set the Hook." Dan couldn't resist  so he charged to 7NT! The Clubs break and they have 6 Club tricks, 5 Heart tricks and 2 Aces!

Anyone want to venture a guess what year this picture was taken?

The move has happened!!! Thursday night, 40 members participated in a team game at the Labor Home for the last time. It signaled the end of an era as the St Cloud Bridge Club played at the Labor Home for over 60 years!

The last night at the Labor Home

On Monday morning, Scott and friends put some final touches on our new home in Midtown Square Office Building and on Monday, June 21, at 12:30, the first session started at our new home.

Scott gave a warm welcome to the players before the start.

Rick and Kathy Bredlie were the top players in the inaugural session with a 64% game with Joe Lisbon and Maury Evans close behind at 63%.

And Wendy provided a celebratory cake! (White cake with white frosting - a favorite of Kory's)

The 299's capped off the day with a visit to the Midtown Bar after the evening session -- without even stepping outside!

We have been remiss in posting an important news item! Kathy Stadther achieved Bronze Life Master status a few weeks ago and it was grandly celebrated at Whitney.

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 had another great tournament. We hosted 137.5 tables at our Granite city Sectional, or an average of 23 tables per session. While down from last year’s record-setting numbers, this is still our second highest turnout of the past twenty years!

To me, tournament MVPs are those playing in their first ACBL tournament ever. We had three this time– Phil Schloss, Marilyn Lisbon, and David Johnsen (all St Cloud MN). Welcome to tournament play!

Another MVP worth noting is Roger Knauss (Rockville MN), who became our Club’s newest Life Master. Congratulations, Roger!

During our Tournament, one hundred nineteen different players earned Silver! I smiled when Mary Hanson (Emily MN), said her goal was to earn “a sliver of silver!” And she did, earning .44 Silver on Thursday. Many earned slivers or more, including sixty-two players from our Club.

The highest master point winners were John Koch (St Cloud MN) and long-time partner Terry Beckman (Brooklyn Park MN). Second Overall were Sarah and Jackson Wahl (Minneapolis MN), while brothers Maurice Evans (Willmar MN) and Vernon Evans (Redfield SD) earned Third Overall.

Vern and Maury

While I won’t be repeating pictures of winners, 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 – Roger Melaas & Gloria Mize Strati-Flighted Pairs

First Overall of A/X Pairs B/C/D Pairs – First Overall & Second Overall of the Tournament!

Sarah and Jackson Wahl     Tom Buttweiler and Bev Berg

Taking Second in A/X were Vernon and Maurice Evans, and taking Second in B/C/D were George & Nancy Schnepf (Sartell MN).

Friday AM – David Boushek Pair/Teams & 499-er Pairs

Open Pair/Teams – Team First Place

Alex, Jackson, Sarah, and Win

Teammates Alex Warzecha & Win Anderson (both St Cloud MN), and Sarah & Jackson Wahl (Minneapolis MN) won First. Sarah and Jackson left before a team picture could be taken, but they okayed this substitute! Second Place Teams went to Keith Thompson (Bloomington MN), Michele Grindal (Minneapolis MN), Paski Paskaradevan (Newport MN) and David Gustafson (Stillwater MN).

First Place in Pairs was won by Terry Beckman & John Koch, while Vernon and Maurice Evans took 2^nd.

499-er Pairs. First Place was won by Charlie Maternus (Waite Park MN) and John Selden (Richmond MN), followed by a tie for Second! The pairs who tied were: Mary Johannes (Sauk Rapids MN) & Marlene DeVoe (St Cloud MN), and Rex Newman (Fridley MN) & Jim Muecke (Eden Prairie MN).

Friday PM - John Melancon Pair/Teams

Open Pair/Teams. Barry Purrington( Eagan MN), Michael Cassel (Roseville MN), David Newhall (Mahtomedi MN) and Jill Wroblewski (Minneapolis MN) won First Overall in Teams, followed by Marylou Doerrie and Todd Flowerday(both Coon Rapids MN), Joann Sufka (Nisswa MN) and Dale Simson (St Cloud MN) Second. John Koch and Terry Beckman won the Pairs, with a 61% game. Second place was earned by Scott and Shirley Richardson (St Joseph MN).

499er Pair/Teams PM – First Overall Team

(l. to r.) Tom Owens (Woodbury MN), Lynn Reis (Maple Grove MN), Marlene DeVoe (St Cloud MN) and Dan Ganter (Maple Grove MN) won First overall. Joan Sand (St Cloud MN), Amy Roske (St Cloud MN), Rex Newman (Fridley MN), and Jim Muecke (Eden Prairie MN) took Second overall.

Saturday John Koch & Mary Knier Wenner Stratified Charity Pairs

Guess who won First Overall in the Open of this two-session play through Pairs event? Fittingly, John Koch won his own named game, with a 67% game, playing w/ partner Terry Beckman. Jackson and Sarah Wahl took 2nd, and Teri Blu & Belinda Caspari (both Bloomington MN) took third.

Overall winners of the 499er Pairs event were Dan Ganter and Tom Owens. Jim Muecke and Rex Newman took Second, and Mark Huseth (St Cloud MN) & Brian-Paul Crowder (Little Falls MN) took Third.

Dan and Tom looking happy!

As mentioned, the Saturday games were Charity Pairs. This year, we raised funds for Terebinth Refuge, which provides shelter to formerly sex-trafficked women and youth. I was blown away by our players’ generosity. We raised $1,634, an amount that turned into $3300 when we delightedly learned our donations were doubled by another donor of theirs!

Connie presenting check to Terebinth

Across it All

This was the second 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. It was fun to tell stories of honored players who have come before us. Dan Knier (Waite Park MN) and Frank Knier (Fargo ND) brought additional pictures of their Grandma who helped teach them how to play. It was also great to talk about those currently playing who mean so much to us. And, because of the generosity of KNSI (thanks, Bob Leighton!), we were able to offer a complimentary pizza lunch from House of Pizza on Saturday as well – a favorite spot of all three Knier brothers, including Tom!

Attendees

Thank you 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.

And, our Club did welcome people, most importantly at each table, and after the bridge games ended. Over sixty people came to the beautiful home on Sandy Johnson after Friday’s game. Aptly aided by Nancy Balfanz and Judy Scheuerelle, she put on quite the party. I saw players from at least five other Clubs, and a lot of comradery and revelry.

Nancy and Sandy

Two first-time attendees said to me as they were leaving: “We have heard so much about your Club’s tournaments.  It’s all true. We are definitely coming back!”  

Finally, please help me give a HUGE thank you to our Club’s tournament team, in alpha order: Win Anderson, Nancy Balfanz, Jane Curtis, Saundy Fedor, Sue Knauss, Theresa Kornwolf, Charlie Maternus, Rhonda Rossman, Joan Sand, Jim Schnepf, Nancy Schnepf, John Selden and Zach Wefel. Plus, Scott Krupke supported us all the way!

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

The big event of the year, the Granite City Sectional is coming up June 12-14! Grab your partner and show up at the Sauk Rapids Government Center, 250 Summit Ave N, Sauk Rapids, MN 56379. New location but the people are just as friendly and the food is just as wonderful as always. 

For directions to the new location, scan the QR code below!

FREE Parking Goodies Every Day! Door Prizes each game

Thursday, June 12– 10 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.

Roger Melaas & Gloria Mize 2 Session Strati-flighted Pairs

     Flight A/ X (A: Unlimited, X: 0 - 2500)
     Flight B/C/D (B: 0 -1500, C: 0 - 750, D: 0 - 300)

Friday, June 13- 10 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.

John Melancon & David Boushek Single Session Pair/Team & 499er Pairs

     Open Pair/Team Single Session Event
     499er Pairs—Single Session Event

After Game gathering—Everyone invited to home of Sandy Johnson

Saturday, June 14- 10 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.

John Koch & Mary Wenner 2 Session Charity Open Pairs
      benefitting Terebinth Refuge Regionally Rated

      Play through, with Lunch provided
      Stratifications: (With Director Discretion)
     A= 2500+ B= 750-2500 C= 0-750
Single session entries welcome but not eligible for overall awards

Entry Fees: $13 per session per person/$14 on Saturday

Non-paid ACBL Members +$4.00 per session ACBL

Sanction: 2506321

FREE Parking Goodies Every Day! Door Prizes each game

Tournament Chair: Connie Nelson Email: Connie@psg.us 320-282-7859

Partnership Chair: Saundy Fedor Email: SaundyF@gmail.com 320-290-5800

Director in Charge: Kimberly Hayward

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

Matt Belau of Rochester writes a wonderful blog about bridge happenings in Minnesota (Minnesota Table Talk). He keeps tabs of all sorts of information and statistics and updates it daily. It is worth checking out. Here is an abbreviated version of a July1 entry.

Twin Cities Metro area club tables are off by -2.0% so far this year (3,010 vs 3,072 last year).  Outstate club tables are up by +6.5% over the same period (1,970 vs 1,849), but as is typically the case with statistics, there's more to the story.  There's no greater effort made by a Minnesota club to drum up players and provide their bridge players with opportunities (and fun) than the St Cloud DBC covering Greater Central Minnesota - and it shows.  All of the outstate's increase during this period came from St Cloud, who picked up +130 tables since last year.  Without those St Cloud numbers, outstate Minnesota tables were essentially flat over the first half of 2025 (-0.2%), with statewide tables off by -1.4%.

We're all familiar with the present trend in table counts, and of course it's not a trend that is limited to Minnesota, nor is it a trend that's likely to change.  But since we are unable to bottle whatever is in the water up in St Cloud, it's all the more important to help out at your local club - volunteering, teaching, encouraging new members and being an active part of your local club (and unit!).  That can only help our 2nd half 2025 table counts and (more importantly) our bridge community overall.

Bookmark his blog and look daily. Or you can find a link from our homepage under Useful Links.

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!

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 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!

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!

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