Each year, Unit 125 has a race for members earning the most Master Points at Sectional Tournaments

sponsored by the Unit.  The Hardies Award goes to the member who earns the most Master Points at our

Sectional Tournaments.  The Rock Award goes to the female member who earns the most Master Points

at the Sectionals, and the Melamed Award goes to th non-life Master who earns the most Master Points at

the Sectionals.  For 2024 (after our November Sectional),John Bacon won the Hardies Award, Sue Knirsch

won the Rock Award, and Ronald Hauch won the Melamed Award. 

Below are the top 3 finishers in each of the three races for the 2024 year: 

Many thanks to Gail Smith and Sallie Reider for chairing the recently concluded Unit 125 Sectional in Rocky River.  More than 125 players earned Silver Points at the event, with Sue Lan Ma leading the way with a haul of 16.12 silver. With one more Sectional to go in November, John Bacon is the current leader in the Hardies Race, with a slim lead over Mike Creager.  Sue Knirsch is the leader in the Rock Race, and Ron Hauch and Brian Chambers are currently tied for the lead for the Melamed Award.  

Congratulations to Fleur Howard, Chuck Ladiha, and Steve Allen of Unit 125.  They teamed up with Ron Franck of Unit 142 in Pittsburgh to represent District 5 in Flight A of the Grand National Teams (GNT) competition at the 2024 NABC in Toronto last week.  The team achieved a 3rd place finish in this national event!

The All American Regional finished up on Memorial Day in Independence, and boasted over 350 attendees over the course of seven days.  Unit 125 was well represented, with Bernie Greenspan raking in the most gold Master Points (75.07) of any attendee at the weeklong tournament.  Ken Kranyak was not far behind, earning the second most points.  Congratulations to all who played.

The North American Pairs District 5 Finals Tournament was held October 5 & 6 in Erie, Pa.  Unit 125 had its fair share of qualifiers for the NABC.  Qualifiers from our Unit in Flight A included Stan Dub and Greg Michaels (1st),  Ken Kranyak and Michael Creager (2nd), and Bernie Greenspan (3rd).  Qualifiers in Flight C included Ron Hauch and Dean Kulwicki (1st) and Carolyn and Harry Keagler (3rd).  Good luck to all at the NABC in Memphis next Spring!

Congratulations to Stan Dub for achieving Platinum Life Master status by crossing the 10,000 Master Point threshold!  His achievement is noted on page 74 of the May Bridge Bulletin.  Stan joins an elite group of only 4 other active players in Unit 125 who have accomplished the feat, including Phil Becker, Ken Kranyak, Don Sulgrove, and Pat Chisholm.

Stan learned to play bridge one afternoon at his fraternity house at Case Tech and played duplicate later that same day.  He claims that it ended a promising chemical engineering career.  Stan's favorite bridge memories include playing in the Flight A Grand National Teams in Long Beach in 2003 with Niel Waletzky and Kathy and Don Sulgrove, finishing second and playing in the finals of the World IMP Pairs in Philadelphia with Greg Michaels

The District 5 Grand National Teams Qualifying Tournament was held in Erie, PA over the May 4-5 weekend, and a number of Unit 125 members came in first place in their respective divisions. Being a top finisher qualifies them to participate in the Grand National Teams Event this summer at the NABC in Toronto. Qualifiers from Unit 125 include:

Unlimited Division: Bernie Greenspan

A Division: Fleur Howard, Chuck Ladiha, and Steve Allen

B Division: Jake Agregado and Stelian Hritcu

Good luck to all in Toronto!

Our Unit Annual Meeting was a Great Success.

We had 19 tables and raised $165 for the Alzheimer's Association Longest Day charity

The by-laws were approved and will be adopted effective May 1, 2024.

Special Thanks to Sallie Reider, Elaine Surovy, Carolyn Keagler, Gail Smith for helping with the food and coffee and everyone else who help with set-up and clean-up.

April 28, 2024 Unit Game Results

Paul Facinelli of our unit has written a bridge-themed children’s book titled
“Pip and Spot’s Great Adventure.” It tells the story of Pip (who is blue) and Spot (who
is orange) as they embark on a perilous journey to find The Land With No Name,
where they will find peace and equality. Spot’s grandfather Ogustus warns them of the
dangers posed by the villainous Groots, their red and black overseers, who will seek to
capture and return them to a life of misery. Ogustus himself was captured many years
ago as he sought that magical place with the purple light. The reading level is second-
or third-grade, but parents and grandparents can read the story to younger children,
who will understand the simple plot. This is a fun book that I heartily recommend. It
is available in e-book form only at Amazon kindle for $4.99. – Bill Hogsett

40 years ago at the Case Western Commuter lounge, these five would play different card games. They read a bridge book and got hooked like the rest of us. They spent one year traveling to tournaments in between their classes and all became life masters. Niel Waletzky mentored them and began calling them the Kamikaze kids. Then life happened and they all went on to have successful careers in various disciplines. They all met up again at the retirement party of Kevin Robertson in Cleveland a week ago. Almost all are currently retired and watch out for their return.
Duane Kurupka, Kevin Robertson, Miguel Zubizarreta, Steve Stasek and Scott Brozell.

The North American Pairs District 5 Finals Tournament was held Sept 30/Oct 1 in Erie, Pa.  Unit 125 had its fair share of qualifiers for the NABC.  Qualifiers in Flight A included Phil Becker (1st), Bernie Greenspan (T 2nd), Ken Kranyak (T 2nd) and Michael Creager (T 2nd).  Qualifiers in Flight C included Kris Baker and Philip Kiefer (1st) and Dwight McHugh (3rd).  Good luck to all at the NABC in Louisville next Spring!

Each year, Unit 125 has a race for members earning the most Master Points at Sectional Tournaments sponsored by the Unit.  The Hardies Award goes to the member who earns the most Master Points at our Sectional Tournaments.  The Rock Award goes to the female member who earns the most Master Points at the Sectionals, and the Melamed Award goes to th non-life Master who earns the most Master Points at the Sectionals.  Below are the top 3 finishers in each of three races for the 2023 year: 

Thanks to all who turned out for Unit 125's August Sectional in Hudson, OH.  The tournament was a big success with attendance being more than 50% greater than last August!  On Friday, there were 11 tables in the 499er Game alone!  A fun time was had by all.  We look forward to seeing you again at our next Sectional in November.

Congratulations to the B Strata Swiss Event Champions, pictured here with their Sectional Champion mugs - Doug Hardman, Mike Gilbert, Rosemary Kleis, and Chris Kleis

Look who showed up to direct at the NABC in Chicago 

Welcome new Board Members Bill Issa, Sean Malloy, Sallie Reider, and Angie Strainic.  And congratulations to our Unit's new officers for 2023-24: Jim Knirsch, President and Sue Knirsch, Treasurer (standing) and Fleur Howard, Vice President and Angie Strainic, Secretary (sitting).