Mary Wells of Copperopolis has ten students in her new beginners bridge class, the third class she has taught in the last six months. Helping her is Hugo the dalmation. Mary says, "Meet Hugo. He always likes to help me sort the cards for the next class. He can be a bit of an attention seeker!"

Foothill players enjoy dinner at the Hyatt Regency in Monterey.

From left: John Rawlings, Sally Rockholt, Mary and Mike Wells, Christine and John Vanderliet and Pam Elliott.

Mike and Mary Wells with teammates Bill Mitchell and Sue Vogtlin.

They collected 11.1 gold points for winning  Bracket 4 KO Teams.

Foothill players at Monterey all had success in the Gold Rush Pairs and KO Teams. From left: Jeannie Douglas, Sally Rockholt, Pam Elliott, Chris Vanderliet, Kathy McKloskey and Sharon Ritchie.

Pam Elliott of Angels Camp only needed 1.1 silver points to become Life Master.

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Pam Elliott (right) playing with partner Sally Rockholt at the Foothill clubs' Christmas Party at Ironstone Winery at Murphys on Thursday December 7. The pair came in 1st E/W for 1.69 mps, and they were also 2nd in the Royal STAC Overalls for over 7 silver points. Well done!

Debbie Dezarn's Stockton Unit report

in the D21 Diamond in the Ruff April 2024 newsletter

On the day of the solar eclipse several people brought goodies to the Stockton game, including a plate of oreos arranged to show the phases of the eclipse that we Californians were missing and another plate depicting the sun in full eclipse using yellow pastries as the sun’s corona while the center was a disc of brownies. Sometimes it is the little things that make bridge extra fun.

Game size has picked up a little at the Stockton and Oak Park Bridge Clubs. We are frequently getting 6-8 tables at the Stockton Club and 7-9 at Oak Park. The dividers at the latter venue have been moved to allow the bridge players more of the space that is shared with those only participating in the lunch program, significantly decreasing the noise. That venue also has excellent air conditioning if anyone is worried about the upcoming summer. In other words, always bring an extra layer or two if you “run cold” like me.

Let’s celebrate our members’ rank advancements since the last newsletter: Jeanie Douglas, Club Master, Sharon Ritchie, Regional Master, Bobby Ilse, NABC Master, and Byron Barclay, Ruby Life Master. Although not a member of 510, Sue Vogtlin is a regular player at the two Stockton clubs and just reached Gold Life Master in early April. Congratulations to all!

The April QUIP Report is a statistical analysis the ACBL sends quarterly to Units so they can get some sense of their membership compared to other units in the district. The Stockton Unit's latest report shows the following numbers and trends for 2023:

1. Membership. We have 116 current paid members which is a 5.45% increase on the previous year and reverses similar sizes losses for the two previous years. It places us 5^th in the district (D22) out of 21 units and 22^nd in the ACBL out of 289 units. Pretty good scores and certainly helped by Mary Wells’ efforts to teach and recruit new members for the Mountain clubs.

2. New Member Gains. After gaining only1 new member in 2021, and 3 in 2022, last year we gained 8. Our newest members are Betty Dailey from Arnold, and Byron Barclay who transferred in from the Diablo Valley Unit.

3. Member losses. Much improved – only 1 member dropped their membership last year compared with 15 in the two years previously. This put us 2^nd in the district and 17/289 in the ACBL. Please encourage your friends to renew as the Bridge Bulletin alone is worth paying the membership fee.

4. Member retention. We retained 61% of the new members, scoring 2^nd in the district and 32^nd in ACBL.

5. Average member age: 76. Wow. This is a bit higher than most Units but we do have quite a number of active players in their 90’s (and 100’s).

6. Average years of ACBL membership: 23.

The new players want to win masterpoints, of course, so everyone is encouraged to support the Sacramento Regional for red and gold points and Northern California Sectionals for silver points. Hotel rooms are still available at the $112 rate for the Sacramento Regional running May 27-June 2. For the newer players, this tournament has games for people with under 499 points and offers the chance to win red points, of which you need 5 to reach the level of Regional Master (100 points).

The Stockton Club will participate in STaC week games on May 6, 9, and 10 Thursday but not on Mothers’ Day. ACBL recently significantly raised the table fees for these special games so the Club must charge $10 per game instead of the usual $8 to offset the additional fees. STaC games are the only way to earn Silver points without traveling to a Club or District that is holding a Sectional event.

Sadly, two regulars in the Stockton Intermediate game passed away recently: Ron Allison and Marilyn Segarini.

Korey Baumbach will be back to his regular Director schedule this month, including at Oak Park April 16 and running the Unit Game at the Stockton club on Sunday, April 21. The Sunday game is a pot luck lunch at 12, including wine and free bottles and cans from the fridge. Last time I checked there was ice cream for the pot luck as well!

For you players who enjoy online games don’t forget to check out the Virtual Club games offered by SE Carolina. Each time you play the Unit receives a small portion of the entry fee. Contact Debbie DeZarn to be walked through how to find the games if you want to give it a try.

STOCKTON BRIDGE CLUB

Mondays and Fridays at 11:30 am

499ers 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 11:30 am

3rd Sunday Potluck and Unit game at 12 noon

OAK PARK BRIDGE CLUB, STOCKTON

Wednesdays at 11:00 am.

MOTHER LODE CLUB, MURPHYS at 12:30 pm

Murphys Diggins Club House alternate Mondays

GOLD COUNTRY CLUB, SAN ANDREAS at 12 noon

Alternate Wednesdays: 12 noon at San Andreas Senior Center.

SONORA CLUB at 11:30 am

 Every Friday at the Sonora Senior Center.

HWY 49ers BBO CLUB at 1:00 pm

These alternating online games fill in the gaps.

For the Schedule of these four Games, click below

Master2024Dates1.pdf

♥  There's lots to see! For your game results click on the date in the green boxed heading under RESULTS on the TOP RIGHT of the screen. Now you should see a list of players and their percentages. Click on your name for a list of your personal scores. Scroll down to the end to see if you were a better declarer than your partner!

   On the right you can see some [PLAY] tabs. Click on one, select the BBO tab, and now you can 1) Replay the hand as you did at the table [NEXT], 2) Replay the hand as you wish you had at the table [PLAY], 3) Let GIB – the super-robot – replay the hand as you should have done at the table [GIB]. Cool stuff!