Bob Demasellis is a new player to the foothill area - he hails by way of Michigan, Texas and Tennessee and now resides near a son in Groveland. We are very happy to welcome him, and hope to see him playing regularly at the Sonora Bridge Club and online at the Highway 49ers BBO game.

Playing at the Ventura Regional last month, Mike and Mary Wells of Copperopolis were doubled in 5S and made it - with an overtrick - against Mark Itabashi (65,000 mps, ranked 7th in ACBL) and his partner Iftikhar Baqai. 

The auction went 1C by West - 2C by North (Mary) - 3C by East (Itabashi) - 4S by South (Mike). West bid 5C, Mary bid 5S and Mark doubled. Making six!

Mike and Mary had a very sucessful tournament, racking up 14.72 red and gold points.

Mike Wells and his partner Sister Ratched (aka Glenna Larsen) were two of 28 players enjoying Halloween lunch and bridge at the Mother Lode Club in Angels Camp on October 31st. 

Maryanne Sievers Fall quilt is a beautiful backdrop for bridge players Sherrie Barakatt, Rose Knutsen and Mike Saeler at the Stockton Bridge Club. Rose is the long time treasurer of Stockton Unit 510. "No witch jokes," she says.

Nine bridge players (and one husband) from the Gold Country clubs are having fun on a cruise. They left from San Francisco on September 7th for a 10-day round trip to Alaska.

The local games are much the smaller until they return, but we're glad to see them having such a good time.

Back row left to right: Susan Hamilton, Alan Hamilton, John Landis, Bonnie Landis, Dana Davis, Tim Davis and Karen Davis.

Front row left to right: Kitty Saul, Bill Saul and Marna Ferriera (who used to play here but now lives in Bakersfield).

Read Alan's account of the trip here.

Mary Westin of Lodi is a new Life Master. 

Lorna Crooks teaches a complimentary class at the Stockton Bridge Center on Friday.

Click here to see your name!

Debbie Dezarn's Stockton Unit report

in the D21 Diamond in the Ruff October newsletter

   Fall is off to a good start in the Stockton Unit with extra point Club Appreciation games, two lovely quilts displayed by Maryanne Sievers, and the return of Director Korey Baumbach. In September, the Stockton Bridge Club was adorned with a quilt of pumpkins: short, tall, fat, and skinny, and some that even looked like dreidels (thank you, Mort). This month a wall of black and purple haunted houses adds a touch of the spooky to the club.

The Stockton Club and Wendy Buchanan shared the cost of washable suede table coverings to help dampen the ambient noise, prevent sliding cards, and provide some visual contrast. There are now dark blue tables to complement the blue chairs. Welcome to some new members of Unit 510: Richard Chen, Manteca, Joseph Bisaccio, Stockton, Jeanie Douglas, Camp Connell, and Harry Phillips and Ralph Prevo, both in Angels Camp.

Please check out the Stockton and Oak Park Clubs one of these days as well as the three Mountain Clubs. The Sonora Club has reopened for face-to-face play so the three foothill clubs, Mother Lode, Gold Country and Sonora, are each playing f2f once a fortnight, but Hwy 49ers virtual games fill in the gaps so there are always three games each week, averaging 5-6 tables. There is a schedule of all the games on the Unit 510 Website at https://www.bridgewebs.com/unit510/ Also on the website is a fun article and photo about a September Alaska cruise taken by “nine players and a husband”, mostly Mountain residents and Marna F, my “twin” who moved to Bakersfield.

The plaque for the three newest Life Masters has finally been affixed to the wall in the Stockton Club. It is simple and designed to allow room for many more names as players come up the ranks. Getting close is Debbie Greenberg who just achieved Advanced NABC Master. She and Mary Hill are on a Quest for those remaining elusive silver points for their next step of LM. Other recent advancements are Joan Canepa, Club Master, Doug Mason, a new Sectional Master, and Usha Bansal who became a Silver Life Master in late August.

The Friday morning lessons in Stockton taught by Lorna Crooks were on hold for vacations but she is ready to resume for those interested. The new request is to contact Lorna in advance if you wish to attend. Anytime she has 4 or more confirmed students she will hold the class and prepare the boards and materials. Her email is jer.lorn@gmail.com.

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

Wednesdays at 11:00 am.

MOTHER LODE CLUB at 12 noon

GOLD COUNTRY CLUB at 12 noon

SONORA CLUB at 12 noon

HWY 49ers BBO CLUB at 1:00 pm

For the Schedule of these four Games CLICK HERE

♥  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!