Minnesota Bridge

Unit 103 Awards Party - Sign Up Reminder!

 

 

Please do not forget!  Unit 103's Awards Party was rescheduled for May 12th due to The Blizzard that Ate Minnesota.  We'd love people from all over Minnesota to attend.  But - we do need to have your reservation completed no later than May 4th.

Come one; come all - and celebrate everyone's achievement!

Minnesota Storms Gatlinburg!

 

A number of Minnesotans headed to the world's largest ACBL regional last week - had a wonderful time and performed admirably! Our first tale is shared by Kim Hayward - and - it appeared in the Gatlinburg Daily Bulletin!  These 24 club members above brought home 374.26 masterpoints!

Other 103 and 178 members attended, too. More below! 

 

Minnesotan Migration

Twenty-four members of the Bridge Center of St Paul in Minnesota decided Gatlinburg would be a good idea this year.

Our Annual Unit Awards banquet and game was scheduled for two days before the beginning of the Regional, so many of us were leaving immediately after the game or flying the next day. Unfortunately, something else was scheduled at the same time—piles and piles of snow and ice.

Our Unit cancelled the banquet mid-week and some decided to leave early to beat the storm. As our Friday morning game closed and the radar was becoming more colorful by the minute, we decided to grab our clothes and run for it. Others did the same.

Despite leaving early the 5 carloads of players had very slow and treacherous travel. But the air travelers fared much worse! Cancellations and changes mounted and the last of the group made it late on Monday evening with one pair of players being re-routed 3 times! (The storm yielded 14.9 inches in one day, an April record.)

Now that were all here, we’re having a great time at your wonderful tournament. Please visit us if you are ever in the Twin Cities. You will be sure to receive a warm welcome whatever the weather.

George West, Alexis Campbell. Mary & Larry McIntyre, Larry & Patti Huiras, Kathleen Buraglio, Liz Miller, Miriam Larsen, Joyce Piper, Kay Johnson, Judy Strobush, Tom Baruth, Amy Dutton, Joe Browan, Grant Duffrin, John Crouch, Cynthia Schield, Steph Steele, Gary Mulcahy, Judy Hammond, Sandy Casey, Janet Williams, and Director Kimberly Hayward.

 

In addition, a contingent of three current Minnesotans, Kerry Holloway, Michael Lee Howland and Harry Sapienza joined with former Gopher State Joe Rice and Craig Satersmoen to do battle. Their team had a fine showing; first in Thursday's Bracket 2 KO for almost 44 masterpoints - then second in Saturday's Bracket 3 Swiss and 4th in Sunday's Bracket 4 Swiss.  VWD, guys!

Your webmaster has never made it to magical Gatlinburg - but - these stories of success and fun sure make me want to do it one day!

Unit 178 2017 Awards Party

April 22nd was THE night to celebrate those members of Unit 178 who had fine earned Mini-McKenney and Ace of Clubs awards with excellent performances in 2017.

Kudos to all our players who did well!  The final numbers for the Mini M and Ace of Clubs are here.

 

As has been the case for years, Roger Anderson was a superb MC for the event. And - this was not Roger's only accomplishment.

 

Roger earned a whopping 917.74 masterpoints in the 7500-10,000 category.  Yet Roger's wife Sharon managed to best Roger's huge total with 988.09 in the 10,000 plus category.  Very well done!

Thanks to all who contributed to the Awards party, including Steve Gaynor who kindly provided photos.

And - now we're off to the races for 2018!

Last Chance GNT Qualifier!

WE WERE SNOWED OUT ON APRIL 15  - SO HERE IS YOUR

 

LAST CHANCE GNT QUALIFIER

MAY 2, 2018 at the TCBC

TAKE A STEP TOWARD WINNING $2000!

 

We will explain how four teams, including one Non-Life Master team, can each win $2000 and play in the National Finals in Atlanta, Georgia this summer.

Super flight = At least one team member over 6000 lifetime points

Flight A = no team member with more than 6000 lifetime points

Flight B = no team member with more than 2500 lifetime points

Flight C = Non-Life Masters no team member with more than 500 lifetime points

Superflight, A and B flights will play as a group.  Overalls are stratified.  Strata for all four flights are determined based on your MP holding that showed on your September 2017 ACBL Bulletin.

Flight C will play separately if there are 4 teams in that group and at least 4 other teams total.

 LESSON AT 6:45 PM

GAME STARTS AT 7:15 PM

 

COME WITH A FULL TEAM OF 4 OR JUST WITH YOUR PARTNER—

TEAMMATES GUARANTEED. 

$32 ENTRY FEE PER TEAM

 

THE GAME IS A SECTIONALLY RATED GRAND NATIONAL TEAM QUALIFIER.

MASTERPOINT AWARDS ARE ½ RED AND ½ BLACK.

TWIN CITY BRIDGE CENTER

6020 NICOLLET AVE

MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55419

612-861-4487

Unit 103 - April 2018 Board Minutes

Thanks to Elaine Barr for sharing Unit 103's most recent Board minutes with us.

Thanks to the Board for all their efforts toward great bridge in Minnesota!

Unit 178 - Board 178 Minutes and Upcoming Agenda

Our thanks to the board members of Unit 178 for all their efforts!

Past minutes and their upcoming agenda below.

Cynthia Schield - New Life Master!

 

Congratulations to new Life Master Cynthia Schield!  Here is Cynthia above, posing with Kim Hayward, who alerted us to Cynthia's achievement.

Cynthia hails from Prescott, Wisconsin and is now a  Unit 103 member.  The photo is from the recent Lake Geneva Regional.

Here's to many more fun times at the table and successes for Cynthia!

 

 

Unit 178 Awards Party Reminder

A reminder about Unit 178's Awards Party!

This Sunday - Don't Miss It!

 

Bridge - Awards - Food - Meetings - Celebration!

Sunday Awards Party Bridge 

Sunday, April 22 – Open to all! 

 

Free Lunch, Awards Presentation, Annual Meeting 

 

12:30  FREE LUNCH

…Catered by Sandy Nelson, Inc.

 1:00  AWARDS

…Emceed by the multi-talented Roger Anderson

 1:20  ANNUAL MEETING

…Unit 178 Board of Directors

 1:30  GAME

…Extra-points! $6 entry fee (award recipients play free).

 Separate IN section if possible

District 14's and Minnesota's Newest Platinum Life Master!

 

Our District 14 Director, Sharon Anderson, had the honor of sending congratulations to our newest Platinum Life Master, Paul Meerschaert. This is indeed a rare achievement. Only 776 ACBL members have 10,000 masterpoints or more.  This comes to a mere .47% of the entire membership.

We join Sharon in applauding Paul for this significant accomplishment. And we thank him, too, for his response about this new honor. Bridge is a partnership game - and - those of us who are fortunate to play with Paul understand that he is a partner that others cherish! 

Thanks for your contributions to our bridge community, Paul - and for a beautiful essay about your bridge travels and the game itself!

 

Sharon - 

Thank you for recognizing my accomplishment.

 

You ask me how I have accomplished this milestone, and the answer is very simple.  I have been blessed with the opportunity to play with and learn from a variety of fine players which have helped me along the way.  These partners include, Jim Hall, Bob Balderson, Jerry Lee, Peg Waller, Peder Langsetmo, Robert Schachter, Peg Kaplan, Carole Miner, & Michael Lee Howland. 

 

While this list appears short I have had the pleasure of playing from at times with many other fine players from this area.  While I have learned and grown with each of these partners, I have also been fortunate to team up with a number of fine players from this region, including Bill Kent from Iowa City, Jim Nash from Omaha, and Gard Hayes from the Seattle area. 

 

Let us not forget the wealth of experience I received playing weekly money bridge sessions with the likes of Hugh McLean, Tim Wernz, Kerry Holloway, Dave Clarren, Irv Steinfeldt, to list but a few of my mentors.  This list is not complete - but I think you get the idea that this is not an accomplishment I achieved by myself.

 

It should also be noted that the experience I have received going to National tournaments playing against the best players in the world, played a large part also.  And I might also point out this experience continues to feed my thirst for getting better. 

 

For me this is the greatest game in the world.  Simply the fact that there is always room for improvement, for myself as well as all other players with varying degrees of experience makes it so!

 

                Paul Meerschaert

Grand National Teams District 14 Finals - 2018

 

 

It's that time of year!  District 14 players have the opportunity to compete against their peers in our District finals. Winning teams in each flight will then compete against their peers in Atlanta - and earn a subsidy, too!

Saturday, the GNT competition begins. Those who qualify after Saturday will continue their quest on Sunday.  (Flight C, however, is a one day competition.)

Friday night offers a Pair/Team event. And Sunday, there is a 2 session Charity Swiss that includes 40% more masterpoints and free lunch! 

The weekend provides a marvelous opportunity for people to aim at earning a trip, to practice for the upcoming Gopher Regional and other District 14 regionals - and - to enjoy fine competition against peer teams!

Looking forward to seeing many District 14 teams the weekend of May 4-6!  A flyer is below!

 

White Out = Out for the Swiss

 

With visibility close to nil and winds that are sideways, Steve Gaynor has wisely decided to cancel the pizza and Swiss team scheduled for tomorrow, the 15th.

When the weather becomes more rational - it shall be rescheduled!

Unit 103 Ace of Clubs and Mini McKenney Awards Celebration

 

Please note - due to the inclement weather on Saturday, April 14th, the celebration has been rescheduled instead for May 12th, with sign up no later than May 4th.

We want everyone to have a great celebration AND be safe - so - "Coming Up Soon" but a little bit later than originally anticipated!  

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

Coming Up Soon!

 

Unit 103's Celebration of Ace of Clubs & Mini McKenney Awards!

Saturday, May 12th - Starting at Noon

Free Lunch for All

Unit Championship following Lunch

Awards Winners play Free of Charge; Others $6 entry 

Everyone Welcome!

Open and I/N Sections

Please sign up NO LATER than May 4th!!

 

 

 

-- 

Kim Hayward, Club Manager

Bridge Center of St Paul

651-490-5430 w

651-271-3500 c

 

More Pizza - More Bridge!

Unit 178 is having another Swiss team game on Sunday, April 15 at the TC Bridge Center.

Entry fees for all current college students will be lowered to $2 per person!

Pizza shall be served at 12:30 - with a short talk at 1PM.

Game time is 1:30!

Enjoy fine competition and toughen up for the Big Event in Atlanta! Looking forward to seeing you Sunday!

 

Steve Gaynor

      

Rochester Spring Sectional Results

 

 

Avid bridge players from Minnesota and regions beyond battled wind, rain and snow to attend the Rochester Spring Sectional! With excellent hospitality, a presentation from John Koch and fun events, this was a wise decision by all.

Two players racked up big results!  Congratulations to Paolo Rinaldo and Adam Gewiss. This partnership earned an impressive 41.08 masterpoints each to head up the masterpoint winner list. John Koch, Terry and Kathy Beckman and Paul Meerschaert each scored over 20 masterpoints; also very well done.  Results for each event can be viewed here.

 

 

 

As always, we are grateful to our organizers, volunteers, director and caddies. Co-chairs Linda and Tom Grigoleit performed admirably at their first tournament foray, as did everyone else who contributed.

 

 

One of our bridge divas shows her stuff! 

 

 

And a special nod to Paul Meerschaert, our newest Platinum Life Master!  As reported here, Paul and Rob Schacter had a fabulous tournament at the Spring NABC. The oodles of points they won put Paul over the 10,000 masterpoint holding necessary for Platinum!

Congrats to Paul - and - to all our other players who enjoyed this well attended spring regional in Rochester!

More photos below!

Carleton Penguins and Gopher The Squeeze Teams Win Trips!

 

We are thrilled to note that two of our Minnesota college teams competed in Sunday's second Spring Online Team Tournament - and - won travel packages!  Carleton College's Carleton Penguins captured 1st place; University of Minnesota's Gopher The Squeeze team secured 4th place.

We are terrifically proud of you - and - look forward to your competition this summer in Atlanta!

Details from Stephanie at ACBL below!

 

Congratulations to the winners from yesterday’s second Spring Online Team Tournament! Four more college teams won travel packages to the Bridge Bowl in Atlanta. 

Here are the winning teams: 

Carleton College – Carleton Penguins

Harvey Mudd College – 5C Bridge Club

GA Tech – GA Tech Gold *

University of Minnesota – Gopher The Squeeze

Northwestern University – Wildcats

 

*GA Tech won a travel package in March, along with Columbia, Princeton and UC Berkeley, and cannot win another. 

I hope everyone had fun playing! You can find a link to results and detailed matches atacbl.org/college. Thank you to our DiC, Jenni Carmichael; our TD, Trisha Malazdrewicz; BBO and all of the coaches and proctors.

 We still have two Team Travel Packages to award. Each package is worth up to $6000! You can win through participation in Daily CBO games and friendly matches with other schools. Schools who have already won a travel package can’t win another, but their teams can still play in the dailies and friendly matches! 

As a reminder – if your school does not win a travel package, you can still come play in Atlanta and compete for scholarships in the Bridge Bowl. Once we’ve awarded the final two travel packages, we will open up registration for any team who wants to come compete. Remember that this year we will also have the new individual event that awards scholarships as well. Learn more  athttp://www.acbl.org/juniors/collegiate-bridgebowl/

 

Stephanie

Stephanie Threlkeld

Education and Communications Manager

 

Unit 103 Board Roster Update

Thanks to Elaine Barr, Unit 103 Secretary, for this timely update to the Unit's board.

Rochester Spring Sectional - April 6-8

No Foolin'!

April is time to head to Rochester!

 

 

Enjoy the Rochester Spring Sectional

April 6-8

 Fresh pastries, cookies and coffee every day

Friendly volunteers and players

Special talk by Grand Life master John Koch on Swiss Team Strategy

299er games for I/N and 499er Swiss Teams

Free Parking and hotel across from the parking lot

Silver points!

********************************************

Tournament Co-Chairs:

Linda Grigoleit - 507.269.4172

lindagandtomg@gmail.com

Tom Grigoleit - 507.269.4162

Partnership Desk:

Sheri French - 507.358.9003 - rochestermnbridge@gmail.com