District 17 BRIDGE BUZZ
MARCH 2021
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The District 17 Bridge Buzz focuses on district and national news and provides you with links to access the details. Catch the next Buzz May 2021.
with feedback and content suggestions.
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IMPORTANT MESSAGE:
ACBL Announces Roadmap to Face-to-Face Play
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The road back to face-to-face bridge has been a long one, but we do see a light at the end of the tunnel.
While more areas across the continent are “reopening” as the COVID-19 vaccine gains traction, there is still quite a way to go to reach security for member and staff health.
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With that in mind, we want to give you an update on what the rest of 2021 looks like.
First, the Providence North American Bridge Championships (NABC) set for Summer 2021 has been moved to Summer 2022. Staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly to ensure that this event will be held in Providence, RI next year at the same location. Additionally, the previously scheduled 2022 Summer NABC in Washington DC has been canceled due to the playing and lodging site’s bankruptcy and subsequent closing.
Thank you to the NABC committees of both Washington DC and Providence for their incredible efforts!
Second, we have developed a phased plan for the safe return to face-to-face play.
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D17 President's Perspective |
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I hope you are still having fun at the bridge table. The pandemic has changed how we are able to play but the most important thing is that we keep playing!
The District 17 Board of Directors is working very hard behind the scenes on many projects that you will hear about when we launch our new website later this month. Stay tuned.
One of our most important tasks is to make sure our tournaments are ready to roll when the time comes. This is a good opportunity for me to say a very BIG THANK YOU to all the volunteers who make these events run smoothly. Postponements have been challenging but volunteers, you are appreciated!
At the end of December 2020, D17 had 8,896 members and at the end of January we had 8,831. Some drop in numbers is expected but we want to make sure that every D17 member feels valued. Can we grow in 2021? Please share your thoughts with us.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the bridge table again. Stay healthy and stay safe.
Liz Hamilton
415-994-3527
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D17 Grand National Teams
2020-2021 Finals
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Form your teams now for the D17 GNT Finals
No club qualification required!
The D17 GNT Finals for Flights A, B and C will be played ONLINE
Wednesday, May 26 and Thursday, May 27.
The Championship Flight Finals were held at the 2020 Tucson Winter
Regional and the winning team will go to the National Final.
Flight eligibility is based on masterpoint totals as of August 6, 2019:
Flight A: 0-6000 masterpoints
Flight B: 0-2500 masterpoints
Flight C: NLM with fewer than 500 masterpoints
or 719-593-0205.
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GOOD LUCK
TO ALL DISTRICT 17 PAIRS COMPETING IN THE NAP FINALS !
March 11 and 12, 2021.
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Denver Rocky Mountain Regional
PRO/AM Virtual Event
May 25, 2021 -- 1 pm (MDT)
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The Rocky Mountain Regional PRO/AM has been the kick-off event of the Denver Rocky Mountain Regional tournament and is the largest PRO/AM event in the country. This event is to promote the game of bridge by giving our novice players the opportunity to play with a more experienced player.
Last year, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, our regional tournament was canceled, but it did not stop us from running this event. With the assistance of Elly Larson, owner, Denver Metro Bridge Studio, we successfully ran the first ever online PRO/AM on Bridge Base Online (BBO). We had 60 pairs compete with a post mortem hand analysis given by Curt Soloff.
Here we are in 2021, and the final decision has been made by ACBL to cancel the Denver Rocky Mountain Regional again. However, THE PRO/AM WILL STILL RUN ONLINE! We’ll call it the 2nd Annual Denver Rocky Mountain Regional Online PRO/AM. Again, we will offer a Zoom post-mortem hand analysis immediately after the game. Certainly, like you, we hope it will be last one that will be online and we can get back to in person tournaments.
If you have any additional questions, please contact us by email at [email protected]. We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to continue to make Denver’s PRO/AM the largest in the country!
Thank you for your support,
The Denver Rocky Mountain Regional PRO/AM Committee
Jennifer O’Neill (PRO Chair)
Marsha Shaw (PRO Assistant)
Sheryl Siegel (AM Chair)
Kathy McMahon (AM Assistant)
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2020 D17 Mini-McKenney Winners |
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The Mini-McKenney masterpoint races recognize the ACBL members who win the most points in their respective categories.
A player is in a category based on his/her masterpoints at the beginning of the year.
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The Mini-McKenney award is named after William E. McKenney. His originality, drive and organizational ability did much to establish the ACBL. McKenney was the ACBL’s first executive secretary and remained at the helm until 1947. |
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2020 D17 Ace of Clubs Winners |
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The Helen Shanbrom Ace of Clubs masterpoint races are based on points earned at local sanctioned clubs. |
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Black points are counted and not points earned in STaCs and other special games paying pigmented points.
In 2011, The Ace of Clubs award was named after Helen Shanbrom, the most successful club player in ACBL history. Helen passed in 2013 at the age of 94.
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ACBL members receive masterpoints® for winning and placing in club games and tournaments as they strive to advance through the ranks. There are 16 ranks, from Junior Master (5 masterpoints) to Grand Life Master (10,000 masterpoints plus a victory in an eligible North American Bridge Championship). |
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Newly Minted Life Masters |
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David Fott, Unit 373
Las Vegas, NV
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Paige Hamner, Unit 356
Tucson, AZ
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David Barbour, Unit 374,
Albuquerque, NM
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Alice Griffith, Unit 361
Denver, CO
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Virginia Ward, Unit 373
Henderson, NV
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Linda Shannon, Unit 373
Mesquite, NV
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Not pictured: Terri Grant, Unit 351, Sun City, AZ |
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Totally Hooked and Forever Grateful
By Tiffany Destefano
NABC Master, Unit 373
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I took my first bridge lesson in April 2018. My bridge teachers, Toby McEvoy and Chris Hahn, had been colleagues in the Las Vegas theater community since 2012. I grew up loving card games, so -- seeing the passion these two have for the game -- I expressed an interest in learning to play bridge. Toby and Chris recruited four of us "theater people" to learn as their students.
We set our sights on playing in the February 2019 St. George (UT) Sectional. At that time, there were few, if any, options for non-retired people to play in sanctioned club games. To get us familiar with the details of duplicate bridge, Toby and Chris would take some of our lesson days and arrange for informal duplicate games with their friends who have now become my friends as well.
My first masterpoints were silver points won at that sectional in St. George in the 299er section. I love the people, the atmosphere, and the competition, I love that this game satisfies my brain and that there is always something more to learn.
My best friend, Glenn Heath, and I often play together. However, with the increase in sanctioned online play due to COVID-19, Glenn and I have played together, and with other friends, much more than we could have imagined. Probably our biggest accomplishment last year was placing first in the 299er section of the regional tournament back in May 2020. It was a huge accomplishment for us and to know we really are good at bridge just fueled my love for this game.
I have achieved the NABC Master rank in just two years because of the availability of these online games. While my travel expenses are low now, I look forward to more face-to-face play both at clubs and at out-of-town tournaments where I hope to achieve the next rank of Advanced NABC Master.
Toby and Chris continue to make time to review the basics and to introduce new bidding conventions. Thanks to them, I'm totally hooked and forever very grateful.
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Gary Zeiger (1953 - 2021)
You Are Missed
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ACBL National Tournament Director, Gary Zeiger, Phoenix, AZ, passed away in January at the age of 67. Gary joined the ACBL directing staff in 1993. In 2008, Gary reached the highest rank of ACBL directors. Gary won the Tom Weeks Award for outstanding professionalism in 2004. He served as field supervisor and mentor.
Gary was the Director in Charge (DIC) for the majority of regionals held in D17. He was the DIC for the 2020 Land of Enchantment Regional, Albuquerque, just months before COVID hit our nation.
He was highly respected for his knowledge of bridge law, and was a master at understanding table situations.
Mr. Zeiger is survived by his wife, Mary Brazier, and their daughter, Elyse “Murphy” Zeiger.
Gary hated his picture taken, so we will not honor him with photos, but with words from many of those in D17 who knew him best. Thank you to JoAnne Lowe, tournament coordinator, D17 board of directors, for providing many of the following tributes to Gary.
“Gary was the heart and soul of the ACBL for the Phoenix Unit,” said JoAnne Lowe. “His expertise and knowledge will be hard to replace. For me, as tournament chair, Gary answered my every question, told me options and reminded me if I missed something. As a friend, I admired his strength, weird sense of humor and his loyalty.”
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Grants Fuel D17 Education and
Membership Initiatives
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The D17 Grant Program has been redefined to focus on beginner education and membership building. All D17 units are now eligible to apply. The maximum grant award for a project will be $1,000. Smaller amounts may be awarded. The total yearly budget is $5,000.
The Grant Request Form should be completed and submitted to the Grant Chair, Steve Nordberg, who will present it to the board for consideration.
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It is the goal of the board to respond to grant requests as soon as possible. A vote will be taken at the board meeting following the final processing of information presented. Applicants will be notified of decisions through email.
A unit may sponsor an individual teacher or volunteer. The financial situation of the unit will be taken into consideration during the decision-making process.
For questions relating to the Grant Program, please contact your D17 Board Representative or Steve Nordberg,
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New D17 Website Coming Soon! |
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District 17 will launch a new website in March! It will be a one-stop shop for all that is D17. The site will be easy to use, will perform well on any platform and include new and exciting content.
Stay tuned!
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