Enhancement to ACBL Web Site: New Feature to "Find a Club" Search
Have you ever traveled to an unfamiliar city and wished that you had a way to determine where and how to get to the location of the nearest bridge club? If so, then, you're going to love the new enhancement recently made to the ACBL's online "Find a Club" search tool. This new search feature will not only allow you to search for bridge clubs in the United States and Canada by city or by zip/postal code, but, it will even provide you with a Google map so you can get driving directions from your location to the nearest bridge club. Here's how it works: Read more...
On our Find a Club page, you can either type in a city and select a state or province, or you can type in a US zip code or Canadian postal code, and when you click "Find Locations" the search will return a list of the ten nearest bridge clubs.Each club listing will contain the distance to the club in miles, contact information and schedule (where available).
In addition,the list of clubs will be pinpointed on a Google map,which allows you the ability to zoom in on the map and see the clubs at street level.If you click on "Get Directions" and enter your starting location, you will receive driving directions from your location to the bridge club of your choice.
We hope this new feature to the ACBL web site will better assist you in being able to always find a place to play the world's greatest game!Click here to test drive this new feature.
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Ruling the Game Online Course is Back!
Learn on your computer with Ruling the Game, our online course, revised according to The 2008 ACBL Laws of Duplicate Bridge. Read more...
Your cost is $25. The full course will take two to three hours to complete, but you can take it at your own pace, exiting and returning for 30 days.
Purchase ACBLscore for Beginners DOSversion or Windowsversion and Ruling the Gameat a special price of $40. You will have 60 days to complete both.
Order courses at www.syberworks.com/acbl/
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Bob L's Excellent Adventure
The ACBL is pleased to announce the addition of a traveling reporter to our staff. The mysterious "Bob L," featured on the cover of the July Bridge Bulletin, will make his return to the game of bridge at the Summer NABC in Washington. After making his debut in DC, Bob will begin a four-month journey across the country as he makes his way to the Fall NABC in San Diego. He will record his travel adventures in his blog. Read More...
Bob L. left the game of bridge many years ago, having become befuddled with new conventions and bell-bottomed players at the table. However, he recently rediscovered his love of bridge, and is even coming to grips with modern innovations such as playing online. He's ready to do whatever he can to promote his favorite pastime.
As Bob travels from Washington to San Diego, he'll stop in bridge clubs and tournaments along the way. He will write about the clubs and tournaments he visits on his blog, and he's even learned to use a modern digital camera to record his experiences. "Expect lots of photos on my blog," he told us as he packed for Washington. Click here to view his blog to keep up with his adventures. You never know... Bob may pop up at your club or tournament sometime soon.
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Michigan Club Honors Award Winners
Petoskey Bridge Club members celebrate winning the 2008 Mini-McKenney and Ace of Clubs masterpoint races for Units 195 and 200. Petoskey is in the northern section of the lower Michigan peninsula near the Mackinac Bridge. The club is building a new 3500-square-foot clubhouse that is expected to be completed later this year.
In photo below, from the left: Paul Nelson, Arlene Loca, Debbie Sears, Denny Shermeta, Jerry Kaiser, Marcy Rowan, Edward Kukla, Linda Roberts and Lynn Atkins.
Thanks to Pam Ziegel for sending the photo.
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Never Too Late
The phone rang at ACBL Headquarters and a voice on the other end of the line asked, "Do old masterpoint slips expire? I’m moving and I found a bunch of them."
The voice was Bob Kerr of Los Angeles who was in the process of moving to Northern California. He was assured that even though most clubs now use ACBLscore, old slips are honored.
A few days later they arrived – all 421.11 masterpoints. The oldest slip was dated June 7, 1976, and the newest one was Dec. 12, 1990. Even though the most recent was 18 years old, Bob sent them by priority mail!
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Home Sweet Home
Tired of moving to a new clubhouse every few years, the Henderson (NV) Bridge club needed a permanent home. Club member Terri Sunderland had looked for some time to find space that was big enough and included adequate parking. She discovered an old run-down building that had been a Moose Lodge. Sunderland saw the potential and purchased it.
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The building needed serious work. At first, electricity and plumbing work were done. New carpeting and repaving the parking lot followed.
"It was a labor of love," says Sunderland.
The work has been worth it. Now the members have a place they can call home.
"It’s a place where people feel like it’s their club," says Director Shirley Weglin.
"The new club was a pleasant surprise," says Club Member Marion Hargrove. "It’s a terrific facility."
On August 9, the club members will celebrate their first anniversary with a party and a special game.
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REMINDER: Important notice to all non-Life Masters
Effective January 1, 2010 the requirements for attaining Life Master status will change. The new requirements will not apply to ACBL members in good standing whose dues are current as of December 31, 2009, and who maintain continuous membership in the ACBL until they become Life Masters. What are the new requirements? Read More...
As of January 1, 2010, the requirements for attaining Life Master status will change to 500 total masterpoints, of which, 50 must be gold or platinum, 50 red, gold or platinum, 75 silver and 75 black.
What does this mean to you?
If you are not a Life Master and your ACBL membership is not active as of December 31, 2009, you will be required to fulfill the new Life Master requirements. It also means that if you let your ACBL membership lapse after January 1, 2010, before you become a Life Master, the new requirements will apply to you.
So, if you are not currently an ACBL member – now would be an excellent time to join! Click here to join as a new member or click here to re-new your membership.
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The Devil’s Tickets - A Night of Bridge, A Fatal Hand, and a New American Age
The Devil’s Tickets - A Night of Bridge, A Fatal Hand, and a New American AgeAuthor and journalist, Gary M. Pomerantz has just released his latest novel, The Devil's Tickets - a fascinating look at the true story of glamorous Kansas City housewife, Myrtle Bennett, who killed her husband over a bridge game. Set during the Roaring Twenties', on the eve of the Depression, Pomerantz's novel weaves the story of the Bennett trial with the rising popularity of the bridge craze sweeping the country at the time. Click here to watch Part I of a peformance of an excerpt from the book. Click here to watch Part II of the performance. For more information about the author and the book, visit www.garympomerantz.com .
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2010 World Bridge Series Set for Philadelphia
Submitted by USBF
The United States Bridge Federation (USBF) is pleased to announce that the 2010 World Bridge Series will be held in Philadelphia from October 1 – 16.All necessary contracts with the World Bridge Federation (WBF), host hotels and convention center are now in place to ensure that the world bridge championship will return to the United States for the first time in 16 years. Read More...
Thousands of the world’s best bridge players will compete for world titles, with events for players of varied skill levels.An exciting Junior program for players under 26 years old is being specially designed to further encourage widespread participation in the world’s greatest card game.In addition to a full schedule of World Championship events, Regional Championships will be staged throughout the tournament, awarding both WBF and ACBL masterpoints.
Up to 100 different nations are expected to participate in these intellectually challenging events, with a special invitation planned for Cuba – potentially the first official Cuban delegation to visit the US in 50 years.
"We look forward to hosting the 2010 World Bridge Series in Philadelphia," said Bill Pollack, USBF President, "and providing a magnificent site, good value, and world class competition for thousands of players from all over the world."
Jose Damiani, WBF President, added:"Philadelphia will be an ideal location for the 2010 World Bridge Series.We greatly appreciate the welcome that is being provided by local Philadelphia bridge players, the city, convention bureau, and the Mayor’s office.This warm welcome was a major factor in our selecting Philadelphia."
Contact: Bill Pollack – 908-642-2434 – bpollack@aol.com
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Additional Parking Discounts for NABC in Washington DC
ACBL has negotiated an additional discount on parking at the Marriott Wardman. The daily self parking rate is now $15.00! Please note overnight parking is not included in this discount. For more parking details at the upcoming NABC click here.
New NABC On-Line Partnership Desk is Up and Running!
One of the ACBL's web programming gurus has created an alternative to replace Hipard’s on-line partnership desk.It is in a different format than Hipard's, but, we hope you will find it to be just as user friendly. To begin using the new on-line partnership desk, you will need to first register, by creating a username and password, as you did before. Once logged in, you will choose the masterpoint range and post the event(s) in which you need a partner.After you register, you can also look through those that have already posted.Please click here to go directly to the new on-line partnership desk.
Thank you for your patience and we'll see you in DC!
Horn Lake Welcomes ACBL
Amid considerable fanfare and with numerous government officials on hand, the city of Horn Lake MS welcomed the ACBL, which will relocate national Headquarters from Memphis later this year. Horn Lake is a suburb of
Memphis, just a few miles from the Tennesse border in North Mississippi.
Ceremonies took place on the property, a 30,000-square-foot building originally designed as a medical facility. The ACBL will have it renovated to accommodate the Headquarters staff. Jay Baum, ACBL's chief executive, said the work probably will begin in mid-July. "We hope to be able to move in before the end of the year," Baum said. Read More...
The total cost of the project, including the purchase price of the building and renovations, is expected to be about $3 million.
On hand to welcome the ACBL were Horn Lake Mayor Nat Baker, representatives from Mississippi's Senator Thad Cochran and Congressman Travis Childer's offices, along with representatives of the Board of Supervisors, plus others involved in business development in DeSoto County.
Baker read a message from Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, whose trip to Horn Lake for the occasion was scrapped because of bad flying weather. ACBL's decision to move to Horn Lake, Barbour said in his message to Baker, "is good news for the city, DeSoto County and Mississippi as a whole."
The ACBL has been in Memphis since 1972, when Headquarters was moved from Greenwich CT. For 18 years, the ACBL occupied a building on Democrat Road near the Memphis International Airport. The ACBL moved to its current Airways Boulevard location in 1990.
The ACBL Board of Directors considered moving out of the Memphis area -- Dallas and Atlanta were possibilities -- before approving the purchase of the Horn Lake property.
Just off of Interstate 55 in North Mississippi, the new facility will be easily accessible for visitors to the Memphis area and will have ample room for housing the North American Contract Bridge Museum, the world's largest collection of bridge memorabilia, the Albert H. Morehead Memorial Library and the ACBL Bridge Hall of Fame.
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Goodwill Member of the Year
The National Goodwill Committee of the ACBL is now accepting nominations for the Goodwill Member of the Year for 2010. We bestow this annual honor upon an ACBL member who has continually exhibited unselfish dedication to the causes of good conduct, worthy participation, ethical behavior and who has made bridge contributions above and beyond the call of duty. All nominations must be approved and submitted by District or Unit Boards. Read More..
"We invite you to nominate an outstanding fellow ACBL member from your bridge community who qualifies for the honor of Goodwill Member of the Year by submitting your candidate’s detailed qualifications, in writing, no later than September 15, 2009 for the upcoming presentation during the Fall North American Bridge Championship in San Diego, CA. Nominations may be submitted by Unit Boards only, we are unable to accept nominations from an individual.
We have changed the format from past years. Because of the late Norman Kay’s wishes to honor the winner in a manner befitting someone worthy of this honor, a Fund was created to reward the recipient by presenting to him or her complimentary air transportation (if appropriate), one night’s lodging, one day’s per diem food allowance and free bridge entries.
His intent was that our winner will reign as BRIDGE QUEEN or KING for a day and not have the dubious vicarious thrill of enjoying the presentation over the telephone! What could be more exciting than to have the Goodwill Member of the ACBL on hand Monday evening, November 30th at the Goodwill Reception... before a cheering crowd of fans and well-wishers!
When our Committee has made their selection, the Unit President will be notified of the successful nomination and we will work out the details of arranging the victor’s trip to San Diego. The ideal situation is to keep it a secret, but in most cases the honoree is not a regular participant at the Nationals so it would be rather difficult. We will cross that bridge later!!!
It is now time to start thinking about your candidate... or if you have nominated someone in the past who has not been chosen Goodwill Member of the Year whom you feel is of the honor... feel free to re-submit or revise your letter" .
Thank you,
Aileen Osofsky, Chairman
Goodwill Committee
Nominations should be mailed to:
Chairperson of The ACBL Goodwill Committee,
2990 Airways Boulevard,
Memphis, TN 38116-3847.
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Overseas Mailing to Cease
Effective immediately, the ACBL will discontinue renewal of payments for mailing of the Bridge Bulletin to members who live outside Zone 2 (U.S., Canada, Mexico and Bermuda). Those who have paid will continue to receive the magazine by mail until their payments run out.
Current ACBL members may view the Bridge Bulletin through the MyACBL portal at www.acbl.org. This service is for current members only.
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Reserve Your Place Now!
Come join the ACBL's gala event at the Hall of Fame Banquet in Washington DC honoring the Class of 2009 inductees. Information and reservations here.
You Could Be Part of ACBL History
The 7th edition of the Official Encyclopedia of Bridge is in the works and is scheduled for publication in late 2011 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the ACBL.
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The biographies section of the encyclopedia will be different from past editions, emphasizing personal information (interesting hobbies, accomplishments outside of bridge, etc. ) as much as trophies and masterpoint holdings. Perhaps you have hiked the Appalachian Trail, visited all seven continents or once played professional table tennis. These are the kinds of personal items that will make the bio section more readable.
We haven't decided yet on the ultimate criteria for inclusion in the biographies section, but with your help the next edition will be the best ever published.
Click here to fill out a questionnaire. Be sure to include a working email address in case the editors have questions.
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