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Welcome to this new edition of the Members column Congratulations to Lex Windows and Tom Free, Isabel Wallace Intermediate Championships winners for 2011 and to Georgina Moy & Carolyn Ryan; George Vermont Restricted Championship winners for 2011 In this issue:
All Australians were shocked and saddened at the devastation caused by floods in Queensland during January. Many people lost homes and other possessions . It is hard to understand the traumatic effect this loss has on families, the elderly and businesses. The Bridge Club began an appeal whereby donations could be left at the club, this brought in $2,581. Two lots of table fees, (including the Australia Day Pairs event)and a donation from the club made a total of $3,500. This money was given to the Rotary Club Queensland Appeal Fund Appeal, who are using the funds to rebuild the Community Building in Grantham. This is an outstanding effort and thanks to you all.
The first event at the club was the Australia Day Pairs. It was a relaxed day with 13.5 tables. There were 12 free games issued for lucky positions and of course a break was made to enjoy some Australia Day cake . Winners of the day were Jamie McFall & Frances Gaunt and Madge Goudie and Marie Dixon. Thanks to the committee for making it such a nice day
The Australia Day cake and a few members in front of the Australian Flag
Kellie Potts and Nigel McIvor came third in the Tamworth one day Pairs which took place early January. Well done you two. A few members travelled to Inverell for their weekend Pairs event on February 5/6th. Congratulations to Kellie and Nigel again who came first and to Colin Tolley and Mike Siford who won the plate.
Nigel and Kellie with the winning shield
Colin and Mike with Sandra Mason ( Publicity) In the Gold Coast Congress, Nigel and Kellie won the Plate in the Intermediate Pairs . In the Armidale Pairs, Colin Tolley & Mike Siford won a prize for the best visiting team not winning a major prize. Well done to all. Ben's Bidding Tips Click onto the link. Ben's explains the value of Bergen raises We welcome 2 new members Judi Wright and Barbara Trehy . Both are members of the Nambucca Valley Bridge Club. Welcome to our club Judi & Barbara and we hope you have many happy bridge filled moments at the CHBC
Ann Thompson celebrated her 91st birthday on January 12th. She played bridge in the afternoon. Phil Houlton, director of the day, decided to take a break during play so we could personally congratulate Ann herself. Well done 'Annie' ; you're an inspiration to us all .
Tony Heffernan gives Ann a birthday hug
Here is Mikes's story of his family's holiday Skiing in Utah..Mike and Linda Siford escaped the summer heat for two weeks in February to go skiing in the USA: “After spending 1 hour 10 minutes to get through Immigration at LA we missed our connection to Salt Lake City and subsequently arrived at Park City at 10.30 pm instead of 2.30 pm. Fortunately this was the only “Snafu” during our spectacular holiday. We had three major resorts: Deer Valley, Park City and The Canyons at our disposal and skied all day for four days in beautiful sunshine. For the first time on a skiing holiday we had a planned compulsory rest day which we used to do a walking tour of the historic Park City. Among colourful buildings are scattered various “Art Forms” such as a Moose in ski-boots. We also spent two hours at the fantastic Park City Museum learning about the past of this famous silver-mining town. And then came the snow… gently during the day, but over 60cm by morning. Paradise? Maybe not, but it was a lovely contrast to our own magnificent Mid-North Coast. Oh and then there was the Royal Street Café at Deer Valley…..
Jim and Barbara Herring visited Shanghai, China where the temperatures hovered around +2 degrees.
Jim and Barb on the Bund in Shanghai Phil Houlton was also in Shanghai, catching up with his son early March ( he promised me a photo and forgot) Our sympathies are with member Mona Bowen and her family. Mona recently lost her husband. It is good to see you back at the club Mona. Masterpoints Rank Promotions for the last quarter:
The club felt honoured to have a some members of a bridge holiday attend our Tuesday night, 15th February, session and again on Saturday afternoon, 19th February. Greg Eustace and Gaye Allen had organised a weeks holiday at Pacific Bay for a group of people. 24 Bridge players from Brisbane, Sydney and Victoria were able to enjoy our beautiful area as well as be given bridge lessons by Greg and Gaye. It wasn't all bridge for them as they visited Dorrigo, Bellingen, Nambucca and enjoyed some of our nice eating/drinking places. It was lovely for the club to see some new fresh faces and we hope they enjoyed the sessions as much as we did.
Visitors from a Bridge Holiday at our club in March
A little bit of light relief: Helen sent me this video clip, it's Ginger Rogers at 92 dancing with her grandson of 29. Watch the whole thing all the way through, the first minute is just a warm up. She is one amazing lady; perhaps we should start doing yoga before a session of bridge! Click here Ginger Rogers dancing the Salsa aged 92 Coming up Soon: The committee have been busy preparing for our own Teams Congress coming up in the weekend 15/16 May. This is a popular congress and gets sold out quickly. Already there are 25 out of 28 tables filled
I know we have seen this before, but I am putting it this edition. I have recently witnessed some bad feeling at the bridge table amongst members, with their own partners and to the opposition. Lets get this game of bridge into perspective; they are killing each other in Libya , there are natural disasters happening in the world, whereby people are losing their lives, their families and their homes. We live in a great place, please be nice to each other, it's a small thing to ask in the scheme of things.
As I finish of this off this new members corner I am reflecting on what has been happening these last 3 months. We have seen some awful natural disasters. Here in Australia, the Queensland floods, caused by intense rain, in early January was followed by devastation in Tully and nearby areas, by cyclone Yasi . We watched the news in horror as we saw people losing their homes, lives and possessions; we watched them stranded on roof tops and swimming through flood water. On February , exactly two years to the day after Victoria's devastating bush fires, WA was hit by bush fires of their own. Fortunately no lives were lost but many structures were destroyed. Then on the 22nd of February, without warning, Christchurch in NZ got hit by an earthquake and again we we saw the horror of collapsing buildings, trapped people, over nearly 200 lives lost and homes and buildings destroyed. We watched the despair and disbelief on peoples faces when they realised their loved ones could be trapped under the rubble. Our hearts went out to these people . But catastrophe was not over;on March 11th an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan killing hundreds of thousands of people. As if the damage, loss of life and devastation was not bad enough, this time there was the added problem of leaking radiation. I am sure, like me, it made you realise just how vulnerable we are to the power of the elements. Until the next time.... The final word:
Cryptic Bridge Solutions: *Take out for Spades * 6 Diamonds doubled * Negative double * MUD leads Summer Edition of the Members Corner by Barbara Herring © 2011 |
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Some of our members have been having holidays; have been recognised by the community; having birthdays or just have a story to tell. Here is their news 
Barbara Hogbin was made Coffs Harbours Citizen of the Year, for the donations of money she and her family gave to help with the construction of the Coffs Creek Cycle way,the acquisition and refurbishment of the new Coffs Harbour Conservatorium and the refurbishment of the war Memorial Swimming Pool. Here you can see Barbara receiving her award with Sue and Garry Nehl. Garry used to be Member for Cowper. Well done Barbara, we feel honoured to have you as part of our club. 
Bridge stalwart Isabel Wallace has now left Coffs Harbour. She has moved to Melbourne to be near family. With her natural talent as an orator, Isabel played an important role when she became the main negotiator with the Council regarding the loan for the land and the new clubhouse. Isabel was our first President; a role which she filled with dedication and enthusiasm. In 2005 Isabel donated a trophy to be used for the Isabel Wallace Intermediate Championships. This championship is played in March for members who have under 200 mps.
Some members have been overseas skiing. Meg and David Featherstone in Japan and Mike and Linda Siford in the Utah , Western US 
