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The Hilton Head Island Bridge Association (HHIBA) opened the island's new Bridge Club on Sunday April 27, 2003 with a Stakeholder Game to thank all the members who supported the association and the new club with a special fundraising program to pay for construction and outfitting the club.

[Editor's Note: In Lee Sturm's message in the Kibitzer he addresses the new operation of the Bridge Club as a not-for-profit club. Lee challenges that this new organization "will require some adjustment in our collective thinking ... we will be dependent on members volunteering to do jobs that will make this club a fun place". Beginning with this issue and our analysis of the Operations Committee of the Board, oneNT will focus on the role that volunteers will play in the success of the new Bridge Club. In future issues we will address the Directors Committee, the Finance Committee, and other functions of the HHIBA]

Peter Seery, Vice President of HHIBA, has been named to the position of Club Manager and Chairman of the Operations Committee. The Operations Committee is charged with the day-to-day functioning of the club as well as some other areas ... Peter includes in operations such functions as club sanctions, tournaments, and promotions. Peter points to a number of people that have volunteered to support the success of club by taking on important roles including but not limited to Jo Ann Buckingham - Bridge Supplies ... for example Jo Ann took all the bidding boxes home and cleaned the boxes and restocked the bidding cards; Barbara Gregory - Club Supplies; and Sherron Nesbitt - Consumable Supplies. Peter has named John and Barbara Kiebler to Co-Chair the Fall Non-Life Master Tournament and Karen Ricker to Chair the Spring Non-Life Master Tournament.

Peter Seery will serve in the position of Club Manager, an ACBL required position. Every ACBL sanctioned masterpoint club game must designate an active ACBL member as its manager. The manager may be the owner or may be elected, appointed or hired. The club manager is accountable to ACBL for the enforcement of ACBL rules and regulations in all sanctioned games the club conducts. The club manager must supervise the following activities:

On Saturday, April 26th we played our last game in the Bridge Center and soon afterwards all of the tables, chairs, bidding boxes, and even the framed bridge signs touting Zero Tolerance, be nice and other slogans were gone. I had the responsibility to move the computer from the old Bridge Center to the new Bridge Club. By the time I had finished with required reports on the old sanctions and programmed in the new sanctions everyone else was gone, and so I was left with the responsibility to lock-up after the last game. Anyone who has ever moved knows what it is like to see a place void of all the life ... it is not a pretty sight. Unwanted stuff is scattered about and all the dirt, dust and clutter make you wonder where was all this stuff before?

All that was left were some apparently unwanted photos still hanging on the wall. I looked at the same photos I had seen many times before of people having fun - some I didn't know, others I did know but looked much older now, and some that are no longer with us. As I turned out the lights and headed over to a new club where everything is fresh and new, it struck me was how quickly we could turn the page and move on. I certainly hope we don't forget the people that made it possible for us to enjoy bridge at a level far beyond a community of our size - the number of games, the quality of competition, the willingness of people to develop a bridge community. If it had not been for Marvin Shatz and Larry Bitner who made the effort the create a Bridge Center for all of us to enjoy, we would not have the level of bridge and the history that has allowed us to move into a new Bridge Club. I was glad to see Larry playing on Sunday, but I was very, very disappointed on Sunday not to see Marvin playing in the first game. There has been too much ill wind. Someone in HHIBA should have taken the responsibility to extend a olive branch of peace to Marvin and saw to it that he was there playing in the first game. It just did not seem right for all of us to be having fun at a game we all love and Marvin not there with us.

I hope to make Wednesday Night appeal to advanced, intermediate and novice players by offering a 2 section game: the Green Section will be an open pairs game stratified for advanced and intermediate players and the White Section will be a novice and beginner game. While run as two separate and independent games, I will combine the two sections "in the computer" to maximize masterpoints awarded.

The Wednesday Night Green Section will be an Open Pairs game designed for intermediate and advanced players who would like to have a more competitive game. The atmosphere and pace of play for the Green Section will be appropriate for players who are interested in developing a partnership or preparing for sectional or regional events. The Open Pairs will play pre-dealt hands and will compete among themselves with their own specific game movement. As you would expect for a game of this caliber, Hand Records will be provided for all games and the results and travelers will be posted on the web. Masterpoints for the Open Pairs will include the table count of the Novice Pairs, thus, maximizing masterpoint awards!

The Wednesday Night White Section will be a Novice Pairs game designed to transition EasyBridge, beginners and new duplicate players into a more competitive game. The White Section will be more competitive than EasyBridge, but I will set upper masterpoint limits to keep the game fun, friendly, and enjoyable. The White Section will play the same hands as the Open Pairs, but that is the only relationship between the two sections. Novice Pairs will compete among themselves with their own specific game movement and an appropriate pace of play. In the computer, I will combine the Novice Game and Open Pairs giving players an opportunity to compare board scores and results across sections. The ability to compare scores with the Green Section and the availability of Hand Records will give participants in the White Section a solid tool to help develop their game. Awards for the White Section will be set higher than EasyBridge giving novice players a chance to advance in masterpoint races, yet, keeping the game relaxed and fun. As always the results and travelers will be posted on the web.

1. Monday 10:00 am - Open Pairs (Gloria Freer - 671-3132)

2. Monday 7:00 pm - EasyBridge/Novice Pairs (Frank Deakin - 342-2996)

3. Tuesday 1:00 pm - EasyBridge/Novice Pairs (Frank Deakin - 342-2996)

4. Tuesday 7:00 pm - Swiss Teams (Arlene Arellano - 815-2266)

5. Wednesday 1:00 pm - Open Pairs (Doris Caudy - 705-6304)

6. Wednesday 7:00 pm - Open/Novice Pairs (Fred Ferguson - 363-2538)

7. Thursday 10:00 am - Open Pairs (Gloria Freer 671-3132)

8. Friday 1:00 pm - Open Pairs (Craig Gibbons - 785.2892)

9. Friday Night Bridge - 1st or 2nd Friday a month! (Fred Ferguson - 363-2538)

10. Saturday 1:00 pm - Open Pairs (Arlene Arellano - 815-2266)

11. Fridays and Sundays - Special Games.

[Editor's Note: Welcome to oneNT Bridge Links. In order help you manage your way around the world wide web I will include as many links to the www as possible. Anytime you see an underlined word in blue or magenta it is probably an imbedded link to a specified web site. If you have not tried it ... click on one of the above links. If you have web sites you think should be included let me know.]

April 27, 2003 ... oneNT^® is a private email publication devoted to bridge technical issues and bridge news on Hilton Head Island and the low country. oneNT is published on a weekly basis or whenever the editor is not playing. Although certain internet service providers consider oneNT to be junk mail (spam), it is not intended as unsolicited email. If you do not wish to receive future copies of oneNT, click your heels together and say three times "there's no place like home", "there's no place like home", "there's no place like home" ... if this does not work send an email to oneNT@mindspring.com and I will remove your from future distributions.