Dave Willmott is the Tournament Chair for Unit 505, recovering from shoulder surgery.

The caddy for the day was Jake Hammersmith, grandson of Judi Callaham.

16 teams gathered at the Sacramento Bridge Club on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018 for the

Annual Awards and Swiss team game.

The potluck buffet was plentiful and delicious.

Dana Daugherty, Lilyan Edelstein, Lois Hopkins, Teri Smoot, and Marilyn Poindexter help themselves to the buffet.

A REALLY BIG THANK YOU

to BARBARA WHEELER

again for taking the photos!

Katherine Ewing, President of Unit 505 Board of Directors made the awards. Ted Muller was the director. Albert Chow, the Sacramento Bridge Club Manager is in the background.

Lois Hopkins, Judy Beck, Barbara R. Wheeler, and Sharon Neff were a team from Lincoln Hills. Barbara won the Ace of Clubs for the 500-1000 category.

This team was from the Foothills: Al Farrar, Greg Schwermer, Jim Coke, and Susan Bogan. Jim Coke won both the Mini-Mckinney and the Ace of Clubs for the 300-500 category.

Finishing lunch were Marilyn Poindexter, Ed Estberg, Linda Struthers, and Craig Stalker. Ed and Craig are Unit 505 board members.

The winning Swiss team was Joanne Merry, John Jefferson, Ronnie McMurdie, and Dick Jones. Congratulations!

Tied for 2nd place were the teams of Foreground: Carl Oeser, Lori Choplin, Karen Nelson, and Phil Schiffert Background: Bill Martin, Dennis Uthe, Ginny Curtis, and Bill Allgood.

Enjoying lunch are Jan Levin, Madelynn Burton, Nancy Fisher, and Karen Holleron.

Also from the Foothills were Teri Smoot, Terence Degan, Bill Taggart, and Jerry Nakamura. Teri and Jerry were both Mini-Mckenney winners.

Winners of the Ace of Clubs Award and Mini-McKenney Award for 2017.

WINNERS OF THE ACE OF CLUBS

The Ace of Clubs recognizes achievement at the club level. Only master points won at clubs are counted for these races, which include categories from rookie to Grand Life Master. The winner of the 0-5 category had zero master points at the beginning of the year. The winner of the 5-20 category had 5-20 master points at the beginning of the year, etc.

Katherine Ewing, President of the Unit 505 Board of Directors presented certificates to all of the winners.

Betty O’Hara, 0-5 Mike Edelstein, 5-20 Joel Lesser, 100-200

Jim Coke, Barbara R. Wheeler, 300-500 500-1000

There are no photos for Jack Reichel, Gary McCormick, Mitch Miladinovich, or Bob Etter.

Miriam Steinberg 200-300

Al Evans, 2500-3500 Ann McClelland, 3500-5000

Ted Muller, 7500-10,000 Ronnie McMurdie, over 10,000 Phil Schiffert, 5000-7500

Barbara Muller, 1000-1500

WINNERS OF THE MINI-MCKENNEY AWARDS

The Mini-McKenney race counts all masterpoints won, except for online points.

Betty O’Hara, 0-5 Joel Lesser, 100-200

Jack Uppal, 1000-1500

John Jefferson, 3500-5000 Phil Schiffert, 5000-7500 Ted Muller, 7500-10,000

Jerry Nakamura, 1500-2500 Ginny Curtis, 500-1000

Teri Smoot, 2500-3500

Jim Coke, 300-500

Cynthia Fredrickson 200-300

The final award made at the Unit 505 game on Sunday, February 18, 2018 was the Farley Award. The Farley Award is given to the player who has the highest percentage of wins in Open games at the Sacramento Bridge Club for the calendar year. The player must have played a minimum of 75 games.

Dick Jones won about 48% of the time in the games in which he played in 2017 at SBC. This is the 4th time that the award has been made. Previous winners were Bill Sanford in 2014 and Gary Soules in 2015 and 2016.

It is fitting that Dick Jones won the award because he and Joe Farley were good friends and bridge partners for almost 50 years. In 1964 Dick was living in Portland and playing at the bridge club there, when Joe dropped in during one of his swings through Portland as a traveling salesman.

Dick and Joe became fast friends. When Joe set up an insurance business in Sacramento, Dick came to work for Joe.

Joe Farley was an excellent bridge player who loved to win. He didn’t care about Masterpoints. He said that the only thing worse than coming in 3rd was coming in 2nd!

Mike Grob visited Joe as he was dying and told him of the plaque that was going to be awarded in his name. Joe gave Mike a thumbs up.

DICK JONES RECEIVES THE 2017 FARLEY AWARD

Joe Farley and Dick Jones

Dick Jones (left) received the Farley Award from Mike Grob (right)

Dick Jones and Joe Farley

OSMO OTRA More . . . Travels with Teri, Mary and Friends!

Team Osmo members Teri Smoot, Ginny Curtis and Mary Ose are continuing their travels in February. After their experiences in New York documented in the last Kibitzer, Teri and Mary spent a lovely week in Hilton Head, South Carolina at the biennial Lowcountry Regional. This regional normally ranks among the top five Regionals in the country! There were over 3,000 tables during the week, which is approximately 35% more than last year at Sacramento’s regional, so it was a good-sized tournament. Players came from all over the country and indeed the world, with events for all levels and interests (good choices for both team and pairs games). In addition to I/N and open games, there were events called “midflight” catering to players with 4000 or fewer points. In Hilton Head, the venue was the very nice (and very reasonably priced) Marriott located directly on the beach, enabling players to head out for a walk or to dip their toes into the very cold waters. Our room was large and comfortable with amenities including a small refrigerator and a balcony with chairs (view from balcony below).

(Look carefully in the sea behind us where you will spot a dolphin.)

The hospitality provided at Hilton head was exceptional. There was a snack bar outside the main playing room, and once each day discount coupons were distributed to players to encourage us to patronize it. At 4:15 each day, free snacks were offered (pizza, small sliders, small burgers, hotdogs, pretzels). And, when we came back to play the evening session, cookies (or brownies) were distributed. Then every evening from 10:00 to 11:30 pm, players were welcomed to a hospitality suite offering vegetables and dip, cheeses and crackers, fruit, cookies and brownies, nuts, chips and salsa, drinks including alcohol, as well as some “bigger” items such as pizza. The candy bowls were also always very well stocked (see below). You’d think that with all that hospitality the restaurants in the area might suffer. However, most players took advantage of the many terrific dining options available in the greater Hilton Head area, easily accessible by vehicle (including good Uber/Lyft service) during the time between afternoon and evening sessions.

As far as the bridge was concerned, Mary and Teri again played very well winning two compact Knockouts and one side Swiss. They also finished high in several other events winning almost 62 masterpoints for the tournament as a whole. But that’s not the big news:

the big news is that Mary became a Gold Life Master in the last day's A/X/Y Swiss (winning second in X and Y) by earning her 2500th masterpoint. Go, Mary!

If you are looking to play bridge on the East Coast, we recommend that you add the 2020 Hilton Head Regional to your schedules (it is held every two years)! Next up. Teri and Ginny head to Vancouver Washington for the Oregon Trail Regional (held across the river from Portland). More on that (and likely a report from Philadelphia and maybe even Pine Mountain Georgia next month).