Sep/Oct - District 6

PRESIDENT’S LETTERby WBL President, Dick WegmanIt was a very good summer forWashington-area bridge. Attendancewas strong at the unit game and the HuntValley regional in August (with HuntValley setting an all-time record for thenumber of tables in play). At theSummer Nationals in Long Beach inJuly, Steve Robinson was inducted intothe ACBL Hall of Fame. He is the firstliving player from the Washington areato be honored in this way. Steve reallydeserves this honor — not only becauseof his outstanding bridge accomplishments,but for his untiring efforts overthe past three decades (strictly voluntary,of course) to build and strengthenbridge in the Washington area. And aDistrict 6 team won the gold in theFlight B Grand National Teams in LongBeach. The team of Hailong Ao, Jian-Jian Wang, Huailin Chen and Yi Zhongbeat out 23 other strong district teams tocome out on top in this major nationalteam championship. All in all, a verygood summer indeed.Thanks again for your responses toour survey. On the basis of whatwe’ve learned from your responses,we’re going to try several new thingsat our sectionals this fall, and wehope you like them. Our Decembersectional will feature a major newevent: the Washington Bridge LeagueTrophy Pairs, a two session open pairevent to be held on Saturday, with aqualifying session in the afternoon,and a championship final in theevening. We haven’t had one of thesefor many years, and your surveyresponses indicate that many playerswould welcome such an event.We’re also revising the schedule oftwo events at the fall sectionals, inresponse to your requests. Our SundaySwiss team event will be scheduled as aplay through, with a short lunch break(probably 30-45 minutes). We’ll havefood available for purchase on site —probably sandwiches and soda, or possiblypizza — and we will do our best tokeep the cost as low as possible. OnFriday evening at the October sectional,we will have two alternative startingtimes, one at 7:00 P.M. and the other at8:00 P.M. This will accommodate thosewho would like to finish early, and alsomake it possible for those who work a fullschedule on Friday to play as well.Please note that the October sectionalwill be held at the Heritage Building atthe Montgomery County Fairgrounds.This is a very attractive new facility, withample playing space and lots of parkingjust outside the front door. You can getthere easily by taking I-270 to Exit 11,then following the signs to theFairgrounds entrance.I’m very interested in your comments orsuggestions for ways to improve our tournaments,and our unit and club games. Pleaseget in touch with me by e-mail ataliweg@aol.com, or give me a call at 301-365-2228.I look forward to hearing from you, andhope to see you at our tournaments this fall.Dick Wegman- 2 -