DISTRICT 24 NEWSLETTER     Alvin Levy     Volume 2002.1

HOUSTON, unexpected high attendance and great hospitality

Houston's attendance was higher than expectations at 10,656.5 tables. Continuing on the positive side there was an upscale food court in the Galleria between the two Weston Hotels with a great view of the ice-skating rink. There was plenty of time between sessions to go to some of the fine restaurants in the area, which were either within walking distance or a short taxi ride away, and the Johnson Space Center was a great place to visit. The local volunteers did a great job of making the players comfortable and content with nice give-aways, plenty of after game food, full candy jars visible everywhere, and great nightly entertainment. The local sponsoring organization obtained a major sponsor, Gallery Furniture. Besides a large cash payment, Gallery Furniture also gave merchandise away during the tournament. On the negative side, the playing space was in three different Hotels, the Weston Galleria, The Weston Oaks, and the Marriott. While the Hotels were within a short walk of each other, to reach the Marriott you had to go through a mall, avoiding excess shopping, and then cross a four-lane roadway, avoiding the busy traffic. The walking was very difficult for some older people and handicapped people, and a nuisance for others. However, for most players this inconvenience was more than made up for by the splendid hospitality.

District 24 Players shine in NABC+ Events

District 24 players have a great record of success in NABC+ events, and the spring 2002 NABC was no exception.

In the North American Open Pairs - Flight A, Michael Polowan - Adam Wildavsky placed 3rd and Aaron Silverstein - Brady Richter placed 16th.

A 2nd place finish in the Open Pairs I for David Berkowitz and Larry Cohen. Other high finishers were: Nick Nickell, 3rd; Roy Welland - Bjorn Fallenius, 10th; David Rosenberg - Allen Kahn, 13th; and Sam Lev, 18th.

In the Silver Ribbon Pairs, R. Jay Becker placed 3rd and Stanley Turecki - Gail Greenberg placed 9th.

Another high finish for David Berkowitz, placing 6th in the Mixed Pairs. Also finishing high were Margie Gwozdzinsky - Richard Schwartz in 10th place.

Barry Rigal placed 3rd in the Open Pairs II. Other high finishers were Berkowitz - Cohen, 4th; Sue Picus - Jill Levin, 11th; and Michael Moss, 12th.

In the Women's Pairs Susan Wexler - Margie Gwozdzinsky placed 9th; and Valerie Westheimer - Judi Radin placed 13th.

A big win for Sam Lev in the premiere Vanderbilt KO teams. Placing 2nd was Nick Nickell, with Michael Polowan - Chris Willenken 3/4th; Roy Welland - Bjorn Fallenius - Brad Moss - Fred Gitelman, 5/8th; Jimmy Cayne - Bobby Levin - Steve Weinstein, 9/16th; and Mark Feldman 9/16th.

District players dominated the top spots in the Open Swiss Teams with Moss - Welland - Fallenius - Gitelman, 2nd; Cayne - Weinstein - Levin, 3rd; Polowan - Willenkin, 4th; Richard Schwartz - David Berkowitz - Larry Cohen - Zia Mahmood - Michael Rosenberg, 5th; Bob Heitzman - Keith Garber, 6th; and Michael Moss, 19th.

A nice win for Jill Levin - Sue Picus in the Women's Swiss. Placing high was Dorothy Truscott, 7th; Amalya Kearse - Jacqui Mitchell - Gail Greenberg - Laurie Vogel - Lynne Tranopol, 9th.

In the North American Open Pairs, Flight C, Danforth Rogers - Gilbert Creatzberg placed 18th.

Norman Kay (1927 - 2002) Memorial at Houston NABC

Norman Kay was honored at a memorial service Monday, March 12, as the Houston spring NABC. It was a fitting tribute for one of bridge's great stars. One of the many tributes given was from Mike Becker who said, "The Twin Towers of New York will live in our memories forever" and added, "The Twin Towers of bridge were Edgar Kaplan and Norman Kay, and they too never will be forgotten."

One of the perks that I get for serving as District Director is interacting with some of the greats in the game. One such great was Norman Kay. I was glad when Norman returned to playing at NABCs a few years ago, as he and Judy and I would always get together for a short chat. I looked forward to those encounters and to hearing Norman express his views on the game. Yes, he was one of the greats of the game, but I'll always remember him as one of the nicest and most caring people that I've ever met.

Junior Activities at the Houston NABC

There are always activities for the juniors (aged 25 and younger) at our NABCs. In Houston there was a Junior pairs games with a prize of a $10,000 scholarship to be shared by the winning pair. Gallery Furniture sponsored that event as well as a Junior dinner.

The Board of Directors passed a regulation allowing juniors aged 21 and younger and full-time students up to age 25 to play in any event at the NABC for $6/session. The junior must be an ACBL member residing in Zone 2 (North America and Bermuda).

ACBL Financial Report

The ACBL reported an excess of $450,000 in revenues over expenses for 2001. This was a $765,000 improvement over 2002. The good showing last year is primarily due to increased profits from our three NABCs. The 2001 NABC sites were Kansas City, Toronto, and Las Vegas, while the 2000 sites of Cincinnati, Anaheim, and Birmingham. Big profits came from Toronto, Las Vegas, and Anaheim. Smaller cities don't generate the same profit as the larger, more popular cities. In addition there was increased revenue from membership dues and sanction fees due primarily to the increase in rates. With a net worth of $3.14 million, compared to $2.69 million at the end of 2000, the league is in good financial shape.

Actions by the ACBL Board of Directors

New Club Game Format
Clubs may now hold open games with a minimum of 12 boards. Games with between 12 and 17 boards will be awarded 80% of the regular masterpoint award. Sanction fees for this game will be $0.40 per table.

New NABC Events
Two new Mini-Life Masters' Pairs event will be held at the summer NABC on a two-year trial basis. A Life Master - 5000 masterpoint event and a Life Master - 1500 masterpoint event will be held at the same time as the six-session Life Masters' Pairs. These events will be six-session events unless there are less than 60 tables in play, in which case that event will be a four-session event.

Sponsoring organizations can now hold up to two different senior events simultaneously, each with an age restriction of 55, 65, or 75.

Director Educational Program
Management will develop a comprehensive education and training program for all ACBL tournament directors. This training will include a separate certification program for directors handling appeals cases at NABCs.

Overall Masterpoint Awards for Special Games
From now on overall masterpoint awards as well as District overall awards will be given in Continent-wide and Charity games that use hand records.

ACBL's World Computer Bridge Championship
The ACBL's World Computer Bridge Championship VI will take place at the World Bridge Federation's World Championships in Montreal. I am the event coordinator and have organized this event since it's inception in 1996.

Sponsorship Committee
A new Sponsorship Committee was established and had its first meeting in Houston.  I chair that committee.  The committee's report of recommendations was accepted.

Red, White & Blue Bridge Bash
To raise funds for 9/11 Disaster Relief

The ACBL and the ACBL Charity Foundation ran two North American Charity Games at clubs on Monday evening, December 10, and Saturday afternoon, December 15. The ACBL Charity Foundation matched the funds raised up to a maximum of $100,000. A total of over $220,000 will be donated to the Twin Towers Orphan Fund. In addition the Twin Towers Orphan Fund has been named the 2002 charity of the year and additional funds will be raised throughout 2002.

District Business

The ACBL has a Unit Membership Recruitment and Retention Program, which awards Units, rebates if they fully participate. This program is meant to get Units to interact with its delinquent members and to help market the game. For the second year in a row both Units in our District have complied and will receive an award of approximately $800 each. This year and last year only two Districts fully complied, and our District is the only District to fully comply for the past two years. This is due to the hard work of the Unit Membership Chairs and their committees. In the GNYBA the chair is Jennifer Blunt and last year's chair was Robert Magnus. In the NSBA the chair is Liz Randall. A job well done.

Congratulations to Jim Schneider, the new District president. Other officers are: Anne Mittman, vice-president; Al Levy, secretary/treasurer; David Moss and Farley Mawyer, tournament co-coordinators; Roberta Magnus, charity chair; Robb Gordon, appellate chair; Carol Mathews, Recorder; and Ira Herman, Disciplinary Chair.

Our current representatives to the Board of Governors are Diana Schuld, Ruth Stober, and Larry Ascher. David Moss represented Larry at the Houston meeting. First Alternate to the Board of Directors is John Solodar and second alternate is Adam Wildavsky. The positions of first and second alternate are up for elections this year. If you are interested in the position see page 32 of the March Bridge Bulletin or get in touch with me.

Congratulations to our 2002 lifetime national Goodwill Committee appointees, David Moss, Ann Mittman, and Arnie Fisher, and to our 2002 lifetime national Charity Committee appointees, Marcel Freidmann and Roberta Magnus. This is in recognition for all their past hard work and dedication to the game. Congratulations to all!