News from Metropolis

In June, our Unit held another enjoyable and pleasant Regional Tournament at Harrah's Casino and Convention Center, thanks to the hard work of many Unit 223 volunteers and an excellent staff of Directors headed by Chris Patrias; particularly heart-felt thanks to Tommy Wynn for the fine job he did heading up the Tournament as Co-chair.

If you didn't attend, you missed a really fine time and fantastic hospitality.

Decisions were made in Metropolis in terms of the future of the 2014 Regional. I am very excited to tell you that the Regional will return to a 7-day-format and will include Gold Rush Pairs. In addition, Harrah's Hotel has agreed to extend tournament-weekday room rates over the weekend, making it economically feasible for players to stay on in the hotel Friday and Saturday.

I stayed in the newly renovated Bayshore, next door to Harrah's, this June, and found the accommodations there to be very reasonable and attractive. 2014 promises to be a fantastic Regional!

Recognition of Service 2013

The Good Will Award for 2013 was awarded to Glenda Piek (left photo) for the many services she has performed for area Bridge players and in supporting bridge in our Unit. Glenda was presented with a Good Will lapel pin and congratulatory letter from District 8 Secretary Debbie Avery at the sectional tournament she chaired in Edwardsville in July.

The Jo Echols Award, presented for furthering bridge education, was a dual award to Tom Wynn and Martha Kallaher (right photo). The award recognizes the fine work they're doing in conducting Easy Bridge Classes at Echo Bridge Center in Paducah.

Bridge Classes Continue in Paducah

EasyBridge Classes continue at the Echo Bridge Center in Paducah. As a result of previous classes, a novice bridge game is now flourishing at the club.

Another 15-week series of beginning classes is scheduled to start on Thursday, August 22nd, at 6.00 pm.

The first four classes in the series are free, and then it costs only $2 per session for the game which follows each free lesson.

Tom Wynn, Jim Kallaher, Dennis Rose (in photo) and Ron Brockman will be teaching the beginning Bridge Class.

In addition, an Intermediate Bridge Class will also be held at Echo Bridge Center at noon on Tuesday. The start date of the Intermediate series of lessons will be announced later.

For more information on these and future lessons, contact:

   Tom Wynn twynn401@comcast.net

   Jim Kallaher jkallaher@comcast.net

Unit Board

Elections were held in the various areas the first half of June. Our 2013-2014 Unit Board will consist of:

Area 1

  Ron Brotherson

  Doug Snow (new member)

  Tom Wynn

Area 2

  Karen Coe

  Carolyn Taylor

Area 3

  Jay Coleman

  Joan Musgrave

Area 4

  Kate Dickens

  Paul Hartke

Area 5

  Doug McQuaid

  Bill Rotter

Bill Rotter was elected at the Unit Board Meeting in June as the new President of Unit 223, and will begin his term of office in September. Doug Edwards will continue as Unit Business Manager.

Rising in Rank

Congratulations to the following Unit 223 Members who have advanced in rank.

New Junior Masters

  Susan K Cross, Belleville IL

  Joyce Edwards, Glen Carbon IL

  Uma Kurella, Jerseyville IL

  Nancy Rubin, Carbondale IL

  Stanford Rubin, Carbondale IL

New Club Masters

  Jane A Bright, Paducah KY

  Kathy I Vanni, Marion IL

New Sectional Master

  Mary Ann Payne, Benton IL

New Regional Masters

  Douglas C Jeffrey III, Belleville IL

New NABC Master

  Janet Little, Wood River IL

New Bronze Life Masters

  Lois Hartke, Effingham IL

  Mary M Parker, Eddyville KY

New Silver Life Masters

  Linda Brazier, Moro IL

  Mary E Moody, DuQuoin IL

Census

As of July 1^st, 2013, Unit 223 had 391 Active Members, in the following ranks:

Rookie (0-5)  49

Junior Master (5+)  26

Club Master (20+)  35

Sectional Master (50+)  47

Regional Master (100+)  56

NABC Master (200+)  22

Advanced NABC Master  0

Life Master (300+)  28

Bronze Life Master (500+)  56

Silver Life Master (1000+)  59

Gold Life Master (2500+)  13

The Unit currently doesn't have any members who have achieved the ranks of Diamond Life Master (5000+), Emerald Life Master, Platiunum Life Master, or Grand Life Master.

Mark your calendars now!

Unit 223 has two sectional tournaments slated. Both tournaments have amazing hospitality and convenient easily-accessible venues, and are well worth attending.

Paducah's Irvin Cobb Sectional Tournament� will be held August 30 through September 1^st (Labor Day Weekend) at the Robert Cherry Civic Center, 2701 Park Ave, Paducah KY. This is a 3-day sectional, starting at 1.00 P.M. Friday with Stratified Pairs and concluding on Sunday with Swiss Teams.

Tournament chair is Jim Kallaher (270) 444 6882 or jkallaher@comcast.net. Partnership chair is Maxine Wynn (270) 554 5719 or twynn401@comcast.net

Caseyville Sectional Tournament� will be held October 4^th through 6^th and the Steamfitters Hall, 1229 Donald Bailey Drive, Caseyville IL. This Sectional is also a 3-day event, commencing on Friday at 1:00 with Single Session Pairs and concluding on Sunday with Swiss Teams.

Tournament chair is Carol Warner (618-514-0556).  Partnership chair is Glenda Piek (618-806-3275).

For more detail, view the Tournament Flyers on this issue of the Advocate or on ACBL's web-site.