The TBA Committee met on May 12th from 2.45pm. Present were Julie Rhodes (P), Leigh Blizzard (T), Sue Falkingham, Sue Falkingham, Paul Fredheim, Fran Healey, Hugh Grosvenor and Laura Bauermeister. The following matters were discussed:

TFoB Merchandise

We have decided to make available some TFoB themed merchandise at next year’s event. At the moment we are looking for a suitable logo to put on the merchandise. If you have any graphic design experience, or any ideas for this, please let us know – we would love some more creative input!

Tasmanian Online Championship - June

Not looking forward to those chilly Winter afternoons? How about three fabulous sessions of bridge played in the warmth and comfort of your own home? Make sure you enter in our very first ever Tasmanian Online Championship to run at 2.30 pm on Sundays June 14th, 21st and 28th.

You can play with a partner from anywhere – the more entries we have the more fun it will be. Entry fees are only $10 per session and you will be able to enter via MyABF.

Suggestion Box

This month we were asked if we would consider a concession on our annual membership fee for pensioners. The current annual membership fee is $75. Of this $27 is paid to the Australian Bridge Federation as a “capitation fee”. A further $20 is the state affiliation fee which goes into the State Bridge coffers which provides travel assistance to National and State Representative players as well as funding State events and State Team training. hese fees are common to all affiliated bridge clubs in Australia.

This leaves $28 which actually goes to our club. This money pays for things like the glass of wine which you have after an event, special events like the Melbourne Cup, expert training sessions, library books etc.

This doesn’t really leave much room for a Membership Fee discount, and at $1.50 per week, TBA membership is quite good value. However, we appreciate that money can be tight for pensioners which is why we have a 20% discount for pensioners on our Table Money. In additional we do have a financial hardship policy for those who need extra assistance. If you want to discuss this, Sue Falkingham is the relevant person.

Building Extension

We are going to investigate an alternative strategy for our extension and need to finalise our thoughts before approaching the building manufacturer. We have established a building subcommittee which will report to the Committee, then to our membership as a whole. If you would like to participate, or have any input please get in touch.

Liam Milne Training for Everyone

The TBA has organised for Liam Milne (a former and current Australian player) to conduct the State team training this year in May. In addition, he will be running a session which will be open to everyone. It will run from 2.00pm to 4.00pm on Friday afternoon May 29th at a cost of $25 for TBA members and $30 for non members. The topic is :

“Slam Bidding Workshop - Bid better slams and stay out of poor ones!”

A very useful topic for all of us – who doesn’t need help improving their slam bidding? - I will certainly be attending! You can enrol for this workshop on MyABF or just turn up on the afternoon with your $25.

Coming Up – Change of Event Dates

The Club Novice Championship has been moved to July 19th and the TBA Board-a-Match Teams has been moved from July to make a fabulous teams weekend along with the Southern and Open Handicap Teams on September 26th and 27th. The TBA will be providing lunch on both days so “save the date” for that weekend.

New Members

We welcome the following new and reactivated members to our club and wish them all the best on their bridge journey : Michael Brown, Denise Brown, Jennifer Lowns, Charlotte Sainsbury, Clare Darling, Fiona Mansfield, Mary Co-Pavier, Rosalie Kinstler, Paul Carter, Terry Mitchell and Pauline Stanton.

Promotions

Congratulations to the following members who have received rank promotions last month:

  • Louise Gilfedder & John Green were promoted to Graduate Masters (>2 MPs)
  • Elizabeth Gordon, Lyn Sinclair & Victoria Vyvyan were promoted to Local Masters (>15 MPs)
  • Nola Calvert & Rex Calvert were promoted to Bronze Local Masters (>25 MPs)
Bridge Etiquette – System Cards

Try to remember to bring your system card with you to the table. It is a courtesy to the opponents and saves them having to ask you about your carding or other aspects of your system.

Julie Rhodes
President