1. Art and Diseño

Gold Coast Bridge Club Newsletter
Issue No 101 - February 2015
Major Sponsors
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President's Message
In my last President's column I wrote about the importance of being pleasant and courteous at the bridge table and of treating others as you
would like to be treated. Keeping this in mind I would also like us all to think about the sort of people who take up bridge.
After attending Saul Isaac's funeral on Tuesday along with many club members, I thought about Saul a lot and what a very clever and
musically talented man he was. We knew him at bridge with his wonderful smile and kind, pleasant manner to all. But like a lot of our
members he had lived an amazing life and like a lot of people who take up bridge he was not only clever but also talented and interesting.
We are blessed in bridge circles with having a lot of characters who play bridge. People who are intelligent and who have lived
extraordinary lives. At times these interesting characters can create a few dramas in the club with their loud laughs or their eccentric ways. I
hope as a club that we can accommodate and rejoice in our differences and in the ways various types of people can enhance our lives. I often
think of Peter Leden and his wonderful belly laugh that lit up the club. I think that our bridge lives would not be so much fun without the
characters who seem to be an integral part of this wonderful game.
Happy bridging to you all and I hope as many members as possible can find the time to play in and support the wonderful Gold Coast
Congress. To new members who haven't played there, at least go to the Gold Coast Convention Centre and have a look. It is truly amazing
to see a huge room with hundreds and hundreds of people enjoying and competing at bridge. Di Hodges
Board News
 New dishwasher installed in the kitchen. A big improvement - lighter, smaller and more efficient.
 Graham Henry has stepped down as Treasurer and has been replaced by Paul Brake. Graham remains on the Board as a Director.
The Board thanks Graham for the years of dedication whilst serving as Treasurer.
 Eva Berger has stepped down as Congress Convenor and Dot Piddington has volunteered to take on this important role. Eva has
been outstanding in this role and worked tirelessly to ensure each congress was a great success. Many thanks Eva.
 New Members Directory. This list contains the names and telephone numbers of new members who joined the club since the club
diary was printed.
 Defibrillator Training is commencing with the supplier. Thereafter training will be done in-house. Members wishing to learn should
contact Di Hodges.
Gold Coast Congress
The Gold Coast Congress commences on Saturday 22 February and closes on Saturday 1 March. Many of our members will be competing in
the congress and on behalf of the club we wish them every success. There will be bridge as usual at the club with the exception of evening
bridge which is cancelled on the nights of Monday 24 and Thursday 27 during the congress.
Education
We’ve had a great response for the first set of Beginners Lessons for 2015 - a 2-day Workshop held on two Sundays - 1 st & 8th February. With
24 people are attending - 17 absolute beginners and 7 players completing a refresher course. Two very happy and enthusiastic groups - all
finding the game of bridge exciting and challenging. And all, also, loving the format of learning the basics of bridge over two Sundays.
We conducted another successful one-day workshop - this time the subject was Play & Defence in NT (for Intermediate & senior novice
players). This was held on Sunday January 18th. 36 players attended. 7 tables in the more advanced group (Thursday Section B players) and 2
tables of newer players (Thursday Section A). Requests have been made for more 1 day workshops. We’ll keep you posted!
Cecily & Lynley
Australia Day Celebrations
The celebrations were a great success with 23 tables on Saturday and 15 tables on Monday. It was pleasing to see a large contingent from
Surfers Paradise Bridge Club attend Australia Day celebrations.
Valentine’s Day Luncheon
Perhaps most of us have lost the romance that goes with Valentine’s Day. If so we invite you to attend the Valentine’s Day luncheon where
we can reminisce what we once remembered about the significance of this special day. The luncheon will be held at Northcliffe Surf Club (a
major sponsor of the club), Old Burleigh Road, Surfers Paradise on Thursday 12 February at 1.00 pm (after Thursday bridge). I know that
it is two days early, however Thursday is the best day as we always have great support from Thursday players. Members and guests are most
welcome to attend and order from the extensive menu at their own expense. Please place your name as an attendee on the notice on the main
Notice Board. I hope that we have a really good roll up for this luncheon, which is the first social occasion of 2015.
St Patrick's Day Luncheon
As social secretary I also propose to hold a St Patrick's Day luncheon with our new major sponsor D'arcy Arms (an Irish pub and restaurant)
on Thursday 19 March. An announcement will be placed on the main notice board later this month. Put your names on the list to attend as
Darcy Arms is an outstanding venue with a great atmosphere which also has off street parking and is just down the road from our club. The
last social occasion at D’arcy Arms was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by members.
Benowa Tavern Achievement Award for January
Restricted players Pamela Hare and Georgia Cook are the winners of $50 food vouchers for January. These players bid a slam in January
congress in the restricted section teams’ event– 7 clubs! Well done ladies!
Benowa Tavern is a sponsor of the club and offers a $50 food voucher each month as an Achievement Award for the Player/s of the Month to
be selected by a sub-committee. All members of the GCBC who dine at the club receive a 10% discount and the Tavern also will donate 10%
of the spending of each member to the club which can be used as additional prize money. Membership cards are now available at the club.
We ask members to support the Benowa Tavern as it will be of great benefit to members and the club.
Interesting Record
Our former member the late Stan Pogacic is the leading ABF all time green point earner acquiring 1,880.35 green points during his career. A
study of the list indicates that this record will never be beaten.
Future Events

Handicap Eclectic - (Thurs Eclectic best 3 of 4 scores) sponsored Graham and Grace Henry

Gold Coast Bridge Club Cup (red point event) - Wed Feb 5, 12 & 19

Tuesday Restricted Eclectic (best 3 of 4 scores) - sponsored by D'Arcy Arms (Merle Bogatie/Tony Berger won January prize)

Benowa Tavern Player/s Achievement Award

Gold Coast Congress - Feb 21 to Feb 28
Online World Cup of Bridge
Julian Gauld who recently joined the club has qualified for the Final of the Online World Cup of Bridge, with prize money of Euro 25,000.
There is a two stage process to get the Final. You must firstly win a Stage One tournament, which he did on 26 December. He then won stage
two tournament 21 January which granted him entry to the Final, which will be played on the 1st of February.
There are currently 78 qualifiers to the final including many of the world's leading bridge players. Australia has three representatives in the
World Cup Final. Ishmael Del Monte: arguably Australia's best player and Nye Griffiths a member of the 2014 Australian Team together
with Julian. We wish you luck Julian.
February Birthdays
1st - Lol Garnett, 2nd - James Moodie, 5th - Valerie Fairlie, 6th - Kevin Dean, 8th - Barbara Coxon, 9th - Connie Isaacs, Margaret Watson, Dale
Wells, 10th - Connie Cassar, 12th - Pat Hinton, Rebecca Lawson, Tony Chrisp, Vernia Bullivant, Mary Dooley, 14 th - Kevin Steffensen, Valerie
Reuter -Buck, Ruth Tracey, 15th - Beryl McGregor, Helga Herling, Margaret de Mestre, Delma Christen, Bill Reynolds, 20 th - Graham Henry,
25th - Di Hodges, Janet Wallis, Lindell Day, Noriko Nishigami, 26th - Dinah Davidson.
Promotions
Bronze Life - Merle Bogatie, *National - Paul Brake, *Regional - Odette Hall, **Local - Marie Orme, *Local - Harry Childerley,
Local - Marie McGarry, Graduate - Pamela Hare, Patricia Bourneville.
Corrections to Diary
April 12 is Redlands Novice Teams and June 28 is QBA Graded Pairs. Please amend your diaries.
New Members
Please welcome Diana Board, Wendy Harrison and David Gillard.
Eulogy - Saul Isaacs
It was with great sadness that our dear member Saul Isaacs recently passed away after a long battle with cancer. Everyone who knew Saul
admired him for his gentleness, kindness and sincerity. It was always a pleasure to play against Saul and his lovely wife Connie knowing that
you would be treated with the greatest respect no matter what the results were.
Saul was born in Rangoon, Burma in 1929 where they lived until the Japanese advanced into Asia in the 2 nd World War when the family
moved to India and after several years settled in the England when he courted Connie and they married in 1957. In 1962, the family with two
sons moved to Sydney where Saul who had a science degree got a position as a nuclear scientist with the Atomic Research Centre at Lucas
Heights in Sydney where he remained until he retired in the 1980's. In retirement Saul and Connie moved to the Gold Coast and later joined
our bridge club where they enjoyed the company of many of our members.
Saul was a very talented guitarist and composer and enjoyed the company of many musicians from the Coast for their regular jam sessions.
Connie was also a very accomplished singer who loved to join in with them. Saul was one of nature's gentlemen and will be sorely missed by
all that knew him. Members certainly look forward to the return of Connie to our club in the near future.
Enjoy Your Bridge
Neil Raward (Vice President/Editor)
Please come with a smile and leave with a smile and treat your partner and opponents with respect and dignity
Players who require a partner for Mon, Wed & Fri please contact Neil Raward (0402 417 584)
Players who require a partner for Tues, Thurs & Sat please contact Shelley & Jim Moodie (5591 2135)
Night time players wanting partners please contact Eva Berger (5527 0829) or Tom Strong (5593 3416)
Welfare Officer - Denise Richards (5520 5087)
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