Monthly Summary: October 2024
The year is passing quickly. The Melbourne Cup runs later today, and the Christmas Congress, Christmas Party, Christmas itself and the New Year aren't far away.
There is also a Super Saturday, with the usual fun and quiz afterwards on 23-November. Aspire to Wealth, our sponsors for the Super Saturday, will be running an information session at WABC on Friday 8 November in between the morning and afternoon sessions starting about 12:35 for half an hour. The last information session was really interesting and discussed a range of topics including investments, income streams, insurance, retirement planning, aged care, estate planning, and philanthropy. Stay on after the morning session or come early for the afternoon session, it will be worth it.
Mixed Pairs
October saw the Mixed Pairs Championship won by Kaiping Chen - Marcey Spilsbery from Cathy Hood - Vinod Nasta and Martin Doran - Mimi Packer.
The BAWA Super Vets
A relaxing but competitive day for those over 75 and held at WABC. The winners were Jan Kochmanski - Andrew Swider. A number of WABC players did well. Tim Wright was second playing with David Schokman. Nerilyn Mack was fourth playing with Robin Rose. And John McMullin - Geoff Yeo were fifth.
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The WABC AGM was held on Tuesday 15 October 2024. There was a lot of interest this year with two candidates standing for Secretary and fourteen candidates standing for the general committee positions. The bridge session preceding the AGM certainly kept Peter Hicks busy with 32 tables in play.
The WABC Management Committee announced at the AGM is: Mark Doust (President); Jacqui Ecclestone (Secretary); Christine Spartalis (Treasurer); Jodie Basham; Nola Cruikshank; Deirdrie Doepel; Brian Embleton; Jan French; Mark Glaser & Ronnie Ntoumenopoulos.
Perth Children's Hospice Foundation (PCHF)
It seems to have taken a while but it looks like there's going to be a lot going on next door very soon. The Construction Management Plan should be available shortly and the builders are keen have a good working relationship with WABC. There are bound to be challenges with parking at some stages of the project so please check the front page of the website regularly to see what is going on and what to expect.
The Norn Bidi Trail
The City of Nedlands (CoN) have been pushing ahead with the trail. The wheel stops and painting of the path is scheduled for the second week of November. The CoN is also keen to put in the "Snakehead" path to give better access to the area between WABC and the Hospice but wishes to use a small portion of land that is currently part of the WABC lease. Discussions are ongoing.
Rainbow Bee Eaters
Our courtyard has become the best viewpoint for watching the Rainbow Bee Eaters that are nesting in burrows on the slope directly to the north of the bridge club. These spectacular birds have green, blue, chestnut and yellow plumage and a slender curved bill.
The Council have put temporary fencing in place to protect the birds from dogs and people.
Apparently there were some nesting over towards the Hospice site last year.
Don't be too surprised if you see a few members of the public using our courtyard for photographing the birds.
Grand Master - Restricted
Last Sunday, and yes it was just in November saw a lot of WABC members playing in the Grand Master - Restricted pairs. This was a BAWA event held at the West Coast Bridge Club. There were 35 pairs entered with Joann Theriault - Chris Mulley first, Brenda Campbell - Jonathan Free second, and Shirley Lavarack - Martin Doran third. Good to see the WABC players doing well and having fun.
It was an entertaining day with some wild hands thrown in by the computer to stir things up. One certainly didn't need to start the day looking at S:x H:KQTxx D:- C:J9xxxxx and hearing partner open 1NT (15-17)... yes, still thinking about that one. What would your plan as responder be?