Blogs

Some photos from the recent Bridge Babes Cruise to Vanuatu.
Fruits de la mer
Our themed night Fruits de la mer was a hit with our guests. Spot Henk and Hermanna up towards the top of the stairs on the left! Our guests also thanked Te Aroha Bridge Club for supporting the cruise by allowing the use of their dealing machine (well insured and handled with utmost care!) to deal the boards on the cruise. Fruits de la mer 2

Below is Hermanna deep in thought.
Hermanna on cruise

Also below Henk looking well and enjoying his bridge on the cruise.
Henk and Hermanna

An article in today's NZ Herald may of interest to our members. How to be 90 years young. Read all about it in the link below.
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10874405

Not only did Jacob Kalma cap off his 15th birthday with a session win on Tuesday Night with bridge partner Jos Sonne, but he celebrated later with an appropriately themed cake!

birthday cake

The front window had it's turn for the makeover yesterday.

bridge club frontage

gone are the trusty net curtains and hello a bit more light into the clubrooms (whilst retaining privacy with the frosting).

We wait to see how much additional window cleaning it will require!

Sir Peter Snell - lending support to Te ArohaPeter Snell wrote to Club tutor Jane Stearns late last year enthusiastic in his support of his parents’ old club and only too willing to lend his name to our efforts to encourage members both new and old to join us. He may be better known for his prowess on the athletics track but he is also known for the proud lineage of his bridge playing family. His special connection with Te Aroha is well known at our club. Not only that he was pounding its streets in his early running career but his parents were in the meantime busy helping to found the Te Aroha Bridge Club. Both he and his sister Marie Berry learned to play bridge. Marie still plays regularly at Te Awamutu Club and was a buddy to a beginner from Jane’s lessons there last year. Peter claims that his competitive spirit was inherited from his mother and her bridge playing. Apparently she retold her triumphs at the Pukekohe Bridge Club many a time!Margaret Snell playing at Pukekohe in her late 80s

Remember – as we work hard with the club this year, we have the legend of a nation behind us and cheering us on. With that quality of support we must surely be inspired and succeed!

An extract from his letter is reproduced below:

Dear Jane,
Thank you for contacting me. I would be delighted to help in any way you think fit.
Is Lawrence your maiden name? I remember Dr Lawrence and his wife Minna, who was one of Mum's bridge friends.
Mum loved the game and was still competitive in Pukekohe at the age of 90! I was taught the Culbertson system as a teenager (in Te Aroha) but never played outside the home until University and recently on a QE2 cruise ship where I played my first game of duplicate. I am working on convincing my wife to take a series of lessons with me in the hope she will get over her fear of looking silly and not being able to remember the cards that have been played.
I recall that Mum held bridge parties fairly frequently in our old house on the corner of Shakespeare St and Centennial Ave. Dad played, more to do an activity that Mum enjoyed so much, rather than being a big enthusiast of the game. It is clearly apparent that I inherited my competitiveness from my mother who frequently discussed her triumphs at the Pukekohe bridge club.
When I lived in Auckland the secretary of Butland Industries for whom I worked was Bruce Bell one of NZ's top players, who knew my mother through bridge.
I hope this might be of help Jane. Good luck with resuscitating the Te Aroha Bridge Club.
With best regards,

Peter

Another busy week at the Te Aroha Bridge Club has seen a core of volunteers give the grand old lady a well deserved internal makeover.

The interior is now fresh and bright but perhaps the biggest change is the statement wall ... being of a rather brilliant red hue (or Resene dynamite to be precise.)

Thanks to all those who turned up for a day to help ... or even turned up both days (George Sherrell!), whether or not they belonged to the club or not (Ayako and Jane from Cambridge, George from Matamata), whether they had ever held a paint brush before (Ayako) and the other Te Aroha troopers (Henk, Hermanna and Joan)who got the job done.

painting: Cheer up Jane, you still look glamorous!

painting: our new statement wall

painting: Is that a halo around Joan's head?

painting: George hard at work ...

painting: Joan paints over the old wallpaper circa 1978

painting: Ayako tackles the high stuff

Our new dealing machine arrived and has been successfully installed with the first boards dealt and ready for bridge on Tuesday.

This signifies a large investment from the club alongside the grant for the purchase of the machine (thanks to the Rigters for putting together the grant application). The dealing machine joins other cutting edge technology installed in the Te Aroha bridge club - including bridgemates and Compass scoring programme.

our dealing machine: Our new dealing machine

Thanks to all those people who turned up at short notice last Thursday to help prepare the clubrooms for painting.

George, Anne C, Laurie, Joan, HErmanna, Henk and Anna proved many hands make light work and managed to clean up and get the walls ready for painting.

However, with cleaning and sorting, it became obvious that some further remedial work required doing to get a good result.

Enter Laurie B who coopted a couple of local handy men - Merv and Will who have spent several days this week of their own time and providing many of their materials helping to patch up walls, rehang cupboards and tidy up some of the eyesores of the clubrooms (like the Meter Board).

sprucing up clubrooms: Will (left) and Merv enjoy a well earned lunch

The end is now in sight - looking forward to the painting working bee ... next Monday 25th February.

With many thanks to Kristen Rigter for her work on our grant application we are delighted to announce that the Pub Charities have made a very generous donation to our club for the purchase of a dealing machine. Full details at the next committee meeting!

The first main bridge event of the Waikato Region in each calendar year is the Thames Congress. Taking part and flying the flag for Te Aroha was Jane Stearns. A respectable finish with her regular partner, co-Bridge Babe Clare Coles, and two Cambridge friends in the Saturday teams event, was then followed up with a session prize for Jane with Cambridge's Secret Weapon - their Chinese guru - Herman. After a disastrous first session the Master and his Grasshopper rallied to win the afternoon session prize outright, beating top New Zealand pairing Michael Ware and Alan Turner in the process:

Rank Pair Name Matchpts %
1 2205 He Yuan & Jane Stearns 675 59.21
2 2209 Michael Ware & Alan Turner 673 59.04

Not a sight often seen! We look forward to seeing a lot more Te Aroha names on the winners podium this year.