A KIWI LEGEND - SUPPORTING TE AROHA

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