NEBRASKA REGIONAL JULY 22-28

A publication of ACBL’s Unit 241, serving Omaha, Council Bluffs, and nearby communities

Volume 18, Issue 1 July 2013

Trump Talk

UPCOMING EVENTS July 22nd-28th—Regional Tourna-

ment, MidAmerican Center

August 10th—Unit Board Meeting

October 5th—Unit Board Meeting

October 24-27 Sectional Tourna-

ment, Westside Community Center

November 4-10 District 14/15 STAC

November—Unit Elections

Inside this issue:

Board of Directors 2

New Board Appointee 2

The Longest Day 2

Caring Committee 2

Bridge in Schools 2

Directors’ Spotlights 3

Awards Party 4

Bad Bridge Habits 4

This year’s Regional is off and running! Chairs Cookie Hoberman and Jan Loftin have been

busy as usual to bring you the best ever Nebraska Regional. They are hopeful inspite of the

date change (due to the change in Nationals) that we will match and/or top the numbers for

last year. The tournament has grown and thrived because of the Midwestern friendly atmos-

phere. So bring out your own Midwestern charm and welcome players from around the world

as if you were welcoming them into your own home. Name tags with your name and city are

encouraged for the week’s play.

Our great line up of pros are speaking at 6:45, Tuesday thru Saturday, this is a fabulous op-

portunity to hear them talk on popular bridge topics and for you to ask questions. Among the

bridge celebrities are Billy Miller, Steve Garner, Jerry Thorpe and more. As always, free lunch

every day, Tuesday—Saturday.

The schedule can be found online at omahabridge.org (Regional tab) and/or acbl.org.

“Thank you in advance for helping us make this Regional the best yet!” Cookie & Jan

SAVE THE DATES: NEBRASKA REGIONAL 2014, August 4-10!

REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP DESK Grab the schedule and make your plans now to play in the Regional!

Find yourself short a partner? Contact Art or Marlene Clausen at:

402-305-8869

nesualc@cox.net

Or stop by the partnership desk in the front entrance hallway at the MAC

SAVE THE DATES:

NEBRASKA REGIONAL

2014

AUGUST 4-10

1 Arena Way

Council Bluffs, IA

51501

Page 2

Board of Directors

Darlene Rischling, President

2014

Robley Garrigan, Secretary 2014

Elise Parish, Treasurer 2013

Johnathan Cohn 2013

Cookie Hoberman 2014

Chris Hatton 2013

G K Rhoades 2014

Dee Miller 2013

Jonathan Cohn originally from Omaha, Nebraska recently

moved back from Wyoming. His return has been beneficial to

bridge in Omaha. He has been appointed by the Board of Di-

rectors to fill the vacancy left by Sharon Gathmann. You will

see his name frequently in this issue of Trump Talk.

CARING COMMITTEE

The Unit 241 Caring Committee provides unit acknowledgement of life events,

including but not limited to births, marriages, hospitalization and deaths. If you

aware of members with life events, please contact Jane Dunn at 402-493-5804 or

email wjdunn3@cox.net OR Thelma Cole at 402-235-2168. Also, there are card/

envelopes at each club you can complete and the committee will retrieve. Unit 241

cares!

BRIDGE IN SCHOOLS-UPDATE

DEPARTURE OF GATHMANN ALLOWS APPOINTMENT OF COHN TO JOIN BOARD

With the resignation of Sharon Gathmann from the board, the Bridge in Schools was looking for a new chairperson. Unit 241 is fortunate to announce that Cyndi Prince has accepted the Chairperson for Bridge in Schools. Cyndi has some big shoes to fill, as Sharon has dedicated years and countless hours to the Omaha Bridge in Schools program, her passion for the program will be hard to match.

declarer play. Participants were able to conclude

the lesson by practicing some hands using the tech-

niques they learned. Jim Nash’s game kicked off at

7:30 pm to finish the event. Thank you to the 225+

bridge players who participated, donated and vol-

unteered during the event. The ACBL reports that

over 160 teams participated in the event raising

over $900,000 for Alzheimer’s research. Our unit’s

efforts are listed as one of the top 25 teams in fund-

raising efforts.

On June 21, 2013, Unit 241, in cooperation with the Alz-

heimer’s Association and ACBL, led a bridge marathon from

sunrise through sunset at the Omaha Bridge Studio. Players

raised just under $4000 for the fight against Alzheimer’s dis-

ease. $2050 were donated online. $1485 was donated by check.

$340 was raised in cash donations. In the US someone devel-

ops Alzheimers every 68 seconds and it is the 3rd leading cause

of death. During the fundraiser many players shared personal

stories of how the disease has affected them. Omaha channels

3 and 7 videotaped portions of this events and also inter-

viewed Jonathan Cohn briefly about the fundraiser. The sto-

ries ran on the 6 pm news on the day of the event.

The day started in the dark with four tables in the sunrise pairs

at 5:50 am. The game was open to all and everyone won with

donuts from Krispy Kreme and bagels from the Bagel Bin.

The day continued with a playing lesson by Pat Arndt at 9 am

and Joan Smith’s open game at 12:30 pm. At 4:30 pm there

was an Intermdiate/Newcomer lesson by Sue Himel focused on

Page 3

Volume 18, Issue 1 July 2013

Want to Access your Club or Tournament Results On Line?

Go to acbl.org

For Club Results:

Under Club Tab, click club results (participating clubs only), select your city and state, click “go”

Select Month & Year and click “go”

Click on desired game result by date & time of day. Along with final rankings, you will see scores and contracts for all players.

For Tournament Results:

Under Tournament Tab:

Click on Calendar & Tournament, select month, year and category of desired tournament and then select search.

Click on “results” link for winner results and Master Point winner’s list.

Dee Miller of Omaha, a unit 241 board of director,

directs the Monday evening, 0-300, game at The

House of Cards. She has been directing about two

years and playing over 20 years, after learning

from a series of Audrey Grant Bridge classes and

also from taking lessons from Ruth Scott. What

she likes most about being a director is seeing

others enjoy the game as much as she does herself.

First Car = 1949 yellow Mercury convertible

Favorite book = Pride & Prejudice by Jane

Austen

What do you most enjoy about playing

bridge = satisfaction of using my brain pro-

ductively.

Guilty Pleasure = Reading

Passion Outside of Bridge = My Family

Favorite Place to Vacation = Las Vegas

Whose brains do you most like to pick =

Justin Graver, Jim Nash, Dan & Elise Parish

First Job = Clerk at Woodman World Insur-

ance Company

GK Rhoads of Omaha, a unit 241 board of director,

directs the Monday afternoon game at The House of

Cards and also the Wednesday afternoon game at the

Omaha Bridge Studio. He has been “officially direct-

ing for about two years but has been his social dupli-

cate group’s unofficial director for about 15 years. GK

has been playing 57 years, after learning the game at

his mother’s knee-his mother required all of her chil-

dren to learn to type and play bridge before they left

home! What he most likes about being a director is

watching players become comfortable and joyous

about playing the game.

Favorite book = Kahil Gidran or 50 Shades of

Gray!

What do you most enjoy about playing bridge =

The feeling of accomplishment when learning

something new, but most of all, the company of

the people playing with and against.

Guilty Pleasure = “I don’t feel guilty about any-

thing I do!”

Passion Outside of Bridge = Working with kids

and watching them acquiring new skills.

Favorite Place to Vacation

= France

Whose brain would you like to

pick = Nelson Mandela

First Car = 1960 cream-colored

Opal

UNIT 241 TRUMP TALK

If your email address is not on file with ACBL then

you might be missing out on regular Unit 241

emails. Update your profile at acbl.org or contact

Dee Miller at dmille@cox.net.

ACBL: www.acbl.org

UNIT 241: www.omahabridge.org

2012 UNIT AWARDS PARTY

4

On Sunday, April 28, over 130 Unit 241 players enjoyed a spectacular day of bridge, entertainment, and dinner, acknowledg-

ing our top players with Ace of Clubs and Mini McKinney awards. Unit 241 president, Darlene Rischling spent many months

planning and organizing the event and her efforts shined. Mary Ann Ryan and Robin Amis spent countless hours on writing,

casting, coordinating and directing a fun bridge skit for all to enjoy. Her talent included: Ann Will, Mitzi Jahn, Elaine Burger,

Judy Lynch, Bill Chapo, Tom Bernstein, Marshall Kushner, Mike Hewson, Sharon Emery, Robin Amis, Billy Rowe, Darrel

Draper, Deb Summers, Leif Erickson and Ann Francis as the piano player extraordinaire. Thank you to Mary Ann, Robin,

and all the actors/singers who spent many hours rehearsing to provide a fun show for all of us. There were 2 sessions of bridge

and a cocktail hour to enjoy along with the delicious meal. Jim Nash directed the two sessions of bridge. If you would like to

help with any future unit awards parties, please see a Unit 241 Board member.

Bad Bridge Habits to Avoid-Are you an offender? (in no particular order)

Gloating or whining over results.

Spending an undue amount of time looking at the traveler or electronic scoring device.

Discussing results during the game.

Eating while playing the cards.

Agonizing over a bad board.

Taking advantage of partner’s hesitations.

Pulling cards from dummy before they are called.

Fiddling with the Bidding Box.

Criticizing one’s partner.

Pulling cards from your hand before it is your turn to play.

Card Snapping.

Not addressing Directors or Caddies with the word PLEASE.

Recording the contract before leading or before you lay down dummy hand.

DON’T FORGET TO PICK UP YOUR 2013-2014

UNIT 241 Membership Roster! Available at The

Omaha Bridge Studio and House of Cards.