These are fun facts (or not?) about me:
My personal history
Highland estate owner, Glencoe Wood, Scotland; benefactor of single working mothers; contributor to the Poarch Creek Tribe and the Choctaw Tribe; annual patron of the Mississippi Highway patrol; ESPN Fantasy Football League Champion 2018; Petit Juror, Jefferson County Circuit Court, 2018; Bill James Fantasy Baseball Division Champion 1992-1993; Skydiving Certificate, Canton OH Air Sports 1992; Honorable Mention, Caesar the wrestling bear contest
Bridge
Vice President ACBL District 10, 2021; 1st Place Women’s Pairs Western Canadian Bridge Festival 2021; Section Top – Senior Pairs, Biloxi Regional; ACBL Certified Director; ACBL Life Master, 2000; Declared in a zero – zero trump fit after another splinter bid accident
I began playing duplicate bridge in 1970 but quit when I started graduate school. Encouraged by my wife, Lisa, we joined the BDBC in 2002, taking lessons at night. I became a game director in 2015 when the club started a new game for beginning players on Monday mornings. I later started a second beginner game on Tuesday afternoons and assumed the directorship of the Tuesday afternoon open game when its director moved to Atlanta. When the club reopened in June 2021, I reinitiated beginning lessons at the club and now serve as the director of the 0-50 chat game on Tuesday mornings as well as the Tuesday afternoon open game. I have enjoyed being a mentor to beginning and intermediate players for many years. I also served several terms on both the BDBC and Unit 157 Boards of Directors, including a term as President of each.
I have played bridge since adolescence and passionately love this challenging game. My goal as a club director is to encourage others to enjoy the game as much as I do. I believe we play for a variety of reasons and each is valid – a competitive drive, a desire to keep learning throughout our lifetime, for the social aspect of a club setting and sometimes “just to get out of the house.” I have taught bridge to many students in many settings and enjoy the interactions at the table. My most satisfying accomplishment was winning a national title, the Lebhar IMP pairs, in the National ACBL Tournament in the spring of 2018 with my partner and BDBC fellow member, Mark Jones. It is unusual that 2 players from the same bridge club win a national event.
At age 13, my bridge odyssey began. A friend and I played I in a Regional tournament. I sat at table 7, North – South. We played in the tournament, even though we knew nothing about duplicate and little about bridge. In those days, all the great players sat N – S. At table 9, Charles Goren sat North. When the round was over, we thought we came in 7th. That was our table #. We might have won.
I began learning to play contract bridge in August of 1970 when a freshman at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. After moving in, I went to the snack bar for my first meal as a college student. Seven young men were playing cards in a corner and one of the tables “needed a 4th.” Have you ever heard that before? I was hooked from the very beginning and the rest, as the story goes, is history. This group, along with several others, played bridge every other day well into the night for the next two years. We played old Goren style – 4-card Majors, Strong Two bids, no transfers, etc. I transferred to the University of Michigan in 1972 and did not play bridge again until 1998, almost 26 years later. On a lark, a friend and I went to BDBC and played our very first game of duplicate bridge, won and earned 0.42 master points. WOW!! I had never even heard of duplicate bridge. The game had changed completely and I had to relearn how to bid, but I became obsessed again with the game. I retired in 2008 from my job as the VP of the Payroll and Employee Benefits for Liberty National Life Insurance Co. Since then BDBC has become my home away from home. I served as Secretary in 2013, have served as Treasurer since 2014, became a game director in 2013 and initiated the current version of the Mentor-Mentee Program in 2013. I am an authorized tournament assistant, an ACBL accredited teacher, and have taught several courses at BDBC. Over 24 years of playing duplicate bridge I have played with literally hundreds of partners and credit every one of them with helping me to learn something new whenever we have played. That learning experience continues. .
I direct the Sunday afternoon game and with my husband, Eugene, I also direct two other games: the Monday afternoon 0-199 game and the 0-999 game. We both have a passionate zeal for bridge. Here’s a fun fact from our history – we met at BDBC!!!
I have been described as energetic & vivacious and Eugene as a soothing presence and helpful educational resource. We hope to help you enjoy our wonderful game of bridge.
I began playing bridge in 2000. The year is emblazoned on a tee shirt I bought when the Nationals were held in Birmingham. A divorce I began playing bridge in 2000. The year is emblazoned on a tee shirt I bought when the Nationals were held in Birmingham. A divorce gave me the opportunity to play bridge … my ex was not a card player! Having experienced two careers already … nurse and Weight Watchers leader … it was time to take on a third career … that of a bridge director. Directing and playing a game I love is very rewarding.