Congratulations to Tania, Roger, Len, Kim, Kevin, Juliet and Mandy!
Each year, NZ Bridge publishes a list of the top 20 Masterpoint earners for each rank. This year's results were good for Whangarei, with 7 players making the cut. The table below is a summary of the rankings.
From Congress: On arrival at the Mt Manganui Club quiz night, a certain non-WBC member’s hubby, who recently moved to Paihia, bumped into Wendy. Ever the gentleman, he offered to assist with the carriage of the drinks order.
Jayne, Camp Mum, saw to it that there was an active social scene at Congress this year. We were treated to drinks and nibbles on Tuesday evening, followed by a dinner at Roxie's Red Hot Cantina on Thursday.
On his retirement, Richard was honoured for his 30 years as a National Director at Congress. Richard's bio and his contributions to bridge in New Zealand were published in the Congress Bulletin:
Director Richard learned bridge in 1971 and he joined Waimate Bridge Club in 1972. After moving to Dargaville in 1975, he was part of a group that formed the Dargaville Bridge Club.
”As a new club, with fairly inexperienced players, we had to allocate roles to people, and I picked up directing.”
A sizeable contingent of players from Whangarei descended on the Baypark Arena in Mt Maunganui for this year's National Congress. In the Open division were Neil Ruddell and Tania Brown, John McIntosh and Roger Bell, and Honorable Member, Jane Stearns. The rest of the team were all intermediates; Lee Orton and her sister Mandy Kelly, Kim Thomas and Kevin Grundy, Jayne Broome and Laurie Brockliss, and Rod and Gail Christensen.