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.

A joke overheard from the Junior champ for the day - "Where there is a will there is a relative"

The Quail Ridge and Kauri Open Pairs were held a week apart at Kerikeri and Dargaville respectively. Both competitions were 5A tournaments and it was noteworthy that a number of Intermediate players featured among the prize winners. Read more for photos.

Quail Ridge Open Pairs

Peter Pan and Wendy have to congratulate new Juniors Robyn and Dawn for choosing to enter the open tournament as THEIR VERY FIRST tournament, collecting a significant sponsors prize and staying to share a wine with the "hard core".

The Broome Family Pairs was held on September 2nd in our club rooms. Thanks to Jayne's generous sponsorship (not to mention the delicious food she brought), we were able to offer prizes for Open, Intermediate and Junior place-getters and the coveted "Tail End Charlie" prizes. Once again, the spread offered by the club was extraordinary, thanks to the donations from our playing members and the kitchen staff. Read more for photos of the prize winners, courtesy of Tel Hudson.

NEW - Kevin Grundy and his family are sponsoring 2 new tournaments! They are Intermediate and Junior Tournaments  on 14 October at the Whangarei Bridge Club. They are not in your book; however, they are on line for registrations.

They start at 10 am, bring your own lunch, and please bring something for morning tea. Questions ...

For the third time in consecutive tournaments - out of towners asked PP & W if they were a "couple" - PP's standard reply is "only when W puts down an excellent dummy".