The first local tournaments for the year were recently held in Kerikeri. On Saturday, January 14th, the Bay of Islands Craigs Open Swiss Pairs was held and Whangarei players held down 3 of the top four places. Placing 1st were Jane Stearns and Ant Hopkins (who has recently joined our club as an associate member) while Neil Ruddell and Margaret Hooson were 3rd and Patsy Walters and Lee Walters came in 4th.

Our Prize giving celebrations were held on December 10th this year. This year, we managed to find winners for all categories as Covid finally receded in the rearview mirror. The photos below (thanks Tel) were taken of our President, Lee Walters, handing out the hardware.

During one of the recent heavy wind and rain events, water penetrated the roof and caused significant damage to the catering area and storage room (see below for photos). Hopefully, insurance will cover the internal damage but the roof may be a different story. The Committee has the situation in hand but, unfortunately, the repairs are likely to take a considerable time. Consequently, we ask for your patience as we proceed.

On Saturday, November 26th, the club held a charity tournament for the benefit of the St John Society, in recognition of their generous donation of the portable electronic defibrillator that you can see installed in the front porch of the club rooms.  In addition to the tournament, the club ran a raffle and a trading table for weeks prior to the event.

A great time was had by all and over $1500 was raised for the cause! See below for photos of the winners.

Bits and Pieces of Reminders

This year 5(!) of our members represented the Auckland/Northland region in the Interprovincial Tournament. Jane Stearns won selection on the Women's team while Alan Pumfleet, Juliet Golightly, Kim Thomas and Kevin Grundy comprised two of the three pairs on the intermediate team. Over 3 exhausting days, the teams played 12, 12-board matches against extremely strong competition for the Dougal McLean trophy. The women's team crushed their opposition with a record of 11-0-1 while the intermediate team struggled but still managed a respectable 3-2-7 record.

Richard is running a single session at 10am on Saturday 5 November at the Club rooms. It is aimed at people who have completed a beginners' course in the last couple of years and would like to know more. The topics are basic bidding and card play. If you are interested in improving your play, just turn up.

On 6 August, Whangarei played host to Dargaville, Kerikeri and Pahia for the Northland Teams Trophy. This comprises three Round Robin tournaments, Junior, Intermediate and Open between the four clubs. The result was close with each club winning several rounds but the final scores had Whangarei winning all three grades. This also gave Whangarei the overall trophy.

The picture shows the three winning teams with their trophies. (Stewart had to dash off before the presentation.)

The Teams were

The Committee presented flowers to two of its members today.  Our longstanding Club Captain Janice Johnson reached a signifcant milestone, celebrating her 80th birthday.  Deputy Club Captain Jane Stearns was at her final committee meeting and was thanked for her contribution to the club.