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LINCOLNSHIRE NEWSLETTER February 2005

ENCLOSURES
In your envelope you should receive a) This newsletter, and b) Championship brochure – entry form and menus. (Cheques to be made out to Lincolnshire CBA & sent to the Treasurer)

IMPORTANT
The Vincents (Ladies pairs and Mens pairs) Sunday Feb 20th Due to circumstances beyond our control the venue has changed to HEIGHINGTON VILLAGE HALL

SUBS Sub renewal form was in February EBU mag. Make sure cheques are made out to Lincolnshire CBA unless you pay by direct debit.

At the A.G.M. held last September, new officers were elected. Chairman -- John Gaunt; Secretary – Glyn Elwick; Competition Secretary – Stuart Knox; John Vickers still continues as Treasurer.
There was a good turn-out for the A.G.M. pairs afterwards, won by Mike Grant & Lawrence Taffinder who will be the first recipients of the new cup given by Bill & Eileen Herbert for this event.
Roy Hughes has stepped down after being County secretary for the last 13 years. He had also been County Captain for 20 years. His dedication has been much appreciated. However, he is now vice-chairman so keeps his interest in the County going.
Bill Herbert served 11 years as Competition secretary, quite a record for this position, and was also a dedicated officer and like Roy, remains on the committee as the Heighington rep..
At the AGM Roy and Bill were presented with gifts of appreciation and bouquets for their wives.
At the County meeting the next day, Elaine Proctor was elected Master Point Secretary and Alan Brown as County Captain. Elected to the Captains Committee were Mike Grant (Vice-captain), Maurice Ladlow, Maurice Lynn and John Gaunt ex-offico. Elaine has been MPS for nearly 30 years and is the longest serving member.

This season had 10 teams entered for the Lincoln Gold, 9 for the Davy and 6 teams in both leagues.
The 4 teams who have qualified for the Gold semi-final are Andy King v Dave Pettengell/Glyn Elwick and Alan Brown v Bill Parsons.
All teams eliminated in the preliminary/first round can enter the Plate.
The teams in the semi-final of the Davy are Mike Grant v Bill Parsons and Stuart Knox v Roy Hughes
All matches to be played by 6th March 2005.

The National Pairs heat, together with the Restricted Pairs, was held Sept 29th. The Restricted Pairs had the lowest entry ever – only 8 pairs! The restriction is no more than 1* Master (below 15,000) and open to non-members so it is baffling why such a low entry.
The Lincoln Imp Oct 10th also restricted to below 2* Master, had another disappointing entry of only 5 teams – the same as the previous year. Perhaps it is time to review this competition. Any helpful suggestions welcome.
The Mixed/Married Pairs Oct 24th had 13 tables and was won by Ted & Brenda Goodacre
Swiss Teams Nov 14th had a reasonable entry of 16 teams, Andy King, Alan Brown, Andrew Green and Dennis Mellor won on split tie from Mo Parsons, Maurice Ladlow, Ron Wall and Brian Smith.
Ghost Pairs Dec 5th had a good entry and thanks to Staurt Knox for preparing the hands and scoring afterwards. Having helped to check the results this time, I was amazed how much work it entailed. Two travellers went missing, two pairs didn't leave their score cards, but the surprise was how many IMP conversions were incorrect, (adding a minus on to a plus instead of deducting it and visa versa). As every score has to be checked it takes a few hours. N/S winners Maurice Ladlow & Mo Parsons, E/W Ron Wall & Brian Smith.

Tollemache qualifying November 27/28 2004

The team had a good draw this year, but things did not go right. Lincs was represented by Maurice Ladlow/Mo Parsons, Alan/Drene Brown, Mike Grant/Tony Waine, Nick Dyer/Mike Perry and Dave Pettengell/Paul Wokes. Non-playing captain was Dennis Mellor.

OPEN TRIALS

Sunday, 8th May at Dunholme, has been booked for the above event. This year there will be NO PRE-ENTRY but participants are asked to be there by 1.20pm to sort out the movement. The winners will be invited to the closed trials.

SEMINAR
For all up and coming players there is to be a teach-in/seminar – date to be arranged – together with playing and analysing hands. This is open to all – don’t worry if you haven’t a partner.
Please contact John Gaunt by 4th March. Telephone 01507 522566 or e-mail john.gaunt@farmline.com

Forthcoming Events

February 20th Vincents Heighington Village Hall
March 13th Bainton Final Dunholme
April 3rd Garden Cities heat Dunholme
April 23/24th County Championships Hemswell
July 3rd Charles Heward Tropy Dunholme This competition is ideal for beginners/improvers to have a go, is open to non-members and players below the rank of Master, except for the Captain who can be any rank. Should a lapsed member play, if they previously had obtained a rank then it is deemed that they still hold that level.
July 10th Friendly match v Norfolk Spalding County Captains committee will be inviting players nearer the date.

All information and results are on the County website www.lincsbridge.org.uk

Bidding Boxes Attention is drawn to item 7 in the Orange Book, (7.3.6) under procedures.
“At the end of the auction the calls should remain in place until the opening lead has been faced and all explanations have been obtained, after which they should be returned to their boxes.” Have you noticed that even the most experienced of players immediately return bids to the box as soon as the auction has ended!

A reminder to all regarding convention cards, as published in the county calendar.
“Each member of a partnership should have an identical card made out and ready for inspection by opponents.
This is MANDATORY for those taking part in the Lincoln Gold, Davey Cup, League Division 1, National Pairs and the County Trials”

On Monday 3rd January, Maurice Ladlow was taken to hospital with a heart attack. Fortunately, this was not as bad as first feared and he was home by Friday evening. Obviously, he has to take it easy at the moment but no doubt he will be back amongst us soon at the table. You can’t keep a good man down. We wish him well.

Sally Cook made the Random Seeded Teams on 6th Feb her final event before taking a well earned rest. We shall miss her cheerfulness and friendly directing. She has directed our events for a considerable number of years and is wished a very happy retirement. A bouquet of flowers was presented to her with our thanks and good wishes.

Any news or items of interest from around the County, including any appropriate photographs, would be appreciated. The editor of the E.B.U. mag is always happy to include snaps – you will have seen the Lincs one re the Warks match in the December mag. Please contact Drene Brown, press officer, 01724 874231 e-mail alandrene.brown@tiscali.co.uk.

Priorities
A hundred years from now it will not matter what hand I held, what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in or the kind of car I drove but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.

Congratulations to our Hon Life member, Margaret Balch, who was 90 years young on 16th January.