Table Talk APRIL 2024

As usual, there's no particular order to the items in this newsletter, but let's start with what might be the most exciting news. Drum roll....

Saturdays Our club has joined forces with Sydney Bridge Centre (SBC) to offer a Saturday afternoon session. Many of you will recall that bridge used to be a regular feature of Henley on Saturday afternoons - firstly with Helen Sharwood & subsequently (when she sold her club to SBC) with SBC. Now we've joined forces & resources with SBC to satisfy what we hope is an appetite for Saturday bridge in this area.

So, commencing Saturday 1 June, bridge will be available at Henley. The session will run from 1.30pm to 4.30pm under the direction of our very competent Friday director, Sia Parsanejad. The session will be slightly more expensive than those run by HHBC, as we had to make a compromise which falls between our fees & those of SBC. Therefore, table money will be $18 for non members, $14 for members (of either club) & $10 for pensioners.

I do hope you will avail yourself of the opportunity to play on a Saturday. We'll be having a 12 week trial period, so we'd really like you to demonstrate your support for this initiative.

Club Pairs Championship This event was held in March. (Is it that long since I've sent out a Table Talk?) The winners were Brian Jacobson & Charles Fisher. Well done, boys!

Community Feedback Meeting re Henley Precinct. I must say that, after such an impressive rollup at the first meeting in February, the HHBC representation at the meeting in March was disappointing. I think there were only three of us there.

Anyway, the consultants have now outlined their "vision" for the precinct & while impressive, I'm not convinced it really takes into account the needs of our Club. Of course, the main concern is still the parking. There was talk of making the top carpark larger & removing the Return & Earn to another site altogether. I think the consultant said that she was hoping to accommodate 40 odd cars there. However, there will be no parking on the verge between the green & the Club where we currently have our disabled parking & there will be limited parking down the back. Disabled parking will likely be there (there'll be a lift up to our floor) & the rest of the space is supposed to provide a turning circle for community buses & delivery trucks. Interesting vision, isn't it? In addition, the toilets will be moved to where we currently have our office & what is now the kitchen will become a cafe.

I don't believe anything is going to happen in the near future as, apparently, it's grant dependent. However, I have made a submission to Council & its consultants regarding the age of our membership & the consequent need for parking. So, that's where we are at the moment.

Potential Young Bridge Players The Australian Bridge Federation is starting up a new initiative for young people aged 14-24 to learn bridge. I'm sure you would all agree that we really need to do everything we can to encourage young people to play this wonderful game we all love (& sometimes hate).

The course will be provided online on Wednesdays, 1, 8, 15 & 22 May at 7pm for about 1 hour each week. There will also be practice sessions each following Sunday from 11am-12pm. Registration for this free course will open on 1 April at https://bridgelounge.online/youth-bridge-registration/abf.com.au. There are some fliers floating around in the hall if anyone knows a suitable young person who might be interested.

Remember, grandchildren make great bridge partners.

Library Our lovely librarian, Sarah, has completed a stock take of our library & determined that there are 12 books missing. I'm hoping that they've just been borrowed by people who didn't know how to sign them out. If this is the case & you just happen to be one of those people, please return the book(s). Our library isn't exactly on a par with The Mitchell Library, but it's our little library & we'd like to keep it intact. We also don't want to have to start locking it up.

Sarah is also buying some new books which will primarily cater for the novice players.

Life Membership for Carol At our recent general meeting, Carol was voted life member. The meeting was held on a Monday, before bridge, which seems to be the best way to get you guys to attend a general meeting. (I'm thinking I might employ the same strategy for our next AGM, but I might just put it in the middle of a session so there's no escape!) Anyway, we had quite a few members at this meeting & I had people posted around the room to count the vote. I'm pleased to report that this was entirely unnecessary, as the vote was unanimous. Carol has been & continues to be, a great asset to this club & the honour of life membership, which shouldn't be bestowed lightly, is well deserved.

Fiona has some wins We have a clever secretary who has managed to secure a $1000 grant from Council. This money will be put toward the purchase of a projector & screen, primarily for use in delivering lessons, but also at our congress.

Buoyed by her success, Fiona then asked Council if they would provide curtains to reduce the glare in the hall. It seems that Fiona can't be denied, as Council has agreed to this as well.

Penny Daven I do love it when someone comes up to me & volunteers to do something which I've been assiduously ignoring for a long time. So, when Penny came to me a month ago & offered to wash all the tablecloths, I was very happy to accept her offer. The cloths had been in dire need of a wash. Penny duly took them all away over Easter & returned them in a pristine state. Thank you, Penny.

Pens Apparently, our pens have developed legs & are walking out the door. This is not a big deal as they're really not very expensive, but it's a pain for whoever gets the job of buying new ones. So, if you see any of our pens walking, would you please turn them around & tell them to go back to where they belong.

Price Increase for Red Points For many years, it's been the Club's practice to charge players an extra $2 when we hold qualifying events. This surcharge was intended to help cover the cost of sending qualifiers to represent the Club at the big events.

At a recent meeting, I proposed an across the board increase of table money by $2. (Our club really is very cheap.) Bina went into bat for you so, as a compromise, the Committee agreed on an increase of $2 for all red point events, i.e. not just the qualifying ones.

I still haven't given up on this particular mission but, for the meantime, $2 on red point events only is only a very slight increase. Interestingly, I was reminded the other day (thanks, Peter) that a game of bridge used to cost the same as a movie ticket. Well, there's no cost of living pressures coming from this club!

Kathie de Palo

PRESIDENT