Hello fellow bridge players. I am the new President of District 6. To those who don’t know me, I live in Northern Virginia with my wife, Avril. We are both bridge players and have supported bridge in many ways during the past 30 years. I am looking forward to helping District 6 in the months ahead.
My top priorities are to support bridge in District 6, as best we can, while the pandemic continues, and to help us return to face-to-face bridge when it is safe to do so.
Nobody knows when we will be able to return to face-to-face tournaments, but we need to plan as best we can. The ACBL has provided guidance, cancelling all tournaments for the next several months. We, in District 6 need to do our own planning. We have contracts with hotels for our upcoming Regionals, where we are potentially liable for large financial penalties if we do not meet our commitments. Shawn Stringer, our Regional Tournament Coordinator, has done a great job negotiating with the hotels to avoid such situations. We have cancelled our contracts for Richmond next May and Baltimore for next August, with no penalties, while agreeing with hotel management that we will revisit the situation when the time is right and life returns to normal. Shawn is in the midst of similar negotiations with Reston for next July and Cambridge for November 2021.
Meanwhile, District 6 will be having an on-line regionally rated event, the Grand Nationals Teams, early in 2021. Bill Cole, our Grass Roots Events Coordinator, has done a great job in organizing the event. Please find your teams and sign up!!
I would like to compliment my predecessor, Jane Farthing, who worked tirelessly for us, while she was President. Jane continues to be on our board of directors as past president, and I frequently ask her advice.
Stay Safe !!