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By Chuck Wilkinson,
District 10 Representative to the ACBL Board of Directors
December 13, 2000
A. The Tournament.
One of the topics that inspire a lively debate in meetings of the ACBL
Board of Directors is the criterion by which NABC sites are selected.
Some members of the board feel that NABCs should be restricted only to
large convention cities; other members of the board feel that some
smaller convention sites should be interspersed regularly in the
rotation. As a proponent of the latter group, my concerns center on the
affordability of NABCs to the average player and giving members living
outside of major metropolitan areas a chance to attend a NABC within
driving distance of their home.
The Birmingham NABC brought that philosophical difference to the
forefront. Clay Hall, Ann West, and the Birmingham volunteer group were
simply marvelous. The compliments on the hospitality provided by the
locals flowed freely and were, without exception, lavish. They did a
super job. This was a tremendous tournament for the average bridge
player, The cost for lodging and food were far below the average for an
NABC. For players in the mid-south, it was an excellent opportunity to
attend a NABC within driving distance of their home. However, many of
the regular NABC attendees were very critical of
the site. The complaints included a lack of sufficient staff and food
service at the host hotel, no restaurants within walking distance of the
playing site, and inadequate taxi service. The locals did provide for
free buses to outside restaurants for the players, but they were little
used after the first weekend.
Final attendance was 8,214 tables. This was about midway in between the
7,500 tables predicted by the Chief Tournament Director, but below the
estimate of 9,000 planned by management. While I have no statistics to
back it up, I was disappointed by the attendance of District 10 players
to this NABC. Many of our regional tournament regulars just did not
attend. Obviously, this weakens the arguments to hold more NABCs outside
of major metropolitan convention cities.
B. Sad News.
All of us mourn the passing of Jane Johnson, 67. Jane was Manager of the
Club/Membership Department at ACBL headquarters. She died in Birmingham
in her hotel room sometime during Wednesday night, November 15, 2000.
Despite
suffering from the late stages of cancer, she was manning her post at
the meetings of the ACBL Board of Directors. She served the organization
to which she had devoted so much of her later life right up to the very
end. If you measure a person's legacy by the dedication and the
thoroughness with which they went about their job, few will be able to
measure up to Jane. I have few heroes in life, but Jane was certainly is
one of them.
C. Elections and Appointments.
Jim Kirkham, San Bernardino, CA (District 22) was elected ACBL President
for 2001. He was unopposed.
Three candidates were running for two slots as ACBL Representatives to
the World Bridge Federation. They were:
Virgil Anderson (Incumbent),
Springfield MO (District 15)
Alan LeBendig, Los Angeles CA
(District 23)
George Retek (Incumbent), Montreal
(District 1)
George Retek and Alan LeBendig were elected. The ACBL has 5
representatives to the WBF. The other 3 representatives are:
Joan Gerard, White Plains, NY
(District 3)
Dan Morse, Houston, TX (District 16)
Nadine Wood, Silver Springs, MD
(District 6).
Norman Kay and Jane Johnson were elected as 2001 ACBL Honorary Members
of the Year.
Sami Kehela, Dan Morse, and Beth Palmer were appointed for 5-Year terms
to the ACBL Laws Commission beginning 01/01/01.
Mike Becker was appointed for a 3-Year term to the Bridge Hall of Fame
Committee beginning 08/01/00.
Peter Rank was selected as ACBL League Counsel, effective 11/15/00. He
replaces Jeff Polisner, who had indicated that he wanted to resign since
being selected as Legal Counsel for the World Bridge Federation. I was
on the search committee to find Jeff's replacement. I came away with two
strong impressions from the search. First, the ACBL owes a huge debt of
gratitude to Jeff Polisner for his many years of service to the ACBL.
Second, I was highly impressed at the quality of the applicants for the
position.
Louise Wiegman of Mesa, AZ and John Keech of Victoria, BC were approved
as the 2001 Goodwill Members of the Year.
The following were elected for a 3-year term beginning 08/01/00 to the
Bridge Hall of Fame Nominating Committee:
Eastern Zone - Bill Passell John
Solodar
Central Zone - Carol Sanders
Western Zone - Bruce Ferguson John Swanson
Howard Piltch was reelected a Trustee to the ACBL Charity Foundation for
a 4-year term beginning 01/01/01. He was unopposed.
Dudley Brown, Jeffrey Cross, and Bruce Reeve were elected Trustees to
the ACBL Educational Foundation for 3-year terms beginning 01/01/01.
D. Major Agenda Items.
The most important item on the agenda was the 2001 budget. To meet our
self-imposed requirement to achieve a break-even budget, the following
changes were implemented:
1. The second qualifying pair from each district for the
NAOP will receive only a travel subsidy.
2. The travel awards for Instant Matchpoint Game winners
were eliminated.
3. Attendance at NABC volunteer dinners is restricted to
the local volunteers, plus the ACBL CEO, ACBL President, the hosting
District Director and their spouses.
4. The prizes for the North American 49er Pairs were
eliminated.
5. The subsidy for attendance at the Junior Bridge Festival
in Holland was eliminated.
6. Club table fees were raised from $0.60 to $0.65
effective 04/01/01.
7. Regional tournament table sanction fees were raised from
$4.30 to $4.45 effective 04/01/01.
8. Sectional tournament table sanction fees were raised
from $3.00 to $3.11, effective 04/01/01.
9. STaC tournament table sanction fees were raised from
$2.30 to $2.38, effective 04/01/01.
10. The ACBL Board of Directors trimester stipend is reduced
from $750 to $500.
11. The ACBL President's expense allowance for 2001 is reduced
from $50,000 to $40,000.
12. Membership dues for Patron Members are raised from $150
to $200.
13. The ACBL Junior Bridge Camps are eliminated.
The Sidney H. Lazard, Jr. Sportsmanship Award is established to
recognize those players who exhibit admirable ethical behavior and a
strong sense of fair play at the highest level of bridge. Sidney Lazard
introduced this idea and he will fund it.
The makeup of the Ethical Oversight Committee was overhauled to reduce
it to 15 members (from a larger number) and change the terms of office
from lifetime appointments to 3-year terms.
The ACBL may now sanction bridge events that run a concurrent calcutta.
A U.S. Bridge Federation will be incorporated in order to facilitate
application for membership in the U.S. Olympic Federation.
A 2-year trial of allowing clubs to conduct one Club Appreciation Team
Game during the month of October was approved. The event will be
sectionally rated and shall award black points. 5% of all masterpoints
(up to 0.25) of the point award shall be gold.
Charity events held at tournaments must pay a sanction fee to the ACBL.
On a two-year trial, concurrent with the Spingold, there will be a
mini-Spingold Knockout held with conditions similar to the Spingold. The
event will begin the same day as the Spingold and continue for not more
than five days. There will be two flights, 0-5000 and 0-1500.
Chuck
Wilkinson
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