May/June 2023 Volume 55, No. 3
President’s Message By Betty Starzec President District 16
F
rom what I have gathered, the NABC in New Orleans was a success with higher table counts than expected. Many friends enjoyed oysters and gumbo at the various great restaurants in NOLA. Just a quick shout out to everyone who did well at the tables but especially to James Zhan and Ying Peng of Sugar Land who won the Golden North American Pairs Flight B. Forgive me for singling them out, but I also live in Sugar Land so it’s a win for the home team! On a sad note, most of you have heard about the passing of Dan Morse. He served our bridge community for decades in various capacities. From District Director on the ACBL board to its President and work on the WBF, Dan supported bridge activities as well as being an expert player accumulating more than 31,000 along with many titles. Our condolences to Dan’s family. You can read more about Dan’s accomplishments in another article in this Scorecard. The Longest Day, the ACBL’s annual fundraising event to help support the fight against Alzheimer’s disease, will occur next month. This is the 10th anniversary of ACBL’s partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association which has raised almost $9 million! Per
Scorecard May/June 2023
ACBL: A player, simply playing at a club during the event will raise funds as the sanction fees go directly to the Alzheimer’s Association. In return, you’ll earn elevated masterpoints in The Longest Day games. Check with your local club for these special games. Our Saturday Lecture Series Program, instituted by Nancy Strohmer when she was President, has undergone another change. We welcome James Moody and Linda Griffith who will handle the English beginning and intermediate lectures beginning in May. Patricia Herrera will continue to handle the Spanish lecture. Producing these lectures takes a lot of organization to obtain speakers and materials. We thank James and Linda for taking on the coordination of this important program for the district. Welcome aboard! As you might have gathered from the first paragraph, I was not at the NABC in NOLA. I broke my right femur doing rehab at Houston Methodist for my second knee replacement in mid-February. It was a serious fracture requiring me to be non-weight bearing for eight weeks minimum. So, my focus is doing rehab for the next few (hopefully) months. Looking forward to seeing you at the tables.