Petoskey           Duplicate   Bridge Center
       (PDBC) 

July 11 was a day for celebrating.

We celebrated a historic crowd for the day's play -- 26 tables that overflowed the main room and needed two tables in the learning center.

We celebrated the volunteers who keep the club moving smoothly and happily.

We celebrated a lot of red/black points -- just over 38  -- won in the ACBL-wide International Fund Game.

Our Tuesdays have been busy ever since we started the game for players with less than 100 points. They grew when we changed that to under 200 points and again when we added the Open section. And the first Tuesday after July 4 always seems to be very well-attended.

But we haven't had a crowd of over 100 players since a Pro-Am a couple of years ago.

This Tuesday we had 14 tables in the under-200 section and 12 in the Open. That kept Dale Thayer and Larry Willis busy with the setup and the director calls.

Before play began, Jonathan Friendly got the players to move to the East porch of the club for a new group portrait (above). Our last one had been five years earlier. Adele Sjoberg was the queen in the center, seated on our unusual Queen chair.

Then Larry thanked all of the volunteers who help out every day -- bringing food, replenishing supplies, leading courses and seminars. They stood for a nice round of applause.

The day's play was part of ACBL's effort to raise money to support participation by North American teams in International tournaments. That meant that the hands we played were being played at hundreds of other clubs around the country and thus qualified for red as well as black points.

As an extra bonus, we were able to hand out sheets of analysis by bridge columnist Frank Stewart, explaining each hand's possibilities.

A very rich day of play indeed!