ACBL Unit 431, District 19, Victoria BC
Our list shows in what year Victoria players (319 of them) became Life Masters. It covers the period between 1962 and 2023 and is updated yearly. You’ll find the full list under Members.
Quick trivia question: When did our current Unit president become a Life Master? Hint: it’s been a while.
You can also look at Masterpoint Milestones (also under Members) to see who’s moved up the Masterpoint ranks, from Junior Master to Grand Life Master. Updated every month!
Unit 431 held its Annual General Meeting on February 16th 2024, via Zoom.
Two new board members were elected by acclamation for 2-year terms:
The president welcomed both to the board. He also thanked outgoing Inventory Coordinator Madeleine Tremblay for her service.
The list of board members, including photos (for most of them), can be found on the Unit’s website, bridgevictoria.ca, under Governance.
An announcement was sent on January 21st via ACBL’s email service (Pianola) to all 406 members with valid emails . 73% (297) opened the email and presumably read it. A reminder, which included the link for the Zoom meeting was sent to the same group on February 13th. 266 people opened the email.
Only ten people actually showed up for the AGM. We reached quorum (20), after phoning around for volunteers.
It’s disappointing that less than 4% of Unit members feel sufficiently motivated to attend the AGM. Perhaps the they are put off by the format (Zoom) which is unfamiliar to many. The board will be trying to bring back an in-person AGM next year. As with previous live AGMs it will include a bridge game, as well as free pizza.
We have updated our online member directory. In addition to 400 Unit 431 members, the directory contains another 160 Victoria area duplicate bridge players who have asked to be included.
Each player entry includes their name, phone number, email address and BBO handle when available.
The directory is available to registered users who can gain access after going to the website, bridgevictoria.ca and then logging in. If you need instructions on the login procedure, click here.
If you’re not yet registered and wish to do so, click on this link.
Our Masterpoint Milestones page is updated monthly with the names of Unit 431 members who attain new levels in the rankings.
November awardees include a new Sapphire Life Master as well as two Silver Life Masters.
Find out who they are by clicking here.
The day that Sandra Fraser attained the rank of Grand Life Master (GLM) there were 3 other GLMs playing at the Monterey Bridge Club in Victoria, BC to help her celebrate. All are Canadian Champions!
Sandra Fraser:
Victoria’s bridge scene is vibrant. The two local bridge clubs running ACBL games are popular. The Monterey Bridge Club, under the direction of Nicole Dupuis, is flourishing post-pandemic with between 16 – 23 tables twice a week.
Greater Victoria has a population of 400,000 and now boasts 7 Grand Life Masters!
These include Doug Fraser, Rhonda Foster, Gerry McCully, Duncan H. Smith, Michael J. Roche, James McAvoy (Aug 2022), and Sandra Fraser (Feb 2023).
Congratulations, Sandra and Jim, Victoria’s newest Grand Life Masters!
By Catherine Mustafa
Originally published in the ACBL Bulletin, May 2023
Reproduced here by permission of the author
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a bridge director on a cruise ship?
Jon and Caroline Preston have been doing it for several years. 
Jon recently published an article in the American Bridge Teachers’ Association magazine which is reproduced below for your reading pleasure. Note that this is a scan from the paper copy of the magazine. If you prefer downloading a possibly more legible text-only version, click here.
Note: to zoom or change pages, mouse over the document and follow instructions at bottom of page.
Many local players will recall seeing our Unit’s historical records displayed at VBC when it was located on Head Street.
These records include Unit presidents since 1956, Life Masters since 1962, as well as the impressive trophy rack.
Unfortunately we now have no physical location to keep and display these mementos of past achievements.
All is not lost, however. We have uploaded the lists onto our website (bridgevictoria.ca) where you will find them in the “Members” section.
Both lists are easily searchable, so if you happen to be wondering who was president in, say, 1973, it will only take you a few seconds to find out.
As to the trophies, we will be photographing them and adding the pictures to the site in the near future. For a preview of what this might look like, have a look at the Kirkwood Trophy.
We welcome any suggestions you might have.
Our favourite director, Matt Smith (now retired), was inducted into ACBL’s Hall of Fame in 2020. However, because of Covid, the ceremony was only held recently on November 28, 2022.
Here’s a Youtube video of the event.
Here are the results from the survey conducted last month.
We sent out an email to all Unit members on Saturday morning, asking you to take a whole minute (and maybe two, if you’re adding comments) of your time to help us understand why people were’t coming back to the bridge table. Then maybe we could try to do something about it.
So far (Sunday 9 pm), we’ve received only 21 responses from our 456 paid-up Unit 431 ACBL members.
Pretty paltry, right? Surely we can do better!
So, if you care about the future of duplicate bridge in Victoria, please click here and take the one-minute painless survey.
No personal information is collected in the survey and we’re not trying to sell you anything. You have nothing to lose and you’ll feel good about doing your part to maintain duplicate bridge in our area.
If you have any qualms or misgivings, feel free to reach out to our president, Maureen Trappe by emailing her at president@bridgevictoria.ca.
Thanks!
The Unit 431 Board.
All three ACBL-affiliated local clubs have reinstated face-to-face bridge! You can find their schedules here.
You may be looking for a partner to play with. One easy way is to use our online directory, accessible to all registered Victoria players, whether they’re ACBL members or not. In April 2021, I sent all players their personal username and password to allow access. You can also use your email if you have forgotten your username.
First, go to our website, bridgevictoria.ca. Once you’re there, you can reach the directory by clicking on the “Log in” item in the top menu. As soon as you’re logged in, you will be taken to the directory.
If you have forgotten your password, no worries, you can request a new one at this point.
Note that the directory is searchable. Just type a few letters of the person’s first or last name in the directory search box to narrow down your search. It’s a lot easier than scrolling down.
Before you leave, here are a couple of tips you might find useful:
1) Getting the latest news automatically
The website consists of pages and posts. Pages contain relatively permanent information, such as the list of board members, games on BBO, Masterpoint Milestones, etc. They are updated regularly, but unless you go onto them, you won’t know.
This is where posts come in. Posts are short announcements, found under “What’s New”. They will inform you of new developments such as new events or updates to pages. If you don’t want to miss any, you can choose to receive them by email by clicking on the Subscribe button, at the bottom of each page. Currently, over 300 Victoria players are subscribed to this service.
Posts have a publication date, author and other info in the header, as in this example:
Notice the publication date (March 16, 2022), the post author and categories. If you’re logged in, you can add a comment, by clicking on the speech bubble (
) which currently shows two comments for this post.
2) Finding anything on the website
There is a Search box on every page. Just type in a relevant word or short phrase. For example, “Christmas” to look at pictures of past Christmas parties.
3) Your questions and comments
If you have any questions or comments for the board, or need any help using the website, just click on a “Contact Us” button, found on every page. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
Leavenworth, Wa successfully reinvented itself as a Bavarian town in the 1960’s after logging petered out and the railroad moved out of town. It was never known as a mining town, yet there’s gold to be found in them thar hills and our four plucky miners struck the mother lode!
Congratulations to Gail Richardson, Danielle Goulet, Jill Plasteras and Madeleine Tremblay for their win in the Edelweiss Knockout which gave them 14.58 gold points. Coupled with another 6.08 in the Alpenhorn KO, and sundry points from other events they collected well over 20 points, all gold. Well done, ladies!
Eddie Crews of Sidney was another successful prospector, garnering 9.86 gold in Gold Rush events.
We are saddened by the recent passing of well-known Victoria player Emrys Evans. He was 92 when he died on Christmas day.
You can find more details including a link to the obituary on our In Memoriam page, in the Members section of our website.
If you wish to add a short tribute, please send it to the webmaster.
Note that entries are sorted in reverse chronological order (most recent first).
I hope that got your attention. You will recognize it of course as the Marine’s recruiting slogan which they have been using since 1789, but clearly outdated in these more enlightened times.
Unit 431 is actually looking for a few good volunteers, regardless of gender, to fill vacant board positions for 2022. The election will be held at the Annual General Meeting at the end of February. In the meantime, however, our Nominating Committee would like to hear from people interested in giving back a little to the Victoria bridge community.
Becoming a Board member will provide you with an opportunity to bring creative ideas and suggestions forward to improve bridge in our community. The board meets approximately 8 times a year. We will be happy to describe open board positions and explain how you could help the Unit fulfill its role. If it’s not your cup of tea, no worries, we won’t badger you. But we would appreciate the opportunity to talk to you.
All you have to do is to click here. One of the Nominating Committee members* will give you a call back at a time of your choosing.
If you want to see what kind of work is involved, please take a look at our newly updated Board Job Descriptions. You can also consult recent Board Minutes or talk to current Board members.
Two Victoria clubs have now reopened for your live playing enjoyment. Since it’s been a while that we haven’t played together, you might want to review our bridge etiquette tips in the sidebar on the right.
All paid-up members should have received an email from Unit 431 detailing on how both clubs are currently operating, including COVID protocols. The information is reproduced below.
From Roy (Island Bridge Club):
Hello bridge community,
It’s been a tough slog for the world these last two years but I’d like to share a little ray of light from my corner of the world. After much discussion, Broadview United Church has allowed me to continue renting, but at their Arbutus Site on 2625 Arbutus Rd., just a few minutes away from the old St. Aidan’s site. The location is a spacious gym that does have a kitchen so when Health Guidelines allow, coffee and cookies will be back. As of now, I’ll be working hard to keep things safe for the players with masks required the whole session, an initial check for double vaccination, and lots of cleaning before and after each session.
For now, the online games will remain unchanged until people are comfortable transitioning to face to face play. I was open in a limited capacity on October 25 and from now on will run games on Monday, Thursday, and Friday at 12:30 pm ending by around 4 pm. For the week of November 8, customer loyalty cards will be on the house as I know many cards won’t have survived the pandemic and card fees will be $10 a person. For those point hunters, this next week is an Upgraded Club Championship which means extra black points at no extra cost.
There is no need to pre-register as I will have a list of names from the ACBL gamefile for contact tracing purposes so the game will be pure drop-in though you can reserve a N/S if you like by calling or emailing me. I’m excited to be working again and can’t wait for the day when I can see you in person, enjoying the game we all have such a passion for.
Roy and Justine Stefaniec, Owners, Island Bridge Club
From Nicole (Monterey Bridge Club):
The Face to face games at Monterey are Tuesday and Saturday 12:15PM. Please arrive 15 minutes before the game. In the first week of November, there were 7 tables on Tuesday and 6 on Saturday.
We will be alternating between the 2 sets of bidding boxes, 2 boxes of pencils and the many sets of boards to prevent the chance of the spread of the virus.
If you need a partner, please let me know or go to “Find a Partner” on Monterey’s website. Be careful when you require a partner for Saturday. There are 2 games, the Face to Face and the BBO games. You can also sign up for a partner on this page.
Show your proof of double vaccination at the Front Desk.
I would appreciate if you let me know you are coming, who is your partner and if you require a north/south. You can also just show up!
If you live close by and you are available to fill in at the last minute, please email me. I need a list of “spares”.
We will need to adhere to COVID guidelines and the following precautions are in place:
– Players need to show the Monterey Rec Centre Front Desk proof of being double vaccinated.
– Masks are to be worn at all times in the building
– E/W players will carry their sanitized bidding boxes with them to the next table
– There will be hand sanitizers at each table
– Fern Cafe is open so there will be a break before 2PM therefore we will play 26 boards
– Players and a partner may pre-register with me, benicha@gmail.com but you don’t have to.
Virtual games on BBO will continue to run under the Monterey Club on Thursdays and Saturday at 12:15PM.
Should you have any information you wish to share with Victoria’s bridge community, please click on the “Contact Us” button, found on all pages of the website.
As mentioned in a previous post, our Unit member directory is now exclusively online, and with over 700 entries, it’s a great resource to help you communicate with other local players. The directory includes BBO handles, when available.
Our short quiz ran for the last two weeks and was designed to help members familiarize themselves with the directory.
Participation in the quiz was decidedly modest, with only 13 Victoria players submitting entries. The participants mostly did very well with 6 of them obtaining perfect scores. Each receives a free play, valid on BBO. The winners are (in alphabetical order):
Congratulations to our winners and thanks to all who participated.
As a reminder, the directory is private and accessible only by registered Victoria players, all of whom received a personal username and password in April. You can also use your email instead of your username when logging in. If you have forgotten your password (no worries, it happens!), simply request a new one from the login screen. And if you need help, just click on the “Contact Us” button on the right side of every page on the website.
The latest Bridge Buzz, Unit 431’s newsletter, is now available on our website.
You’ll find it of course on the Bridge Buzz page, under Members.
And for your convenience, here’s a direct link to said page.
Madeleine Tremblay, BB Editor and our Communications Coordinator, will be happy to receive your feedback at communications@bridgevictoria.ca
Masterpoint Milestones have been updated as of September 1.
This month’s awardees include new gold, silver and bronze lifemasters!
At the beginning of each month, ACBL sends us the list of new masterpoint rank holders for the previous month.
To find out who our new life master is, go to the Masterpoint Milestones page, located under “Members” in the top menu of Unit 431’s website, bridgevictoria.ca. You will also see what other players are climbing up the masterpoint ranks.
Should you have any questions or comments regarding Masterpoint Milestones or other aspects of our website, please click on the “Contact Us” button in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
At the start of each month, ACBL sends us the list of new masterpoint rank holders for the previous month.
Our updated roster includes a new Bronze Life Master and a new Life Master. For the full picture, go to the Masterpoint Milestones page, located under “Members” in the top menu of Unit 431’s website, bridgevictoria.ca.
Should you have any questions or comments regarding Masterpoint Milestones or other aspects of our website, please click on the “Contact Us” button in the upper right-hand corner of the page.