January 2006 - 6

Viewpoint
By Brent Manley

When everyone is looking for gold, it's a good
time to be in the pick and shovel business.
- Mark Twain

Introductions
When I was in high school, I didn't know anything about bridge. I liked
card games. My grandmother regularly played canasta and its variant, Bolivia, and I knew about gin rummy and what hands were good in poker.
No one in my household played bridge, however, nor did any of my
friends. I learned the game after being drafted right out of college.
I was assigned to language school in El Paso TX, and I sat in class eight
hours a day. During breaks, some of the other soldiers would jump up and
gather around a small table, standing up.
I discovered that they were playing bridge. I bought a book about the
game so I could join in. All through my Army hitch, I played bridge, even
in Vietnam.
I bring this up because when I attended my 40th high school class reunion in Pensacola FL not long ago, I was surprised to find a number of
current and prospective players among my classmates.
My cousin Jan Watson Hey, who lives in Louisville KY, is an ACBL
member and a semi-regular tournament player. She had lots of stories about
her adventures with a partner, who is, shall we say, "interesting."
Tina Baehr Bond, a math professor at Pensacola Junior College, told me
that when she retires, she wants to become a champion player. She's brainy,
and she seems determined, so I expect to be publishing her name in this
magazine one day.
Then there is Nancy Gilmore Buck. I have always remembered Nancy
from our class of 1965, in part because of the powder blue Ford Mustang
her parents gave her as a graduation present. I was green with envy.
At the reunion, I heard Nancy's entertaining stories about how she got into
bridge. It seems that her husband, Steve Buck, was a duplicate player when
they lived in Meridian MS many years ago. Nancy wasn't terribly interested
in the game - until she and Steve went to see The Exorcist in 1973.
The movie scared her silly, and her anxiety was compounded by the fact
that the Buck family, including an infant son, lived at the end of a street
near the woods.
Nancy started playing bridge, she recalls, to avoid having to stay at home
alone with young Todd while Steve played bridge. She laughs at herself
today, but she doesn't regret learning to play.
The bottom line, of course, is that it isn't so important how people
become involved in our game - only that they do. Even so, I would like
to hear from readers with "interesting" or unusual introductions to bridge,
especially duplicate.
Send your tales to editor@acbl.org.
❏
© 2006 by American Contract Bridge League. All rights reserved. Contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in any manner
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discretion, to refuse any advertisement.

6

Letters to
the Editor
Her hero
To the Editor:
Hear ye! Hear ye! Lend me your
ear. This is a story about someone
so dear! His name is Dick Anderson, past president of the Canadian
Bridge Federation.
He is one of the most knowledgeable and generous patrons of our
Regina Bridge Club. As well as
being a mentor to many of us, he
also notices our personal bridge
needs. This past regional held in
Saskatoon SK, I needed gold points
to become a Life Master.
Did I have to go to a pro and
hire one? No! Dick came to me and
asked if I would like to play with
him. He would put a team together
to help me to earn my gold card.
Was I thrilled? I was overwhelmed!
Needless to say this wonderful
gentleman and his team helped
me become a Life Master. I am so
thankful that I can call this kind,
generous person a friend. My greatest wish is that every club in North
America has a Dick Anderson.
MAVIS ORPEN
Regina SK

Feeling welcome
To the Editor:
Last summer, I was visiting Fort
Lauderdale from the Bahamas and
visited the Fort Lauderdale Bridge
Club with my bridge partner. We
were made to feel welcome by all
the players, and I want to let the
club's president, Mary Short, know
how grateful we are.
Bridge Bulletin
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2006
