May 2020 - 22

Duty Calls

Chuck Wilkinson is 2019 Volunteer of the Year
BY CHIP DOMBROWSKI

When Russ Jones was ACBL president in 2019, he had two opportunities
to honor someone for service to bridge.
First, at the Spring NABC in Memphis,
as representative of the host district,
he got to present an award at the Goodwill Committee reception. Later, at the
end of the year, came his opportunity
to choose the Nadine Wood Volunteer
of the Year.
Both times, the same name was at
the top of his list: Chuck Wilkinson.
Wilkinson has been a volunteer in
the Jackson MS bridge community
for over 40 years, serving most of that
time as the Unit 138 representative on
the District 10 board. He chaired local
tournaments for many of those years
and represented the district on the
ACBL Board from 1991 to 2005.
It was in those roles that he made
an impression on Jones. "When I
joined the ACBL in the mid-1980s,
the tournaments in the Jackson area
were always well-organized and wellreceived by the players," Jones said.
"When I went to him as my board
representative, he was always attentive
and willing to work on a solution to my
problem. It was his example of leadership and service that I set as my goal
to imitate for the years I served on the
board."

22 Bridge Bulletin May 2020

Wilkinson expressed thanks to
Jones. "It is gratifying to have someone
recognize your contributions to the
ACBL bridge community, but I still feel
a little guilty knowing there are many
others much more deserving of the
award than I."
Wilkinson graduated from the U.S.
Air Force Academy and became an
officer. It was during his time in the
military that he learned bridge at
Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene TX,
where the great Esta Van Zandt played.
He then went to Emory University to
get a graduate degree in business and
worked for a few years in Mobile AL.
In 1976, Wilkinson returned to his
hometown of Jackson to work for
the state government, becoming the
chief investment officer for the state
pension plan. Soon after his return,
local club owner M.C. Reed persuaded
Wilkinson to become active in the
bridge club. He joined the board and
began chairing tournaments.
In the mid-'80s, Wilkinson took over
as a club owner and manager, became a
club director, and ran a game for about
20 years. He also taught for a few years.
"I was able to step aside as more and
better teachers came into our fold,"
Wilkinson said.
In the early '90s, when fear of neighborhood crime dampened the Jackson
club's attendance, Wilkinson led an
effort to relocate the club to a more
desirable area, soliciting financing and
overseeing construction.
"Naturally, all this work at the club

and unit level gave me the experience
and knowledge to be the Unit 138
representative to the District 10 board,
a position I have held since the early
'80s, except for the 15 years that I was
the District 10 representative on the
ACBL Board," Wilkinson said.
During his four decades of administrative leadership, Wilkinson served
as club president (in the '80s and in
2009), unit president and district
president (in the '80s and 2016-17). He
was even elected ACBL president for
2006, but resigned before taking office
because he lost his district re-election.
He continued as a trustee of the ACBL
employee pension fund until it was
abolished years after his time on the
Board.
Following Hurricane Katrina in
2005, Wilkinson chaired the district
Katrina Relief Fund, distributing contributions to rebuild clubs that were
devastated. Next came a committee
that studied declining district revenues in 2007.
Since 2007, he has chaired the tournament oversight committee, where
he remains active, ensuring regionals
comply with district policies.
"I have enjoyed my stewardship as
an ACBL volunteer," Wilkinson said.
"As younger members begin to assume
these various roles, I am most proud
that I helped establish a solid foundation upon which they could build."
◾
May 2020

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