August 2022 - 9

A MESSAGE
FROM THE
PRESIDENT
One of the best parts of this job is visiting regional tournaments around the
PRESIDENT
Joann Glasson
CHAIR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Georgia Heth
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Joe Jones
CHAIR, ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Doug Couchman
Board of Directors
Region 1 * Jonathan Steinberg
Region 2 * Mark Aquino
Region 4 * Margot Hennings
Region 5 * Dennis Carman
Region 6 * Barbara Heller
Region 9 * Paul Cuneo
Region 11 * David Lodge
Region 13 * Tim White
District 2 * Flo Belford
District 3 * Carlos Muñoz
District 4 * Joann Glasson
District 8 * Georgia Heth
District 9 * Jeff Overby
District 10 * Larry Sealy
District 11 * A.J. Stephani
District 14 * Deana Liddy
District 17 * Cindy Shoemaker
District 20 * Laurie Rowe
District 21 * Stu Goodgold
District 24 * David Moss
To contact a district director,
visit acbl.org/boardofdirectors.
ACBL and meeting the volunteers, directors and players who make those tournaments
special. It's been a busy year and I haven't had much time for traveling,
but in June, Bob and I went to the Flying Pig Regional in Cincinnati OH. This
tournament has been run by one of my colleagues on the Board, A.J. Stephani, for
seven or eight years, and 2022 was to be his last year as
tournament chair, so it was definitely worth the trip to
thank him for his contributions to the game.
The tournament was held in a beautiful, newly renovated
Marriott hotel. On Monday, there was a massive
thunderstorm and the power grid went down just as play
was ending for the afternoon. Bridge players were not at
all fazed and completed the last board aided by cellphone
flashlights. The directors stepped up and worked out how
to complete the scoring of the game without internet.
With no power, it was impossible for most participants
to stay in the hotel - particularly if you were
housed on the higher floors, because there were no
elevators and no lights in the stairways.
The hotel staff immediately started calling
all the area hotels to negotiate room rates for
the players. In no time, everyone was found
an alternative place to stay. A district board
meeting was scheduled for that evening, and
the hotel provided emergency lighting in the
room, and the meeting was held as though
nothing had happened.
The next morning, A.J. set up a command
Players at the Cincinnati Regional
play in the dark during a power
outage.
center in the lobby of the hotel instructing the
caddies on what to do, helping the tournament
directors with the movement of supplies to the
Cincinnati Bridge Center, which became the new venue for the tournament. The
transition was seamless, as bagels were provided by the ACBL for breakfast and
A.J. arranged for lunch delivery to the new location.
All the volunteers pitched in to ready the space to begin play the next day
without a hitch. Tables were set up in hallways, players sat on crates until chairs
could be delivered and there was a spirit of joy and camaraderie in the room that
emphasized the importance of our bridge community.
The experience reminded me why supporting
face-to-face bridge is so important. It's not
just that we play the most interesting game in
the world, it's the community that the game
brings together.
At the end, when I complimented A.J. on
how seamlessly he handled everything, he just
shrugged and said: " We're a community - this
is what we do. "
See you at the bridge table. Contact me with
any questions: joannglasson@msn.com.
JOANN GLASSON
Tournament chair A.J. Stephani with
caddies Gabby, Elenya and Grace
August 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
9
http://www.acbl.org/boardofdirectors
August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2022
