March 2024 - 32

CLUB News
Orlando clubs move
By Pieter VanBennekom
for Feb. 2 with an open house including
both free food and a free duplicate
game.
NOBC will offer afterThe
new home of the North Orlando Bridge Center
Just before Christmas, the North
Orlando Bridge Center (NOBC)
finalized a deal to get its own location
where the club can offer games, lessons
and even sectional tournaments
any time it wants, which co-manager
Glen Martin calls " a dream becoming
a reality once again.
" The local bridge-playing community
has been gifted. This is truly a Christmas
gift, " said Martin, who runs the
NOBC with partner Perry Poole. " We
are leasing a very attractive space. "
The club scheduled its first event
Sky High Director
By Roger Saul | Manager, Logan
County Bridge Club
At the onset of the pandemic, in
May 2020, friends from the Logan
County, Lima and Marion OH duplicate
bridge clubs, joined forces to have
a shared, biweekly virtual game via
Bridge Base Online. This game continued
even after face-to-face games
Roy Green
By Dottie King | Jacksonville FL
Roy Green is 93 years young with
over 9000 masterpoints. Following
a career in banking, Roy served as
chief executive officer of the ACBL
from 1992-1998. Originally from
Arkadelphia AR, Roy has lived in
Dallas, Jacksonville, Santa Barbara,
Memphis and Boston. After retiring
from the ACBL, Roy and his wife,
Mary, moved to the Boston area
where he served as president of the
Eastern Massachusetts Bridge Association.
In addition to playing bridge,
32 | Bridge Bulletin | March 2024
noon games three days
per week with plans to
add a Saturday morning
game soon. The club had
been averaging 25 to 30
tables at its previous
shared location, but now
has space for 40-plus tables. Additional
plans call for youth lessons and
games at different times.
The NOBC caters to bridge players
of all levels and has three different
sections available for open, limited
and supervised student games.
The NOBC had its own place in the
north Orlando suburb of Altamonte
Springs nine years ago but had to
give it up due to local zoning regulations
restricting parking. For the last
five years, the club had been at the
Maitland Civic Center, but had to set
resumed in each of the clubs, with an
average of seven to 10 tables per game.
One of our directors, Joel Knisley,
is a corporate pilot for a Fortune 500
company. On Jan. 4, 2024, Joel was flying
as a passenger on an airline flight
from New York to Athens, Greece. He
proceeded to direct our BBO game
that evening using his laptop and the
airplane's internet during the flight
at one time
Roy taught
eight
bridge
classes.
After
Roy Green and his new
favorite partner, daughter
Celia Green
Roy's wife,
Mary,
passed
away in
2020, Roy
decided to move back to Jacksonville
to live near his son, Doug, and his
daughter, Celia. Even though Roy and
Mary's three children grew up with
up and break down tables before and
after every game because the venue
was shared with other tenants.
" Several months ago, we feared we
might have to close completely, as
finding a new location seemed impossible, "
Martin said. " After much
searching with no success, thanks be
to God for all His blessings to us. "
The new North Orlando Bridge
Center location is a short drive from
its previous locations and has a full
kitchen, as well as extra parking and
improved lighting.
The NOBC relocation means that
both Orlando bridge clubs will have
moved to new locations within three
months. Last November, the older
Orlando Metropolitan Bridge Center
(OMBC) lost its lease from the city of
Orlando, renamed itself the Orlando
Bridge Center (OBC) and moved to
rented space in St. Richard's Episcopal
Church in Winter Park. 2
while enjoying dinner
in business class. Although
Joel has directed
our virtual games
from Singapore, UAE,
Italy and England, this
marked the first time
for him to direct from
35,000 feet above the
Atlantic Ocean! 2
Director and
pilot Joel
Knisley
two bridge-playing parents, their
children had no interest in learning
to play bridge. Last year that changed
when Celia was giving her dad rides
to bridge games. She realized that she
not only had some childhood friends
who were learning to play bridge, but
she had a great bridge teacher living
in the same house as her. Thanks to
Roy and his love for the game and his
good gentle teaching methods, Celia
has become an avid bridge player. In
her first year of playing bridge, Celia
has won several club games with Roy,
her favorite partner. 2
March 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2024
