The Committee would like to thank Verl Lawrence, who has done such a marvellous job for 17 years as our Chief Director. Along with her husband John, Verl has contributed to the Club in an amazing way. She has guided our directors in training, directed numerous events over the years, as well as being so friendly and welcoming to members, new and old. On Saturday 29 April, we will be thanking her with an afternoon tea. I hope you can either come to the session to play or drop in at 2pm for a glass of champagne!
We also extend our thanks to Lyn Hamill who has been our hard working book-keeper for many years, helping to manage the Club finances. Thank you Lyn!
We are now looking for a replacement book-keeper, so if it interests you, please get in touch!
It is always sad to hear when members of our community have health issues. The Committee extends its best wishes to Barbara Austin and Rowan Sault who are both unwell. We also wish Sue Riley a speedy recovery after her hospital admission, following a fall. Mary Farrell does a wonderful service for the club, sending cards to those who are unwell. We encourage members to let the Committee or Mary know if members are unwell as it is nice for those who know them to be informed of these types of circumstances.
The Committee is working hard to ensure that the Club meets all its financial and legal requirements.
From this year, the Club will be required by law to become a GST entity. The details are explained later in the newsletter, as well as in the website article Club registers for GST. The Committee is establishing a working party to review implications of the Club’s tax obligations and will keep members up to date with any developments.
Unfortunately there has been some misinformation circulated within the club about the GST changes, which caused unnecessary concern. I addressed the Club at nearly every session between 11-16 April to inform and reassure members. If you ever have any remaining concerns about this or any other issue, please come to me directly and we can sit down and talk it through. The Committee agenda is solely the well-being of the Club now and in the future, and Committee members are always happy to discuss anything that is on your mind.
April saw the conclusion of our daytime and evening Beginner lessons and we look forward to our new players joining the supervised and normal duplicate sessions. Many of the beginners have applied to join the Club, which shows the success of the lessons run at our Club, bringing people into the game of bridge, as well as attracting new members. A number of successful Bridge Education events took place in March, including a well-attended workshop by Joan Butts, and a Teacher Training Day run by Cath Whiddon which was attended by participants from all over NSW.
It was wonderful to have our Bridge Education program praised by Bruce Neill, President of the ABF, who stressed that education programs are the lifeblood of the game.
Happy bridging!
Sarah Young
