I started playing duplicate Bridge in March 1970, and immediately joined the ACBL. I was a student at DePauw University, in Indiana. We were 4 children in our family, close in age, and I had learned to play Bridge very young because we had the perfect amount of players for most card games or board games.

I continued to play in graduate school, at Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana. They had a much larger and active Bridge Club, and I played with several partners, including weekly games and the occasional outside trip to a Sectional or Regional. We put together a Swiss Team and played in a Sectional, in Louisville KY, in October 1973- – which we won !

In September 1977, I left the United States for additional advanced education, and I did not return for almost 10 years. I did play some Bridge in London and in Athens, Greece, but accrued very little in the way of masterpoints. In 1998, I moved to Corning, NY with my family, but did not play any Bridge until I taught my oldest son, and we played in the local Corning Club (maybe 2000 ?). Soon thereafter, my youngest son also wanted to play, so my two boys played, and I did not.

All things changed with COVID. My youngest son had to leave school and came home. Bridge Base Online gave us the opportunity to play regularly for 3 months, and we continued online for almost 2 years. The Elmira Club took over the Corning Club for Face-to-Face play, and I have played there regularly since April 2022, accruing the points that I now have for Life Master.

I have the highest praise and commendations for the Elmira Bridge Club, including all the players, and the organizer/director Pat Stadelmaier.   I could not have accomplished this goal without them.