Bridge has become an unexpected joy ride in my life! I retired in 2008 with much trepidation because I couldn’t believe the time had arrived so quickly. My elderly parents needed me and so I had to give up my life’s work which I thoroughly enjoyed. A dear friend suggested I take up Bridge and quite frankly I always wondered what this game was all about. I have always loved playing all sorts of card games. Well, after two years of courses under the direction of Dini Romito, our director, I got hooked! My work had always involved setting goals and reaching them and this game filled the gap. The challenge of reaching the different levels, meeting so many interesting people from all walks of life, and having fun with my partners has put a different perspective on retirement. The most important aspect is that my brain is being exercised just as my body is on the tennis courts!

A friend of mine called me in the winter of 1996 asking me if I would go to bridge lessons with her. Now, I had played pinochle in college (and spent so much time playing it instead of attending classes, that I could probably have earned a degree in it), but knew nothing about bridge (I actually thought it was for old ladies with big hats and maybe winos). Having a life-long problem of saying “no” to people, I agreed to go with her to a Senior Center (which was exactly where I knew it would be taking place). Of course, after being there about twenty minutes, I was hooked.
My friend and I decided, after a few months of taking lessons, to try the big time, and showed up at a local duplicate game. A player came over and introduced herself and asked how long we had been playing. We said only a few months, but we thought we played a good game and beat everyone at the “Senior Center”. She laughed and said, “well, you will not come in first here and it will be a very long time before you beat players here at our club”. Well, she was wrong….we came in third that first night and thought, this is easy, and not as intimidating as we imagined. Well, she was also right….we came in last after that first night, for months. I was working full time so didn’t get much time in at the bridge table, but kept at it whenever I could.
About two years later, the women who owned the club asked me to sit for the director’s test. Soon after, she became sickly and gave up ownership. One of the members took charge, incorporated, and the club, The Cape May County Duplicate Bridge, became a club owned by its members. He was President for two three year terms and then asked me to take over. I am presently on my 4th three year term.
I enjoy the game, the competition and the people. In 2003, I entered our club in the One-Star Club competition and won. I have enjoyed planning parties for all the holidays and starting a yearly club newsletter and website. I have been fortunate enough to play in bridge in Atlanta, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Mesa, Las Vegas and Italy.

I started playing bridge as a 12-year old, with my twin sister and parents. During my 31-year Army career, there were many years without bridge in my life, but when I retired in September 2004, a friend recommended Dotty Ehling’s club in Warminster; and I joined the ACBL in February 2005. For the first 4 years, I never entered a gold-point event, which I regret now, but no one told me to start collecting gold early – the advice I got was: enter the lowest event possible at the tournaments. Gold points were slow in coming: 1.53 here, 2.90 there, until I only needed 0.08 for Life Master, even though I had a total of 650 points. Finally we got that one big win at the 2016 King of Prussia tournament (9.94 gold) which pushed us way over the top (thank you Carolyn and Sheldon Per). Most of my gold was earned with Dave Hallman, and most of my silver with Jean Harney. I have both partners to thank, along with my parents who got me started.