I took my first bridge lesson after I retired. I like my local club, KOP, people are nice and the more experience players give great lessons.  I’ve been playing duplicate bridge for almost two years. It took me longer than I hoped to reach this milestone but I feel I’m improving and enjoy playing.

About 10 years ago, give or take a few, we started playing again and found another novice pair who were interested in playing team games. So we played and had a lot of fun and some success.  We played mostly for going out to dinner together after the games.  Slowly we began to accumulate master points.  When we saw who we were playing against, we would look at each other and say, with awe, “Most of the players on that team are LIFE MASTERS.”

But we persevered, took lessons, played and went to tournaments.  Eventually we all became life masters at about the same time.  What I remember is feeling that I had reached the highest level that I was ever going to achieve.  Becoming a silver life master seemed completely out of reach.  But after we reached life master status and continued to play, the points seemed to come in almost of their own accord.  After a few more years, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could actually reach silver life master rank.  And now that I have done so, I am looking forward to reaching the next rank.

I play for fun and for dinners after team events and to travel to the places that the regional and national tournaments are held.  Reaching the next rank has never been my principal motivation but it is, nevertheless, very pleasant to do so.

I learned bridge from my parents in my early teens. I played at a local duplicate studio in high school. One of the regulars at that studio was Oswald Jacoby. A friend told me that when I play him, I should always win the bid, as he was not that good atdefense!! I did not play again for about 15 years, at which time I played for about three or four years between my two marriages.

Although I occasionally played socially over the next 40 years, I did not restart duplicate until I moved to Hershey’s Mill in 2021. At that time, I had about sixty-five masterpoints. I now play socially with my wife here at The Mill, and I play duplicate at Hershey’s Mill, Aronimink, and Waynesboro country clubs, along with an occasional sectional or regional tournament. I earn about fifty points a year. I do not plan to play any more often, as my wife assures me that I am already playing too much.

I have four different regular partners for the four regular weekly games I attend. I gladly play with others when a regular partner is not available and have played with over twenty different people in the last few years. I usually learn something from each different partner with whom I play. Finally, as a retired college professor who published multiple books and articles, I have combined my two passions of technical writing and bridge. I write a bridge column that appears in the monthly magazine that is distributed to over 1700 households here at The Mill.

I am happy with the services provided by District 4.