Roundup - Week 45

The Christmas Party season began with 17 tables at Thames's event on Sunday the 13th. This is set to be followed in succeeding weeks, like a troup of parading elephants, by similar seasonal festivities at Te Awamutu, Waikato, Rotorua, and Huntly.

The South Waikato site shared by Putaruru and Tokoroa celebrates a little-known prize won by a local pair in the Babich NZ-Wide Pairs event held Friday week ago. This prize was reportedly shared with another pair from the mighty Waikato-Bays Region.

If you're looking for a pleasant way to occupy your Friday afternoons the Te Aroha club are trialing a new session on Friday afternoons. Start time is 12:30 - just rock up with or without a partner. This is a fantastic initiative from a club brought back from the brink of extinction just a few years ago. It is certainly deserving of support.

Congratulations to the Rotorua Bridge Club who are the only one of the region's site spotted in this weekly whip-around to keep their members informed of what they are doing in regards to the current firestorm of controversy over the governance issue going on with NZ Bridge. Rona Driscoll, chair of the WBRC outlines her committee's position:

The Regional Committee cannot take a stand on this issue. We are a sub-committee of the Board, and can be discharged or reconstituted by the Board at any time. One of our functions is to "provide a source of experienced advice and assistance for clubs" and that is what we are trying to do here by making sure clubs are aware of the issue and encourage them to write to the Board with their views.

We don't have the right to lobby the Board on anything - the only thing we can do is take remits to the National Conference once a year.

The members of NZ Bridge are the affiliated clubs, not the players or any committees. One thing this issue has illustrated is how much power the Board has, and how little power the members (clubs) have:

• Members cannot call a general meeting, only the Board can
• Other than remits, Members cannot determine business at a general meeting, only the Board can
• For a remit to be discussed at a general meeting, it has to be first approved for this purpose at a National Conference
• As there are 7 regional chairpersons and 7 Board members, a remit could be blocked by Board

Whatever our personal views, as a regional committee we cannot have a view. All we can do is hope that the Board listens and responds to the many members (clubs) who have taken the time to communicate their views.

MiniMooAnd finally .. disseminated reports appearing on a few club sites concerning yet another Waikato phenomenon, the fourth round of the Mini-Moos are brought together here. Mini-Moos is an initiative taken by Jane Stearns of Cambridge and Nick Whitten of Morrinsville and many of the Region's teachers to bring together the current crop of learners in tournament-like settings at various clubs for an afternoon's assisted play. For more info on Mini-Moos click here.