2008 Beginning of Year Report
02/29/2008

I can hardly believe that the first two months of the year have already passed us by. It has been a good while since the last Board message, so I wanted to write a report to set the stage for ADBC and provide a preview of what lies ahead in 2008.

After reviewing our 2007 financial reports, I am pleased to provide the following information:

• Our total table count in 2007 was up by nearly 460 tables versus 2006 totals.
• Our utility bill totals (electricity, gas, and water) were actually lower in 2007 by more than $700 - good job everyone !
• Gross revenues were up by nearly $10,000 - much of which is due to the growth in table count.
• We ended the year with a net income of $8406.13, compared to a net loss in 2006 of ($7012.89).
• The $15K improvement in net income is substantially explained by the relocation expenses incurred in 06.

2008 has started off well as the club had the largest table count ever for a single month during the month of January 08. This is due in large part to the highly successful special Saturday events, and the novice and intermediate programs and games. The February special event, our second "Eight is Enough" game, was a hugh success with 36 teams participating. A special thanks to Tom & Dorothy Moore and all others who helped to make this event such a terrific one!

While our special events are thriving, some of our open evening games as well as our daytime games are struggling. Members: Please do all you can to play in these games and support their sustainment.

The Board held a special meeting in late January with GIC representatives and various ADBC game directors. The purpose of the meeting was to review the entire menu of games offered at ADBC, and to identify any needed changes or additions. The games offered in other venues in the area were considered, as well as specific requests from our own members. It was determined that the Monday evening 0-600/pair game could immediately be upgraded to 0-750, and the Thursday evening 749er game could immediately become a 0-1000 game. These changes have already been implemented. Additonally, two new limited games will be added to the game menu starting March 6th: A new 11:30 am Thursday game for 299ers directed by Dorothy Moore, and a Thursday evening 199er game at 7:15 pm alternately directed by Dee Berg and Ann Overfield. The 199ers are invited to join Chuck & Caron’s 6:45 pm mini-lesson; then the 199er and 0-1000 games will begin at 7:15 pm.

If you haven’t already done so, please pay your dues and join the club for this year. At only $25 per person, this is a real bargain and an investment in your club. It gives you membership and club ownership rights, voting rights, and you get a minimum of two free games each year.

And speaking of voting, the Annual Membership Meeting and Board Election will be held soon - Saturday, March 15th. Details are posted on the website and on fliers throughout the club. Please make every effort to attend the meeting and vote for 4 candidates for the ADBC Board. And enjoy the first members play free game of the year! Also, please try to review the draft minutes from last year’s annual meeting prior to our March 15th meeting. They are accessible from our website, and hard copies are available for viewing at the director’s desks at the club.

Please make a note of the following upcoming events, and try to support as many of them as you can:

• March 15th: Annual Membership & Board Election
• April 1st: Special Recognition for Pat Cassidy’s Diamond Life Master achievement
• April 4th - 6th: Arlington Heart of the Metroplex tournament at Grapevine Convention Center
• April 19th: April Fool’s Game - Special Pairs event featuring Hugh Hillaker and Rick Price
• May 10th: Diez de Mayo special Saturday game - details to be provided soon

I look forward to seeing everyone soon - at the club and at the bridge table.

Caron

HAPPY HOLIDAYS
11-21-07

I hope that everyone has an enjoyable Thanksgiving. For those who are traveling to San Francisco for the Fall Nationals, good luck and return home safely !!!

As we are now into the last few weeks of the year, it is a good time to reflect on our accomplishments and look to see what lies ahead.

All in all, the club has had a successful year. Here’s a review of some of the highlights:

• We revised and ratified our Club By-Laws (thanks again to Becky Price and the rest of the By-Laws Review Committee for a job well done).
• Our Annual Sectional Tournament was another huge success - the 2nd best tournament for ADBC in 11 years (congratulations on a superb job by our Tournament Chair - Dee Berg - and the MANY others who devoted their time and efforts to help make this event such a terrific one).
• We purchased and installed upgraded computers and printers for the Club - no one has complained that they miss the noise from the old dot matrix printers !! (Thanks Roy Booth & son, Tom Moore, and Bill White.)
• Many successful special events were held including “Spring Training”, an El Doce de Mayo party, a Hot Dog Cook-In, an Ice Cream Social, 8 is Enough team event, and - of course - Back To School with Professor Hillaker.
• The 8 is Enough event was a huge success with 27 teams in play. This event will return - by popular demand - sometime in February 2008. Watch for details !
• ADBC again hosted the Unit NLM Sectional which was well attended this year and considered a success by both the Unit Board and the players who participated.
• We remembered our Club’s past by honoring our charter members and past presidents and Board members during our Club Unity game in November.
• New chairs were purchased so that we can have 30 tables in play simultaneously using only two styles of matching chairs.

Regarding education and club growth initiatives, there have been two successful mentoring programs this year - one session in the Spring and another in the Fall that is still ongoing. A new EasyBridge! I program began in September and will continue through next month and briefly into 2008. It will be followed immediately by EasyBridge! II. These sessions take place on Wednesday evenings, and are presented by Glen Terrell, Helen Nelson, and Mary Ellen Stanton. Plans are underway to start another set of new EasyBridge! I classes beginning in February on Tuesday evenings. These classes will be presented by Dorothy Moore. Dorothy also has plans to start a new series of beginning lessons in the daytime beginning in February. Watch for details on all of these programs. If you know of anyone - in your family, church, neighborhood, etc. who you think would enjoy learning to play bridge, please encourage them to check out the various classes and learning opportunities that ADBC offers !!!

While our attendance and table count are up year-to-date, we have started to see a slight overall decline recently. Our morning games are struggling a bit, and some of our evening games are not as robust as they once were. The Board is already starting to look at some options that can help turn these trends around. We are always open to suggestions on things that can be done to bolster attendance and improve the Club for all concerned. Please let us know what we can do to ensure that ADBC is the best place around to play bridge !!! Financially, we have continued to meet or exceed our goals of breaking even on a monthly basis while continuing to make needed improvements and investments in our club.

Please plan on attending our annual Club Christmas Party on Saturday, December 8th: (Lunch at Noon - Club will provide turkey & dressing; please bring side dishes and desserts; ADBC members play free !!! - game at 1 PM.)

On behalf of the Board, we wish you and your families and friends a joyous holiday season. We hope to see you at ADBC often in the coming months, enjoying our many games and special events.

Caron

Autumn Club Update
09-26-07

As we move from the summertime into the Fall, here’s a note to bring everyone up to date on what has been happening at the Club and what is planned for the remainder of the year.

The Club’s financial performance and status remain strong based on our reports through the end of August. Table count trends also remain very positive as the 2007 year-to-date table count is 428 tables higher than it was at the same time in 2006. We can expect this trend to continue as the new EasyBridge session is in full swing, and the strong attendance to date has already necessitated that we re-configure the East playing room to accommodate a steady 15-16 tables !! Great job Glen & Helen, and a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the early success of this program by assisting with the advertising and marketing efforts.

The "8 is Enough" special Swiss team event held at the club in August was a huge success with 27 teams in play !!! A good time was had by all, and we promise that the point awards will be higher for our next team game at the club!! Congratulations and gratitude are owed to the GIC and all of those who helped publicize and support this superb event. We will plan on repeating this event and format sometime early next year (as soon as Tom and Dorothy recover from the first one!).

The Fall mentoring program has also begun, with 23 mentor-mentee pairs participating. The mentoring pairs are invited to attend bi-monthly special sessions on Tuesday evenings sponsored by the Mentoring Committee as well as monthly sanctioned Saturday games held exclusively for the mentoring pairs. And of course we hope the mentoring pairs will participate in as many ADBC games as they can !!

Congratulations to ADBC members Connie Booth, Roy Booth, and Helen Nelson who attained Life Master status at the recent Labor Day Regional Tournament in Richardson. Well done!!! We will formally celebrate your achievement at the 749er game on Thursday, October 11th.

Many thanks to our own Professor Hugh Hillaker for his informative and enthusiastic “Back to School” presentation at the club earlier this month. Adorned in mortarboard and scholarly robes, Hugh had some great bridge tips to offer, and was his usual energetic and entertaining self. If you missed this event, you missed something special. Thanks Hugh !!!

Thanks are also due to Roy Booth and Chuck Burke who helped us preserve club funds and cleaned all of the club’s carpeted areas with rental equipment. It looks great, guys! Please - everyone - do your part to help us keep the club and the carpet clean and looking nice. It helps a lot if we clean up spills quickly !!

Success and club growth bring some challenges which we are happy to have. It has been apparent in several instances recently that we were short on suitable chairs for our most well attended events. Roy was able to find some very nice padded folding chairs at Sam’s at a reasonable price, so we purchased enough chairs to add to our current green chairs so that 30 tables can be in play using these two types of matching chairs. The old, brown chairs were donated to a charitable outreach program to free up space for our new ones.

While we have been emphasizing programs for newer bridge players in the recent past to help grow and strengthen our club, we realize that we owe so much to the players and board members who contributed to the establishment and early successes of ADBC. To help us recognize these important individuals, please plan on joining us at our Club Unity Game on Saturday, November 3rd (see below). Also see the website and future fliers for more details.

Please mark your calendars for these upcoming special events at the club:

• Saturday, October 6th - Club Appreciation Swiss teams! 5% Gold points awarded to winners! Lunch at noon - meat provided by the club. Please bring sides & desserts. Team game at 1 PM.
• Saturday, November 3rd - 2007 ADBC Club Unity Game. Special recognition for our charter members, past presidents and board members, and longtime players and members. Potluck lunch at noon; stratified pairs game at 1 PM.
• Saturday, December 8th - Annual Club Christmas Party. Full lunch provided by the Club at noon; stratified pairs game at 1 PM and ADBC members play free !!! Mark your calendar now for this event!!!

Thanks to all of you whose hard work and varied efforts help make the club so successful. And thanks to all of the players who continue to play at ADBC as often as possible.

Caron

Webmaster: Bill White
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