Notes from Chicago NABC Board Meeting July 2006

Congratulations to Sharon Fairchild, District Director from Ohio who was elected as President of ACBL for the year 2007. Sharon has been a frequent visitor to Florida and will do an excellent job as our next President.

INSURANCE POLICY PURCHASED FOR DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS OF UNITS AND DISTRICTS

The ACBL Board of Directors voted to purchase a Directors and Officers (D&O) Insurance Policy from Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. that covers all ACBL Units and Districts. It covers Units/District Directors and Officers as well as committee members for actions taken in that capacity.

The policy does not cover physical injury or damage; however, this policy does cover slander and libel, which our current policy did not cover.

The ACBL has agreed to pay approximately $115,000 annually to cover the cost of this policy.

I have always felt it was very important to protect our volunteer workers from potential personal financial hardship should a lawsuit occur and am very pleased that ACBL has worked hard to find this insurance policy.

All Units and Districts will be notified immediately of the policy and a short warranty form will be forwarded that must be completed by each Unit and the District. It is important that this form be signed and returned to Philadelphia immediately to take advantage of this coverage.

The 2006 Amnesty Program had 2,058 players reinstate their membership.

The STaCs continue to be very popular with a record setting table count.

Motion was made to change the minimum age of Seniors from 55 to 60 years of age. I was strongly opposed to this since it would be detrimental to all of our Sectional and Regional Events. The motion failed.

Motion was made to have all “ribbon qualifications” (i.e. Silver Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, etc.) expire in five (5) years after being earned. I believe this would be unfair to our members and these qualifications should have no time limit. The motion failed.

Motion was made that ACBL Tournament Directors shall hear and rule upon all appeals filed at NABCs. All NABC+ appeals would be heard by Tournament Directors, as we do at our Regionals and Sectionals.

Currently, appeals at NABC+ events are heard by a panel of Professional

Bridge players. I feel that our Directors should be in charge of hearing appeals but this motion failed…just barely. The vote was 12 in favor, 13 against.

The Junior Program has funds that need to be spent on Junior related activities. Please send me any ideas you have to promote bridge to Juniors. We are currently sponsoring Junior Summer Camps and are hard at work trying to get bridge programs into the school system. The World Bridge Federation will host a second World Junior Individual Championship in 2007 at the Nashville NABC in the Spring. Please promote this event at your clubs.

Chicago was the site of the second of five tournament games co-hosted by the ACBL and AARP. North-South and East-West winners will receive free lodging and registration at the AARP Life Begins @ 50 National Event in Anaheim, CA in October 2006. The event, which draws up to 30,000 participants, will feature the first AARP Bridge Open Tournament.

We are very excited that this is the beginning of a relationship that will bring many new players to bridge and members of ACBL.

The Chicago NABC was very successful and players loved the host hotel and well as this exciting city. Florida was well represented at this NABC.

Our next NABC is in Honolulu in November. Start making your plans to come play bridge and combine the trip with a vacation to this fabulous island.

Shirley C. Seals

Check our District 9 website for all the current information on tournaments and other events of interest. www.District9ACBL.org