LAST AFTERNOON OF THE SEASON 2008-2009

So that's that for the rest of the summer .

We had quite a good turn-out for our last playing session and because the balance of cash in hand was slightly better than we expected , Mother decreed that we could all have a drink on the club PLUS a large sausage roll apiece from a local eatery. Delivered warm too - what more do you want ?

She was , however , less than delighted to be told by an invitee ( of all people , who should have had the good manners to keep quiet on the topic ) that the sausage rolls were rubbish.

Mother also presented me and our two stalwart men , one of whom gets the tables ready and the other of whom sees to it that the scores are worked out and distributed , with a single red rose apiece and a box of chocolates . This was a kind gesture on her part and was not paid for out of the club funds , by the way ............ here you can see the stalwarts.

Now a few free Thursday afternoons until we join battle again in September .

EASTER EGGS

Every year , after our afternoon session on the Thursday before Easter ( Maundy Thursday ) , the club always gives each member a box of 10 eggs.
This year was no exception .
However , this time Mother did ask me whether I would take a box for one of our members whose wife had passed away in January .
He hasn't attended the club since , as he always played with his late wife and still doesn't feel that he can take part.
He was , however , delighted that the club had thought about him and we spent half an hour talking about his loss .
We both agreed that it is much easier to talk to someone who has experienced this themself.
That is all I am going to say - but I have told him that he must try to return and play once more , with a new partner . I don't, however , believe he is ready for that yet.

A NEW ERA

Today , at long last , we played our first session with our new clock so the egg timer and the bell are things of the past and I am out of a job , thank goodness ! Thanks to the generosity of the Rabo bank, we've been able to purchase the clock plus some other new material for the club. We would rather have had some ready cash to put towards the 40th anniversary celebrations that are due later this year - but that's not how the bank operates . Well, let's face it - we've all had enough of profligate bankers in the past months ...........! Who can blame them for running a tight ship?

Anyway Mother did the honours and set the clock in motion for the first time.

I AM DELIGHTED TO SAY ................

..........that we've got a new treasurer. He's the green- striped gent on the left . Seeing he used to earn a crust long ago as an accountant , I'm sure he'll be eminently suitable for the post.
Phew ! That's a load off Mother's mind ( mine too )

WIM

Here is Wim with N. in Mother's lovely garden at her summer home on the coast. This photo was taken last June when a group of us spent a ' gezellige ' day there with beautiful weather . It was probably one of the best days we were to enjoy in the summer of 2008 as far as the weather went.

FAREWELLS

I am obviously a very lazy blogger as evidenced by the fact that it is nearly 3 weeks since I last posted. Still , as I know of only one other person who reads these lines, I don't suppose it matters very much.
This is not proving a very happy year for the club. Inevitable , I suppose , in view of the advanced average age of our membership. These past 4 months we have had to say our last farewells to 4 of our members. Yesterday it was time for us to do so to our treasurer of nearly 16 years standing . Wim will be a hard act to follow - a giant of a man , he must have been about 1.95 m tall and broad as well , a no- nonsense fellow who always joked that every time he took on a new partner at the club it was a death sentence for that partner, as so it proved to be on 3 occasions. One of those partners was my own late husband .
Now, however, we have the problem of finding his successor and anybody who has had anything to do with running a club like ours knows what that entails . There are always plenty of folk with criticism at the ready but only a few who are prepared to lend a hand. Later on I'll try to find a picture of Wim for the blog.

FALTERING STEPS

When I had published my first attempts at the blog I discovered , to my dismay , that it had yesterday's date and that the time was also inaccurate. It was as if I had posted it from California . So I had to do a bit of research to convert it to Amsterdam time - which I have done . One more lesson learned.
Now here is a picture of Mother , the club's founder and chairman. She is nearly 90 - can you believe it ? Every Thursday afternoon during the club playing season , she opens the session by addressing her "jongens en meisjes ". This is why I shall refer to her as Mother in this blog. She is living proof that Bridge helps to keep the grey matter active.