"In Brief"

National Congress 2026

Advance notice for the 2026 National Congress, to be held in Palmerston North in November.

National Swiss Pairs 2026

Many congratulations to John Donbavand and his Wellington partner Murray McMillan who were 6th overall in the National Swiss Pairs held over the weekend of 14-15 March. 

Inter-Village Event

In the Inter-Village event held at the Club on Wednesday 4th March, Lois Anderson and Naciye Bagci were 1st N/S, with Pat Reynolds and Peter Farley 2nd and Jane McKegg and Sue Crichton 3rd equal with Clare Sims and John Ellen.  Sue Legat and Ann Verboeket were 3rd E/W, with Anne Ricketts and Margaret Gordon 4th. 

Many thanks to Anne Ricketts for directing, Margaret Gordon for her efforts in the kitchen, and also to whoever left the nice note on the whiteboard!

Happy Birthday 

Happy 80th birthday to Julia Tait on Monday 2nd March - and thanks for the cake (beautifully made by Marg Gott)!

Hutt Multigrade Pairs

John Donbavand and his Wellington partner Murray McMillan were 4th overall in the Hutt Multigrade Pairs on Sunday 1st March (3rd overall in the morning session and 6th in the afternoon).  Paul Brinkman and Anthea Black were 8th overall (3rd in the afternoon session).

St Patrick's Day

 A big thank you to Vicky Young for once again organising our annual St Patrick's Day event on Monday 16th March, complete with afternoon tea, spot prizes - and some pretty terrible jokes!

For the second year in a row Judi Vernau and Steve Ricketts won the "best dressed" prizes, with an honourable mention to Alice Henke.

Well done and thanks to all who supported the event.

Kapiti Horowhenua Area Pairs 2026

For information about this year's KHAP competition please go the Levin Bridge Club website here.

Financial Services Seminar for Seniors

James Buchanan (a friend of Angela Gattsche) is working with Mike Pero Mortgages to increase awareness of financial services available for seniors in the Kapiti Coast.

He is organising a free "Financial Services for Seniors" seminar for 19th March at Nga Manu.  

Topics to be covered include succession and estate planning, retirement lending for over 60s, investment services for seniors, and real estate services for seniors.  Speakers will come from Heartland Bank, Booster Funds, Harcourts Real Estate, and Kapiti Law.

Rubber Bridge 2026

For additional information please see the (recently re-designed) Wellington Region Bridge website here, or contact John Donbavand.

Entries close on 31st March.

Wellington Region Bridge - Newsletter

This is the February edition of the Wellington Region Bridge Newsletter. A short item contributed by Waikanae appears on page 5:

AGM

The 52nd Annual General Meeting took place at the clubrooms on Monday 23rd February.

The meeting was well attended and commendably brief.

The following business was conducted:

• the Minutes of the 51st AGM held on 26th February 2025 were accepted
• the President's Report was accepted
• the Treasurer's Report was accepted
• a motion to increase subscriptions by $5.00 for the financial year beginning 1 January 2027 was passed
• John McCormick was re-appointed as the Club's Financial Reviewer for the financial year ending 31 December 2026
• Hugh Wolfensohn was appointed as the Club's Honorary Solicitor for 2026

The following officers and Committee were elected for 2026:

• President - Hugh Wolfensohn 
• Secretary - Rae Lutman
• Treasurer - Margaret Gordon
• Committee (in alphabetical order):
• Jo Anson
• Nicky Bradley
• Graham Cheater
• Murray Lobb
• Fiona McDonald-Bates
• Derek Snelling
• Judi Vernau

Hugh acknowledged with appreciation the contributions to the Committee of Helen Walker and Chris Farrow (both of whom were stepping down), and made a presentation to Chris on behalf of the Committee to mark his departure from the Committee after many years' service.

Finally, and with great pleasure, Hugh moved that Vicky Young be awarded Life Membership of the Club - motion carried by acclamation.  Congratulations Vicky!