Junior/Novice Tournament

As a new initiative, we're organising a half day tournament for Junior and Novice players only, to be held on Saturday 10th October.

Details are as follows: 

• one session only commencing at 1.00pm
• entry fee $20.00 (payable to our Bank Account [02-0591-0005881-00] in advance or in cash on the day)
• strictly limited to junior and novice players below the rank of Club Master
• XG handicapped
• played under our "Monday Rules" (a copy of which will be provided in advance and displayed at each table on the day)
• C points only
• no more than 26 boards
• drinks and finger food on completion

Entries from Paraparaumu, Otaki and Levin are warmly welcomed.

You can enter by email to waikanaebridge@gmail.com.

I'll provide more detailed information nearer the time.

Horowhenua/Kapiti Quadrangular Tournament

This year's Horowhenua/Kapiti Quadrangular Tournament (colloquially known simply as the "Quad") will take place at Waikanae on Saturday 19th September.

The Waikanae team for this event will be selected by BAG: two pairs are required in each grade (Open, Intermediate, and Junior).

If you would like to be considered for selection, please contact either myself or Graham Cheater directly to register your interest.

Vice President

I'm delighted to announce that the Committee at its meeting yesterday (10th August) unanimously elected Judi Vernau as Vice President of the Club.

Under our Constitution the Vice President is "the Officer elected by the Committee to deputise for the President as required".

Congratulations Judi!

Multigrade Tournament Raffle

I'd like to thank Fiona McDonald-Bates and Marg Gott for organising yet another very successful and profitable raffle, this time at the Multigrade Tournament on Sunday 2nd August.

The prizes - shown here on the right - were kindly donated by the following local firms:

• 
  SuperLiquor
• Westbury Pharmacy
• Bottle’O
• Allure Hair Skin & Laser
• Mane Attraction
• Absolute Skin Care
• ShoreLine Cinema
• Salt and Wood
• Big Mac Slabs
• Unichem Pharmacy
• Picture Perfect Framers
• Harrisons Gardenworld

and by Murray Lobb, Angela Gattsche and Diane Horton.

Our grateful thanks go to all of them for their support.  The club benefitted to the tune of over $500.00!

Waikanae Multigrade Pairs

We hosted a very successful Multigrade Pairs tournament on Sunday 2nd August, jointly sponsored by Waikanae Funeral Home and Relish Café.

The event was very well supported, with 20 tables, and splendidly organised by Margaret Gordon (from her sickbed)!

In addition to Margaret I would like to thank:

• Anne Ricketts, who was both Director and Scorer for the day
• Roz King, who ran the kitchen (ably assisted by Diane Horton, Penny Currier and Elaine Westlake), and all Waikanae members who contributed a plate for morning tea
• Steve Ricketts and Isobel Ross, who set up and ran the bar
• Fiona McDonald-Bates, who ran the raffle and took the photos
• Nicky Bradley, who covered for me at short notice with the formalities and announcements before and after play

The winners (Waikanae unless stated) were:

Session One

1   Ann Verboeket and Graeme Norman  
2   John Seator and Barb Robinson (Feilding)
3   Vicky Young and Lorraine Gaffaney
4   Chris Farrow and James Winskill
5= Karen Eriksen and Jude Lucas
5= Pryor Rowland and Jo Anson

Session Two

1  Tim Horner and Anne Baird- Horner (Otaki)
2  Carolyn Brodie and Hans van Bunnik (Palmerston North)
3  Lorraine Gaffaney and Vicky Young
4  Richard Johnson and Joyce Bosman (Upper Hutt)
5  Marius Tumilowicz and Walt Davis (Karori/Wellington)

Category Winners

Open/Open - Marius Tumilowicz and Walt Davis (Karori/Wellington)
Open/Other -  Ann Verboeket and Graeme Norman  
Intermediate/Intermediate - Karen Eriksen and Jude Lucas
Intermediate/Junior - Glen Lust and Anne Brunt (Paraparaumu)
Junior/Junior - Susanne Corbett and Janine O'Connor (Upper Hutt)

Session Prizes

AM - John Seator and Barb Robinson (Feilding)
PM - Hans van Bunnik and Carolyn Brodie (Palmerston North)/Richard Johnson and Joyce Bosman (Upper Hutt)

Overall

1   Lorraine Gaffaney and Vicky Young
2   Tim Horner and Anne Baird-Horner (Otaki)
3   Ann Verboeket and Graeme Norman  
4   Karen Eriksen and Jude Lucas
5= Pryor Rowland and Jo Anson
5= Marius Tumilowicz and Walt Davis (Karori/Wellington)

The full results can be found here.

First prize in the raffle went to Jane McArthur from Paraparaumu.

Many congratulations to Lorraine and Vicky, and all the Waikanae players in the top 5: an excellent result for our Club!

Governance Review

Since October 2023, the Charities Act 2005 has required all registered charities to review their governance procedures at least once every 3 years. As the Club is a registered charity, we are required to have completed a governance review by October this year.

A governance review involves looking at both our rules document (the Constitution) and our key policies and procedures, for example those relating to financial management and conflicts of interest.

The aim is to check that our governance arrangements are still fit for purpose, support our declared objectives, and help us meet our legal obligations.

At its July meeting the Committee  carried out the governance review using the Charities Services checklist.  The only area identified as requiring any significant further work is the issue of risk management and the introduction of a Risk Register - this is currently under action.

Learners 2026

The 2026 Learners class officially graduated on Monday 27th July, and it was my great pleasure to present each member of the class (excluding the three existing club members) with a certificate to mark their achievement in successfully completing the course.

Those attending were:

• Alison Allen
• Cary Bartlett
• Rob Clarke
• Sarah Crichton
• Penny Currier (existing member)
• Roger Currier
• Dianne Gardner
• Wayne Goodall
• Mike Horvat (existing member)
• Stephen Jannink
• Carol March
• Lorraine Nelson
• Daneel Penman
• Sonia Pratt
• Peter Scott
• Chris Simons
• Stewart Walker
• Gayle Westney

Not Present:

• Richard Westlake (existing member)
• Madeline Palmer
• Stefanka Chukova
• Bruce Allwood

On behalf of the Committee I'd like to acknowledge Chris Farrow and Vivienne Cannell for all the work they’ve put in to preparing and delivering this year's course - and in particular to recognise their willingness to step up at very short notice back in February to teach what was I think the largest beginners group the Club has ever had.  

I would also like to thank all those club members who have given up their time to help in the delivery of the lessons programme:

Rewa Allen Di Andrews Marg Gott Steph Cheeseman Shelley Ross Mehegan Goodman Sally Weatherley Roz King Liz Campbell

Please join me in welcoming all the new members - we’re looking forward to seeing you at the Club regularly in the future.  

(Special thanks to Marg Gott for the cake)