Melbourne Cup Day

Melbourne Cup Day Celebration - Monday 3rd November

Next Monday we celebrate Melbourne Cup Day, which coincides with our monthly afternoon tea.

For our new players, to enter into the Cup fever, you may choose to dress up.

There are prizes for best dressed, female and male, and for the best hat.

You may like to place some bets, $2.00, on the horses, prior to the start of bridge.

Please come along and join in the fun!

Kitchen Spring Clean

  

(Photo courtesy of Vicky Young)

Sunday saw a very productive working bee with Vicky Young, Jo Anson, Liz Campbell, Ros King and organiser Nicky Bradley all combining to give our kitchen a "spring clean".  Many thanks to you all.

Items excess to requirements are on a trestle table for members to claim or help themselves to by Friday please.  The rest will go to the op shop.

Thanks are also due to this group plus Ann Edwards and Chris Farrow who prepared for the very enjoyable - and not-at-all fattening - Loveblock Pot Luck dinner on Friday night.  Other members who helped with the clean up, thank you too. Your help is much appreciated.

Paraparaumu Bridge Club

As many will already be aware, Waikanae will be providing Paraparaumu Bridge Club ("PBC") with a "home away from home" from the end of October while their building is undergoing major repairs.  

PBC will be playing the following sessions at Waikanae from 28th October until 14th December (this timeframe may possibly extend into the New Year depending on progress with their works programme):

These days and times have been arranged to avoid clashes with Waikanae sessions and with other users of our clubroom, such as the Quilters and Guides.

Additionally, PBC members may choose to attend Waikanae sessions during this period, at which I know you will make them welcome. Should they wish to do so they will be able to buy Waikanae session cards for this purpose.  If Waikanae members wish to join PBC sessions, payment will be in accordance with PBC's normal arrangements.

PBC will be "paying for the privilege" of using our clubrooms, and as such will make full use of our facilities including supplies of tea, coffee, milk, etc.  They will use our computer for scoring, but will deal their own boards and store them in our clubroom (separately from Waikanae boards). Space will also be allocated on our noticeboard for PBC use.

If Waikanae members have questions or issues about any of this please do not hesitate to contact either me or Rae Lutman.  PBC members will be asked to raise any issues with their own Committee members, who will refer them to us for resolution if necessary.

Please do whatever you can to make PBC members feel at home during this unavoidable period of disruption for them.

Loveblock Pairs - Results

Novice Grade

Liz Campbell and Roz King - 7th⭐⭐⭐

Mixed Grade

Graeme Norman and Carol Hogan - 10th⭐⭐

Lorraine Gaffaney and Sue Osborne - 18th⭐⭐

Open Restricted

Anthea Black and Naciye Bagci - 43rd

Kevin Walker and Helen Walker - 76th

Overall Placings (in the top 100)

Graeme and Carol - 42nd

Anthea and Naciye - 62nd

Lorraine and Sue - 66th

These are nationwide results - many congratulations to everyone, with a special shout out to Liz and Roz for a fantastic result in the Novice Grade.

The Malcolm Hyland Trophy

(Photo courtesy of Margaret Hyland)

On the first anniversary of his passing I'm pleased to be able to tell you that at its meeting on Monday the Committee agreed that the "Malcolm Hyland Trophy" for the Intermediate Player of the Year will be awarded annually commencing in 2026.  

I have written to Margaret Hyland to thank her on behalf of the Club for her generous offer to commemorate Malcolm in this way.

NZ Bridge Foundation

Message from the Trustees of the NZ Bridge Foundation

The NZ Bridge Foundation was created in 2009 to further bridge in NZ with a special focus on supporting youth bridge and helping clubs, especially those with very limited resources, to enhance bridge in their community. The Foundation is keen to make bridge players aware of our purpose and to gain greater support from amongst the wider bridge community.

With our 5 volunteer trustees and the NZ Bridge Secretary, we dispense grants from a small fund each quarter that comes from interest earned and our annual NZ wide bridge tournament. The current trustees are Dwayne Crombie (Akarana), Liz Rowe (Otago), Denis McKinlay (Wellington), Richard Solomon (Te Aroha), Jonathan Westoby (Auckland).

Understandably we don’t have the funds to support routine club maintenance costs but can help on special occasions. Examples of grants include the national youth bridge weekend, support for youth players to the National Congress and sending youth teams to Canberra for the ABF youth events. In the last year, we have also made partial grants to support the Marton Bridge Club, Wellington Bridge Club, Waitemata Bridge Club, Palmerston North Bridge Club, Motueka Bridge Club, Karori Bridge Club and the Feilding Bridge Club.

As a registered charity, all donations meet the IRD’s rules for a tax complying donation.

More information about the Foundation, how to apply for funds that meet our priorities, and our grant cycle can be found by searching for the NZ Bridge site - Foundation page. We are happy to give feedback about the suitability of an application.

Information from NZBridge

The following documents have recently been received from NZBridge:

World Bridge Federation: Executive Committee Report 
World Bridge Federation: Zones Summary
World Bridge Federation: Support for National Bridge Organisations

Minutes of the NZ Bridge Board meeting held 9 September 2025

Chairman's Newsletter No.5

As you will see from the Board Meeting Minutes, John Donbavand has been appointed to the Wellington Regional Committee - congratulations John.

Waikanae Junior Pairs 2025

This year's half-day Junior Pairs tournament will take place on Sunday 2nd November. 

All Junior and Novice players are eligible and very welcome.

Please enter through the NZBridge website here.

Ngā Manu Raffle 2025

THE GREAT KᾹPITI GIVEAWAY

Tickets are on sale for Ngā Manu’s 2025 raffle which is celebrating everything Kāpiti.

For $5 each or 5 tickets for $20, you have a chance to win an incredible prize pool worth $5,000 in vouchers, experiences, and stays to enjoy yourself or to share with friends and family.

All prizes have been donated and together, celebrate the wonderful businesses of Kāpiti. All proceeds go to Ngā Manu to continue its work of caring for our native wildlife and protecting 16 hectares of native habitat including rare coastal swamp forest. 

For details of the prizes please go to the Ngā Manu website 

Tickets may be purchased at various places in the Kāpiti District but for your convenience Pat Stuart has tickets for sale – just ask her next time you see her at Bridge or give her a call on 021 386 192.

Loveblock Pairs

This year's Loveblock Pairs will take place on Friday 17th October, starting at 7pm.

The entry fee is $15.00 per person. This cost includes a booklet discussing in detail each hand played during the evening - regrettably, however, this will be available only after play!

Before play there will be a pot luck dinner, commencing at 6pm. Please indicate on the sign on sheet on the top table what type of dish you would like to bring (or if you prefer you may pay an additional $10.00 as an alternative to contributing food).

This nationwide Pairs event gives players the opportunity to take part in a national event at their own club. 

As in the last 3 years, this event is sponsored by Loveblock Wines, a Marlborough organic producer of quality wines. 

Current National Rankings

The following Waikanae members are listed in the recently-updated National Rankings:

Life Master
John Donbavand - 15th
National Master 
Pryor Rowland - 14th
Master
Graham Cheater - 8th
Local Master
Murray Lobb - 19th

Many congratulations, gentlemen!