KINCARDINE BRIDGE CLUB EXECUTIVE MEETING MINUTES
February 25, 2021
PRESENT: Doug Bieman (The Director and ACBL rep and contact), Lucille Fischer (member at large representing the Social Head), Andy Fraser (Secretary), Patti McDonald (Treasurer), Ken Mitchell (President) REGRETS: Hans Dornbusch (Website Administrator), Bob Walker (Past President)
CHAIR: Ken Mitchell LOCATION: Via Zoom START TIME: 10:03 AM
Minutes – of the February 18, 2021 meeting were approved as amended. (Fraser/Fischer). Financial Statements – Past Treasurer Bob Walker had emailed the financial year-end report for 2020 to the executive. These were very thorough Patti thanked Bob for such an excellent job. It was moved by Lucille, seconded by Patti to accept this report. Carried.
Andy reported that he had received the transfer letters to take to the Bank of Montreal to change over the signing officers of the club. Andy will set this process in motion.
Virtual Club – Ken reported that he had received Doug’s permission to pursue an online license for hosting a virtual game. (As the Club Manager, Doug must authorize such applications.) Ken signed the application as the Club President and has begun the process of setting up a game. Ken has been in contact with bridge clubs in Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph who are interested in playing online with our club. They are taking our proposal to their respective boards of directors for approval. This will open up other opportunities for bridge players in Kincardine to play on other days at other times. Ken sent a letter to BOTW informing them of our plans.
Website – all members agreed that the Owen Sound Bridge Club’s website was excellent. They use BridgeWeb. Ken informed the executive that the annual cost would be in the neighbourhood of $125. He mentioned that Nancy Strachan, the southern Ontario ACBL rep, had given him a name of someone that would be able to help us get it up and running. We do get the first three months free. The
executive agreed that it would be good idea to have a few of the members having access to update the website so that the workload of maintaining it would be shared and less onerous on any one person. Doug volunteered to give up his responsibilities once the new website was up and running. It was moved by Andy, seconded by Patti that a steering committee of Ken, Patti and Hans will begin to do this work for the club. Carried. Communication – we need to contact the individual members of the Thursday Night Kincardine Bridge Club and let them know what we have been doing. It was decided to divide the membership list into sections and have members of the executive call to give some information, and to ask for email addresses so that minutes, etc. can be delivered more efficiently. Andy will look after telling the executive who is to call whom. We hope to have our first online game set to run on Saturday, March 6th. Adjournment – Patti moved to adjourn, seconded by Lucille at 10:45 AM. Next Meeting – will be Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 10 AM via Zoom.
Respectfully submitted, Andy Fraser, Secretary

​KINCARDINE  BRIDGE  CLUB
EXECUTIVE MEETING MINUTES
February 18, 2021
PRESENT:  Doug Bieman (The Director and ACBL rep and contact), Lucille Fischer (member at large representing the Social Head), Andy Fraser (Secretary), Patti McDonald (Treasurer), Ken Mitchell (President)
REGRETS:  Hans Dornbusch (Website Administrator), Bob Walker (Past President)
CHAIR:  Ken Mitchell
LOCATION:  Via Zoom
START TIME:  10:03 AM
Minutes – of the February 12, 2021 meeting were approved as amended.  (Fraser/McDonald).
Business Arising From the Minutes – 1) Report -  Andy reported due diligence in his phone calls.  He called Tom Rajnovich and informed the members that he did not believe that there could be any reconciliation between President Ken and Tom at the current time.  Andy also called Maureen Knowler in Goderich.  She told him that as the Thursday night Kincardine Bridge Club was not part of Bridge Over Troubled Water (BOTW), that we would not be receiving any monies earned from any of our club members that were playing in BOTW games.  She also said that she had asked the ACBL for guidance and that on their advice, she had blocked Ken from playing in any BOTW games. 
 
New Business – Andy then went on to identify three options for our club: 1) leave things the way they are currently; 2) ask to join BOTW; and 3) set up our own virtual games.  Ken then presided over the discussion that ranged over the three possibilities.  It was agreed that if we were to do nothing, our club would probably just fold. When the pandemic is over, we will have fewer players wanting to play “live” and if a club is going to survive, it will have to offer online bridge for its members.  Andy reported that he believed the BOTW would not accept our club’s involvement as long as Ken was the president – they might if Ken was involved on the executive in another role.  The third option was to set up our own virtual games.  We would limit this to one time a week and limit it to Kincardine bridge players (both Thursday night and Friday afternoon players as many consider themselves members of both clubs).  ACBL does allow 15% of the players to any game to be guests.  Ken said that a minimum of four tables would be needed to make this a viable option.  He told the executive that he had been in contact with other clubs in southern Ontario (specifically London, Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph) and that there had been some interest in peer-to-peer groups.  This means that the host club receives all the monies from the ACBL when there is a game.   He mentioned that we should not be competing with BOTW for game dates and that currently there were no games on a Wednesday evening so this would be a possibility.  Discussion ranged over whether we would be able to get a following and we wouldn’t know that unless we gave it a try.  After COVID, every club will have to offer online bridge for members who will not feel comfortable playing live.   Ken told the members that because of his past experience in setting up online bridge, that he could have it up and running in about an hour. 
Patti moved, seconded by Andy, that Ken be authorized to set up a virtual bridge club on behalf of the Thursday night Kincardine Bridge Club on a trial basis for three months, that we would play on a day that would not compete with any BOTW times, and that Ken also be authorized to pursue relationship with other virtual clubs in Ontario.  After further discussion, the motion carried 2 – 1, with 1 abstention.  Through the discussions, Doug Bieman informed the club that he had not renewed the sanction for our club from the ACBL as he did not know if our club was going to be able to function.  Andy moved, seconded by Patti, that Doug renew the sanction for the Thursday night Kincardine Bridge Club to play on Thursdays.  Ken reported that we did not need to specify when online games would be occurring.  The cost of renewal is $15.00.  The motion passed 4 – 0. 
Website Update – Ken mentioned BridgeWeb, which many clubs are using.  After a three-month free trial, the cost would be in the neighbourhood of $125 annually.  The Owen Sound Bridge Club is currently using BridgeWeb and has an excellent site.  Members were encouraged to check it out over the next week and be prepared to entertain a motion to go this route at our meeting next Thursday morning. 
Adjournment – Patti moved to adjourn, seconded by Lucille at 10:54 AM.
Next Meeting – will be Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 10 AM via Zoom.
Respectfully submitted,
Andy Fraser, Secretary


KINCARDINE  BRIDGE  CLUB
EXECUTIVE MEETING MINUTES
February 12, 2021
PRESENT:  Doug Bieman (The Director and ACBL rep and contact), Lucille Fischer (member at large representing the Social Head), Andy Fraser (Secretary), Patti McDonald (Treasurer), Ken Mitchell (President)
REGRETS:  Hans Dornbusch (Website Administrator), Bob Walker (Past President)
CHAIR:  Ken Mitchell
LOCATION:  Via Zoom
START TIME:  10:05 AM
Minutes – of the August 30, 2019 meeting were approved (Fraser/Bieman).
Business Arising From the Minutes – 1) Signing Officers – Ken, Patti and Andy need to be officially installed as the Club’s signing officers as soon as possible.  Andy will contact Bob to set this up. 
New Business – 1) Mission Statement – President Ken shared a slide that stated that our club’s existence was to function both as a bridge club and a social club.  Members were in agreement with this.  2)  Activities – Ken then listed our club’s activities in the past which included:  competitive ACBL games, potluck dinners, catered dinners, a Christmas dinner/annual awards/game evening, and member outreach (cards, phone calls and visits at significant times in members’ lives).  3) Needs – Ken presented a list of what he perceived our needs might be at the present:  (a) Updated Website – many clubs are using Bridge Web which costs $100 annually.  This application would provide improved bridge functions for members – e.g. one could go back and replay hands, tell how one’s leads compared to other defenders, etc.  All members would have password access to a more secure website and it would also provide a social and news component which we do not have at present; (b) Bridge in a Post-COVID World – we are most likely to face a loss of members due both to attrition and to online bridge formats.  For both safety and comfort reasons, we expect more than a few people to continue to want to play online in the near future anyway.  We will most likely be faced with increased costs to use the Davidson Centre as the town has not had any source of revenue from there for a year.  We had been making a voluntary contribution but will likely face a user fee in the future.  There will also be a cost associated with anti-COVID protocols such as players having to have their own bidding boxes, more frequent sanitation of the cards, boards, scoring machines and perhaps even plexiglass dividers to separate the players; (c) Communication to Members – this is an ongoing battle but one that deserves a more dedicated effort. 
Financial Report – Ken stated that we currently have @$1200.00 in the bank and have promised to give $1500.00 to Tom Rajnovich for dealing machines at some point in the future.
 
Why We Are Where We Are – When COVID hit last March and the lockdowns occurred, bridge clubs were forced into operating differently.  The bridge clubs in Kincardine, Goderich, Port Elgin and Owen Sound decided to form a loose amalgamation called “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (BOTW).  The model that was adopted was a Master/Servant model whereby one club (in our case Goderich) was to run the collection and distribution of monies for all the clubs.  Many people, including President Ken, were instrumental in setting up the online strategies that needed to be in place for members of all clubs to play.  Apparently, Bob Walker told Tom Rajnovich that since he thought COVID would be short-lived,  the Kincardine Bridge Club (Thursday night) did not need to be receiving any revenues back from those who were playing. As Club Manager, Doug Bieman was not keen to be involved so our group was not, and is not part of BOTW.  The Friday afternoon group has traditionally given all monies that they receive to charity.  The Port Elgin Club thought that this was a good idea and told Goderich that any monies due their way should just go to the Friday afternoon Kincardine group.  That is what is happening.  Goderich is sending cheques to Sheila Murray who is depositing them in the bank before donating them to the charities that this group has deemed worthy for the year.  Andy “volunteered” to call Tom Rajnovich and have a discussion on the current situation.  He also volunteered to call Maureen Knowler in Goderich to inquire about revenue sharing.  He will report back to the executive.
Adjournment – Ken adjourned the meeting at 11:05 AM.
Next Meeting – will be at the call of the chair.
Respectfully submitted,
Andy Fraser, Secretary

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