Beecroft Bridge Club – by Lucie Gabb
Beecroft Bridge Club was formed in 1995 as part of the Beecroft United Church Leisure Learning program. This program is an outreach of the Beecroft Uniting Church and is still part of it today.
Sylvia Hebblewhite, the convenor of Leisure Learning, invited Audrey Newman and myself to teach people to play bridge. Audrey was an experienced player and I was an experienced teacher and we made a good team.
We were given a time 9.30 am Wednesday mornings and allocated the room we still occupy. It was advertised in the local paper as a beginner’s course and the initial enrolment number was nine. No one in the group had any idea how to play bridge. After initial lessons the group then moved on to supervised bridge. This procedure is still followed. Ross Mulholland joined as a learner in 1999.
Our main growth then, as it is now, was word of mouth.
The Pennant Hills Golf Club is a source of many of our new starters.
In 2001 Audrey retired due to failing health and Ross stepped in to help me. The group was growing rapidly and it needed to be put on a more professional basis.
In 2007 It was Ross’s initiative that joined us with Carlingford Bridge Club. This gave us access to the internet and the publishing of earned master points via the Australian Bridge Foundation (ABF)
Our current starting time of 8.00am came about because people kept arriving earlier and earlier but at 8 am we reached a limit.
By the end of 2023 the Beecroft club had 113 Beecroft members.
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Audrey, Ross and myself have always worked as volunteers.
From Lucie Gabb – January 2024