The last few months have been a busy and productive time for our Board as we work on making positive changes.  Our goal is to listen to our members, and to implement financially sound initiatives that will both help grow our membership, and help raise funds to benefit not only our International players, but our Canadian Clubs and Club players.  Read on for what’s happening at the CBF.

New Board Members

Welcome Marielle Decelles-Brentnall as our Zone 4 Representative.  Marielle brings her IT and business expertise as President of a telecommunications company in Winnipeg.

Welcome Sheila Xu as our new Treasurer. Sheila is a CPA who lives in Ontario and is also on the Unit 166 Board. Sheila is replacing Cathy Walsh who has been an invaluable and conscientious contributor in guiding the CBF, and I have had the great pleasure of working closely with Cathy during my time on the Board.

Canadian Championships

We recently held our Canadian Championships alongside the Toronto Easter Regional, and I had the honour of presiding over our Awards night where we recognized those who have made great contributions to Canadian Bridge. Nader Hanna who was our long-time CBF president, made presentations to our newest CBF Hall of Fame inductees Gloria Silverman Bart and Joan Eaton.

Ina Demme who was our previous Administrative Assistant was the perfect person to present our Lifetime Achievement Award to Neil Kimelman, who has also served as CBF President (twice!).

It was truly inspiring for me to be amongst Canada’s top players, Canada’s Bridge celebrities and Bridge icons! I would like to congratulate all our Canadian Teams and Open Pairs winners. Please check out our website, and lend your support to these top Teams as they compete on the world stage in Denmark.

We are listening to player feedback, and are working hard to set up our Championships in a format that is appealing and financially viable. We’ll keep you posted.

New Initiatives and Events

My priority is always to grow the game of Bridge, and my vision is for the CBF to become relevant to our Clubs and players by involving them in enjoyable Canadian Bridge events!

  1. Watch for our new “Maple Leaf online Friday night games”where we welcome ALL  Those who are CBF members can share profit with their home Club (or Clubs), so let your friends and Clubs know!  This will be a competitive yet social event as we’ll be using RealBridge, which is a platform with video where you can talk with your opponents and partner (between hands!).  You are welcome to practice on the RealBridge platform over the next few months before our game goes “live” – check out the RealBridge Taster sessions under “Where can I play?”
  2. The CBF encourages all Clubs to get involved in running games to raise money for Alzheimer’s Canada.  Choose one date between June 15 and 22to run one or more fundraising games.  Check out the Club Manager tab on our website.
  3. Other initiatives include improving the CBF website, enriching content, improving responsiveness and ease of interaction, and improving compatibility with mobile devices.  This is a work in progress led by our Webmaster Louise Mascolo.

Online AGM

We are embracing technology, and we will run our AGM on Zoom on Monday June 23rd 7:30 ET. More information to come, but please “save the date”!

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Keep checking our Website www.cbf.ca for the most up to date information. We welcome your involvement and support in helping to keep Bridge “alive” in Canada!

Sincerely,
Shelley Burns
CBF President