I wholeheartedly want to thank each Celebrity and each player for participating in our inaugural “2026 Maple Leaf Celebrity Classic” – your participation truly makes a big difference to the viability of the CBF!

The CBF not only actively supports our International players and our Juniors, but we have initiated programs to help developing players, and we are trying to help our Clubs through profit sharing of our newly initiated “Maple Leaf RealBridge games” on Friday nights, welcoming players from all countries.

The CBF not only actively supports our International players and our Juniors, but we have initiated programs to help developing players, and we are trying to help our Clubs through profit sharing of our newly initiated “Maple Leaf RealBridge games” on Friday nights, welcoming players from all countries.

  • As we all know, a lot of things have changed since Covid, and both the ACBL and the CBF have been struggling financially due to a huge reduction of face to face Bridge.
  • Even though the CBF has a reserve (mostly in our Junior Fund), our financial viability is tenuous.
  • It became necessary to find some new initiatives that could positively affect our bottom line, and thus came the idea for this fundraiser and community building event!
  • The goal that I hoped for was $25,000 Canadian, and I’m thrilled to announce that we brought in just slightly more than that (before expenses…)!

I’m a Bridge Teacher, a Club Manager, a game Director, and an advocate for Bridge.  To me, Bridge is all about Community, and it is my personal mandate to promote and grow the game of Bridge, and to keep Bridge alive at all levels, including Club games, Canadian Competitions and on the world stage.

The Maple Leaf Celebrity Classic was focused on our worldwide Bridge community.  We specifically timed our Celebrity game, so that we could include our International friends from Europe and abroad.  Thank you to ALL our Celebrities, and a special shout out to those as far away as India, Argentina, Israel and even Turkey!

I really hope everyone had a great time in our Celebrity online game.  Many are Bridge advocates themselves, and I commend them for their personal investment in the game that we all love.

Congratulations to our winners: Jan Jansma & Paul Frean, who were in the lead most of the day!

We can get together in St. Louis for a photo opportunity with your (plastic) trophies…(thanks to Danny)!

Thank you for all those Celebrities who donated a Speedball/lesson.  This donation of your time and expertise will be so cherished by those who were lucky enough to be the successful bidder!

This is likely going to be an annual event, so please mark your Calendars for the Monday prior to the next Spring NABC.

I want to thank my committee of:

  • Danny Miles, Jason Feldman, Sondra Blank, Lois Matton, Marielle Brentnall,
  • and our Juniors Cindy He, Quan Chen, Casper Gu and Garrett Lui,
  • and for the assistance of Shireen Mohandes of RealBridge, Andrew Gumperz, Trisha Malazdrewitz, Tracey Bauer and Louise Mascolo.

I especially want to recognize the ongoing support of Bronia Jenkins (ACBL’s Executive Director), Barbara Seagram, and my amazingly supportive husband Lorne.

Thank you to Mitch Dunitz, Geoff Hampson, Joe Grue, and Brad Moss, who are not only friends of mine, but world class Bridge players who were on our Expert Panel.  Thanks to our host Danny Miles (our very own world class Canadian player) who highlighted some interesting deals, and some memorable moments.  Thanks to our amazing Executive Administrator Sondra Blank, who is always on the ball, and is a pleasure to work with.

Sincerely,

Shelley Burns
CBF President