6-Feb-2021 Message from Phil Wilner           President of Route 66 Bridge Club

It’s been a few months since my last update.  I’d like to address a few topics and to request your input regarding our reopening. 

Reopening

Over the last few months I have been talking with some of you about our eventual reopening.  Some of you have indicated that you have been vaccinated and are eager to resume face to face bridge.  I am sure that there is a wide variety of opinions and feelings across our membership.  I would like to get a sense of what players are thinking on this subject:

1.       What would it take for you to be comfortable with face to face play (e.g. all players vaccinated?
2.       Will you play face to face if masks are required?  As of today, the city of Tulsa has mandated masks through 30-Apr-2021. 
3.       What additional precautions do you think will be required e.g. cleaning, cards/boxes, HVAC, etc.?  We have already planned for a thorough deep cleaning of the club before reopening.
4.       WHEN do you think you might want to return?
5.       Do you plan to continue playing in ACBL sanctioned games online even after we resume face to face play? 

Please call one of our officers for a conversation and let us know your thoughts:

                Phil Wilner, President    918-346-3125

                Bob Hanson, Membership Liaison   918-743-4699

                Mary Heinking, Secretary/Treasurer/Oklahoma Collective 281-903-6211

Financials

Thanks to your generous support, both from your continued donations and by playing in the Oklahoma Collective virtual club games, our club remains financially solvent.    Including the Tulsa portion of the Oklahoma Collective virtual club games, our 2020 table count actually exceeded our 2020 forecast which was both unexpected and gratifying.   Our financial viability once we reopen will be completely dependent upon table count (just as it was before covid).  However, even if the club does not open until the end of 2021 (which I hope is the worst case scenario), we will have enough cash in the bank to survive until then.   We have run some sensitivity analyses and our future in 2022 is going to depend upon how many players return to face to face play.  This is why your input on reopening is needed. 

Donations

I think I have emailed a copy of the IRS letter documenting our tax exempt status to everyone who made a donation last year to the Route 66 Bridge Club.  If you didn’t receive and/or still need a copy, please call or email me. 

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you. 

Phil

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OKLAHOMA COLLECTIVE GAMES

All of our games for the current month are shown in calendar (tabular) format on the Calendar page of this website.   

To find our game:

Go to BBO (www.bridgebase.com, you will need to have version 3 to play)

Go to Featured Area (green bar)

Click on Virtual Clubs

Click on ACBL North America

2 hours prior to the start of game time  you will find our game, scrolling down as required to find it .  The ACBL has called us the "OKLAHOMA COLLECTIVE".   Any point restriction will be noted in the title.  

You will get a screen where you register to play.  You will need to enter your partner's name.   At this point you will need at least $5 in your BBO Account.   The regular games cost $5 per player while special games featuring extra points cost $8 per player.  

The BBO software stratifies all games proportionally based on the players in each specific game.    

The game results are posted on ACBL Live.  We are trying to post all of the game results under Fun and Games although we have used both club's sanction numbers in the past.