| Pam Dougherty |
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Pamela Dougherty
Photo: Pam from her club president days, 2008
This is the final player profile for 2024 and features Pam’s story. We hope the series returns in 2025 to feature the stories from past and present members of the Grafton Bridge Club.
Player Profile#7: Pamela Dougherty
National Australian Bridge Federation (ABF) ranking: State Master
ABF Masterpoints: 133.42 (as at October 2024)
Pamela Dougherty (Pam to her friends) has had a long association with the Grafton Bridge Club. Over 25 years ago, she took lessons from Jean Craig, who Pam describes as someone who “lived and breathed” bridge.
Pam came to bridge after many years of family responsibilities and commitments, having helped to raise 4 sons and 2 daughters. Bridge offered Pam ‘something she could do for herself’, especially after hectic days of family routines.
Taking bridge lessons followed many years of playing solo, initially with friends of her mother, who was a keen solo player and taught Pam at an early age. So the eventual progression to bridge came with some initial card playing skills and knowledge.
When Pam found bridge, club bridge was played at the South Grafton Ex-Services Club, which over the years provided a wonderful venue, with views overlooking the river, in which to relax and play bridge.
Pam says she was not present on the somewhat eventful evening, when the fire brigade was called and the club members were evacuated from their playing room. She does recall the event being talked about for some time and being incorporated into a club legend story that is from time to time recounted to new players joining the club.
Pam welcomed the club’s relocation to play at the Grafton District Services Club (GDSC), just prior to the COVID pandemic. Pam noted GDSC offered “a positive playing environment, with ample parking, and quality facilities for not only playing bridge but meeting for lunch before a game and/or a drink after finishing play”.
Over the years Pam has made many contributions to the club and to this day continues to help out with essential tasks such as table set-up and helping with end of the day packing up. Pam has also held formal roles, including that of club president. “I was very happy to give back to the club in some small way, especially in recognition of all the fun times over the years”.
An important component of developing and improving bridge skills is developing a playing system with your bridge partner. Pam recalls several such partnership, including playing with the late Sue Vesey, a former Grafton radiologist, who was well known and respected across the Clarence valley. In addition to club play, Pam also played a number of Congresses. ‘Playing in congresses was both exciting and daunting’, says Pam.
Bridge can be captivating and you can get “hooked on it. They say it keeps the brain active, so let’s keep trying and hope that works”, says Pam. Pam has always loved and enjoyed her bridge but admits that in her later years she is not as confident as she used to be. “I get very nervous, but I think that's age. Fortunately, our club is a very friendly and supportive one and I enjoy the company of the people, which is very nice”.
PS: It seems the captivating element of bridge identified by Pam, is being passed down a generation of the Dougherty family. Club members have recently welcomed new member Tracy Dougherty to regular play at the club.
Vicki Williamson
October 2024
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| Geoff Hiatt |
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Geoffrey Hiatt
This is the sixth in a series of articles featuring stories from past and present members of the Grafton Bridge Club. A new profile is posted each month so readers can explore the stories and experiences of being a bridge player in the Clarence Valley.
Player Profiles #6: Geoffrey Hiatt
National Australian Bridge Federation (ABF) ranking: Bronze State Master
ABF Masterpoints: 237.03 (as at July 2024)
(Note: profiles #1 and #3 have some linkages to this story)
Geoffrey Hiatt is very well known across the Clarence Valley after many years of service to the community as a general medical practitioner. However, a lesser-known aspect of Geoffrey’s life in Grafton is his long association with the city’s bridge club.
Over many years, Geoffrey has fulfilled with grace and professionalism many roles at the Grafton Bridge Club (GBC). This player profile covers some aspects of his many and varied contributions, including those as club player, tournament director, club official, teacher, mentor, Congress competitor and club life member.
Geoffrey says bridge ‘has been a big part of my life, especially after I retired in 2000’. He recalls he started playing bridge at the GBC a bit before he retired, around the time he moved from full-time general practice to locum work.
Geoffrey recalls learning what he calls ‘basic bridge’ as promoted by Ron Klinger (more on this later!). However, his busy professional and family life had brought a hiatus to regular bridge playing. He credits his mother-in-law’s move to live in Grafton as the factor that saw him return to regular bridge play. ‘She was a very keen bridge player, and she got me playing in the club’.
With full-time retirement Geoffrey became even more involved with the GBC, becoming a director.
‘Our president asked me to, you had to have a certificate to become a director and have lessons which I undertook and shared the directorship with Jean Craig who was our president’. Geoffrey and Jean oversaw play at the club twice a week. But Geoffrey also found time to play an additional weekly game at the then South Grafton Bridge Club.
Over the years Geoffrey has fulfilled many official club officer roles, including President, committee member and publicity officer. He and his wife Frances for many years did weekly manual dealing of cards before progressing to operating the computerised dealing machine that is used today. Together they have helped out setting-up and taking-down countless playing tables and room set-ups.
There are many at the GBC today who were taught to play bridge by Geoffrey, who ran regular lessons for beginning bridge players. Teaching and directing continued for many years. Geoffrey recalls recently coming across one of his 2010 diaries which had listed regular Wednesday evening GBC sessions. Geoffrey recalls classes ‘weren't run all the year round of course. When we got enough people we'd start a school’. Geoffrey monitored the playing progress of those who took his classes, but ever only offered advice when asked. ‘I don't like interfering at the time of playing, if I notice them doing something, so I don't; but if they ask me, I will provide advice’.
Geoffrey noted in our conversation that over the years bridge has changed a bit. The ‘basic bridge’ he learned has given way to what today is called ‘modern bridge’. These days there is also online (or e-bridge). Many, including Geoffrey, adopted online bridge during the COVID pandemic when lockdowns forced clubs to abandon face-to-face play. Geoffrey was an early and eager recruit to online bridge and regularly plays in the GBC Monday evening online event as well as other national events through the online platform Stepbridge.
Over the years Geoffrey has played in many bridge Congresses, mostly partnering with his wife, Frances. Geoffrey says Congresses, which usually take place over a weekend, have both good and bad sides. He says ‘they can be distressing. The concentration for that length of time is not easy and can be disturbing. But when it's over, there's the pride, I suppose, in knowing that you've done it again; it’s been a challenge, but it's been met’.
When asked if his preference was for face-to-face or online he was quick to reply, ‘there’s a role for both. I would certainly miss it very much if face-to-face fell away, as I think it's vital to meet with people and keep up the human closeness of playing together and sharing afternoon teas, etc. But online is very useful, particularly for people who don't have a regular partner. They can get one online and if you feel like asking for a game, you'll always get one with online bridge’.
In 2022, Geoffrey and his wife were both awarded life membership of the GBC. Geoffrey says he was ‘surprised but felt honoured and it was very good of them to recognise my efforts and the efforts of others at the time in starting the club and in continuing the club, getting members, etc.
In 2024 the GBC also acknowledged Geoffrey’s 90th birthday, marking this major milestone with best wishes, good cheer and a presentation of a bottle of his favourite wine.
Geoffrey has been versatile in his bridge playing career, which he continues on a weekly basis in both face-to-face and online events. When asked over his long playing career if he had any stand out memories or experiences, he quietly replied ‘no, not really - just lots of happy times’.
Author’s notes:
In the depths of COVID in 2021, I returned to live in Grafton having moved away after completing high school. I made contact with the GBC having just completed bridge lessons at the Tomaree club in Nelson Bay. I was in search of a playing partner and a venue through which to reconnect with the Grafton community after so many years away. I was told to ‘come on Thursday and we will have a partner for you’. Geoffrey and I have played bridge on almost every Thursday ever since! How fortunate am I?
While this player profile has listed various roles and contributions which Geoffrey has made to the GBC, I would add the additional role of being ‘a thorough gentleman’, whose playing demeener is valued and appreciated by anyone and everyone who meets him at a bridge table.
Vicki Williamson
(August 2024)
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| Beryl Kneale |
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Beryl Kneale - profile #5
This is the fifth in a series of articles featuring player stories from past and present members of the Grafton Bridge Club. A new story is posted each month so readers can explore the stories and experience of being a bridge player in the Clarence Valley.
Player Profile #5: Beryl Kneale
Retired from active play
In preparing this profile, I asked Beryl to reflect on her time as a bridge player and her contribution was the following anagram.
BRIDGE
B - Beginners, we all have been
R - Rules galore - count your cards, count your points, etc
I - Instructions, play what, when and how, etc, etc
D - Do not renege, sigh or talk
G - Give thanks to yours partner for good and bad cards
Last, but not least:
E - Enjoy
In summary Beryl says, she found bridge very difficult, and over the years stopped and started playing again, several times. She enjoyed the social side, learned a lot and gained confidence.
Again, in her own words, ‘bridge is different to any other card game - the only one where your partner may be asked what does you bid mean’. You have to remember before you talk to think.
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| Joan Stephenson |
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Joan Stephenson
This is the fourth in the series of articles featuring stories from the members of the Grafton Bridge Club. A new story is posted each month so readers can explore the stories and experiences of being a bridge player in the Clarence Valley.
Player Profile #4: Joan Stephenson
Life Member, past president
Retired from active play
Joan is a life member of the Grafton Bridge Club and although now retired from active bridge playing, she has many treasured memories of playing bridge in Grafton and was very happy to be interviewed for our Player Profile series.
Joan’s started playing bridge when she moved to Compmanhurst, a small town in the Clarence Valley, approximately 25 minutes northwest of Grafton, where she continues to live today. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2021 census, the town has a population of 344 people, 53.4% of whom are female.
In the 1980’s, together with a local friend, Joan initially learned some card games, including eurcha and 500. She recalls many a Wednesday evening at the Copmanhurst Hall playing in the then monthly euchre tournaments. However, besides those monthly outings, they found it difficult to find others to play a game with on a regular basis. So there was some excitement when they found an advertisement in the local paper about bridge lessons on offer in Grafton!
Joan and her partner registered to attend lessons and set off to the then Gentleman’s Club (now Vines Restaurant) in Fitzroy Street to begin to learn to play bridge. They were told to buy a book (the title and author of which, Joan has long since forgotten). Joan recalls ‘we were told to read the book and learn that way but it was a complicated and hard way to learn’. Fortunately, one of the other participants suggested we ‘dispense with the book and just play bridge and learn by playing’.
Around the same time, the venue was no longer available for bridge playing, so one of the ladies offered to host weekly play at her house. She became our teacher, mentor and host says Joan. She had decided to give up playing bridge herself for the 6-week period of Lent (the Christian religious observation prior to Easter) and instead teach the group how to play bridge.
The group went from strength to strength and progressed to weekly games of ‘kitchen bridge’ accompanied by lavish afternoon teas. Joan recalls one of the participants was a regular attendee, who frequently arrived at those weekly meeting early and often said she intended to advance to club level play. However, she never did advance to club play, so we all concluded she was only coming for the company of others and the sumptuous afternoon teas!
Joan recalls over time playing at several well known local venues, including the Grafton RSL, South Grafton Ex Services and the 5 Mile Hotel. Her standout memory is the night in May 1989 when the bridge club was playing at the South Grafton Ex Services Club, when it caught on fire. The fire brigade was called and evacuated the building. It was reported the next day in the local newspaper that ‘several elderly people’ needed to be escorted from the building. Joan laughs and says ‘it was just the bridge players, which is how they could have described us, rather than saying we were elderly!’
Playing bridge in a Congress and with people from other clubs was always a much-enjoyed aspect of bridge for Joan. Of Congress play she says, ‘it tests your skills to play against different people’.
Some years ago, Joan and her bridge partner were set to travel to Melbourne to see ‘Phantom of the Opera’. In preparation for their long road trip, they called ahead to bridge clubs along their route to book-in for a bridge game and so planned their travel stop-overs in venues where they could play bridge. Joan built many friendships through playing bridge.
Over many years, Joan made many valuable contributions to the Grafton Bridge Club, including holding a number of committee positions (she is a past president) and mentoring other players. The bridge club was like one big family and everyone looked out for everyone else and we all supported one another, says Joan.
Joan’s bridge playing routines changed in 2020. As she says ‘Covid - well that changed everything didn’t it?’. She is indeed right about that.
At the end of our conversation, I asked Joan was there anything she would like to add and I was impressed by the spontaneity and sincerity of her answer: ‘Bridge - well it’s simply a top game to play, one of the best, if not THE best, you could ever wish to play. It’s very challenging. It’s about building a partnership with your playing partner, understanding one another and enjoying each other’s company - a bit like life really’.
Vicki Williamson
June 2024
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| Player Profile - Dennis |
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Player Profile #3:
Dennis Ford
The Player Profile series, prepared by club member Vicki Williamson, explores the stories and experiences of being a bridge player in the Clarence Valley.
Dennis Ford Australian Bridge Federation (ABF) ranking: Bronze State Master ABF Masterpoints: 187.35 (as at May 2024)
Dennis’s loves the competitive nature of bridge. He describes himself as “extremely competitive by nature”. A dedicated sports person early in life, Dennis is also a longtime card player. “I had too many sports, hobbies and things. I was quite good at a lot of them, but never a champion at any of them”.
Early experiences of card play include many of the usual card games played by children with their grandparents. Some games, like Cribbage, he still enjoys playing today. Graduating to play Five Hundred brought Dennis many a Friday night playing cards late and into the early hours of Saturday and having a lot of fun. That card playing experience led Dennis to seek out a Five Hundred card playing club in Grafton. He was not successful in this endeavour, instead, a with the help of friends, he found Geoffrey Hiatt, then President of the Grafton Bridge Club, who offered to teach Dennis how to play bridge. Lessons began but serious ill health intervened and after only one lesson, Dennis spent the next year or so fully focused on recovering his health.
Something of a consistent presence in the Dennis bridge story is fellow Grafton Bridge Club member, Fred Sherriff. Dennis has known Fred for a long time having enjoyed many Friday night games of 500 together, sometimes as partners and other times as opponents. It was Fred who joined Dennis in that first bridge lesson too. When Dennis turned his attention to recovering his health, Fred pursued other things. These days Fred and Dennis see each other weekly at the bridge table, again sometimes as partners and other times as opponents, during club competitions.
With good health regained, Dennis resumed bridge lessons, found a card playing partner and progressed to competitive club play in around 2006. Dennis recalls at this stage of his bridge playing “you think you know everything, but discover there’s plenty of stuff you still don’t know and that’s still happening”.
Over the years, Dennis has made many and varied contributions to his local club, including roles as office holder, teacher, mentor to other players, tournament director and as an active and regular player. Dennis has experience in giving bridge lessons, supporting new players and providing guidance to players generally. He reflects while “I don’t have any formal qualifications as a teacher, I just took the job on because I was asked to”. Dennis sees his knowledge of standard bidding and correct bidding procedures as something he can share with others to help them learn the basics of bridge playing.
Dennis says “one of the frustrations in teaching is convincing people to read the text and do the practice exercises. Old 500 players can be a particular challenge (just show me the rank of the cards and how to score and I’ll be fine)”. While Dennis always tries to accommodate different learning styles, he maintains learning to play bridge “still takes time and effort - a bit like a musician who decides to learn a new instrument.”
Dennis is something of a lifelong learner himself recalling, in the first few years of playing, he did not know a lot about standard bidding and correct bidding procedures, so along the way that became a special learning focus for him. Then he realised “I’ve been spending all this time learning to bid properly; I’ve got to learn how to play a bit better”. It was time to invest in some bridge books.
Like many other bridge players, the COVID pandemic was an opportunity for Dennis to transition to online bridge playing. Dennis likes the online format as “it doesn’t take up all your day”. However, he has always enjoyed the social aspect of face-to-face club play.
Dennis has experience as a tournament director, overseeing the set-up of playing movements and adjudicating when called by other players to decide the correct application of bidding and playing rules. He has also played in a number of bridge congresses, mostly those arranged by local and regional clubs. “You get a range of good, medium and beginner players all in one room, so that is what makes congresses interesting”.
When asked what is the best thing about playing bridge, without hesitation, Dennis replies: “Oh, it's the competitive challenge of it and the actual challenge of getting better”. Dennis observes it’s like “golfers talk about their handicap, how to bounce from 10 to 9, an achievement, things like that. It's a bit like that at bridge, you learn more and you feel a satisfaction in improving”.
The photo is Dennis, as he was, in his 500 playing days.
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| Player Profile - Anne |
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This is the second in the series of articles featuring player stories from members of the Grafton Bridge Club.
A new story is posted each month so readers can explore the stories and experience of being a bridge player in the Clarence Valley.
Player Profile #2:
Anne McCauley Australian Bridge Federation (ABF) ranking: just beginning ABF Masterpoints: a work in progress (April 2024)
A constant theme in Anne's life since moving to the Clarence Valley from Canberra in 2022 has been bridge. It brought her a way to connect with her neighbour, get to know her community, make new friendships and learn new skills. Anne says it has been an exciting time and helped her transition to retirement after a busy life of raising a family and working.
Anne had wanted to learn the basic conventions of the sport of bridge for a long time but other commitments did not leave her much time. She, like a lot of bridge players, came from a family where playing cards was a natural and frequent pass-time. As she says, "after all, what else do you do when you come from a family of ten children and have a card-playing mother"? Anne's childhood memories include the cards usually coming out after family dinner, and the experience of playing various card games with her grandparents, starting with Fish and progressing to Rummy, Euchre and Five Hundred over time. Anne credits her mother with also continuing the family tradition by teaching the grandchildren how to play various card games.
Anne's bridge journey is just beginning as she completed lessons with the Grafton Bridge Club in 2023. Again, like other bridge players, Anne says "you start with an interest in cards, go off and have a busy life and then think about goals in retirement". Introduced to the Grafton club by her neighbour, Anne quickly found new friends while attending lessons and ahead of progressing to supervised play under the watchful eyes of some experienced club players. One of Anne's new friends, whom she met during lessons, agreed to pair-up with her and they now play regularly in the club's weekly competitions. Anne says pairing-up with a player at the same beginning level has helped her settle into bridge at the club level as they continue to learn together. They have discovered they have many interests and family experiences in common, so they have a "common conversation base". Transitioning to club level play has been very enjoyable, mainly because "everyone has been very friendly and inclusive".
Anne has also begun to play in the club's online competition with her neighbour on Monday evenings. While it is still early days playing both the face-to-face and online formats, Anne enjoys the face-to-face competitions more "because it’s more personal". Given the many bridge conventions and rules, Anne has set herself the goal to try and incorporate one specific aspect of the game each time she plays. She would like to learn more about bridge scoring but that will come sometime in the future. She accepts "you can't possibly learn everything at once and there's so many different nuances of the game".
Anne's advice to anyone thinking of learning the basics of how to play bridge is: "just have a go....give it a try". From her participation at the Grafton club, Anne says "other players understand we are only beginners and help us and are forgiving" as the established generation of players welcome new players to the club's ranks. We are all actively following Anne's development as a bridge player and wish her every success.
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| Player Profile - Frances Margaret |
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Welcome to the first in a series of articles featuring player stories from members of the Grafton Bridge Club. Over the coming months, readers can explore the stories and experiences of being a bridge player in the Clarence Valley.
Player Profile #1: Frances Margaret Hiatt
National Australian Bridge Federation (ABF) ranking: Bronze State Master
ABF Masterpoints: 234.69 (as at March 2024)
Frances began playing cards early in life, playing what she calls 'those funny old childhood games, such as Rickety Kate'. While card playing was not undertaken as a family activity, Frances recalls both her parents played bridge at some stage of their lives. Her mother learned to play bridge later in life at the well-respected Trumps Bridge Centre in Mossman and became a very good player, who continued to play well into her 80's. While her father played bridge as a young man 'for money'.
Frances found bridge (or as she says 'was lured into it') after she married and came to live in regional New South Wales. Starting her card playing by learning Solo, she quickly progressed to bridge. Frances found out quickly that she enjoyed the challenges of playing bridge, very much. According to Frances, "bridge opened up a whole new life to me. It was like learning a new language and I love it. Bridge keeps you learning!"
Frances recalls some highlights of her bridge playing career, number one being the opportunity to meet personally some well-known and internationally renowned bridge players (such as Ron Klinger, among others). Another big highlight has been taking bridge holidays to amazing locations and resorts worldwide. Reading bridge books rates as another highlight, although she admits her bridge reading these days is mostly from online forums, such as Joan Butts Bridge.
When asked about any low points in her bridge career, Frances laughed and simply replied: "coming last as sometimes happens; but no, not really any low points."
Her memories of the Grafton Bridge Club are long, happy and colourful. Before the club became affiliated with the ABF, it was more a social club. Bridge parties were the fashion and Frances remembers them being 'very entertaining and enjoyable, with lavish afternoon teas and drinks at the end. One was very privileged to be invited and for some it was a way of life.'
Frances recalls those bye-gone days as a whole different era and a different world to today's friendly but competitive club. When she started out, under the watchful eye of more experienced players, it was "a tough school". Bridge etiquette had to be learned, respected and practiced under the strict and watchful eyes of senior club members. Rules and regulations were there to be strictly followed. "When I look back on those times now, I can see the value in learning the proper ways because over the years it paid off, especially when competing in major competitions and Congresses." Bridge is like any sport really, says Frances "you have to know the regulations and play properly by the rules."
Frances, together with husband Geoffrey, have been an integral part of the Grafton Bridge Club from the 1970's to date. Both continue today as active players across all formats - in face-to-face, online and special competitions. Last November they paired together and came second in the Grafton Congress. Over many years, both Frances and Geoffrey have held many formal positions in the club and both now hold the status of 'Life Members'.
The arrival of COVID brought many changes to bridge, as lockdowns prevented face-to-face play. The ABF recorded dramatic drops in financial memberships during COVID times. While nationally, membership numbers are again on the rise, they remain far short of pre-COVID levels. The arrival and rapid growth of online bridge has brought a whole new dimension to bridge and uptake of online play has been positive and rapid. Grafton Bridge Club, thanks to the leadership of then President, Bob Northam, was an early adaptor. The club invested in Stepbridge, an online playing platform and Grafton members play together as an online club on Monday evenings. Stepbridge players also have the option to participate in tournaments on other days against players from all over Australia. Frances is now a very regular player on Stepbridge. If she is not playing; she is likely watching others play online. Frances has been playing both online and face-to-face in the post Covid world but has a growing appreciation and liking for the online format. With advancing years, she says the online environment fits well with her lifestyle. You don't always know the people you are playing with as they can be physically located anywhere in the country. That anonymity makes sure your 'play the game, not the person' which can sometimes happen in a face-to-face game.
According to Frances, "bridge is simply wonderful, you lose yourself in it and leave all your worries behind because while you are thinking about bridge, you don't have time for anything else!"
Vicki Williamson
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