Thinking of Moving?

One of our newer members, Anita Humphrey, has recently changed jobs and is now working for Sotheby's International Realty.

Sotheby's International Realty has a generous offer for Grey Power Members.  

Anyone is welcome to contact Anita for more information: her phone number is 027 415 1045.

John Plimmer

I'm very sorry to have to tell you that John Plimmer died on Thursday 12th February.  John had been ill for some time.

We send our sincere condolences to Judy and all of John's family and many friends.

A celebration of John's life will be held in St Luke's Anglican Church, Elizabeth Street, Waikanae, on Wednesday 18th February 2026 at 1:30pm. The service will be livestreamed - kcfhstream.nz (livestream 1), and will be followed by drinks at the Waikanae Golf Club.

Pre-session Discussions

To assist Session Directors, the Committee requests that if you want to have a discussion with your partner prior to play you sit only at either the table at which you will be playing, or at the top table.

Background

The Director decides how many tables and part tables we have, how many boards will be played and which room movement best suits this. Having done this, they advise the scorer to capture this information in the computer system and activate the tablets.

Occasionally, the Director finds that partnerships have been counted twice: once at the table at which they have initially sat, and again because they are sitting at a different table discussing their system.  For obvious reasons, this can cause problems and lead to confusion and delay.

Your cooperation is requested.

Rankings

In the national "Top 20" Player Rankings as at 31st December:

• John Donbavand ranked 7th in the Life Master category
• Anthea Black ranked 13th and Graham Cheater 20th in the Master category
• Murray Lobb ranked 14th in the Local Master category
• Shelley Ross ranked 2nd in the Club Master category

As of the same date Graeme Norman sits in 106th place in the updated All Time Masterpoints Earners list with 3250.82 points.

Murray Lobb, Craig Jackson, Viv Gray, Shelley Ross and Gillian van Raalte all graduated to Intermediate Grade as of 1st January.

Congratulations everybody - and especially to Shelley: a great result.

2025 Prizes

 Congratulations to all our trophy and cup winners:

Thursday
                                                                                               
Mary Fairey Trophy - Sue Legat
Ilca Evans Trophy - Jo Anson & Maureen Pratchett 
Glory Wilson Trophy - Vicky Young & John Donbavand
Ferrier Trophy - Murray Lobb & John Donbavand

Friday

Agnes Richards Cup - Jeanne Wardill & Isobel Ross
Bob Reid Cup - John Donbavand & Kevin Walker
John Mautner Trophy - Angela Gattsche & Pryor Rowland

Monday

Norma Bridges Trophy - Di Andrews
Joan Welsh Cup - Ann Verboeket & Liesbet Gavey
Kay Wallis Trophy - Di Andrews & Nina Netherclift
Beverley Ferrier Trophy - Ernie Davis (not shown)

Tuesday

Harry Fairey Trophy - Graham Cheater & Derek Snelling
B L Jones Trophy - Graham Cheater
Algie Trophy - Lorraine Gaffaney & Eileen Queree
Ord Trophy - Eileen Queree

Farewells

We say farewell and "haere rā" to the following long-term members:

• Michael Gaffaney

• Jennifer Hall

• Keith Naisbitt

• John Plimmer

• Adrienne Mandel

• Alice Stevenson

• Angela Gattsche

On your behalf, I would like to thank them all for everything they have done for the club and wish them well in the future.

2025 "Thank You's"

As what I believe has been a very successful year  draws to a close, I would like to thank those who have contributed so much of their time and expertise for the benefit of our club:

The Conveners:

• Dealing Convenor - Eileen Queree
• Directing Convenor - Graham Cheater
• Duty Officer Convenor/Flowers - Ann Verboeket
• Scoring Convenor - Chris Farrow
• Table Money Convenor - Sue Legat
• Tournament Convenor - Margaret Gordon/Anne Ricketts

 
The "Workers":

• Almoner - Sue Crichton
• Recorder - Graeme Norman
• Art works - Chris Carlyon
• Garden/Room hire - Steph Cheeseman
• IT Manager/tablets/programme book - Maureen Pratchett
• Learner Lessons - Adrienne Dale
• Maintenance - Viv Gray
• Website - Sally Weatherley, Judi Vernau and Shelley Ross
• Bar - Derek Snelling/Chris Farrow/Steve Ricketts/Richie Rama
• Kitchen Supplies /Recycling - Nicky Bradley
• Raffles - Fiona McDonald-Bates

 
The Bridge Advisory Group:

• Graham Cheater
• Graeme Norman
• Pryor Rowland
• Vicky Young

I would also like to offer my special personal thanks to the Committee for all their hard work, and in particular acknowledge Margaret Gordon and Rae Lutman, without both of whom we would quite simply not function in the way we do.

Thank you everyone.

2025 Premium Trophies

Monday Pairs Penny Ormerod Cup Margaret Gordon and Jim Gordon (not present) Tuesday Pairs: Open Doug McLeod Trophy  Derek Snelling & Pryor Rowland Intermediate Launder Cup Miriam Lewin & Karen Hutchins Junior Des Ellis Cup Viv Gray & Murray Lobb Thursday Pairs Celia Bowker Trophy Jeanne Wardill & Graham Cheater Friday Pairs Pat Sutton Trophy Naciye Bagci & Jeanne Wardill Most Grand Slams Agnes Richards Salver Adrienne Dale Most Improved Junior Joan Allard Trophy  Murray Lobb

Maureen Creasy

I regret to announce that Maureen Creasy passed away on 25th November.

Maureen was a valued and respected member of our Club.  We send our sincere condolences to her family and friends.

Current National Rankings

The following Waikanae members are listed in the recently-updated National Rankings:

Life Master
John Donbavand - 15th
National Master 
Pryor Rowland - 14th
Master
Graham Cheater - 8th
Local Master
Murray Lobb - 19th

Many congratulations, gentlemen! 

Applications for Membership

Members are requested to consider the following applications from the recently-completed learners' course for membership of the Club.

Judith and Blair Event

A good time was had by all on Saturday to remember Judith and Blair with fun bridge, great food and good company.

Thanks to everyone who made the day possible:

• Our main sponsor - Hobson Mills
• Our raffle sponsors (Waikanae Butchery, Griffin and Pops, and Relish Cafe), and also Margaret Gordon for providing the designer bags
• Helen Walker for her brilliant organisation of the whole day
• Kevin Walker not only for directing in his inimitable style, but also for setting up the hands and managing the play
• Maureen Pratchett for scoring
• Fiona McDonald-Bates for organising the raffle
• Margaret Gordon for managing the food and everyone else who contributed in the kitchen
• All those other contributors (room set-up, bar team, furniture movers, cleaner-uppers and so on), with a special mention to Sue Osborne (chief washer up)

Thank you also to those who spoke to share their memories of both Judith and Blair, not always an easy task for those less accustomed to public speaking.

For the record, the overall winners on the day were Anthea Black and Paul Brinkman - many congratulations to them.

Lyn Derbyshire

A former member of our club, Lynette "Lyn" Derbyshire died peacefully on 18th March at the Malvina Major retirement home in Johnsonville. Lyn was 83 years old.

We send our condolences to her family and friends.

A celebration of Lyn's life will be held at Harvey's Chapel, 284 Oxford Street, Levin, on Monday 24 March at 11.00am, followed by a burial at The Avenue Lawn Cemetery, Levin.