January/February 2026
Volume 58, No. 1
President’s Message
O
By Jack LaVigne President District 16
n behalf of District 16, I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year filled with joy, health and success. Here's to a bright and wonderful 2026. This is my last President’s Message. It has been my honor and privilege to serve as your president for the past two years. North American Bridge Championships (NABC)
Whitehead Women's Pairs Winners Petra Hamman & Kristen Onsgard
Mixed Swiss Teams Winner Member Eddie Wold
District 16 players performed well at the San Francisco NABC. Kristen Onsgard and Petra Hamman won the Whitehead Women’s Pairs, and Eddie Wold was on the winning team of the Mixed Swiss Teams. Please see the detailed NABC report in this issue.
Scorecard January/February 2026
Jump Start Bridge Patty Tucker continues to excel with the Jump Start Bridge program. This initiative (which includes setting up bridge exhibits and booths at conferences across the country for Math Teachers and Teachers of Gifted Students) is achieving remarkable success. Most recently, the program traveled to Grapevine for the Gifted conference held December 2–5. BJ Sanders of Austin hosted the Jump Start Bridge booth, along with Earnestine Broyles, Jean Durocher, and Linda Griffith. The team’s role was to encourage teachers to bring bridge to their school students. BJ reported that they played hours of bridge, and many of the teachers gathered around, fascinated to kibitz or participate. Jump Start provides all the necessary materials for the instructors (e.g., duplicate boards, bidding boxes, cards, videos and workbooks for students and teachers) all at no cost. She said you could see the teachers’ eyes light up when they saw the step-by-step way they could ease their students (and themselves) into playing Bridge. NABC – 2028 We are excited to learn that Austin’s Unit 207 will once again host the NABC in 2028. Region 9 Director Rebecca Brown shared that Austin had done such a great job in 2021 that they were invited continued on 6