Our club today celebrated the 90th birthday of one of our kindest and most gracious members, Maree Brady. Maree thanked everyone for the good wishes and beautiful cake, adding that her enjoyment of bridge - the game and the people - has never waned.

We look forward to many more years together, Maree.

The 46th Annual General Meeting was held with great success. We had over 40 members in attendance - no doubt due to Jennifer Turville arranging scones for the day, and a free game of bridge that followed. Our new Committee Members for 2025/2026 are: 

President: Uve Anderson; Vice-President: Sylvia Goodwin; Secretary: Wendy Edwards; Treasurer: Bronwyn Williams; Assistant Treasurer: Ian Stewart; Tournament Director: Denise Marr; Master Points Secretary: Barbara Richardson; 

Earlier this year, our club held the Australia-wide Novice Pairs (<100Masterpoints) with excellent results: Highest GLBC pair overall with a nationally adjusted score of 61.8% (& 72nd overall) were Warren Mason & Carolyn Jackson-Moore. Closely following them with a nationally adjusted score of 61.7% (& 77th overall) were Robyn McNamara & Fiona Lewis. Coming first locally on the day, special mention goes to Maureen Harlock & Susan Gilmore who scored 57.3% nationally. 

Congratulations Gil Clarke & Pauline Erby (pictured) on winning the 2026 Memorial Day Pairs with an amazing 63.8%. Well done to 2nd and 3rd place-getters, respectively: Hope Tomlinson & Ray Pierce, and Robert Palasthy & Janet Flanagan. And to Ken, our director extraordinaire who ran the 2-week event fairly and smoothly. And of course, to everyone who played!

By all accounts, our congress was hugely successful. All credit on my side must go to the team of tireless workers, and the people in the club who cooked their hearts out to produce dozens of fabulous cakes and slices. 

Sunday 1 March 2026 saw 132 keen bridge players fill our clubhouse. Congratulations to all the winners listed below and to all who participated in the hard fought but enjoyable event. We thank the dedicated band of volunteers who made the congress a success by providing and organising the food, garnering sponsorship (see article below); donating raffle prizes, standing in to make up numbers, and ensuring every little detail was perfected.

We are grateful for the support and generosity of the following local businesses for their recent sponsorship. Please consider supporting them in return.

• Beach Bums Cafe
• Coles, Forster
• Forster Beauty
• In House Gifts, Forster
• New Day Spa, Forster
• Rock Kidz, Forster
• RYFT News & Gifts, Stockland Mall
• Watson's Family Pharmacy

Congratulations to all who competed in Saturday's Swiss Pairs, and special cheers go to the following winners:

Open 1st - David Watson & Helena Dawson; & and 2nd - Sue Eishauer & Terry Bodycote (not pictured)

Yes, it's upon us already - our 2026 Congress kicks off this weekend! With thanks to the massive amount of work our volunteers have been doing, we'd like to remind everyone of a few things:

Beginners Lessons for 2026 at the Great Lakes Bridge Club will be a 7-week course on Tuesday afternoons and are free.

When:       2pm - 4pm weekly from Tuesday 3 February to 17 March 2026 

Where:      Great Lakes Bridge Club, 34c Lake St, Forster