Greater
St. Louis Bridge NewsGreater
St. Louis Bridge NewsEditor:
Marie Sander, St. Louis MO hatlady@prodigy.net
The Nationals are coming to St. Louis in the spring, and I'm sure we're all looking forward to overdosing on duplicate to the point that we'll all need a 12-step program ("Hi, I'm Marie, and I'm a bridge player").
For the first two St. Louis Nationals, I was under the impression that the entire event just occurred by osmosis, or maybe we imported some house elves from Hogwarts. Turns out the event required thousands of hours by dedicated volunteers to plan and carry out. Well, once the scales fell, I learned the sectionals and regional are staffed and run by volunteers. The ACBL assigns directors, which are paid professionals, and the caddies are paid for their work, but all the rest -- the food, daily paper, partnership desk, lessons, speakers -- are all planned and provided by our friends who give their time.
Merriam-Webster Online defines volunteer as one who renders a service or takes part in a transaction while having no legal concern or interest. So can all those who serve a myriad of roles in the bridge world truly be called volunteers? They are "interested" in bridge; they have an interest, so to speak. It is in their own interest that the tournaments take place, true? They must be getting "something" out of it, right?
Allow me to illuminate for you what these people get when they offer to find partners, teach newcomers what an ace is worth, purchase and lay out tons of goodies for tons of us to inhale, find and book playing sites for tournaments, and all those little acts of unremembered kindnesses. They get to be of service to the bridge world.
Sure, they get a smattering of admiration, maybe a free hotel room from which to toil, but mostly what they get is the sure knowledge that none of this would have taken place without them and that by doing their thankless and unacknowledged jobs, they launched a successful event. Most of the bridge-playing world drinks the coffee and eats the cookies at the tables in the rooms -- all provided by nameless, faceless presences for which they give no thought.
The point in all this is to be aware and grateful for the tremendous burden of work being undertaken by countless people for which there is no paycheck, no bonus, no money -- and for which none is asked. People like Suzy Shymanski-Moore, Mary Hruby, Mike Carmen, Buz and Mo Zeman, Sheryl Finkenstadt, Jennifer Luner (just to name a few!) consistently take on jobs like catering and partnerships and treat them like real jobs. They work like they're getting that oh-so-desirable weekly envelope, but all they get is their own sense of accomplishment and our gratitude.
And folks, I'm here to tell you, if they were depending on my gratitude, they'd have starved to death. I, like most of the bridge world, eat those cookies without a thought of what might have been involved in getting them to my plate. The Nationals are going to require thousands of hours, mostly provided by a handful of volunteers. I would like to ask those of us who have enjoyed the fruits of others' labors to step up and volunteer for just one session or task. Wouldn't it be cool if the planners of this event had too many people who wanted to help? An old saying goes "many hands make light work" and I would like to lighten the load just a little for our friends who give so much.
So I would like to take this opportunity and space provided by Unit 143 to publicly, loudly and sincerely thank all those who have for many years been of service to me and to the entire bridge world. You do a wonderful job, and deserve far more than I can ever give. You have always known what a difference you make, and now I know it, too. Bless you all.
Y'all play nice
now,
-- Marie Hatlady@prodigy.net