News, Upcoming Special Games & Events

Date	Time	Event
Thursday June 25	12:30pm	Club Championship
Friday, July 10 Tue, July 14 Wed, July 22	10:00am	North American Open Pairs Qualifiers This is the first step for pairs competing to represent our District at the Nationals. Pairs qualify at the club level and compete at a District event later. The top three finalists of each strata will go on to the National tournament. More dates will be added in August. Entries $7
Wednesday July 15	10:00am	Club Championship
Sunday July 19	5:30pm	Club Championship
Thursday July 23	12:30pm	Club Championship
Friday July 31	10:00am	Club Championship

Organization
Manager: Marlene Gipson
Asst. Manager: Kim Hayward
Board of Directors:
Doug Frost, president
Peter Solberg, vice president
Mary Meinecke, secretary
Marlene Stronge, board member
Dick Grimes, board member

Brief History & Mission
     Dick Baker began the St. Paul Bridge center and held games in various locations including Stillwater, Hastings, 3M, Century College and more. He would drag the boards and bridge supplies, coffee pot, and cups. Soon he sought a permanent location, however, he needed financial support and found doners in Bob Lakken, Bob Steinfeld, Dean & Mary Ann Cook, Marlene Kasmirski-Stronge, and Linda Delzell. With this funding, he bought tables and chairs that are still used. He rented the space at English & Hwy 36, designed the layout: office, cloakroom, kitchen, bathrooms, and smoker (back in the days when smoking indoors was still allowed).
     Dick did the directing, teaching, and preparing lunches and dinners with the help of volunteers.
When Dick had bad times, he always said Bridge cured him. He died in 1996, but the club continued. In the late 1990s the club incorporated and became a federally recognized not-for-profit organization, with the new name Bridge Center of St. Paul. The club is governed by an elected Board of Directors and promotes and offers Duplicate Bridge instruction, games for all levels (9-10 games per week), and tournaments in a friendly club atmosphere in the East Metro area.