Louisa Witten wins David Parsons Trophy for 2025
Article submitted by Judy Hellen
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Each year the David Parsons Trophy is awarded to the non-life master who earned the most masterpoints during the calendar year. At the Salisbury Sectional Chris Shepard, Unit 169 VP Membership, presented the trophy to Louisa Witten of Salisbury. She earned 229.67 points during the calendar year. Congratulations, Louisa!
Pictured Louisa, left, and Chris, right.
Salisbury Sectional had a Full House
Article submitted by Judy Hellen
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Some problems are nice to have. Such was the case at the Salisbury Sectional when the attendance for the 499er section surpassed expectations. There was a slight delay to the start of the first Friday session as tables were shuffled into the limited section. Then everything ran smoothly.​
Many thanks to Dick Brisbin, tournament chair, and Louisa Witten, partnership chair, for delivering another great Salisbury Sectional. The tournament drew 130.5 tables compared to 117 last year. The hospitality and food were outstanding. ​
Here are the top ten masterpoint winners from Unit 169:
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Bill Wisdom, Salisbury - 23.24 MPs
Dan Fowler, Salisbury - 21.01
Rhett Inabinet, Winston-Salem - 16.94
John Kimel, Advance - 13.17
Rich Peffer, Greensboro - 11.91
Peter J. Boyd-Bowman, Greensboro - 11.76
Debbie Monroe, Greensboro - 11.76
Dick Brisbin, Salisbury - 9.07
Marty Friedman, Greensboro - 8.94
Bob Hale, Greensboro - 8.83
Toni Iossi, Salisbury - 7.94
Debbie Fowler, Salisbury- 7.94
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We also want to recognize 499ers who earned MPs:
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Donna Hancock, Winston-Salem - 2.29 MPs
John Merschel, Winston-Salem - 2.29
Brenda Ganim, Greensboro - 2.06
Sam Niehans, Jamestown - 2.06
Beverly Brown, Greensboro - .87
Candie Hurley, Summerfield - .87
Congratulations to Bill Wisdom, the overall masterpoint winner at the Salisbury Sectional held February 20-22.
Masterpoint Winners at Hilton Head Low Country Classic
Out of 962 players earning masterpoints, Jim Melville ranked 17th, Peter Boyd-Bowman ranked 40th and Fran Tewkesbury ranked 41st. Congratulations to all the players from our unit who scored masterpoints in the regional held January 26-February 1 in Hilton Head, SC while the rest of us suffered through ice and snow.
Unit 169 members who attained Life Master in 2025
Congratulations to each member who reached the rank of Life Master during 2025. Several of you share the spotlight with your regular partners. Mary Hennie and Pat Macon are also new life masters.
 Trude McCartyTrude McCarty and her dad, Richard Warren |  April ParkerApril Parker, right, with Booboo Watkins |  Paul Fargusson_editedPaul, right, and Alex Georoff |
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 Paul FargussonPaul, left, with Rick Morgan |  Lucy Strawsburg |  Beth Einstein |
Jim Melville is top masterpoint winner in Myrtle Beach.
Article submitted by Judy Hellen
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Jim Melville of Greensboro along with his partner from Wisconsin was the top masterpoint winner in the Myrtle Beach New Year's Regional Tournament. Jim walked away with over 108 MPs. Hat's off to you, Jim.
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Twenty-two other members of Unit 169 also earned points.
Congratulations to Eric Peffer,
Player of the Year 2025
Eric Peffer is the winner of the Tim Stecker Player of the Year contest for 2025. To qualify one must play in at least six unit games. Master points from the unit games are combined with those from our sectional tournaments. Eric played in 8 of the 12 unit games with various partners. At the final game of the year, he was .28 masterpoints shy of Fran Tewkesbury who was also playing. Eric with his partner, Rich Peffer, was able to pull ahead by less than one masterpoint.
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Fran Tewkesbury, yet again, is the runner up. Hang in there, Fran. See the final top ten players here.​
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Congratulations, Eric. And Fran.
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Article submitted by Judy Hellen
Triad Bridge Club Supports Operation Yuletide
From left to right: Barbara Boyd-Bowman, April Parker, Booboo Watkins, Mary Ann Young, Ann Bennett and Mary Morgan.
Article submitted by Candie Hurley
The Triad Bridge Club participated in Operation Yuletide, a project of the Greensboro Police Department, which identifies vulnerable families in our community to provide them with gifts, clothing, and essentials during the holidays. April Parker and Booboo Watkins chaired the club's effort. We adopted two families this year that are both going through tough times.
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The Nelson Family: A resilient single mother raising three daughters (Sharonda, 10; Shadiamond, 14; and Alexis, 17). The family is currently living in a hotel, and the mother is working hard to support her girls who attend Vandalia Elementary, Jackson Middle, and Smith High.
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The Walker Family: This family of five is facing a sudden crisis. Their 9-year-old daughter, Kennedy, was diagnosed with cancer just a few weeks before Christmas. The parents are currently out of work to be by her side at Brenner’s Children’s Hospital, while trying to maintain normalcy for her siblings, Madison (5) and Cayden (11).
April and Boo Boo collected the donations and shopped for over $1700 of gifts while Barbara Boyd-Bowman was in charge of the gift wrapping! Our club raised nearly $5,000 — far beyond any goal we set. That generosity means not only that the Walker and Nelson families will have a brighter, merrier Christmas, but the excess will also go back into the GPD’s general fund to help last-minute families in need and even seed next year’s campaign. Once again, we’ve proven that our community is as strong in spirit as it is at the table!
