"Longest Day" Alzheimer Charity
June 28, Winston-Salem
The June 28 Unit game, which will be held at the Georgia Taylor Recreation Center at 1471 Clemmonsville Road in Winston-Salem, is a special Alzheimer’s charity game in honor of The Longest Day. The fee for this game is $10, with 100% of game proceeds going directly to the Alzheimer’s Association. Game time is 1:00 pm.
Our traditional silent auction will be conducted at and before the game (via emailing bids), and we are offering a number of other silent auction items this year.
Among the many silent auction items offered are games with some of the best players in the Unit, lessons with some of the best teachers in the Unit, artwork from some of the most talented artists in the Unit, food from some of the Unit’s best cooks, and even a chocolate and liquor dessert.
The individual players are:
-
Jim Bean
-
Peter J. Boyd-Bowman
-
Kathie Dwyer
-
Bob Hale
-
Josh Hoffman
-
David Idleman
-
Kent Leggett
-
Tom May
-
Joanne McCluskey
-
Rich Peffer
-
Barbara Pomer
-
Bruce Southard
-
Bill Wisdom
-
Cindy Wright
In addition:
-
Judy Hellen, Martha and Mark Meyer, Rich Peffer and Barbara Pomer are offering an array of lessons and supervised play sessions for pairs, or a foursome.
-
Claudia Hale has once again donated original artwork, craft items and other goodies.
-
Dixie Culver is hosting her very popular poolside cocktail party.
-
Shelia and Mark Bertoldi will host you and your guest for dinner at the Greensboro Country Club.
-
Ruth Short has contributed chocolate liquor cups and liquor!
If you are unable to attend the game, you can participate in the auction by emailing your highest bid to Fran Tewkesbury at tewkesbury@mac.com by Saturday June 28 at noon.
If you would like to make your own gift to the Alzheimer’s Association, you can send your tax-deductible contribution, via check made out to Alzheimer’s Association, to:
Fran Tewkesbury
1005 Country Club Drive
Greensboro 27408
Your gift will count toward our Unit’s The Longest Day fundraising efforts, which in the past have landed us among the top bridge unit contributors in the U.S. If you have any questions, contact Fran Tewkesbury at 336-202-3357 or tewkesbury@mac.com.
Longest Day Unit Game: June 28, 2025
The Unit Game on Saturday, June 28, 2025 was the final event of the Unit’s Longest Day Fundraising efforts, and 9 tables of players from around the Unit joined the fray. Participants were asked to wear purple in honor of Alzheimer’s and the room was a sea of violet, indigo, lilac and shades in between. Martha Meyer was our expert Director for the day, and she brought an impressive array of food for folks to enjoy while they competed. At the same time, Fran Tewkesbury, our experienced and energetic coordinator for “The Longest Day” fundraiser, announced that final bids were still being taken on a range of excellent prizes. The bidding was especially fierce for a perennial favorite: playing a game of bridge with the amazing Bill Wisdom! Who was the winner of this bidding war??? Stay tuned for full details on the winning bids from Fran.
Tournament Overview and Memorable Hands
The Open Game of 9 tables followed a Mitchell movement, with 3 boards per round and 27 boards in total. A notable hand occurred with Board 20, where 6 of the 8 N/S pairs found the slam in hearts that was available:
In a contract of 6H, the fine declarer play of Josh Hoffman brought in an overtrick. After a trump lead, Josh won the lead in hand and played his lone spade to the Ace. He then ruffed a spade in hand, returned to the dummy with a trump, ruffed a 2nd spade, and then returned to dummy via a diamond ruff to cash the remaining spades. Pitching two clubs on these good spades, Josh made 7H.Two other N players (Bruce Southard and John Fite) also found the winning line of play by avoiding a losing club finesse to make 7H on this hand.
Top Pairs and Final Standings
At the end of 9 rounds, the final standings were as follows:
1st Overall was Dan Fowler – Bill Wisdom, with a 66% in the E/W direction. Also earning masterpoints in the E/W field were:
-
Eric Peffer – Rich Peffer: 61%
-
David Hurd – Brenda Chiott: 50%
-
Susan Williford – Marie Harrill: 49%
-
Kathryn Morris – Anita Griffin: 42%
In the N/S direction, top finisher was Bob Hale – Josh Hoffman with a 60% game. Also earning masterpoints in the N/S field were:
-
Bruce Southard – David Idleman: 57%
-
John Fite – Sue Ann Harris: 55%
-
Doug Mead – Barbara Katz: 54%
Rising Stars and Memorable Moments
The lone C pair in the N/S direction, rising stars Mark and Sheila Bertoldi, had a standout moment on Board 7:
Playing in a potentially unmakeable 2C contract, Mark navigated his limited trump (a 5-1 fit) and succeeded by endplaying the 16-point East hand to make 2 clubs, for +90.
This was only one of two positive scores for the N/S pairs on this board. Watch for big things from this dynamic duo in future events.
Conclusion
The spirit of the crowd at The Longest Day Unit Game was evident throughout the day, and many players took the time to look over the bidding sheets and add their bids to help increase our Unit’s contributions to The Alzheimer’s Association. One hundred percent of table fees were donated to the Alzheimer’s Association and members were generous with gifts in excess of their $10 entry fee. Watch this website (ccbaUnit169.org) for a final tally of the Unit’s 2025 contributions, once all of the gifts have been received. Many thanks to Martha M. for directing this special game, to Fran T. for coordinating the fundraising efforts, and to all of the players who contributed to this worthwhile effort to combat Alzheimer’s disease.
Selected photos from this festive event are included below:
