February 2026 Newsletter

I welcome all our new beginners and everyone to Easts Bridge Club. Our mission is to make this club Sydney’s friendliest place to come and play bridge with friends, laughter and of course a little competition amongst mates.
We are waiting on approval from Easts Management, to introduce FREE Social bridge every Friday from 2-4pm, (Hopefully commencing Friday 6th of March in the Bondi room. If Bondi room is booked we can move to Arties Bar or the Olive and Oak). This will be a casual friendly atmosphere where all are welcome. There will be no scoring just playing for fun. Grab a friend or a mentor and come along.
Some people are asking when our next party will be. We shall be arranging several functions but the one to watch out for and the committee is working very hard behind the scenes shall be our Christmas in July function, to be held just after the school holiday period, and it will be HUGE. Something not seen at this club in a long time, with entertainment, raffles, auctions, free giveaways and a sit down fully catered dinner.
The committee has chosen to invest in the development of a new website and internet security for our club and create a new website home page that is informative and easy for all to navigate, with features including but not limited to :-
• About our club
• Results
• Masterpoint points look up
• Photo gallery
• Calendar of events
• Newsletters
• Links to ABF, BridgeNSW
• Links to our Facebook page, and WhatsApp
Congratulations to Trevor Stafford and Sue Casrels, who bid and made their first grand slam on Tuesday 3rd of February. Well done. If you know anyone who bids and achieves a grand slam please let us know, so they can be proudly recognised. (Especially on a Tuesday)

Most of you would have seen our new banner. It certainly helped to promote our beginners’ classes and the club in general. If anyone has any good suggestions for where we could display it for future advertising, please come see me. I thank everyone who spread the word for the Beginners classes. We have around 22 new beginners attending Nick's classes on Tuesdays.

The committee decided to give everyone a free game voucher for their birthday. Anyone who has had a birthday between the date of our last AGM and today will receive a voucher in the next few days. All new birthday vouchers must be used within one month of the birthday and are not transferable.

I have created a new Facebook page “Easts Bridge Club”. I ask all our members to join the page and share amongst their network and friends. This was a great tool used for advertising our beginners’ classes.

The Committee is working on the development of a Code of Conduct. As mentioned in every major speech and every Newsletter, Easts Bridge is going to be known as the friendly club. Please treat all members with respect. Welcome all new players and have a great time. We are playing bridge for fun.

Next on my agenda, the Committee is going to be looking at an Inhouse Saturday event 11 - 4pm, with a lunch break, to be held around October. Members only, with a range of prizes, based on masterpoints. After lunch, draw partners from a hat! Let me know your thoughts ideas and if you would be interested
The committee is currently looking at purchasing a dozen shawls for those days the AirCon is off balance and too cold.

On Tuesday March 10th, Easts will be hosting a complimentary short half hour talk for any of our members interested in home care support. This will be held prior to bridge in the adjoining room from 12-12.30 and includes light snacks by the club's caterers.

The new library is progressing nicely, we have received some great books and I thank those that have contributed to date. So anyone that has a bridge book or notes they are willing to donate please see Max or Sonia.

The Ruy Story
Ruy was born in Lisbon, Portugal on the 3rd June 1924. When he was three, the family moved to Macau, where he stayed until he finished high school. By then WWII had started and he began compulsory military service.
After high school, Ruy started playing bridge, which became a lifelong passion. There was no University in Macau so Ruy applied to attend Uni in Portugal. However, Ruy ended up in Hong Kong instead and worked in the import export business while studying to be an Accountant.
In 1950 when the Korean war started, Ruy migrated with his mother and sister to join his cousin in Australia. After a few different jobs here he gained experience in the punch card system. He joined Qantas and two years later when Qantas computerised their records, Ruy was sent to New York to attend the IBM institute of Technology course. Soon after he was sent to London to BOAC to appraise their cargo system and programmes for possible purchase. After a few years with Qantas as a computer programmer for personnel and payroll records, Ruy was promoted to senior staff.
Bridge has always been a constant with Ruy’s life. Even in Australia, when on call at work before the mobile phone era, his evening bridge games were only interrupted when his beeper signalled him to call work. He and a friend started the bridge club at Maroubra Seals. Recently at the Sydney bridge club he met some old friends from the days at the Seals.
In 1986 two years after retiring from Qantas, Ruy kept a promise he made long before, to go back to live with his wife in her native Portugal. It was hard for him to leave his mother and relatives behind, although he did visit several times, before his mother sadly died in 1997.
Ruy played lots of bridge in Portugal, where he and a friend ran weekly bridge tournaments at several clubs including the famous Estoril Tennis Club.
When he arrived back in Portugal, Ruy had decided to forget about computers and just enjoy playing Club bridge. However, when his wife died in 2016 he decided to buy a computer and started playing bridge online. His niece and her husband invited him to come back to Sydney to live for them. Luckily Ruy arrived back in Sydney just before Covid hit and online bridge stood him in good stead during the covid lockdowns. He still plays in online tournaments almost every morning with some of his friends back in Portugal.
Talking specifically about the role of bridge in his life, he says it's been good for him because it keeps his mind going. He says he’s active all the time, especially in his head.100%.
"If I wasn’t playing bridge, I wouldn’t be reading much. My eyes aren’t so good now, so I’d be sitting down watching TV and falling asleep like a lot of old people. However, bridge keeps me up and active." He is still competitive and winning tournaments. He enjoys playing at his home club Easts and has made many friends.
Ruy is an inspiration for those seeking to stay mentally active and a shining example of the old saying “You can’t keep a good man down”.
Ruy turns 102 this year, and tells everyone his secret to a long life is “Everything in moderation”.

Ruy you are an inspiration to me and all your friends here at Easts Bridge Club
January winners from best 3 scores

Monday
Leigh Foran & Theo Mangos 62.63%

Tuesday
Thomas Karsai & Piroozi Desai 69.83%

Wednesday
Kamala Valliappan & Hillary Spilkin 60.80%

Player of the Month
Pat Walker 59% (average of best six scores)

Most Improved Rating
Viola Mechsler +3.01%

Terry Simmons
President