August 2026 Unitizer
San Mateo Unit 498
August 2026
The Unitizer
Happy August to All of Our Unit 498 Members!
Join us in August for all of our regular bridge favorites — Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday games — plus several special events. Mark your calendars for supervised play on August 12 and 16, our Unit game on August 15, and a celebration on August 19 honoring Jenny Kuhn’s 10th anniversary directing ACBL games. We look forward to seeing everyone at the tables for some, or all, of these games!
It’s Jenny Kuhn’s 10 Year Anniversary of Being a Director!
Jenny started Peninsula Duplicate Bridge Club 10 years ago and we are thrilled to be able to celebrate this anniversary with her! On Wednesday August 19, Jenny will be directing three games at the Villa, a morning 199er game, and an open game in the afternoon and evening.
The morning game will be a regular 199er game with an entry fee of $13 with a lesson starting at 9:45 am and game time of 10:15 am. The afternoon and evening games will be StaC games with an entry fee of $15 and will award silver points. The afternoon game will start at 1:30 and the evening game will begin at 6:30. STaC games are Sectional Tournaments at Clubs and award not only silver points but also additional points if you finish with a high enough percentage when compared to all those who played the same boards from other clubs. It is a great way to earn those elusive silver points!
No registration is required. Bring a partner if you have one or come alone and play with someone else who needs a partner. We will have snacks and other goodies! Please plan to play and help us celebrate the Peninsula Duplicate Bridge Club and Jenny’s 10 years of directing!
July 18 Unit Game
We had a fantastic turnout for our July unit game with 10 tables in the open game and 6 tables in the 499er game! Thank you, Leslie and team, for hosting a wonderful lunch and thank you Raad for directing a great game. In the open game, the first-place winners were Fred Chaselow-Ginny Zaptz N/S and Lucy Ballard-Kathryn Barnard E/W. Second place finishers were Diane Vaughan-Steven Weisbart N/S and Siuling Ku-Ken Hui E/W.
In the 499er game, our winners were N/S Eileen DiGiorgio-Carol Lashman and E/W Suzanne Paley-Karen Paley with second place going to N/S Helen Kishi-Kathy Yolo and E/W Suzy Papazian-John Affaki.
It was a great day and we hope you will all plan to join us for our next unit game on August 15!
Swiss Teams Game
Our monthly Swiss Teams Game was Wednesday July 15th. We had a nice turn-out with 5 teams participating. Congratulations to our first-place team of Bob Lerche, Lauren Rosen, Carl Ebeling, and Debra Martinez with second place going to Molly Roff, Eileen DiGiorgio, Siuling Ku and Ken Hui. We will not have a Swiss game this month since we will be celebrating Jenny’s 10th year of directing ACBL games on our usual Swiss game night so plan to join us on the 15th for this special celebration! Then, mark your calendars for September 16th when our Swiss team game will resume.
Mentor-Mentee Game
There will not be a mentor-mentee game in August, but please mark your calendar for September 23rd for our next game. It will be an in-person game at the Villa with 5:45 arrival, a light dinner, and game time at 6:30. A sign-up link will be sent to all Unit 498 members at the beginning of September. Please email Eileen DiGiorgio at Eileenunit498@gmail.com with your questions. This game is a great way for our newer players to meet and play with a more experienced player. All newer players are encouraged to sign up and play!
More information about our Mentor/Mentee Program can be found on our Unit 498 Website.
Do What You Love to End ALZ
We want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has donated to our Unit 498 ALZ campaign so far. We have raised almost $30,000 on our way to our goal of $40,000! There is still time to participate in some of the special events. Barbara Seagram and Audrey Grant will continue to offer a video of their lessons through the month of August. Audrey Grant and David Lindop’s lesson on cue bidding was excellent for players of all levels and well worth the $50 donation. The same is true for Barbara Seagram’s video package including hand evaluation, control bidding and slam bidding.
Click here for details on Barbara Seagram and Audrey Grant Lessons
We also want to give a huge thank you to Ed and Linda Lechner for hosting a fabulous day of lesson, supervised play and potluck dinner with a glorious view of San Mateo and the San Francisco bay from their balcony on July 25th. We had excellent mentors, Kai Echert, Phil and Dana Abrahamson, Kathy Walker, and Ed Lechner at tables giving insightful advice and instruction throughout the afternoon. All of us who went enjoyed the play, instruction and company of fellow bridge players while feasting on steak, salmon and many delicious potluck items provided by all who came. It was a great day!
If you haven’t already done so, please think about making a donation by the end of August to help us reach our goal of raising $40,000 for the Do What You Love to End ALZ campaign. You can use this link to do so.
Thank you for your support!
Lesson and Bridge Game with Phil Abrahamson on October 10
For all of you who joined us at our last special lesson and game day on June 13 know that due to travel complications, Phil was not able to give his lesson on “Card Play is the Heart of Bridge Play”. And while Jenny Kuhn stepped in and gave an excellent lesson, we didn’t want you to miss out on Phil’s lesson which it has been rescheduled for Saturday October 10th.
If you are interested in joining us for Phil’s next lesson and are a newcomer or intermediate player with fewer than 199 points, please mark your calendar and plan to spend your morning on October 10th at the Villa! The lesson starts at 9:30am sharp followed by an 18-board game with post-game hand review, aiming to be finished around 12:30pm. Entry fee is $15. No partner needed! Snacks provided! Find more information on our website. We hope to see you there!
Bi-Weekly Supervised Play with Mary Bates
Unit 498 hosts Supervised Play with Mary Bates at the Villa on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of most months from 1:30 to 3:30. Upcoming August dates are the 12th and 26th. We want to give a very special thank you to Janelle Van Rensselaer and Sue Papilion for volunteering their time to help supervise the tables and giving expert advice on bidding and card play to all those who attend. Thank you Sue and Janelle!
Come and practice your bridge playing in a relaxed, social setting. Certified instructor Mary Bates and other experienced players will be on hand to answer any questions that may arise during the bidding and play of the hand.
All levels are welcome, but this program is especially geared towards newer players and partnerships who want to practice, as well as those who do not yet feel ready for a duplicate game.
No partner required!
Cost: $5
Register by emailing Mary Bates at marymanleybates@hotmail.com
Unit 498 Fall Sectional
We are looking forward to our Fall Sectional at the Palo Alto Bridge Center on September 26th and 27th. On Saturday the 26th, we will host 499er and Open Pairs games in the morning and afternoon sessions. We will also have a special 99er session Saturday morning where the winners will become the next pair to have their names permanently engraved on the Art Weinstein Memorial Trophy. Pre-registration for Saturday is strongly recommended as tables are limited. No pre-registration is needed for the Sunday games. See all the details in the flyer at our website: Unit498 Events
Unit 498 Game
Schedule
Aug 12: Supervised Play at the Villa
Aug 15: Unit Game
Aug 19: Jenny’s 10 Year Anniversary Celebration!
Aug 26: Supervised Play at the Villa
Sept 9: Supervised Play at the Villa
Sept 16: Swiss Teams
Sept 26/27: Unit 498 Fall Sectional at PABC
Nov 14: San Mateo Non-Life Master Sectional at the Villa
Local Tournaments at the Palo Alto Bridge Center
Aug 6-9: Palo Alto Bridge Unit August Sectional
Sept 26/27: San Mateo Unit Fall Sectional
Oct 22-25: Palo Alto Unit October Sectional
Nov 7/8: Silicon Valley Unit 507 Fall Sectional
Jan 28-31: Palo Alto Open & Silver Rush Sectional
Feb 27/28: Unit 498 Winter Sectional
The 2026 Board of Directors
Please feel free to contact any of us with questions or suggestions.
President - Kit Morse
Vice President - Eileen DiGiorgio
Treasurer - Rita Armstrong
Secretary - Kathryn Barnard
Director, Tournaments - Carol Lashman
Director, Unit Game Coordinator - Leslie Braker
Director, Technology Coordinator - Robert Lerche
Director, Membership & Outreach - Jeanne Urich
Past President - Lauren Rosen
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