Jo Ann Aiken
Ann Kuperberg
The MountainView Bridge Club President and Manager Jo Ann Aiken has won the prestigious District 17 Goodwill Committee award. The ACBL District includes all of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and southern Nevada to Las Vegas, El Paso, Texas, Kanab, Utah and even part of Wyoming.
Her name was submitted by the current district President Darwin Afdahl. He mentioned among her attributes that Jo Ann has volunteered in her job as club manager in this sanctioned game for over 17 years. The Bridge club is one of many activities offered to SaddleBrooke residents.
Jo Ann has arranged for room space, kept up with technology to make score keeping and recording quickly accessible to bridge players. The club provides Bridgemates to instantly transfer scores onto a computer and a website for players to see their results as well as other news. It also supplies bidding boxes, hand-record sheets, playing cards in numbered boards and a card-shuffling machine purchased, in part, by Jo Ann’s own funds.
Of course, there’s always a tray of candy for players to keep up their energy.
Over the years Jo Ann has overseen operation of the MountainView Bridge Club; she has invited new Bridge directors to conduct games and has directed herself when needed. She has seen the membership increase to over 100 with many players starting out as beginners and advancing to Life Master (over 500 Master Points) and beyond due to the stimulating, challenging atmosphere at the club.
The Tuesday and Friday afternoon games average around 10 tables, even in summer, with increased attendance in the winter. Snowbirds join in the game as do players from Oro Valley and elsewhere in Tucson.
The club maintains a friendly attitude and members join in an annual festive holiday dinner in December at Roadrunner Grill, thanks partly to yearly profits from the games.
Jo Ann has arranged for special games going to charity, club championship, unit games and support for national qualifiers. Players receive extra points at these events.
Even with changes in venue, Jo Ann has maintained her composure and moved equipment to new locations. She welcomes new players and has a board member find partners for people who need one. She checks the treasury expenses trying to keep game fees as low as possible. She has also served on the Tucson Unit 356 board of directors.
With all her effort and dedication to the Bridge club and players, the District Board of Directors elected Jo Ann Aiken a member of the select Goodwill Committee. We are privileged to have her at MountainView Bridge Club.