Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to become a member?
Three
types of membership are available.
The costs for the 2010 membership year are as follows:
Full membership:
Annual subscription: $70 + GST and levies
Associate membership: $35 + GST and levies
(Associate membership covers ten nights’ play)
Friday Afternoon only: $35 + GST and levies
In addition the following table money is payable:
Evening
sessions: $6.00
Friday
afternoon: $6.00
How do I join?
Membership
application forms are available from the Club Manager who is in attendance at
the Club on weekday mornings.
Alternatively, the Grade Captain on any playing night or Friday
afternoon can supply membership forms.
Do I have to be a member to play?
Non-members
may play as guests of members or visitors.
Table money, as set by the Committee may differ from that paid by
members. After 3 nights, visitors may
be invited to join the Club.
Does the Club run lessons?
The Club has an ongoing schedule of beginner and improver
lessons.
Lessons for beginners are held at the clubrooms at regular
intervals on Tuesday evenings. They
consist of 10 weeks tuition followed by three weeks play with other new members
before being introduced into the Junior grade on Tuesday evenings. The cost of lessons is credited towards the
first year’s subscription when you join the Club.
Improvers lessons are held towards the middle of the year.
For
further information contact Dot Procter, the Club Manager. Contact details are at the end of the
leaflet.
Can I only play on my grade night?
You
may, if you wish, play on any night.
However, you are likely to get most enjoyment and satisfaction from
playing with people at a similar level to yourself. The three playing nights, while broadly streamed, are designed to
provide the flexibility to encourage inter-grade play for the benefit of
players.
I’d like to play but I don’t have a
partner.
Contact the Club Manager who will be pleased to
arrange a compatible partner for you.
A Short History of the Club
With the benefit of
hindsight, it can be seen that an American bridge player would come to this
country for something more than a fleeting visit, would miss his competitive
bridge and would do something about it.
In Wellington, in 1934, that’s what happened.
An advertisement was
inserted in the “Evening Post” by Mr Otto Glen-Doepel with a plea for anyone
interested to contact him. A meeting
was called, attended by 80 people, and “The New Zealand Contract Bridge Association
(Wellington Division)” was duly formed and registered some 13 months later as
an incorporated society. In December
1937 the local club changed its name to The Wellington Bridge Club
(Incorporated).
By March 1935 membership
numbered 250 names and the Elm Tree Rooms, above McKenzie’s department store in
Willis Street, was the Club’s first home.
The first year’s membership stabilised at 120 players and apart from the
years of World War II this figure remained constant until the world-wide bridge
boom of the mid 1960’s. In 1936 the
Club entered into a tenancy agreement with the National Club for the use of its
rooms then situated above Johnston’s Wines & Spirits at the corner of
Panama Street and Featherston Street and thus began an
association which was to continue until late 1949. Short-lived tenancies included the Boronia Tea Rooms in Lambton
Quay (opposite Kirkcaldies), in Wakefield House on the Terrace, the Catholic
Women’s League rooms in Lower Cuba Street, a brief return to Wakefield House,
and in early 1955 the Club bought its own premises in Pipitea Street.
In the decade following the
purchase of this building, membership increased from 120 to 180 and in the
following 5 years was to more than double - from 180 to 375. By late 1965 the hunt was on again for new
premises and the Club purchased a property from NZ Breweries Limited at 8
Moturoa Street. In August 1966, after
considerable renovation, these premises were used for the first time and could
boast of a playing room to accommodate 25 plus tables.
The move to Moturoa Street
enabled the Club to settle into a regular routine – A grade on Wednesdays, B on
Thursdays and all-comers on Mondays – to cope with its rapidly growing
membership. July 1958 saw the creation
of a new grade to play on the vacant evening each week and so it was found
expedient to transfer the B playing night to Tuesday and the new “A Reserve”
grade to use Thursdays and so it has continued.
Bridge players are a competitive lot and it is interesting to note the first regular inter club competition made its appearance between the Wellington Club and Crockford’s Bridge Club in Christchurch (a comparatively cheap overnight ferry trip away), played annually on a home and away basis until it ended in 1954.
In 1989, with membership hovering around the 500 mark, the Wellington Bridge Club purchased its existing clubrooms at 17 Tinakori Road, Thorndon.
To quote the late, great Les
Schneideman, for many years “Mr Bridge New Zealand” replying to a remark that
Wellington would be one of the best bridge clubs in New Zealand, Les bridled
and practically trumpeted, “IT IS THE BEST BRIDGE CLUB IN NEW
ZEALAND.” Long may it remain so.
[Extracts from: “Bridging Fifty Years: A history of the Wellington
Bridge Club 1934-1984” by J.G (Woe) Wilson compiled by Jenny Delany]
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