At its March 19 meeting, the LOBC board decided to

*pay flat rate for directors (Wednesday and Friday 12:15 pm games)
*remind directors to enforce the Fire Department's "maximum occupancy 
rate" of the Arlington Clubhouse to 13.5 tables.  (So if you plan to 
play bridge on Wednesdays, be sure to arrive early.)  Those arriving 
after the maximum has already been achieved will be turned away.
*Board president Larry Zeni said that the city of El Cerrito is 
looking into posting "pedestrian crossing" signs near the clubhouse.

Director Mark Kornmann said that we hope to have the El Cerrito 
Community Center's council chambers--with podium removed--for EC 
bridge games, maybe by this summer, pending move of the city council 
to new facilities on San Pablo Ave.  This would remove the necessity 
of bridge clubs having to move every summer to make way for 
childcare/day camps at the city's clubhouses.

NB:  BER Unit game Sunday, March 30, 1 pm, Arlington Clubhouse


LOBC member Sylvia Irwin died earlier this month.  Here's obituary 
from Contra Costa Times.  (Thanks Mark.)

Sylvia Irwin Resident of El Cerrito

Longtime teacher and pioneering computer educator Sylvia Irwin died 
of heart disease at age 80 on March 8, 2008. Sylvia worked for 23 
years as a teacher for the Oakland School District, teaching 
inner-city fifth graders primarily at E. Morris Cox Elementary 
School. She also created one of the district's first computer labs in 
1985, serving as instructor for eight years. Her love of education 
led her to serve as host family for foreign students at UC Berkeley's 
International House. For almost 15 years she shared information and 
advice about living in the United States with students from many 
countries, including India, Sweden, and Japan. Activities since 
retirement included volunteering for the League of Women Voters as an 
election-day poll worker, reading classic literature as a member of 
the Albany Great Books Club, and reading books to disadvantaged 
grade-schoolers through the Read Aloud program. Sylvia was also an 
accomplished bridge player, playing several times a week at the Live 
Oak Bridge Club of El Cerrito. In 2006 at age 78 she and her partner 
placed fifth among 5,000 players in the Western region in a 
tournament sponsored by the American Contract Bridge Association. 
Donations in memory of Sylvia may be made to the American Heart 
Association.
Published in the Contra Costa Times on 3/23/2008.

For the Live Oak Bridge Club,
-- 
Joyce Burks
jburks@berkeley.edu