Bridge News
Wichita Duplicate Bridge
January 2016
Volume 1II, Issue 1
Timber-Man Wolf
By Richard Holmes
As our country began to
cope with war in 1942, Kansas City, Kansas celebrated
the nativity of Steve Timmerman, or The Wolf, as some
of his old friends refer to
him. Being too young for the
draft, he moved to the home
of his grandparents on a
farm about 80 miles away.
When the sun went to bed, so did he. His early
reality was a Coleman lantern in lieu of electricity, an outhouse in lieu of a loo, and a one-room
schoolhouse. It was on his grandparents' house
that he learned how to clean a chimney. He
played right end on a high-school football team
for one year after returning to the Kansas City
area. After finishing high school in Wichita, he
attended Wichita State University where, he
said, “I took a lot of psychology and sociology
and hated it. The only thing I learned in college
was how to play bridge.”
Bob Carstedt mentioned that Timmy used to
play bridge with dominoes at a pool hall in Delano. After losing money playing golf, Timmy said
he would go to the club house and win it back
playing bridge. About 40 years ago, he discovered duplicate bridge at the Bridge Club. At that
time, rubber bridge was also played for money at
the club. He became an avid money player, but
he learned what was really important in life—
masterpoints. (Actually, when I mentioned that
he was a diamond life master, he said, “What's
that?”) With over 5800, he is one of the top
four masterpoint holders in our unit. When he
was asked how he accumulated so many, he said
he played a lot of bridge. He plays mostly locally
but does go to a tournament now and then if it is
within two or three hours driving distance. He
recalled winning the life master pairs game in the
Hutchinson tournament with Claire Clay five
years in a row. Two or three years ago, Steve and
his partner Grier Jones won 11 successive Monday games. It became the goal of the Monday
players to stop the streak. He and his partners
won 37% of the games they played at the Bridge
Center last year. When asked how he felt about
hogging so many of the points at the center, he
replied, “What a question! Just seems natural, I
guess.” When he was questioned about how he
had learned to play so well without reading any
bridge books, he credited an unusually keen
memory.
During the eight years that Steve worked as a
fireman for the Wichita Fire Department, he noticed how many chimney fires there were. When
he learned that there were no chimney sweeps in
town, he decided to take advantage of what he
had learned while growing up on the farm. He
started his Clean Sweep business and soon found
that he could make considerably more money by
giving up his job with the fire department. It became common for him to clean eight chimneys in
one day. When he was asked if he had ever fallen
off a roof, the next planned question, “Why not?”,
had to be dropped when he answered affirmatively. He did fall off a two-story roof when a ladder
slipped. He went to the emergency room with
Timber-Man continued on Page 3
Hodgepodge
You are invited to attend
one of two special bridge
classes which start January
25 and 26. They will be
held every Monday and
Tuesday. Forty people are
already signed up for each
class. If you consider yourself to be among the more experienced card
players, you will want to sign up for the Monday
Bridge Club. Otherwise you may prefer Tuesday.
The first session will cover bridge behavior and
where to put your backpack. The second session
will explain the true differences between red
cards and black ones. The only admission qualification is that you must be a sixth grader at Maize
South Middle School. For more information you
can contact Art Bloomer, Wichita Duplicate
Bridge Youth Committee Chairman or Raelynn
Pfaff, Sixth-Grade Science and Bridge Teacher at
Maize South Middle School, Room B107.
Richard Bowman made a real effort last year to
learn to like the game of bridge. He competed in
seven sectional tournaments, six regionals and a
national. At one of those sectionals in Overland
Park, he played a session with
Jerry Houlton whom he met
at the partnership desk. They
got along well, so Richard
asked him to play in a couple
of Gold Rush Pairs games in
the Christmas regional in
Overland Park. On Monday
they held their own with average scores in both sessions of
the game which included players who held up to 750 masRichard Bowman
terpoints. That was not too
bad. Richard had about 125. After Monday's
warm-up sessions, they entered the Tuesday
game, again with an upper limit of 750 points.
With 54% and 68% they beat the other 57 pairs
to win the event, earning 9 gold points. That
beats not too bad all hollow. Richard says he
likes the game.
Mike McGill went to Florida to
have a lung removed. Here is
an update from his wife:
“Dear friends.
I have good news to share
with you. Yesterday Michael
was discharged from the hospital. He is still very weak, has to
take painkillers and other pills,
but it is normal after the surgery. Thank you for your
Mike McGill
thoughts and prayers. Thank
you for encouraging and supportive emails. I
have read every one to Michael.
Have a great day.
Tatyana “
This email came from Atul Rai the day after
Christmas:
“I am in India right now and
my dad invited me to play
bridge in his club for the
weekly Saturday tournament
last week. I met his bridge
buddies, young and old (mostly
old ), and finished the game
knowing that we had done
reasonably well. The club
does the scoring the oldfashioned way, by hand (instead
Atul Rai
of using computers), and announces the results the following week. I left on
a short trip to Bangalore in the meantime and
returned tonight. My dad informed me that we
had won the event and Rs 400 for coming in
first. I am very fortunate to be able to play with
my 80-year-old dad in a competitive event, let
alone win it. Two hundred rupees that my dad
handed to me as my share of the victory just
made my day.
Atul”
Hodgepodge Continued on Page 3
Timber-Man Continued From Page 1
one arm out of its socket. When the diminutive
doctor was not strong enough to pull it back
into place, Steve called an ambulance attendant
from the hallway and told him to pull. He did,
and the doctor was able to put the arm back
into the socket. Clean Sweep earned a very
good reputation and customers have been referred to it by numerous real estate companies.
During surgery for colon cancer three years ago,
Steve had a heart attack. When one of his new
stents collapsed a few weeks later, he told the
surgeon that he should stop buying his stents at
the Dollar Store. A year later, an examination
found that he was free of cancer. A check a few
weeks ago discovered cancer in the liver. Steve's
34-year-old girl friend is currently acting as
chauffeur while he undergoes a rigorous regimen
of radiation and chemotherapy. Although Hal
George points out that Timmy is quick to lend a
hand to friends in need, there is a reason for his
nickname “Wolf.” He is tough. His doctor says
that makes his personal odds significantly better
than the statistical ones.
Hodgepodge Continued From Page 2
I'm sure Atul will enjoy quoting the conversion
rate from rupees to dollars if you want to ask
him.
And the winners of the Monday Holiday Bridge
Gala were Steve Timmerman, Grier Jones, Bob
Ellison and Gina Austin-Fresh. Free admission
and doughnuts were provided by Steve Drumhiller on Monday Morning, December 28, to all
who were able to find their ice skates and get
to the bridge center. A full 50% of the participants tied for first place. Next were Carol
Webb, Steve Drumhiller, Ron Traudt and Rich-
ard Holmes. The event was such a success that it
is being considered for a yearly celebration. Early
reservations are suggested since entries are limited by the two-table movement which is used.
Juhree Ring and her
husband Bob spend
the winter months
after Christmas in
Palm Desert, California. Juhree's
mother Ginny
Rockhill joins them
for one month, and
she and Juhree play
Ginny Rockhill and Juhree RIng
duplicate three or
four times a week.
There are games every day, for experienced players and for newer players, and the games are big.
This attracts several pros who play for pay in the
club games. Other than the pigeons, most of the
birds who frequent the Lincoln Street Dam and
Bridge Center from spring to autumn have followed Juhree's lead and migrated to warmer
climes for the winter. An occasional hardy
heron shows up to kibitz as it calmly waits for a
fish to come for dinner. A gull may glide in to
direct a special game, but pigeons seem to play
bridge usually without a director. They have a
way of knowing when to move en flock as they
circle the sky before lighting at the next table. It
takes the patience of a hungry heron for a person to watch a flock of pigeons playing an imaginary game of bridge atop a dam until they all
agree on a time to move, but the sight of the
aerial ballet is more than worth it.
Kansas City Tournament
New Ruby Life Master
ACBL’s new Ruby Life Master requires 1500
Master Points with at least 300 silver, red, gold,
or platinum. The following players at the Bridge
Center have achieved this rank:
Helen M Adams
Peggy Ann Mitchell
Frank Boyce
Neer K Nine
Doris M Buss
Ginny Rockhill
Stephen Drumhiller
Roger Sites
Dan Forbes Jr
Tom Solnok
Joan Gerould
Loretta Thornbrugh
Beverly Gochis
Ross Thornbrugh
Grier Jones
RonTraudt
Charlene McLean
E L Yost
In addition to Richard Bowman’s impressive
Goldrush win, the following Bridge Center
members also deserve mention:

Juhree Ring, Kathryn Williams, Warren
Smith and Gloria Smith took first in the
Kickoff KO 3 with 9 Tables playing.

Robert Carstedt was 2nd in Mon-Tue KO 1
and 2nd in New Years Compact KO, earning over 40 masterpoints.

Sandy Hager and Carol Dumford were first
in B and C in the Tuesday Evening Side Series.
Larry McLean
New Sapphire Life Master
ACBL’s new Sapphire Life Master requires 3500
masterpoints, of which at least 350 must be gold
or platinum. The following players at the Bridge
Center have achieved this rank:
Marlo Goering, VA Miller, & Mike McGill
Free Workshops
Monday: 10:30 Richard Holmes - Talk Bridge
with Richard
Tuesday: 12 noon Wanda Lonnon leads
a 30 minute discussion
Friday: 12:15 PM beginning on January 22 David
Kopper on using Bridge Base Online (BBO) to
improve your game
From the Top: Juhree Ring, Kathy
Williams, Bob Carstedt, Warren
Smith, Gloria Smith, Carol Dumford, Sandy Hager
Comic Page