The Unit 114 meeting was called to order on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2002, in Peachtree City.

Larry Rich welcomed everyone on the board and introductions were made. The following members were in attendance: Larry Rich, Barbara Heller, Mary Ann Bateman, Josie Mitchell, Liz Swanson, Charlie Ogburn, Bob Heller proxy for Joe Sherwood, Nancy Hetsko, Ann Hedden, Gabriel Fadel, Linda Greene, Len Perkins, Kevin Collins, Mike Kovacich and Ken Parker.

A special thank you was extended to Ken Parker for hosting the meeting.

Minutes were approved. Mary Ann moved and Len Perkins seconded. Mary Ann gave the Treasurer’s report. She reported that we had transferred funds from the checking account as requested from the last meeting. The timing was great since our accounts have had a $5896.98 increase since then. We can get our monies out of the new fund in three business days. We agreed to move an additional $7500 from our checking account that now has a balance of $10,670.58. Liz Swanson moved and Gabriel seconded for Len Perkins to put the money where he can find the best return. Unanimously passed. Linda Greene moved and Mike Kovacich seconded that we accept the treasurer’s report. Motion carried.

Committee Reports: Bob Heller submitted the handouts of the Unit 114 tournament schedule. He stated that the sanctions are due further in advance. Athens has nothing on the calendar and if anyone else needs to have a tournament they need to plan ahead. There would only a couple of dates available in 2004 and three dates in 2005 without causing a domino effect.

Chuck Whidden pointed out that in a report from Nadine Wood and Bruce Reeve that we need to have 99er sectionals but that units do not do them, clubs do.

Bob Heller said that he would notify Dennis Cherry to find out the status of the STAC for Paul McNeer’s fundraiser for his lung transplant.

The GNT semifinal dates are April 5 and April 19, 2003. Liz asked Bob to put these on the Unit calendar. Chuck will post the complete list of scheduled tournaments on the web as supplied by Bob.

Warner Robins sectional, Aug. 1-3, is opposite a split regional in Birmingham and Baton Rouge. Linda opted to keep these dates.

Clubs are encouraged to participate in the December 9-15 MABC STAC.

Pips ‘n Tips – no one has sent in anything. Board needs to make a decision as to whether to put out an issue that is being distributed mainly online. If we continue we need more information. Mary Ann pointed out that we had decided to do one every other year for election of officers. Barbara moved to table the motion, Len seconded. Someone suggested that we ask the district if we can pay for extra pages in the district publication. Bob was asked to discuss this with the District and to get back to us. Bob reported on the new Insert format that District 6 and 7 are using. Everyone should have received the new format for District 7 by the January meeting. It will arrive every other month.

Grand National Teams-Liz is waiting to get approval from Memphis. She encourages us to get everyone to start holding the games. The only real change is like in the NAOP, previously to qualify you have to be in the top half but it now says that it is a score of 50% or better. The semifinal scheduled for Raleigh has been moved to Fayetteville, while the others will be held in Hendersonville, Columbia, and Alpharetta. The District final is in Morganton this year and it is likely that this will remain the site for several years. Macon may be interested in running a semifinal so it was suggested that we could possibly alternate with an Atlanta site.

Our electronic contact, Chuck, stated more stuff is coming from Memphis. He wanted an answer as to how long we keep the Pips ‘n Tips archived on the web. Linda moved, and Liz seconded that we keep only the current one. It passed.

Ann Hedden reported that we had 23 tables in the NAOP Unit final this year--7 full tables of "C" players. Peachtree City players came out in force. Jeannette Keener had run several games. A discussion was held as to whether we go to Macon or Peachtree City next year. Bob moved that we return to Peachtree City, Linda seconded. It was unanimous. Bob asked that we consider the entry fee for future NAOPs. It is unclear if he district will come out with a surcharge and we do want the event to be profitable for the hosting body but not excessive.

Old Business: Nancy gave us a report on Mini-Bridge that she is adapting for adults. She is running 18,17,and 18 in her 3 daytime games and 14 in her nighttime game.

Barbara reported on BridgeAtSchools. Curriculum is under development at this time.

The next meeting is in Warner Robins on Jan. 10^th, 2003. Atlanta will be the site of our annual meeting on March 1st. Macon will be the meeting with the Sportsman of the Year election , May 30^th, and a meeting will be held in Peachtree City , Sept. 20^th, as well. Meeting was adjourned.