Periodically people ask about aspects of our club and games. Most often this has to do with our fees. Here's a high-level summary of our operating structure and costs:

• The Club is formally incorporated as a Section 501(c)(7) "Social Club" under the Internal Revenue Code of the United States of America.
• In other words we are a legal, not-profit, tax-exempt corporation.
• ... We must abide by governing laws, file taxes, and maintain formal records.
• ... We must publish and follow by-laws; managed ourselves; separate and distinct from by the Pelican Bay Foundation.
• The Club is recognized as a registered social club by the Pelican Bay Foundation. As such we:
  • Have the good fortune to use Foundation facilities for our events - fee free.
  • Can avail ourselves of complementary Foundation Services for nominal or zero costs.
• We purchase the beverage service (coffee, tea, and water) from the Foundation and most of the snacks (cookies, crackers, fruit and cheese) from Publix.
• We pay for other goods and services we need including:
• Generic supplies such as pencils, score cards, batteries, paper, and toner (generally from Costco).
• Bridge specific items such as convention cards, bidding cards, bidding boxes, and table cards from Baron Barclay Bridge.
• Equipment (and their maintenance): the scoring devices, tables, storage cabinets, locks, keys, knives, plates, sharpener, bridge clock... from various sources.
• Player name tags – first time members can get one for the asking – from the Trophy Case of Naples.
• Legal and accountant services for our corporate filings
• Liability insurance for our board of directors
• Compensation to our Directors and Fees due to the ACBL so our games are properly officiated and sanctioned.

You can see that there is a lot we need to produce our games. Some of the work is done by our partners. Nevertheless there is a lot we must do as club members!

For each game day:

• We must ensure we have supplies on hand that are needed for the game including pencils and convention cards
• The hospitality table must be pre-ordered, received, setup, and maintained
• We must request services from the Foundation including the number of tables and beverages we believe we need
• We must report our usage of these services after-the-fact ... including the names of participating guests
• Table cards, envelopes, scoring devices, and bidding boxes must be set up at the tables
• At the end of each game day the pencils, table cards, boards, scoring devices, and bidding boxes must be put away
• Boards and table cards must be sorted at the end of the game

Behind the scenes:

• Game proceeds are deposited at a local bank
• In turn, checks are issued to pay our suppliers
• When appropriate gifts are made to charity by check as well
• We must maintain supplies: paper, toner, pencils, and convention cards
• We must maintain equipment: batteries for the scoring devices, refreshing bidding boxes, ... from time-to-time
• We work with our accountants to prepare our tax filings
• We meet with our lawyers as required
• Contracts with our Directors are reviewed and renewed
• We reserve the space we need at the Community Center
• We arrange alternate space (on occasion) as needed
• We review and renew our sanctions with the ACBL
• The luncheon is planned, ordered, and produced
• We give leftover food from the luncheon to charity (St. Matthew's House)

A Board of Directors — volunteers elected from and by the members — manages the operations according to our by-laws. The Board meets monthly, with the exception of the summer months, to review our finances, coordinate scheduling for special events (such as our luncheon), and handle other issues that arise as time marches on. Each Director takes on responsibility for behind the scenes work in addition to the game day needs. Other volunteers pitch in to help from time to time and in areas of their interest. This helps keep our game fees very low.
As part of our incorporation the club committed to adhere to a non-profit charter. In turn we sponsor a local charity — The Education Foundation of Collier County, Champions for Learning — that receives periodic disbursements from our treasury for charity games we hold and excess fees we collect.

The club is bound by laws and restrictions from governments (Federal and State), the Pelican Bay Foundation and the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). We adopted a set of by-laws that fit within these higher-level guidelines during incorporation that are the basis of how we operate — that help define our policies and procedures. Some of the more interesting (most asked about) and/or important (ones we cannot breach) are:

Guests

Tax law is the prime factor driving our guest policy. We must monitor and adhere to restrictions in order to maintain tax-exempt status.

Officiating

We are an ACBL-sanctioned club. To maintain good standing we must administer games according to ACBL rules such as zero-tolerance. We employ certified directors who are trained in and tasked with arbitration of disputes.

Scents

Be aware that some people literally cannot stand the chemicals included in perfumes, cologne, after-shave, deodorants, etc. We respectfully ask that you refrain from the use of products that may cause another person discomfort.

Convention Cards

All players should have completed convention cards available and accessible for their opponents at the tables.

To implement our Policies and Procedures and ensure smooth operations, we assign (require) certain duties to players.

North

The North player implicitly assumes responsibility for several tasks at the table. Persons sitting in the North seat are tasked with entering scores into the Bridgemate Scoring System. North should make sure they have a scoring device at the table, ensure that it works, and return it to storage at the end of the session.

We also ask North to verify that the envelopes used to collect fees are completely filled out and that the money inside matches the numbers outside. This means: entering the table number, player's names (in the appropriate position), and the amounts for each player.

South

Persons sitting in the South seat are asked to make sure bidding boxes are on the tables at the start of the day and are in good working condition. We also ask South to make sure the boxes are and returned to storage at the end of the game.

North and / or South

North and South handle the boards and must make sure they are played in the correct order and orientation. East and West should refrain from touching the boards with the exception of remiving their own hand. North and South also pass completed boards to the next table during or at the end of each round. East or West may offer to help pass the boards as they are moving anyway. When waiting for boards several aspects of proper etiquette should (must) be followed. In no case should demands for boards be made until the end of the round is called. If the round is called and the play is still underway at the forwarding table no player should approach the table to retrieve any already played boards. In this latter case the departing East/West may collect and pass the completed boards as a courtesy.

East and West

North and South are the hosts for each round and must ensure that the East and West pair is as they should be. To do so they will ask East or West for their pair number. East aand West should be prepared to answer appropriately. East or West must accept scores as they are recorded in the electronic system. Note that any review of prior results is to be moderated by North (that is the East or West player should return the socring device to North immediately after accepting the score). Reviews of prior results or generally any discussion of the hands played should be done as discreetly (quietly) as possible.

North, South, East, and West

Every player should try to arrive early and prepared. It would be best if you can bring small bills so the change-making process is minimized — making change can be a high burden for the Director.

Having a completed and agreed convention card will help your team. Recall a completed convention card is required.

At times the arrival of last-minute players requires a realignment of tables and sections — that can delay the start of the game. Please try to be in the room at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the game.

For regulars you may want to consider mixing it up (sitting in different sections and seats) from time-to-time. For example, if you consistently sit North/South you'll miss out on seeing others who do the same.

At the end of the session North and South are responsible for clearing the table (returning the scoring device, bidding boxes, last set of boards, table cards, and pencils to storage and clearing any trash). You can see that North and South have a lot to manage. This does not mean that East and West have nothing on their plates! North and South can use your help with some of their tasks. Please be kind and pitch in!

The purpose of our Club is to promote the enjoyment of bridge. To organize and produce our games takes a lot of work. If every player pitches in to help and adheres to their roles, responsibilities, and rules we can meet our objective. Please do your part; be kind to your partner and opponents; and remember bridge is a game so have fun!