Saskatoon is known as the City of Bridges, but it could also be called the City of Bridge. In the year 1975 over 2,400 tables of bridge were participated in by members of the Saskatoon Bridge Club. Just how did duplicate bridge get started in Saskatoon and what has generated continued interest?

It was while on a cruise out of San Francisco in October 1925, that financier Harold S. Vanderbilt, an ardent card enthusiast, developed the game of contract bridge. His concepts and scoring plan remain much the same today. In 1928 the game was adopted by New York City clubs and in that year the first National Championship for the Vanderbilt Cup was held.

But New York is a long way from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Mona Scott has a keen and active interest in bridge history and has kept an archives of the growth of bridge in Saskatoon. In this collection is a letter from Les Real stating that around 1927, when Ely Culbertson's works were much publicized in the newspapers, magazines and on the radio many became interested in the game. In 1933, a group of men working at the C.N.R. made a set of duplicate boards from cardboard and played on a regular basis in the C.N.R club room.

Then came along Jimmy Harris, a young man, who upon graduation from the U of S could not find employment during the depression. Regarded as a bridge pro, he began to give lessons, write bridge articles for the newspaper and formed the first official duplicate bridge club in Saskatoon. The C.N.R. group disbanded and most joined the club. Jimmy's cousin Art Harris was also an active contributor.

Again referring to the archives: "The weekly team-of-four games and yearly open pairs tournament made up the bridge program and competition was so keen that an almost unlimited amount of social and rubber bridge was played involving the George's, the Carson girls, the MacKay's, the Wentz's, the McLorg's, Till Wilson, Ralph Parkinson, Nan Pulse, and many others, resulted. In addition, some ladies enjoyed afternoon games at Meta Duncan's - hence the Meta Duncan Trophy.

"In 1936, Jimmy Harris left Saskatoon and bridge playing suffered a long dormat period. The ladies moved to Clinton Lodge and the men mainly played on alternate Mondays in team-of-four games. Games were played for prizes or for the Eaton Trophy, which was donated in 1934 for the pairs championship, and for the Birks Trophy, which was donated in 1935 for team-of four championship."

In May 1956 a historic journey took place which had a great deal of bearing on the course of bridge in Saskatoon. Doug and Mona Scott along with Hazel Larson and Jess Drinkle attended their first bridge tournament, The Northern Lights Sectional, in Winnipeg. They learned that the games there were played for masterpoints, instead of prizes, and that Winnipeg belonged to the ACBL, which kept track of masterpoints accumulated. The ACBL office was in New York City.

About the same time Ken McGuirl arrived in Saskatoon. He was an accomplished bridge player and had read in a magazine about the ACBL. There was much talk among the bridge players of the time about this new concept of bridge and in November 1958 the Saskatoon club voted to join the Manitoba Unit of the ACBL and secured a franchise entitling member players to earn masterpoints.

Ken McGuirl was elected President and our first tournament was held at the U of S Memorial Union Building on April 17 and 18, 1959. A summer tournament was announced for Waskesiu.

The honor of Life Member in the Saskatoon Bridge Club was given to Ken McGuirl in 1962 and in 1965, Ken McGuirl became the first club member to reach the Life Master level of achievement. He was the first and only Canadian representative of the Board of Directors of the Western Conference for ACBL for District 18 commencing in 1968 to the present. He was followed shortly thereafter by Mona Scott and Doug Scott. As Ken travelled the province with his job his promotion of bridge led to the formation of clubs in Regina, Swift Current, Moose Jaw and Lloydminster and others. With this growth in the number of clubs, Saskatchewan was able to leave the Manitoba Unit and form the Saskatchewan Unit in 1960 and Ken became its first President. Because of continued growth, in 1966 the Unit divided in North and South Saskatchewan Units and Ken McGuirl served as President of the North Sask Unit 575 from its inception until he resigned in December 1975. Working closely with Ken were Vice-President Ted Johnson of Prince Albert, Secretary Ruby Edwards and Treasurer Win Goodhew both of Saskatoon.

On the home front, when Saskatoon affiliated with the ACBL, Doug Scott became the first club manager and ably supervised games, marked score and chose committees to conduct Club Tournaments. Fifteen years later when Doug resigned, the club honored him for the quality of his leadership, his continuous service and his ability to create a congenial atmosphere by making him a Life Member.

Mildred Dalgleish served and club manager for 1974 and 1975 and presently Mary Clarke holds this position with Mike Kalmakoff as President. Regular games are played on Monday, Thursday and Friday evenings. The late Marj Thierman was responsible for initiating and managing the Thursday evening novice game. On Novice night one member of the partnership must have less than 20 masterpoints and this is where aspiring bridge players usually acquire their "first taste" of competitive bridge. Once a month there is a Unit Game and parties are held on special occasions. Charity games are also held and hundreds of dollars have been donated to various charities.

The Ladies Afternoon Bridge Club has grown to be an Open Afternoon Club holding games on Wednesday afternoons and in 1975 commenced Saturday afternoon games which have proven to be most popular. The Present club manager is Gladys Campbell and the President is Doris McGuirl. To name every woman who as contributed to the success of the afternoon games would be an insurmountable task. In 1968 a Life Membership was bestowed on Mary Doupe in appreciation for the years of coffee making and looking after the bridge supplies.

The calibre of bridge is high in Saskatoon. Mona Scott in 1974 was the first person in Saskatchewan to earn 1000 Masterpoints. Doug Scott achieved this honor in 1975 and Ken McGuirl in January 1976. At the present time the Club boasts 46 Life Masters which is a high percentage for a club which has an evening membership of approximately 200 and afternoon membership in the vicinity of 130.

Continuous enthusiasm is needed for a club to flourish and this has been supplied through the years by the dedication of such members as Win Goodhew who has held office in the club since 1952, Ruby Edwards who has held the heavy job of Unit Secretary for nearly 10 years, and teachers such as Mona Scott, Bea Schwanbeck, Gladys Farrell, Marion Pringle, Peggy Kennedy, David Harris, Narsing Agnish, Doug Scott and Ken McGuirl. Classes have been held in the home of Gertrude Harvey to teach masterpoint scoring. The first three people to become Certified Directors in 1958 were the late Marj Thierman, Ken McGuirl and Doug Scott. Since that time Cora Low, Gertrude Harvey, Ray Miron, Gladys and Keith Campbell, Pat Boyle, Ed Anderson, Ken Paine and Cam Partridge have also written the exams and have become Certified Directors.

In addition to the cups already mentioned, trophies commemorating the late Marj Thierman, Jess Drinkle, Kay Leddy and Flo Bradbrooke, plus a President's Cup donated by Past Pres. Don Wright and a City Trophy donated by Past Pres. Dr. Bill Stitt, and several other trophies are keenly competed for each year.

The fascination of bridge is that it is a game of skill which appeals to all ages and nationalities, whether robust or frail, male or female, rich or poor, and knows no generation gap. In order that we may all enjoy this most intriguing of games, many, many, people work quietly in the background and, amazingly, in Saskatoon no one is paid! The co-operative effort is the outstanding feature of the Saskatoon Bridge Club.

As 1976 dawns, tribute is paid to Ken McGuirl for founding duplicate bridge in Saskatchewan and congratulations are extended to Doug Scott, incoming president of Unit 575 and his executive: Vice-President Ted Johnson, Secretary Ruby Edwards and Treasurer Win Goodhew as they look to the challenge of the future.

Note: This article appeared in the Saskatoon Commentator on February 18, 1976.