Willard (Will) Williams began his bridge journey as most people did, through playing party bridge – not in college, but in the military, stationed in Germany and then later in Seoul, South Korea while working as a civilian for the Department of the Army. Working got in the way of bridge for several years and Will didn’t start playing again until he and his longtime life partner, Jack Buchanan, retired in 2000 and began the pursuit of duplicate bridge. Here is Will’s story:

We immediately became addicted to the game, reading all of the material from Audrey Grant and Eric Rodwell and went to every class we could.

Ironically, our first real adventure was in District 20 at the Kona Bridge club, so it’s only fitting it should end here in Honolulu, Hawaii. There is where we first joined ACBL. We were spending four months a year in Kona on the Big Island and eight months in Richmond, VA. 

My advice to all players is to get involved wherever you are. That worked for us very well. We immediately started volunteering both in Richmond and in Kona. The second year we were in Kona, they were short of directors, and Joann Clark, who was a director, insisted that we take the director’s course with her. We did and both started directing. We made Life Master in a little over two years.  

Again, I wanted to stress volunteering; our focus was always on the new players, knowing how important that had been for us. Right away I became involved in the “politics” of bridge. District 6 and 7 were combined into the Mid Atlantic Bridge League and existed for many years. I was elected in 2003 to the Board of both the MABC and District 6.  I became Chairperson for the Intermediate/Novice Program and got funding to support all of the Regionals in the MABC.  Jack and I then started Non-Life Sectional tournaments which proved to be a success in both Richmond and other places in the Region.  We wrote a paper and how to do it, etc.  

 

That was really the beginning, we served as Hospitality Chairs for many years for the Richmond Regional and worked on two Nationals in Washington DC, and one in Honolulu.  Since then, I served many years on the Board of Governors for ACBL and was on several committees, Nominating Chair for District 6 for several years, Education Chair and various other committees for the District and MABC. 

Our home club was Richmond but in Kona, we also served as hospitality chair for the Sectional for many years, as well as teaching and being Chairperson for the tournament.  Jack passed away in 2018 and I moved permanently back to District 20 where it all started.  Here I have volunteered as President, Vice President, Assistant Treasurer, Parliamentarian, and Education Coordinator.  

 

I have met so many wonderful partners and made so many wonderful friends from around the world because of playing bridge and being actively involved. I want to thank all of you who have made my life beautiful and worthwhile.   Needless to say, I love the game of bridge and how it has changed my life in retirement especially.  I have traveled to Regionals and Nationals all over the country.  Jack and I always wore our colorful “Jams” Hawaiian shirts and were known as the “jams boys”. 

 

One person I want to especially thank is Cindy Glad from Seattle. Cindy and her husband Don came to the Big Island for 3 to 4 weeks every year and Cindy became our mentor.  We would go out to dinner and talk about bridge hands every week.  She was disappointed that we weren’t playing two over one.  She said, “I’m sending you Dee Berry’s little book — Two over One in a Nutshell — and when Don and I come back next year you had better be playing 2/1.  We memorized the book and of course was proud of the fact we had listened to her.  

 

I don’t apologize for my young age of 84 and still very much addicted to volunteering and playing the wonderful game of Duplicate Bridge.   I truly believe the game of bridge keeps you sharp and your mind from deteriorating and enhances your memory as well as your coping skills.  Thank you my wonderful bridge family for making my life so much richer.