Bridge History written by Sybil Barzilay, a Village resident since 1980. In the late 1970s the storage room at Clubhouse Four became the Bridge Room for the ACBL sanctioned Laguna Hills Duplicate Bridge Club. Prior to that time residents played outside of the community. The story goes that many of the married folk did not enjoy playing with the single women and so they broke away and formed a second club called Guys and Dolls DBC. Well guess what, the married couples started dying and the widows and widowers were no longer welcome. There was fierce competition between the 2 clubs and a Game Director did not cross the line. This nonsensical situation existed for a number of years. Cy Sweet, Dr Ed Short and Sybil Barzilay formed an alliance to work to combine the 2 clubs. It took two years to achieve this. Many new players had moved into the community and did not understand the need to have two clubs. In 1988 the formation of the Leisure World Duplicate Bridge Club was unanimously approved. Continual problems with an air conditioning and heating system plus mold and inadequate restroom facilities made the bridge room an unhealthy place for many with respiratory problems. One year the whole place was flooded with rain water. The ADA could not approve the steep ramps players had to use if they could not handle the steps. In 1998 John Fuller a GRF board member introduced the need for a better location for the now mushrooming membership. And so the process began. Early approval was long delayed in execution. All kinds of barriers caused a lot of abuse. Eventually the long suffering bridge players were rewarded when Clubhouse Seven was built in 2005 . Today we are proud of our fine facility for which we waited so patiently. We have had two further name changes. We were told we could not use the name Leisure World and so abbreviated to LWV Duplicate Bridge Club. And then a pending lawsuit forbade the use of the letters LWV. Today our name is Laguna Woods Village Duplicate Bridge Club aka Laguna Woods Bridge Club. Visit us on line at http://www.lagunabridge.com We have grown as a Club, with a membership of 600 plus. We are gratified by the popularity of Clubhouse Seven and many of us have entertained our friends and family in the Main Lounge. We are a self sustaining facility. We have added to the amenities of the bridge room by paying for window treatment throughout the room. We installed window shades to make playing more comfortable during the intense sun times. We paid more than $15,000 for 140 white side tables which we attached to the card tables for coffee and bidding boxes. Visitors to the Village are so impressed not only with the beautiful bridge room but also the caliber of the bridge players that many have bought their manor and are now residents. We run a number of teaching programs every month. We run regular Charity Games benefiting the Foundation of Laguna Woods. We also underwrite the cost of special games and the cost of parties for the enjoyment of the resident bridge players. We are a club who keeps on giving. In 2012 we were recognized for having the largest number of tables in play in the USA during 2011. We are proud of who we are.

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