[Balrog49]

Some of you may remember playing in the Individual when it was held at the Copley Plaza in Boston and included most of the best players in New England. It was a real treat to play a couple of boards with players that good. It's a shame that it changed.

Some of you may remember Ethel and Bill Keohane, the people for whom the Individual is named. They were Mr. and Mrs. Bridge in New England for many years.

I didn't know Bill very well. He was directing when I started and passed away not long after, but I knew Ethel. She was a great player and a delightful person. She truly cared about other players whether they were novices or world champions. No one will ever be a finer ambassador for the game.

Ethel played on the great Boston teams with Frank Westcott, Norm Humer, and Mary Bright that dominated the inter-city championships, which later became the Grand National Teams. She and Alberta Albersheim were a famous and highly-successful partnership. Alberta was also a delightful person and mentored some of today's top New England players.

This will be the last Regional Individual and the last chance we'll ever have to honor Bill and Ethel by playing in it. I intend to play and I ask anyone who remembers them to play in it one more time. Let's make it a great event like it once was before it's gone forever.

Barry Rogoff

http://web2.acbl.org.../01/1601001.pdf

[hrothgar]

I've playing in this event on numerous occasions over the years.

The game is often a horror show, however, were I not going to be vacationing on the other side of the planet, I think that I'd come out one last time...