I grew up in San Diego and began playing bridge in 1963. Moved to Denver in 1973, where I met my wife, Ginny, we played bridge socially, in local games and local tournaments. At the time, Charles Goren was all the rage. I moved to Reno, after my wife passed away, in February 2019, just in time for the Covid Lockdown. I was looking to play bridge at the Arrowcreek club and other games in the Reno area. Discovered Better Bridge Online in late February, 2019 and began playing weekly with various partners. I was introduced to Mathewson Bridge Center by Linda Frye, in mid-2021. I have continued taking private lessons, lessons from Jill and studying the new 2 Over 1 method. I am learning some core conventions, four from Larry Cohen and six from Barbara Seagram. I enjoy teams play and playing in the open games, to improve my skills.

Born in Houston, Texas, on July 15, 1939.

Lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Madrid, Spain, before moving to Reno, Nevada, in 2003.  After serving 7 years In the military I graduated from San Francisco State in 1970.  I learned how to play bridge in 1972, and still trying to improve my play.

I was born in Los Angeles and my family moved to Carson City NV when I was a Junior in High School.  I am a licensed Professional Engineer having spent my career in the Mining and Manufacturing Industries.  Shortly before retiring in 2017, my Sister Laura Carlson introduced me to the game of bridge.  She is one of the many mentors at the Mathewson Bridge Center for whom I am grateful for helping me and others to advance our skills.   I joined the Unit 473 Board of Directors in 2020 and have enjoyed supporting the Club.  My Husband Ron and I spend much of our free time with our 12 Grandchildren who all live in the Reno area.

I was born and raised on a farm in Ohio.  Before moving to Reno in 2018, I lived in Atlanta GA, Raleigh NC and Palm Desert, CA.  My dad taught me to play bridge when I was twelve and I loved it.  Like so many, I played up through college and hadn’t really played again until I retired in 2020.  When I was searching for places to play in Reno I came across the MBC webpage.  I signed up for lessons to “freshen up” and realized how much things had changed in the last 40 years and how much I had to learn!  I have loved taking lessons, playing in the 149 game on Friday and meeting new friends at the center.

Prior to retirement, I was a district manager for Starbucks Coffee Company.  I am married, have 4 cats and lots of fabulous nieces and nephews.  In addition to playing bridge, I love playing any card game, participating in community theatre, watching THE Ohio State Buckeyes and the Cleveland Browns.

Born and raised in Winnemucca, NV.

Learned Bridge while in the Army but started playing a lot a few years after I retired.  My current goal is to help introduce others to the game and grow the game at at the Mathewson Bridge Center.

I began my working career as an institutional salesman with Smith Barney from 1969 to 1978, where I also served as Registered Options Principal. From 1978 to 1995, I was a member of the Chicago Board Options Exchange and an independent specialist/market-maker. From 1999 to 2014, I was a licensed Trading Associate with Bright Trading, LLC and managed their Reno office from 1999 to 2004. I have been active as a principal and investor in oil and gas exploration and development projects for over 40 years. I remain an active investor and principal in oil and gas exploration and development and in commercial/industrial real estate.

I have BA from Yale University and an MBA in Finance from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Business. I studied geology at Montana State University.

I began playing duplicate bridge in Reno in 2011. In 2023, I attained the rank of Gold Life Master. In 2022, I was 329^th on the Barry Crane top 500 list.

Don began playing bridge with his family at age 10.  He had his first duplicate experience in college, but didn’t start playing seriously until he moved to University of California at Santa Barbara in 1977 and had easy access to all the tournaments in the LA area.  He continued to play in the Palo Alto and Santa Rosa CA clubs after moving to the SF Bay area until about 1989, when he started what ended up as a ~20 year sabbatical from bridge to raise children, earn a living in various science and engineering jobs, and play in a variety of local rock’n’roll bands.   He returned to regular duplicate bridge play in 2010.   Don thought he had retired to Reno in March 2016, but shortly thereafter found himself a Club manager and directing five games a week, which sometimes felt suspiciously like an actual job.

In 2018 Don incorporated Washoe Bridge Society, Inc (WBS) as a Nevada non-profit corporation, and applied to the IRS for status as a 501(C)3 organization.  After receiving this approval, he transferred ownership of the local club sanctions to the corporation.  This allowed the WBS to receive a very large donation from Mr. Chuck Mathewson, and resulted in the opening of the Mathewson Bridge Center in late 2019.

Don is a Silver Life Master, with the majority of his masterpoints earned in the bad old days when they were considerably harder to come by.  His personal favorite system is Matchpoint Precision, but he is happy to play whatever system is most comfortable for his partner.