Well, the State Open is over. I would like to extend a thanks to all the people who contributed their time before during and after the tournament. I was joking around that it takes a drunk village to hold a tournament. The reality is, without all the help in the form of people stepping up and acting as event coordinators, helping get the boards moved to the O and getting them set up, and then some of them broke down at the end, to just people willing to help run a quick message during the tournament.

I also want to give a big thanks to Vicki and Gary and the crew at the O and also to Dave Carpentier who again cooked food for the tournament. The proceeds from the food sales go to the Diabetes Association. And speaking of the Diabetes Association, they donated quite a few gifts for the raffles.

I heard far more positive comments than negative ones during the weekend. And while no one likes to hear the bad things, it does give the folks holding the tournaments something to think about and to make improvements for next time. If you have post tournament comments (from those who were there), please email them to me at ak_boker@yahoo.com, and I will share them with the folks in charge of the tournament.

So, in closing, next time we have a tournament, please consider contributing some of your time. The more folks who help, the better the overall quality of our tournaments.