Lenville, Bill

WMBA tournament brochure

The Western Massachusetts Bridge Association (WMBA) Unit 196 was born out of the Springfield Bridge Club in early 1957. Jack Kushner, known as "Mr. Bridge" throughout the area, started his own bridge game in Springfield in late 1931 or early 1932; soon after the game moved from the office building to the Clinton Hotel and then the Hotel Bridgeway. Through Kushner's efforts, the game continued to grow and over time he convinced the Springfield Daily News not only to promote local tournaments, but to support winners by paying expenses to regional tournaments. After World War II, Kushner purchased a house on Mill Street to be the new headquarters for the bridge club, where it remained until the 1960s when the club moved again, this time to 194 Sumner Avenue location. By the late 1950s, Kushner and others decided to organize a Western Massachusetts bridge unit of the American Contract Bridge League, and in November of 1957 the unit ran its first sectional at the Hotel Kimball.

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