February 2010
Tipton Golias - Grand Life Master
Tipton Golias achieved Grand Life Master, the highest
rank bestowed by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL),
in Feb. 2010.
This monumental achievement requires the
accumulation of 10,000 master points and winning a
national championship event. It is an honor achieved
only by some 300 active members of the world's greatest
bridge players, most of whom play as a full-time
career. Tipton plays regularly at the Beaumont Bridge
Studio. We are proud of his membership in and support of
our club. He quietly and without fanfare provides a
remarkable amount of support to our club facilities,
events, activities, and level of play.
Tipton achieved this award while serving as founder
and president of Helena Laboratories, a company he
started in 1966. He
founded and chairs Etoco, an independent Houston energy
company. He serves our city and community and directly
participated in emergency services in Beaumont through
local disasters including hurricanes Ike, Rita, and
Gustav. His path of influence is long, wide, and
commendable. Tipton is also an internationally
recognized clinical chemist. At Helena, he designs and
manufactures diagnostic test kits and clinical
laboratory instrumentation and supplies. His technical
expertise and creativity have generated a hundred-plus
patents, products, and approximately $100 million in
annual revenues. The Corporate headquarters are located
in Beaumont, Texas, and consist of over a quarter
million square feet of research, manufacturing,
inventory, engineering, and administrative facilities.
Helena products are distributed globally. Helena has
been awarded the U.S. Secretary of Commerce "E" Award
for excellence in contribution to the American economy
through export operations.
Tipton received the American Association of Clinical
Chemists Van Slyke award, the highest academic award in Laboratory Medicine. Two
recent Van Slyke recipients have gone on to receive the
Nobel Prize. Tipton was recognized for making
significant improvements over many areas of clinical
chemistry during the past 46 years. His acceptance of
this award is entertaining, inspirational, and
charismatic. See
Tipton Golias - Van Skyke Acceptance Speech.
Tipton is truly an expert bridge player. In 1997, he
played on the team with Grant Baze, Adam Ludminski, and
three other world class players that won the most
prestigious Spingold Championship. This competitive
expert class tournament is a coveted national
championship event. Tipton played for years on the Grant Baze duplicate bridge team, one of the world's best.
Baze, who died in 2009, was one of the greatest players
of all time and one of Tipton's close friends. Their
team won awards in many national events. Tipton hosted a
tribute to Baze at the Houston nationals in 2009 and
authored a special article about his times with Baze in
the ACBL's Bridge Bulletin.
As past unit representative to the District 16 board,
Tipton was instrumental in bringing a regional
tournament and sectional tournament to the Beaumont
area. He has most generously underwritten countless club
activities such as member directories, tournament
newsletters, life master award parties, and other
special events. Tipton's many contributions to duplicate bridge and Unit 201 earned him the
prestigious Texas Star Award.
From The Beaumont Bridge Studio membership - "Thank
you and congratulations, Tipton. We're proud to know you
and be associated with you. It is a great honor to
play with you."
February 2010
Our newest Life Masters - Don and Juinez Moss
Even
though Don and Juinez Moss, like most of us, are some
9,000+ points behind Tipton, we are proud they have
achieved the first major award in their ACBL lifetime -
the rank of Life Master.
Don and Juinez started their quest for Life Master a
short three years ago. They played together as happy
spouses, which is a difficult path for most pairs. They
made the accomplishment in a notable time frame and
received their award while remaining together and loving.
Because of their success, they inspired many hopefuls to
pursue the goal more aggressively. They have spawned a new group of up'n'comers
that benefit from their achievement. Their confidence
and success is an inspirational challenge and motivation
to newer players. We are proud of not only what they
accomplished, but what they have contributed to our
club.
One of the characteristics of their quest was a
fearless desire to compete in any field of players.
Whereas most new players take the more comfortable path
of playing in the limited games, Don
and Juinez ventured into the open games and competed
effectively with many great
players. Their confidence and ability grew as did
their skills and mental focus. Great doings, Don and Juinez - we love ya'.
February 2010
Bobbi Robinson - Life Master
Bobbi earned her Life Master at the Houston Regional
on Feb 2, 2010. Mighty congrats - few players have been
more qualified for the title, and we are all be proud of
her for her accomplishments in 2009. In addition to
earning Life
Master status, Bobbi
- accumulated 163 points this year to win
the Unit 201 Mini-McKenney award,
- played a 69+% game to
win the District 16 International Fund Game in the
spring,
- managed the Lufkin Bridge Club,
and
- taught many aspiring players how to play duplicate
bridge.
Well done, Bobbi.
