Club manager and teacher extraordinaire, Harriett Leavitt still loving it after 40 years

 Harriett Leavitt didn’t set out to be a bridge teacher. The career that continues to keep her active every day just fell into place. Yet, 40 years after teaching her first lesson, the manager and director of Harriett Leavitt Bridge Club in Marblehead continues to inspire new players and to win awards from the ACBL for bringing in new members. In 2008, Harriett was named one of the ACBL Star Recruiters. Last year she was cited by the ACBL for bringing in new members to ACBL online at okbridge.com.

 

Learning the game

Harriett started playing bridge more than 40 years ago, when her daughters were in college. She took lessons from Jerry Smith, a popular North Shore teacher in “those days” says Harriett, who loved the game from the start. “It was fun, but it was also a mental challenge.” She played a regular foursome with friends, “but we were really bad.” So, she went back to Smith, who encouraged her to play duplicate to improve her game.

Harriett tells the story of her first duplicate game as if it happened yesterday. “My partner led a suit. I didn’t know anything about signals, so I played low from a doubleton on the first card, high on the second and trumped the third one! Declarer was outraged—and I decided I was never going back.” But Smith challenged her not to let one person ruin her enjoyment of the game, and the rest is history. Harriett became a life master in less than three years—no small accomplishment during those years. “You got .06 points for winning a game…and the first few points I won, I threw away. They were on these little pieces of paper and I figured they would never amount to anything.”

 

Teaching…and beyond

After Harriett began playing duplicate, she taught her daughter Roseanne how to play…and recruited a few friends to join her. Before long, she had eight tables of students at her Swampscott home and neighbors started complaining about the traffic. She moved her classes to Temple Israel in Swampscott and later to Marblehead, where her club currently runs regular duplicate games on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and on Tuesday nights. On Thursday evenings, Harriett runs a special “newplicate” game to give her students exposure to duplicate without the pressure of competing against more experienced players. She teaches individuals and groups by special arrangement, both at the table and online.

 

Duplicate bridge—then and now

What’s changed the most in the 40+ years that Harriett has been playing duplicate and teaching lessons? “I don’t think players have as much fun as we did. We went to tournaments at the Waldorf Astoria and The Mount Washington Hotel. We got dressed up, had music and lectures. Winning was great, but bridge was fun. Now, everything seems to be a competition for points.”

 Yet, for Harriett, bridge is STILL fun. Both she and daughter Roseanne, who assists with the Marblehead club, have traveled the world teaching on Audrey Grant bridge tours. “I love what I do. I love my students” says Harriett. “I look forward to getting dressed every morning. Bridge—and five great grand children—keep me young,” boasts Harriet, who admits to being nearly 85. Five minutes with this gorgeous, vivacious and articulate woman brings a whole new meaning to the notion that age is just a state of mind.

For more information about Harriett Leavitt Bridge Club, including a list of games and results, go to http://marblehead.acblemba.org.