The Kapiti Duplicate Bridge Club was officially formed on the 9th of July 1968 and the first evening session of the club was held on Friday the 12th of July 1968 when 5 full tables of players gathered at the Safari Coffee Lounge. The club paid a rental of $2 per night and generously offered to pay an extra 25c per night during the winter months to cover the cost of heating. Members brought their own heaters.
Table money was 30 cents and the annual subscription $5. Bridge, here as elsewhere, was played in one's best clothes amid clouds of smoke. The Lounge was only available on Friday evening, so an additional session started on Mondays in a member's home following a course of lessons there. Soon there were eight tables of players.
1969 saw the club affiliated to the Wellington Bridge Centre and master points were awarded. In 1973 the club's name was changed to Paraparaumu Beach Bridge Club, and later to Paraparaumu Bridge Club Inc. In October 1977 the club resolved to take a 20-year lease on the old cinema at Kerr's Corner. The theatre was refurbished with the help of members' debentures and things settled down to serious duplicate bridge on club nights and tournaments with more casual bridge at Christmas parties. Learner classes were held regularly and smoking was finally banned amid a storm of opposition.
The club continued to expand and thoughts turned to building new club rooms - fundraising began again in earnest and a search was undertaken for a suitable site. The KCDC offered us land adjoining the Community Centre and we moved into our brand new purpose-built clubrooms on 26th April 1998.
The present members are indebted to so many people for the work they have done over the years. We now have bright, spacious, comfortable rooms, a well-equipped kitchen, a splendid bar and a modern office with computer, dealing machine, and electronic scoring using tablets. In July 2022, Compa$$ was successfully introduced to automate the payment and collection of table fees and subscriptions.
Membership is around 160, and with table money of $5 and an annual subscription of $75, Paraparaumu still remains one of the most reasonably priced clubs in the country.
Annual Interclub matches are played with neighbouring clubs Kapi Mana, Waikanae, Levin, and Otaki and our members regularly play in tournaments in the Wellington area, some venturing further afield for congresses.
Bridge really does keep the brain active - as evidenced by our 90+-year-olds who continue to play regularly.