NE. Make your reservations with the ACBL Housing Bureau at 1-800-773-5069.  PLEASE RESERVE EARLY.   Room rates at the Hyatt are $119 plus taxes.   The Housing bureau also offers several less expensive options within two to four blocks of the Hyatt with rates ranging from $99 to $79 per night.   
ENTERTAINMENT: Carole Budnick is our Hospitality Chair.  On Tuesday evening, Carole will lead our group to enjoy a real southern dinner at Pitty Pat's Porch.  You will order from the menu and pay on your own but must make a firm commitment when you register so we can have the restaurant reserve room for our group.  Board members please note - we have scheduled the Board meeting late enough for you to join the dinner group.  For our Wednesday evening group activity, Carole has planned for a bus to take us to the Botanical Gardens and then to Mary Mac's for a southern family style dinner (including, fried chicken, meatloaf, and turkey).  Then our tour guide will point out places of interest on the return trip to the Hyatt.  This sounds like a delightful way to spend an evening while getting better acquainted with your fellow teachers.  Advance Reservations are required.  Be sure to reserve and send payment when you register for Convention (see enclosed registration form). 
NEED A ROOMMATE?  Experience has shown that it's better for our members to arrange for their own roommates.  If you need help finding a roommate, try posting your request on our ABTA message board.  If you are not a message board participant, contact Maggie Sparrow (msparrow@csolve.net) to join.
VENDORS:  Any member wishing to sell or display bridge products (for a single manufacturer or product line only) is asked to contact the Business Secretary by June 15 (contact information appears in letterhead).  Space may be limited so tables can only be guaranteed for those who reserve in advance.
APPLEBASKET TIPS:  Our new Applebasket chairman, Jane Friend, is eagerly awaiting your entry for this year's contest.  The winner will be presented with a crystal apple at our banquet.  Entries must be at most one page on paper suitable for copying (no letterhead or other identifying feature).  You need not attend the Convention to win.  Speaking of tips, here's one from the chairman - good things come in small packages so KISS (keep it short, sweetie). Submit your teaching tip by July 1 via e-mail to JFJKJB@verizon.net (best) or by snail mail to: Jane Friend 
  4319 Embassy Park Dr NW
  Washington DC 20016-3607
BECOME A MASTER TEACHER:  If you are not already an ABTA Master Teacher, fulfill the requirements at this year's Convention.  New Master Teachers will be honored at our Convention Banquet.  In order to apply for the title of ABTA Master Teacher, you must fulfill the following requirements:
· 3 years of continuous ABTA membership
· 100 or more hours of professional bridge teaching experience
· Attendance at an ABTA Seminar and Convention
· Personal interview with Membership Credentials Committee on Tuesday morning , July 19.
  Submit application by June 30 to:    Ed Gentino
     14 Cottwell Drive
     Wethersfield, CT 06109-3009
Your application letter should include:  a summary of your background as a bridge teacher; teaching materials (textbook name, course outlines, samples of own materials, etc.); a description of your teaching style including who, when, and where you teach.  Ed Gentino will notify you of the time of your personal interview.  Master Teacher interviews will be conducted between 8 AM and noon on Tuesday morning, July 19.  Please plan your travel accordingly.  It will be necessary for you to arrive on Monday.  You will be asked to answer questions about your teaching as well as questions that test your knowledge of bridge.  If you are wondering if you are a good enough bridge player to become an ABTA Master Teacher, go back and read some sample questions in Ed Gentino's article in the Spring 2004 issue of The Quarterly or look for a new article in the Spring 2005 issue.

BOARD MEMBERS - MEETINGS AND MASTER TEACHER INTERVIEW SCHEDULE:  Officers, Committee Heads, and Board Members should plan on meeting on Tuesday evening at 8:30 PM and on Friday morning at 8 AM. Please note the time change for the closing meeting because of the revised play schedule in Atlanta. Membership Credential Committee members should be available for Tuesday morning interviews.  Specific meeting information will be e-mailed to you closer to the Convention dates.

MOVED OR MOVING?  AREA CODE CHANGE?  NEW E-MAIL?  A new ABTA roster will be printed on July 1 and we want your information to be accurate.  PLEASE update any change in your mailing address.  The Post Office does not forward your magazine so failure to report an address change causes you to miss out on your Quarterly and brings extra cost to the organization.  Thanks for your help in keeping ABTA dues down!  Seasonal address changes should also be reported to the Business Secretary.  More and more ABTA members are getting online and enjoying our chats.  Be sure to keep ABTA up to date with new or changed e-mail addresses.   If you'd like a copy of the new roster as a Word document e-mailed to you, send a note to Pat (address in letterhead).  Hard copies available on request.

ABTA DUES ARE DUE ON OCTOBER 1:  ABTA dues for all members come due at the beginning of our fiscal year on October 1.  Some members prepay for three years.  Members whose dues payment will come due this fall will find a first notice dues bill enclosed.  Payments should be in US funds drawn on a US bank but we do offer our Canadian members the convenience of paying in Canadian funds.  Since our banks charge extra for Canadian checks, there is a premium for this service. ABTA bookkeeping is so much easier when dues are paid on time!  Why not take care of your dues payment now while you are thinking about it?  Every winter we have to spend extra time and money to send out dues past due notices and "I never got a bill" is a common refrain.  If your dues are coming due in October, a bill is enclosed here as your first reminder.  The second reminder will appear in the centerfold of the Summer issue of The Quarterly.  If you forget your membership expiration date, it can be found on the mailing label of any material sent to you by ABTA.  Your membership number also appears on every mailing label.  The letter A preceding your number indicates Master Teacher; the letter C indicates Professional Teacher Member; and an S indicates Associate Member.  Some Associate Members may now have the 100 hours of teaching experience necessary to qualify as a Professional Teacher Member.  Contact Pat Harrington to make the change.

MEMBERSHIP CARDS: Your new ABTA membership card is enclosed.  This card should be used for the upcoming dues year.  However, receipt of this card does not mean that your dues have been paid for the coming year.  If there is a dues notice included in this mailing, you owe dues payment by October 1, 2005.  Failure to pay dues by that time makes the enclosed membership card invalid.
TUESDAY EVENING GROUP ACTIVITY     

Join us for a Southern style dinner at Pitty Pat's Porch - just a short walk from the Hyatt.   Meals range between $17-26 and include bread, salad bar, your selection of entrée, and black-eyed peas and turnip greens.  The restaurant will add tax and a 20% gratuity to your individual checks.  We must give numbers in advance so reservations are required.  Mark the appropriate blank on your convention registration form.  If you find in advance that you cannot attend please notify us immediately.  We will be liable for the number we guarantee.  Please consider your reservation a firm commitment.  You may bring a guest.  The Tuesday evening Board Meeting is scheduled at 8:30 to allow Board Members the opportunity to participate in this group dinner.

WEDNESDAY EVENING GROUP ACTIVITY

Cost $50 includes dinner, bus transportation, and tour of the Atlanta Botanical Garden where you will enjoy the Fuqua Orchid Center (one of world's largest orchid displays), outdoor gardens including a Japanese garden, perennial and annual beds and award-winning parterre garden (if weather permits), Fuqua Conservatory for endangered tropical and desert plants, and the Center for Conservation and Education.  Then our bus will take us to dinner at Mary Mac's, a southern family-style restaurant (meatloaf, chicken and turkey entrees will be offered along with 3 sides and dessert).
Reservations and pre-payment are a must.  Check the appropriate blank on the enclosed convention reservation form. Guests permitted.