ForeverSpades
11 years and forever to go...

March 2014

Welcome new members!
Make yourself at home and have fun spading!
Here are some helpful links to check out the league website
with all the helpful links Jan makes available to us.
 

League & Member Announcements


ForeverSpades welcomes our newest grandbaby!
Maggy welcomed Aubrey Grace into this world
On 02/20/2014 ay 3:44 am 7.5lb 19 inches

It's finally here!!
The

Remember submissions are ongoing
If you have a favorite recipeclick the button at top or on the cookbook page to submit a recipe!

"Spadesopoly" is returning March 16th-23rd
To participate Click here to e-Mail Jan at jan53362636@yahoo.com
Only Registered players will be eligible for game and prizes.
Special thanks to Jan (jm468) for creating this amazing game & league!

We are a league of many Nations,
Cultures and Backgrounds
We came together as strangers
and became friends.
We play together, laugh together and
care about each other as family.



Tournaments that make ForeverSpades Special

Witchypoo is hosting a St. Patricks Day tourney special at 6 pm on March 17th.

Interleague qualifiers and results can be found on the Community Tab.
Winners of our past monthly Specials can be found here.
There are 2 specials that during the day of the tourney
teams can be filled throughout the day to help the tournament start on time.
They are STAFF WARS and the 4-MAN TAG TEAM!
Our other specials for the current month and results can be found on the Tournament Tab.



ForeverSpades has an awesome staff and I thank each of them for their dedication!


Want to do more for ForeverSpades?
If you're an active member and have time to run one or more tourneys per week;
how about being a Tournament Director? Just click here for the application!
New TD's
zorro.rocks (Susie) & born.again2007 (Bill) & s3xystriker (Amber)
Welcome aboard!

For those that pray

Remember our league members have their real lives, the person behind the id, and many have hardships of illness or other things going on and have unspoken requests. . Lets remember the unspoken requests and remember at the tables as we play to be a good sport and play fast and considerate of each other.

Forevers_April's mother had a stroke this week; she request prayers.



An in depth Look

From our HA

I have been asked to write up a little history on ForeverSpades.
Back in late 2002 a friend asked me to join her in league play, so I joined a league, which is no longer in existence. She helped me learn the ins and outs of playing in a league as this was the first time I’d ever played in a league and it was very confusing to me at first.

All went well at first, but then things started happening. One thing in particular was the “friend” of the Head Admin always seemed to be in the #1 spot. So one day another friend of mine did a formal challenge to this person and he asked me to partner him in this challenge game. A date and time had been set and when the time came this person was moved down to #40 which made our challenge game useless so my friend cancelled it. And within hours….and I mean hours…this person was back in the #1 spot. Really?? I withdrew that day!!

I joined another league and I just wasn’t happy with how this league was run either…it was looking to me like leagues didn’t think twice about manipulating the ladder. Well, this goes against my sense of fair play to say the least!!

One Sunday, March 16, 2003, I was curious so I created a league of my own where I knew there would be no ladder manipulation and everyone would earn their ladder rungs! To be honest I had first attempted to call this league SpadesForever, but that name was already in use so I tried ForeverSpades and that was a go!

However, I didn’t tell anyone about this league until the following Sunday, March 23, 2003 and my friend immediately said….”Let’s get this baby going!!” She immediately joined and asked me to play a “league game” using bots so we could get a game on the league. Well, I won that game and when she went to report the loss to me it didn’t show me as a member!! I thought when I created the league I was a member….not so!! I didn’t realize I had to JOIN the league and it’s the first and last time I have ever been on ladder rung #1!!! That is how I became member #2 (or serial #2)…that serial number will never change as long as I am here. LOL To this day it still bugs me when I think about it!!!

That day several friends joined and we hosted our first tournament. This is why we celebrate ForeverSpades Birthday Week from March 16 – March 23!

Interesting that each time someone joins us they are given a serial number…the numbers are consecutively numbered and a particular number is never used twice, even if a member withdraws and the serial number is not given out again. So if you consider that the newest member as of this moment was given serial #14470 .. in 11 years that’s an average of 1315 new members joining every year or approximately 110 new members each month!!

We have never allowed the so called “rung war” or whatever it’s called that the winners get to be moved into #1 spot….it’s never happened here and it never will. Whatever ladder rung a member is on they earned it fair and square!! I, personally, take great pride in this!!

My only regret is back in 2003 I didn’t think to start a journal….oh how I wish I had, there’d be so many stories, both funny and sad, good times and some pretty rough times, but we are still here and thriving beyond words!

I am very grateful to the wonderful staff, both past and present, for all the time they have donated to keep our members with tours! I am grateful for all our members who have shown me how grateful they are to have a family league to play in where we demand common courtesy and respect for each other! I have always said over the years that every one of us has rights but those rights go only so far as to not infringe on the rights of others, to play in a peaceful and friendly environment and to have fair play a top priority!

Thank you to each and every one of you because it’s you that help make this league the best it can be!! I think this league is absolutely awesome!!
Jan

Happy Birthday! I cherish all the friendships I have made in Forevers the last 7 years! ~Whateva_u_desires (Darla)

Well maybe being the person who originally gave Joan the nickname "Buns"~~jrcrewe (Jim)

I have had some of my best memories right here in forevers. From playing to hosting and teaching. The games wasn't just playing cards I gained an actually family that I looked forward to talking to everyday, Maggy is still like my long lost sister and Alex is near and dear to my heart, along with many other members I'll never forget because to me forevers members are my family forever, no matter the distance. ~~Forevers_April (April)

I have been playing spades most of my life. So, when I finally got internet (I live in the country), I started playing online. One day my sister txshelly2012 told me to join her league, so I joined ForeverSpades. Not really understanding how leagues worked, she guided me along. I remember looking at the calendar one day and saw a tour for rookie, and thought "wow...they have tours for rookies like me." Of course, Shelly did explain that was the TD's name and not a tour for rookies. I am glad I joined, and I have spent many happy hours playing here. Eventually, I tried my hand at hosting. I spent a couple of weeks training...hosting close to 20 tours with a trainer. One tour took me almost 3 hours to host, and it was a quickie. I was discouraged, but the great staff here encouraged me to stay and said I would get better with practice. Since then I have hosted around 1100 tours. I still have bad days when hosting, but I get through it. I love being a part of this league...when I am bored, I have a good place to come play a game of cards, chatter, and just hang out ~~pinkladyspady (Carla)

I joined the league last year. I have played in other leagues but this one made you feel welcome. I have found the members really care about one and another. They gather around if there is sickness, celebrations etc. Forever live ForeverSpades. ~~ bonniesue0721 (Bonnie)

"I have so many memories, I don't know which to share!! Let me say this....every day, you lift me up, and help me to continue this journey of healing. The Honor you all bestow on our Military and their families is heartwarming, and I know it is heartfelt by all of you. I stumbled across this league one day, wondered why many times, and then Dennis died....and then I knew why I found you. For a group of people whom I have never met, you are like family to me. I will always treasure, and never forget, the love you all send my way. Even when you all try to fry my chickens.....much love to all of you!!! ~~  dawife2009 (Christine) aka "dachickenlady"

Christmas Eve 1998 It was a cold blizzard nite and i was waiting for my man to get home from work. Most all of the roads in Oklahoma city were shut down due to ice and snow drifts.
The ice on power lines were causing my lights to blink on and off. And then, i recieved the horrible call that my man was stuck in 6 ft. snow drift, along with his brother. To make matters worse, it was Christmas eve! I was crushed and so worried.
With tears in my eyes, i went into league's lobby to find all my friends. They all cheered me up and wrapped me up in their love. Several members prayed with me.
Finally my boyfriend called to say, he and his brother were able to get into an empty home and stay warm. (their clothes were soaked) But he was safe! I thank God for my online family! ~~meanjeanokc21 (Jean)

The first game i played greg (auto) was my first p someone said it was ok he was a good player; also in the leagues I had been in all hands were 6 or less so for 10 hands seemed long. Next was realizing that each tournament was 2 hours long and all were 2v2 something else I had not experienced in playing in a spades league had been in 3 others and they had ha just delete due to boyfriend girlfriend conflicts, so was a little wary of joining another league but o well I wanted to play spades so here I am 5 years later and 2 years a td ~~keylivly (Glada)

In reflecting back over these past 11 years, my favorite memory had to be when I felt the pain and hurt Christine (dawife2009) was going through after losing her son, Dennis, and she sent me a picture of her receiving the flag and it was entitled "Reality". I wanted to help her so, I offered to make a tournament in his honor, which had never been done before in the league. I felt that by us all turning out and letting her talk about Dennis would help her heal. There was a huge turnout and she told us a lot we didn't know and everyone was teary eyed, and Jan told me "I now know why God moved me to make this league". ~~Mouse_feathers_2 (Renne)

Congrats ForeverSpades. Having been in many leagues as a td, htd, and ha I know how hard it is to keep a league together for this long. Thanks to all those that put in the time to keep this a fun league. Happy birthday~~buckaroo_47 (Larry and Annie)

I have many wonderful moments since coming to this league...but the game where i took all 13 tricks is probably one of the most memorable one. Meeting some memorable league members is the absolute bestest...tho ~~Irislady7701 (Connie)

My ever lasting memory is of a Forevers Easter egg hunt we had several years back. There was magical eggs hidden through out our leagues main site with #'s on them. "You had to look really hard and deep into the website to find these different valued eggs", people were looking to and fro reporting back in real time to what they had to show, which burnt this memory i will never let go.~~ray_18_wheel_pilot2 (Ray)

I have been a member of FS since 3 weeks after Jan started this League and have never left. My personal favorite moment was a surprise tour for my birthday..(too old to remember which one...lol). My good times have always been working with the other Td's when I was TD Mgr and having fun with the threats of being called into my office.. Doubt i ever scared anyone..but it was a lot of fun talking about it. The funniest and best time overall was when jrcrewe a regular pard, said "yo buns" one day in the lobby and I responded "yo Bruno". Fearing that some might think we were more than just pards, and not wanting any reference to my (cough cough) butt, I took the nickname and ran with it referring to my "buns" as those you have hot with coffee in the morning, ergo my early bird tours named Coffee with Buns, and have laughed almost every day at the chiding and joking about my buns. ~~ jzimmie99 (Joan)

I have found friendships abounding with love, understanding and compassion that surpass most I have found in my life. In happy times and sad times members of Forevers has supported me and my family! ~~Beauty_and_Desires (Ann)

Today tomorrow and ForeverSpades ...my family my friends and my sanity! I will never forget the first tour I hosted omg ..... I was so nervous ... and then when it was done I was so proud I really felt I had accomplished something ! I have many many many favorite memories and have made some awesome friends and I have had the extra special privilege of meeting a few forever members in Person! Just to name a few are Vicki and Dave aka ChocoHarleymomma and iwant2ridmyHarley! Ann aka wisemelak and her mom agreekgoddessofspades,  Chuck aka spadeaholic, and April aka forevers April my baby sistha by another mother!  But most of all my 1st June Bugs Tour and how honored I felt being able to host it watching all my dear friends play as a silly bug was so awesome! It has always been an honor and pleasure to play here at forevers! Happy Happy Birthday and thank you Jan for creating this awesome league! You'll always be # 1 in my book! ~~Crabby_Maggy (Maggy)

Do you have anything you would like to share in the next newsletter?
Its simple and we want to hear from you!
Just email Maggy or email Ann



“The year you were born marks only your entry into the world.
Other years where you prove your worth, they are the ones worth celebrating. ”
― Jarod Kintz, This Book Title is Invisible

Your Newsletter team
Beauty_and_Desires & Crabby_Maggy
Ann & Maggy