SEASIDE Sue Kroning enjoys the theater. She belongs to the garden club.

But bridge is her passion.

Kroning is so passionate about bridge, in fact, that she has been a volunteer for the American Contract Bridge League ever since she moved to Seaside 16 years ago.

Now, the national organization is honoring her with its Volunteer of the Year award during a ceremony March 18 in St. Louis.

Im very thrilled, said Kroning, who was selected by the league president from among 259 nominees throughout the United States and Canada. Im totally blown away.

Kroning, a retired high school math teacher, learned how to play bridge when she was 16, growing up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Africa. Her British parents had immigrated there in 1951 when she was 8 years old.

My parents taught me, she said. I didnt want to learn, but they thought I should. But while attending the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, she became more interested.

I had a boyfriend who played, she said. That inspired me.

Even a move to San Diego, for a job in the mid-1980s didnt interrupt her play. The card game became a bridge to romance in the 1990s when she met her husband, Robert Kroning, who is, she said, a very good player.

Sue Kroning credits her husband for helping her in her volunteer activities.

I could not have done half of the things I have done without Roberts support, she said.

As a volunteer unit manager, she oversees bridge clubs involving 110 members on the North Coast, including clubs in Seaside, Astoria and Ilwaco, Wash. She also serves on the board of District 20, which has units in Oregon, Northern California, Hawaii, Guam and Southwest Washington.

Kroning also conducts bridge classes and is planning a new program that will enable novices to learn to play bridge in five hours. She helps out at two bridge tournaments a year, and she edited the district newsletter for eight years.

She enjoys the social aspect of the game Kroning has made many friends in frequent four-hour afternoons of bridge. She also likes the beauty of the game.

Its endlessly fascinating and challenging, she said. Every hand you pick up is a new adventure. They are all recurring patterns, and that adds to the interest. Pretty soon, you recognize what to do.

And sometimes, after years of experience, what not to do.

She is a gold life master, with more than 2,500 masterpoints, which, she said, is pretty high.

While she looks forward to her almost daily bridge games, theres one particular game that she anticipates more than the others: the Sunday game she plays with her daughter, who lives in Johannesburg.

At 10 a.m., Kroning turns on her computer and sees her daughter, who is connected through Skype; it is 8 p.m. for her. Eventually, others who also are online to play bridge, join them at their table. They have played with people from other countries, including Italy and Russia.

Although she can see and hear her daughter, the others can only type their comments on the keyboard.

The most fun I have all week is playing with her, Kroning said. Shes very emotional. When she makes a contract, she will raise her arm and say, Yes!

Nancy McCarthy