Scrabble Sundays more than just a game
All’s fair in love and Scrabble so if there’s a naughty word on your letter rack that’s just begging to be used it’s fair game, according to at least one version of the rules.
John Aitken, who recently moved back to Prince George after a 50-year absence, started Scrabble Sundays at Books & Co. in March and so far there’s only been up to four people playing but he’s always hoping for more.
Suzanne LeFebvre is his most loyal Scrabble buddy who attends most Sundays.
“And she’s polite enough to text me if she’s not going to make it,” John laughed.
John, who has played Scrabble most of his life, is the former director of the Vancouver Scrabble Club. John will be attending a three-day, 20-game tournament in Portland over the Labour Day weekend to test his wordsmith skills.
Knowing Scrabble is a social game, he wondered if there was already a club set up locally when he first moved to town.
“And Books & Co. is so fabulous as they support all sorts of community stuff,” John said.
During his first visit to Books & Co., he asked about a group and Books & Co. staff said if he’d like to host it, they could provide the space.
“And bam!” John said. “That’s how it started.”
John said they don’t play a very competitive game and each game only has two sides in order to keep it simple. Everyone is gifted with their own cheat sheet that includes vowel dumps like the word zoea, i-dumps like inia, u-dumps like pudu, an extensive list of two- and three-letter words, and a few more treats that people can check out online.
Suzanne plays online with her mom, Germaine, who lives in Alberta, and said she’s an impatient player.
“If I take too long my mom will call me to ask me to make a play,” she laughed.
As everyone is chatting, Valerie Rakoczy comes over to introduce herself and to ask if she and her son, Reace, could play Scrabble.
“This is such a great way to meet new people,” Valerie said as she gestures for Reace to come over and join the group. Valerie moved back to Prince George a couple of years ago to be closer to Reace and his young family, who have been here for 10 years.
Valerie’s husband, Brad, works up north for long periods of time so it’s nice to be close to Reace.
Suzanne is delighted to have Valerie and Reace join in and quickly makes room for everyone to sit down.
Valerie said she’s been playing since she was a child and her mom was a real pro at the game.
“She’s now playing Scrabble in heaven,” Valerie smiled.
Reace only came to spend time with his mom and only ever played the game once or twice before but fondly remembers his grandmother’s enthusiasm for it.
John has made a lot of great memories through the game of Scrabble as he used to travel around to tournaments.
“I’ve made lots of friends over the years and keep in touch with them to this day,” John said.
“This is an amazing game because it’s based on a combination of luck and skill and over time someone who knows more words and strategy is going to win, but on any given day luck can interfere and the bottom line is that it’s a game and every rack of letters is a puzzle that needs to be solved so ultimately, you’re also playing against yourself. That means people of different abilities can play quite harmoniously together.”
Everyone is welcome to join Scrabble Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m. at Books & Co., 1685 Third Ave.