We are an enthusiastic group of Scrabble players who used to meet Wednesdays at the Eileen Langley Centre. We have now moved to Friday afternoons at Anne Hathaway Retirement Residence. Read our news.
We are always keen to have new players join us. You don’t have to come every week, and if you don’t think you can handle 3 games, we don’t mind if you just stay for 2.
We are officially associated with a North American wide body – NASPA – North American Scrabble Players Association.
Each Friday your first opponent is decided randomly. (We just have 2 players for each game) Thereafter you will play other winners or losers, depending on how you fare.
Newcomers are also given a list of the permissible 2- and 3-letter words, together with the list of four letter J Q X and Z words, and the U-less Q words, and you have free challenges the first month. Quality of players varies tremendously, so you can discard any ideas you might harbour that you would not be good enough.
The use of chess clocks is encouraged for each game. This keeps things flowing, as we have to get through 3 games in 3 hours. Each game is only supposed to last 50 minutes.
So come and check us out. We would be glad to see you. Cost is only $1 each afternoon, and each week there are several cash prizes.
The Stratford SCRABBLE Club is a member of the
North American SCRABBLE Players Association [NASPA]
We are Club #546.
It all started with Brian and Brenda Tarr, Terry Aitken , Henry van Drunen, Irene Drenth, and Henry de Young circa 1997. We were playing each other regularly in our respective homes, but got sick of playing the same people, and decided to go public. We even used to have tournaments in each other's homes. I can recall attending tournaments in the van Drunens living room, and travelling out to de Youngs in November for a tournament, and even to Drenths in Brooksdale one February.
We initially met at Ellams restaurant on Ontario St on Wednesday nights. We were almost the only patrons! After he kicked us out because the tourist season was starting up in May, we moved to the Red Cross Hall in Gordon St. We regulary had tournaments there until again the facility needed to be used by someone else. We've lost some of our regular early players like Vasil Henry and Doug Fraser, but fortunately, especially after we went public, several new and consistent attenders took their places.
Somehow we got to hear about tournaments held by the National SCRABBLE Assoc., and some of us entered the tournament scene in Brantford. In early 2000 John Dungey and Terry Aitken sat the director's test and we became a fully registered NSA club. We held our first rated tournament in Sept. 2000. The club is flourishing. We rarely have less than 10 out, and have had as many as 31 play in one evening. Members often play at adjacent clubs in Cambridge and London.
We are a fully accredited member club of the North American SCRABBLE Players Association, which has largely replaced NSA.
We used to meet on Wednesdays at The Eileen Langley Centre in Stratford before the pandemic. We now meet at The Anne Hathaway Retirement Residence, 480 Downie Street, Stratford, Ontario on Fridays at 2 pm.
There are people you meet as you walk down the street
Who you know have a story to tell
And there's a lovely lady, in bright sun or shady
Whose expression says all is not well.
It seems that her trouble all started with SCRABBLE
Which she'd played for years, just as a game
But once in the claws of competitive draws
Her life never seemed quite the same
The day that she found out what the real "game" was about
Was when she learned the secret of "two"
That N-U was a word just as useful as Gnu
And "meaning" and "language" were pooh
So she practised with gusto and endlessly just so
Her scores slowly mounted and mounted
And club members said from the way that she played
She was one of the players that counted
But then came the day of her downfall they say
When a cheater humility taught her
And she lost the game, hangs her head low in shame
'Cause she didn't challenge "AIRWATER"
A SCRABBLE Poem by Peter Brierley (7/2/05)
Here is a later poem, also written by Peter Brierley, sadly now deceased.
You've heard of the dreaded Eboli
And how West Nile takes terrible toll
But there's one plague that's sweeping the country
That secretly swallows you whole.
It begins as an innocent word game
Best played between family and friends
But once it starts spreading its evil
That's when family and friendship soon ends.
When you notice your wife or your husband
Whose language has always been clear
Of a sudden says "Ag ba en id mi oh pa,"
Or "Es in mo on si wo bi." Have a fear.
It it's "Ha la no ox uh you oy," then it's too late,
No more cosy and warm bedtime loving,
No more intimate breakfast time sharing
You'd be better off thinking of moving.
From now on you'll get nothing but babble
In words that you know don't exist
The incurable virus called SCRABBLE
Has your loved one inscribed on her list
And you're single again, so go dabble
In whatever you'd like to know
But whatever you do, avoid SCRABBLE
You'll learn only one word, that's "Bingo."
STRATFORDSCRABBLE.CA
We meet Fridays at 2pm
Anne Hathaway Retirement Residence,
480 Downie Street,
Stratford, Ontario.
CONTACTS
+1 519 273 2233