We continue to have some remarkable Scrabble achievements at Club 34 and last Tuesday was no exception. Several 500 games and 100 point plays are becoming a regular thing. I had a nice day at 7-1 but I was most proud of 3 bingos in a row against Lynn Gunn and one later on for 4 total in an evening game. I also overcame a triple/triple by Amnon to win our game. I just made a 97 point play with exerted but had to leave the first e in the triple column. Unfortunately, his rack at the time was ?aeistt so he came up with goatiest for 122 points. Its not easy to come back from that but somehow I managed to. Never give up is the lesson to be learned here. Be sure to let me know if you do something remarkable over the Scrabble board and I will give you proper recognition the following week.
Our newest player Julie Hoigaard came back for the second week in a row. I was glad to see that. Rick Duncan is in England but will be back Tuesday. I was happy to get a call from Mark Bennett last night. Mark had a total knee replacement 2 months ago but is on the mend and wants to come back to the Club next week. He thought that he was still on the Tuesday afternoon waiting list but told him I changed the format so that you do NOT have to contact me anymore. Just show up!! He admitted that he has not been keeping up with the Blog so he didnt know that.
Our excursions are getting favorable responses. We now have 10 for the Hollywood tour, 11 for the Motion Picture museum, 5 for the Holocaust and the Museum of Intolerance. Our Club picnic has 18, 13 for the play or musical, 8 for the film club and 16 for Lorry’s feast. Most of the events will be on the weekend so those who still work can take part.
Another new member for Tuesday evening reared her lovely head the last two weeks. Pamela Zinner is a high school math teacher from Fountain Valley. She is the second find from one of our newest members Ricky Hwa. Pamela claims that she attended 2 Club 34 sessions nearly 10 years ago but for some unknown reason she did not return. It looks like she will be a fixture this time around.
I wear many hats for Club 34 but the head of the Lost and Found department is not one I want to cherish. This time someone left a very attractive Scrabble clock in the playroom. Come this Tuesday to claim it. But if this continues to be a common occurrence, I just may keep them and sell them myself on Ebay or Amazon…….
Some members have asked me if I could hold a workshop for those who would like to improve their Scrabble skills. We have alot of new members who would benefit from tutoring from a so-called expert: even some more established players could also benefit. If you are truly interested, send me an Email and I will try to make it happen but only if there is enough interest. I would hold these workshops at the IHOP if management allows that on a Thursday or Friday afternoon. So send me an Email if interested.
And now for our featured player of the week! He was not one of our new players who joined us on March 15 when we reopened. But he did join us 2 weeks later when he found us on Meetup. He has shown alot of passion and interest in Scrabble and Club 34 in just a short time. But he is a keeper and has continued to promote Club 34 when he can. He has already brought 2 new players to the Club.
His family is from Hong Kong but Ricky Chinghin Hwa was born in 1981 in Millbrae, California, in the San Francisco Bay area and stayed there until 2003 when he graduated with a degree in civil engineering from UC Berkeley. Ricky has no idea what Chinghin means but did tell me that Hwa means summertime in Chinese. In 2003 Ricky moved to southern California when he was offered a job with a water supply lab at the University of Southern California. Over the next several years he worked for a land development co in Chatsworth, the Moorpark City Hall as a public works inspector, with a traffic control company in Signal Hill in the Long Beach area. Finally in 2012 he accepted a posiiton with the Thienes Civil engineering company in La Mirada where he still works today. He lives a quiet life in Buena Park with his girlfriend of 12 years.
When Ricky came to Club 34 for the first time, he told me that he played in a Scrabble club in Santa Monica for years. I thought at first he was talking about Bruce’s club but that was not the case. From 2007-2010 he played in an informal club that met at a Coffee Bean on Monday night but in the years since he has played very little Scrabble until now.
During the first year of Covid, Ricky did very little as the rest of us. But by the second year, he was getting very restless. He went on Meetup and joined a running club, a board game and of course Scrabble club 34. He enjoys hiking and fantasy baseball. He has been known to play the piano and was a former member of toastmasters at USC. But now what he really wants to do is improve his Scrabble game and come to Club 34 every Tuesday night. His immediate goals are to learn the 3 letter words and play in Scrabble tournaments in the near future.
I am so happy to find young passionate players like Ricky. Welcome to our Scrabble family Ricky Chinghin Hwa. It will be fun to watch you develop your Scrabble skills over the next several years.
The Director
NASPA Club #34 Blog 
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