Another 24 last Tuesday for the largest Scrabble club in North America and beyond. Not bad for a Tuesday afternoon. But I want to remind everyone as I always do the following!! If you do NOT think that you can stay for all 4 or 5 games, do NOT come. We had a few players leave after just one or two games, so I left to keep matters even. I took one for the team but since playing Scrabble for me has been reduced to Tuesdays for now, I would like to stay for the whole 5 games. I did not this time so I left after 2 games. I will be forced to resort to the dreaded Odd-Even list in the future without any exceptions….
While I was having breakfast with Paul and Lorry, 2 avid Scrabble enthusiasts met up with me. They heard about our Scrabble club and wanted to play. So I think they will come next week. Club 34 keeps growing and growing. I cannot remember much about them except they are mother and son, live nearby, have the opportunity to play with us on Tuesdays and their last name is GOOCH. At first I thought that was a good Scrabble word but later realized it was not. You will find cohog in there but thats about all. It goes to show you what happens after you stop studying for awhile.
I was pleased to see Mark Bennett last week and Rick Duncan return this week. Rick has been gone for quite some time last year but has left his ministering duties so I hope to see alot of him this year. I am still waiting for Karin Borchard and Bill Lapinski to return. Then we should have a full allotment of our regular players as well as new ones join us. It looks like we might be heading for 30…. I certainly hope our playroom will hold this many but we may have to spill over to the general restaurant area or close the Club to future players. I doubt if that will be the case… We shall see.
When I left last Tuesday, co-director Jeff Polan took over the Club. I just want to remind everyone to show him the respect he deserves. Jeff and I do things somewhat differently. Just be patient with him. He does the best he can do! It is not easy directing a Scrabble club with 20-25 players. So let him do his job………………………
And now for the really big news. I have been promising or threatening you with this all year. But Blankheads is finally upon us.. I am proud to announce February 3 as its inaugural re-opening. Just a brief history for those who are new to Club 34 and wish to participate. I announced all this last Tuesday and of the 24 in attendance, 18 want to participate so we are good to go….
After an 18 month $1 million renovation project, James “Hopalong” Cassidy has told me it is finally over. He wants Blankheads to begin immediately so we shall abide by his wishes.
Jim’s family purchased the property at 215 Apolena Balboa Island in 1937 from the estate of Walter Huston, the famous director and actor of that era. Huston perfomed in “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” and the George M. Cohan biographical story “Yankee Doodle Dandy” among others. Jim has the memory of living there during World War 2 with his mother. But soon afterwards he moved to Washington DC where he practiced law for the next 60 years. In the meantime, his brother John moved to this property in the early 1950s where he lived by himself til his death in 2022. To say that John was a recluse is putting it mildly. But that is what he was doing, living in this house in the humblest of conditions.
Jim and his wife Lee would visit for 2 weeks each year but not move out here for good until 2009. I remember meeting Jim at Gary Moss’ club at a local bookstore until then. Jim and I became very close friends especially during the dark days of Covid. When things would quiet down, I would visit Jim weekly for Scrabble and sushi. It was certainly the highlight for both of us during those days.
After John’s passing in 2022, Jim and Lee decided to completely breakdown the first floor where John lived into a functional living quarters with bedrooms, kitchen, lap pool in the atrium and a $150,000 elevator that would take you from the first to second floor in a half second. But the first thing Jim would tell me is that he wanted to hold Blankhead parties in the future. I thought he was nuts but it doesnt look that way.
I will get back to this in a minute. But lets talk about Blankheads. What is it?? It is a clever way of mentioning Scrabble and also paying tribute to the famous actress Tallulah Bankheads. It is a name created by Paul Trachtenberg and Bob Peters. Obviously one of them had a “thing” for Tallulah so Blankheads was created. It was founded in 1997, a Scrabble party held at their home once a month. In fact I remember getting that phone call from Bob on the first day of play. He thought I told him I was coming but I never committed. It didnt sound like alot of fun. Why would I spend a whole day playing Scrabble with a bunch of old ladies?? Boy was I wrong!!! I went to the following event and have been coming ever since.
Back in those days when we all were 25 years younger, we played 10 games, we laughed and ate til we couldnt anymore. Everyone brought something–a salad, an entree, a dessert, drinks, donuts etc. We all took part and just waited for the next one…We had lottery tickets, prizes etc. But everything good must come to an end. After 10 years of hosting, Paul and Bob had enough so there would be no more Blankheads. Over the ensuing years, only Gretchen Cowan would pick up the ball and host a few events. But it wasnt enough! We all missed it so the years passed us by until now…..
We now have a permanent home thanks to Jim and Lee Cassidy so let the fun begin. This is how it will work….. Blankheads will meet on the first Saturday of every month at 11am. We will play 5 games only. We will try for 3 divisions with prize $$ given to the top 3 finishers in each division thanks to the benevolence of James Cassidy. $25, 15 and 10….. There maybe lottery tickets, not sure about that yet. If there will be 3 divisions, then I will try to have 18 players so there is a true round robin…. There will be a sign in sheet on Tuesday afternoons starting this Tuesday. Once everyone has signed up, I will ask for food donations. Everyone is to contribute, whether it be salad, desserts, drink, entrees, paper cups and napkins, chips…… Once I have the full allotment of players, I will make up the divisions and pairings. I will be as fair as possible, no whining, no complaining…. You will do your own challenges since we will not have an adjudicator nearby.
So let the fun begin…. February 3 at 215 Apolena. One more thing. Parking maybe a problem on Balboa Island. If you are bringing food that is somewhat cumbersome, there should be someone there to carry the food into the house. Then find a place to park. It may not be on Apolena, maybe a neighboring street but there will be parking. I strongly advise you if POSSIBLE to carpool….
See you Tuesday. Now you will have the remarkable Scrabble club 34 to look forward to every Tuesday, Superscrabble on the third Thursday and Blankheads on the first Saturday EVERY month. What could be better than that for us old folk………………………..
Your Director
NASPA Club #34 Blog 