Scrabble teams match wits
Published 12:00 am Thursday, October 5, 2023
Players from the Wallace & Graham team strategize over their board. - Submitted
Team Lund’s completed Scrabble board. - Submitted
Practice makes perfect for the defending Scrabble champions from Trinity Oaks. - Submitted
Players from South Main Book Company puzzle out their best moves. - Submitted
SALISBURY — The reigning Scrabble champs from Trinity Oaks had an 8-year winning streak to defend during Rowan County Literacy Council’s recent fundraiser, Scrabble Scramble.
The event, which is now in its 20th year, was held Sept. 28 at Trinity Oaks Senior Living. Nine teams competed to build the highest-scoring Scrabble boards during three rounds of fast-paced wordplay. No team has a more dominant record than the experienced team from Trinity Oaks.
By the night’s end, they notched a ninth consecutive victory after fending off serious challenges.
The Rowan Public Library, Wallace & Graham, P.A., South Main Book Company, and Lutheran Services’ New Americans Program were among the other teams competing.
“We felt a heavy weight to bring it home for Trinity Oaks,” Trinity Oaks team member David Wilson said of the team’s winning streak. “We really appreciated the competition from the library people. We were very impressed by their word jurisprudence.”
Teams played many high-scoring words during the event, including physiological, quixotic, xylophone, quarreling and adjudication.
The Reading Raptors team nabbed second place. The team is comprised of employees of the Rowan Public Library.
Presenting partner Trinity Oaks Senior Living Community hosted the event, and Wallace & Graham Gives, the philanthropic arm of the law firm Wallace & Graham, P.A., was again the event’s marquee sponsor.
“This year’s Scrabble competition was particularly fierce,” said Laurel Harry, the Literacy Council’s executive director. “A few teams have been nipping at Trinity Oaks’ heels, and this year, the scoring was tighter than ever. We want to thank our players, sponsors, and donors for making Scrabble Scramble XX a great success.”
The Rowan County Literacy Council is a non-profit organization that provides free tutoring to adults and youths in the community who need to improve basic literacy, master English as a second language, study for the GED, or prepare to take the citizenship exam. For more information on enrolling as a student or becoming a tutor, go to the website at www.rcliteracy.org or call 704-216-8266.
