SCRABBLE - The Last Word Newsletter

T O U R N A M E N T N E W S : C A L I F O R N I A O P E NSecond Annual California Openby Bennett JacobsteinThe Second Annual California Open was held in San Francisco on a beautiful, sunny Halloweenweekend. Participants came from 23 U.S. states, 1 Canadian province, and Israel. Wisconsin’sPeter Armstrong came in first, joining Oregon’s Dave Wiegand (winner of the First California Open2008).Continuing the tradition started at the First CaliforniaOpen, the first, second, and third place finishers and thefirst, second, and third place performance finishers weregiven medals and serenaded with the California statesong, I Love You, California.The Sheraton on Fisherman’s Wharf offeredan ideal welcome to San Francisco.Joining Peter Armstrong on the winners’ podium wereChris Cree of Texas (2nd), Joel Sherman of New York(3rd), Wesley Eddings of Texas (1st, Performance),Paula Catanese of California (2nd, Performance), andJim Burlant of Arizona (3rd, Performance).The tournament was held at the Sheraton located right onSan Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. Many attendeesenjoyed a traditional seafood dinner at Cioppino’sRestaurant on the Wharf and a post-tournament dim sumluncheon.Saturday night featured casual SCRABBLE® play mixedin with a murder mystery. Who would have believed thatmild-mannered Pat Diener would be the “killer” and thatJesse Wornum could be a “secret Chippendales dancer.”Miraculously, after being “murdered” on Saturday night,John Karris reemerged to go 3-1 on Sunday!Christiane Tran, Mike Frentz, John Wiley, andAndrea Michaels dressed in Halloween garb.Sunday morning once again featured 10-minute massages, helping to relax everyone for the finalfour games. Although not yet set, we are hoping to have next year’s California Open back in SanFrancisco.Special thanks to co-directors John Aitken and Ruth Hamilton.14