RAKING WITH FIRE
Before I came to the Club, I played Scrabble with an open dictionary, and games took two hours or more. It was at my first tourney in Israel that I discovered what ‘real’ Scrabble could be like, and I was there for the Club’s opening session at the Windmill Hotel, where my first score was 258. My first-ever bingo was ENFILADE (or raking with fire). Since then, Scrabble has become one of my raisons d’être. I love it, and as soon as word-lists become available, I avidly learn them. I remember learning the four-letter words on bus rides. I even learned the meanings of all the words, though I don’t remember all those meanings today! I came to the Club all through the Gulf War, and I remember a bizarre scenario of us Scrabble players in our gas masks, with those of us who wore glasses perching them on top of the masks!
CHAIRMANSHIP
Our first Club venue was the Windmill Hotel. The chairs we used weren’t meant for board games and, if you leaned forward, you toppled over. Every week, Sam would remind us to beware of the dangerous chairs. Only Janette [Waisbrod] and I knew that these chairs were manufactured in our own furniture factory [on Kibbutz Tzora]! Neither of us ever said a word about it until today. Now I think I can reveal this well-kept secret!!