Word warriors

Morgan Cadene loves word games.

He can’t get enough of them. He first played Scrabble and other word games with his family when he was a kid. He would spend hours playing his parents, who were both capable Scrabble players in their own right.

"We all love word games," Cadene said. "I’ve been playing them since I was a kid. I just love words."

Cadene, 41, participated again at the 13th annual Scrabble Magic Tournament in support of the Thunder Bay Literacy Group at Intercity Shopping Centre on Saturday.

Cadene’s father passed away a few years ago so he wanted to carry on the tradition of playing Scrabble and felt the tournament was a good place to do it as well as helping a good cause, he said.

He said there was some good competition at the tournament this year with one of his most formidable foes being a language teacher. But when he gets the chance he either plays an X, worth eight points, or lays down his favourite word "bingo".

"There are so many ways you can make a two-letter word with X," he said. "When you squeeze in a word that’s really unusual, that’s probably the best thing about the game."

Cadene’s mother, Beverley, 66, also participated in the tournament. She said she saw playing the game as a family activity and looked forward to the tournament each year. One of her life long goals is to beat her son at the tournament but so far, she hasn’t been able to, she said.
Beverley said she plays word games not just for the fun and for her health as well.

"I think it keeps Alzheimer’s at bay,’ Beverly said. "That’s not the reason I enjoy it. I just really enjoy the challenge. I’ve always loved word games."

Beverley didn’t have a favourite word to use like her son but added that any word that was seven-letters long was a good word to her.

Catherine Powell, volunteer and event coordinator with the Thunder Bay Literacy Group, said the tournament raised more than $9,000 last year and hoped for the same amount this year. She said it was an event for people to have fun and help support adult literacy. About 70 participants played in the one-day tournament.

Thunder Bay Literacy Group, through the Adult Learning Centre, provides free classes for adults, who want to learn how to read, write and work a computer, she said.

"People are so generous," Powell said Saturday morning. "We’ve made a lot of money already today and I expect it will be over the $8,000 mark by the end the afternoon."