Passages

by Erica Moore, Editor

BIRTHS

Emily Bloom and Daddy

Emily Rose Bloom

Benjamin Bloom welcomed daughter Emily Rose Bloom on 7/8/9 at 2:31 p.m. Mother and daughter are doing well. Additional photos can be found on Ben’s Facebook page.

MARRIAGES

Jeremy Cahnmann with Cecilia Le and John O’Laughlin

Cecilia Le and John O’Laughlin

Cecilia Le and John O'Laughlin were married July 11, 2009 at the home of Seth Lipkin in Hopkinton, MA. Jeremy Cahnmann came from Chicago to officiate at the ceremony. John and Cecilia were honored to have many of the NASPA community share in their celebration. Cecilia has won their first three games of married SCRABBLE. To see the wedding album, visit the following link: http://www.facebook.com.

DEATHS

Juanita Scott Washington

Juanita Scott Washington, 62, of Yazoo City, Mississippi, died Saturday, June 27, 2009 at Baptist Hospital in Jackson. Visitation was held the following Wednesday at Beulah Land Baptist Church. The funeral followed on Thursday at Yazoo City High School.

Nita, as she was known, was born Sept. 14, 1946 to Herbert and Virginia Scott. She graduated second in her class from Yazoo City Training School and earned a B.S. in English from Jackson State University. She earned a Master's Degree in Education at San Diego State University in 1999.

Nita worked as an English teacher in the Yazoo City and Yazoo County schools and in San Diego. She served as an administrator during the last 13 years of her career, where she worked as director of special education for Yazoo County Schools. She was a lifelong member of Beulah Land Baptist Church, where she served as church musician and Sunday School teacher. She also held memberships in the Yazoo Hometowners Club, the Yazoo County Fair and Civic League, the Yazoo City Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and the League Management Team. She was also director of the Mississippi SCRABBLE Club # 427.

Nita was a great SCRABBLE director and a good friend. She played in many tournaments and had numerous victories, the last being at the Jonesboro, Arkansas Tournament in May, 2008, where she won Division 1. In 2002 she placed 10th out of 126 players at the San Diego Nationals, reaching her peak rating of 1463.

Survivors include her son, Joffre Antoine Washington; parents, Herbert and Virginia Scott; sisters, Mary Scott Knoll and Brenda Scott Smith; brother, Herbert A. (Mary) Scott Jr.; and a host of other friends and relatives.

Al DeMers and Vicky DeMers

Dr. Albert DeMers and Vicky DeMers

Readers have asked for a tribute to Al DeMers, who passed away October 20, 2008, two days after his wife, Vicky. Both had been in a tragic automobile accident in California, their second home.

Born in French Canada, Al married Vicky in the late 1940s. The couple moved to California, where Al attended UCLA and USC and earned his Doctor of Optometry degree with Honors. Vicky supported Al while he was at school, also caring for their first child, a daughter.

After Al graduated, they moved to Sparks, Nevada, where they set up a much-needed optometry practice. Vicky manned the front desk and greeted new patients while Al used his high level of expertise to serve all patients and their needs—a truly dedicated physician.

The DeMers couple’s warm and caring personalities led them to community involvement and public service. Al was elected to the Sparks City Council in the 1960s, where he championed the causes of the Democratic Party and the working people’s needs. He was a member of the Democratic Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Nevada State Hospital, Director of Parks and Recreation, member of the Washoe Planning Commission, President of the Sparks Chamber of Commerce, Director of the Animal Welfare League, President of the Nevada Association for Mentally Retarded Children, Chairman of the Sparks Music Festival, a Toastmaster, a lifelong Rotarian, and a member of many Nevada State Legislative committees. He was also the organizer of the first SCRABBLE tournament, held in Reno in the late 1950s—and the winner of many more.

Vicky served on the boards of many of the above organizations and was repeatedly voted “Sparks Mother of the Year.” She would single-handedly host parties for Democratic fundraisers—and also the SCRABBLE clubs Al loved.

The DeMers shared their time between Nevada and Southern California. They were avid world travelers, sports enthusiasts, bibliophiles, art aficionados, and gourmands.

They also were involved in real estate development, and developed many properties including the Pyramid Funeral Home in Sparks, private residences, a child daycare center, and many apartment complexes. Their business motto was “A Good Place to Live.”

Al and Vicky were happily married for 61 years and raised their four children in Sparks. Their legacy continues to this day through The DeMers Family Vision Group in Sparks, now run by Dr. Scott DeMers, their grandson, and Dr. Leslie DeMers, his wife.

On cgp, Mike Baron shared this memory, noting that “Al DeMers, whose full name anagrams to EMERALDS, was a gem of a man. Our game’s first tourney organizer, our game’s first tourney winner, and, more importantly, a first-rate person.”

Al and I were paired to play one another. Now recall, this was 1981, in the pre-smooth-Protiles era. With his signature glasses slid down his nose, looking at me above the tops of his glasses (why is it that an eminent optometrist would resort to such :), but I digress), in his inimitable European accent (now I learn French Canadian), Al says to me: "Michael, I want you to know I teach Braille to the blind. And, if I wanted to, I could reach into the bag and feel the tiles. But I won't do that." That was reassurance!? I wished he said *nothing*, as during those initial turns I'm watching his hand go into the bag each time, and wondering if it's staying a nanosecond too long. :) Al was an honest and decent man, a caring man who did not simply make idle chatter, but who was honestly interested in what you had to say. I got to meet Vicky at subsequent Grand Canyon events and other tournaments, and my fondest memory of the two of them together is seeing them return, arm-in-arm, from a walk down the Canyon. They knew how to live life to its fullest.

Paul McCarthy wrote about Al’s influence on tournament SCRABBLE in his book Letterati (ECW Press, Toronto, 2008) in his chapter “Let the Competition Begin: Early Tournaments”:

Probably the first [tournament] was held in Reno, Nevada, in 1958 or 1959. Al DeMers, the man who organized it, isn't quite sure. He was president of the Reno Chamber of Commerce at the time, and was able to get a number of businesses involved--for example, various casinos contributed liquor and prizes. Scrabble was very popular among intellectuals in the 1950s, so DeMers advertised at universities throughout California and had a turnout of close to 500 for his event, held at Harold's Club. There was a smattering of students, along with a large contingent of faculty, says DeMers. The entry fee was two dollars. It was an elimination format, which meant one loss and you went home. DeMers doesn't recall how many games were played, but it must have been seven or eight, to eventually arrive at the last man standing. That man was DeMers, who won a free weekend a month at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe--a year's worth. The second place finisher received $500. 'We didn't know what we were doing,' says DeMers, ‘but it worked.' He didn't do it again, though. 'It was too much trouble….'

Erica Moore is a graphic designer in Chigago, IL. When she’s not working or playing SCRABBLE, she’s a knitting fiend!