Dans Hamptons

A strange, almost ugly-looking word, I used to think, and one I still have trouble spelling. Poughkeepsie. Way back, when I was 10 or so, my father used to drive us – my mother, younger brother and me – to the Adirondacks for a couple of weeks every summer. No New York State Thruway, no chain restaurants. Not even a radio in our car.

So my brother and I played word games. When we had a contest for unusual or ugly words, the word we saw on road signs, Poughkeepsie, usually won out. We lived in Flushing, which never seemed a particularly pretty word, either. But at least the two school kids in the back of the car could spell it. F-L-U-S-H-I-N-G.

I still like words. And I can spell Greenport. So that’s where I headed a few days ago when I heard Congregation Tifereth Israel was hosting a Scrabble Family Festival at the synagogue – a first for them. Me, too.

Festival afternoon in Greenport was winter-bleak and chilly. Lots of fog. But the Festival folks managed to dispel every bit of chill, every bit of fog. I walked into a bright, comfortable room filled with more than 20 tables, four chairs per table. Every table was set up with a Scrabble board waiting for the action to begin.

And yes, there was a table filled with food. I’ll tell you about that first. Coffee, soft drinks, fresh fruit, cheese, cookies, pretzels. Food for thought, I guess.

Then I checked out another long table. It was covered with prizes – dictionaries, Scrabble games, Scrabble sweatshirts, Scrabble tote bags, Scrabble salt and pepper shakers, Scrabble mugs. Did I leave anything out? I want you to know all these prizes were donated by John Williams Jr. and his wife Jane Ratsey Williams. John is Executive Director of the National Scrabble Association and Jane is Director of Operations of that organization. The NSA headquarters is in Greenport. Yes, our Greenport.

Let the games begin. Adrianne Greenberg, chairperson of the program committee at Tifereth Israel, introduced Rabbi Jackie Wexler who welcomed us all. Adrianne thanked Gayle Kaplan, co-chair, and then introduced John, the prize guy.

But John didn’t talk about prizes. Instead, he spoke of hundreds of Scrabble tournaments each year and the 20,000 schools using Scrabble programs to help kids spell, write, read.

And John gave some tips for playing Scrabble. For example, the ‘s’ and the blank tiles are the two most valuable tiles in the game. Use them wisely. And play offensively, John said.

Scrabble players in Greenport on this day were as diverse as the words appearing on their boards. At one table sat Ivy Berchuck, with her daughter Jennifer Berg, who has a home in Greenport. Ivy’s grandchildren were ready to play. It was ten-year-old William’s first Scrabble adventure but Elizabeth, 12, had played before.

At another table sat Kathleen Walas of Greenport with friend Alex Garcia from Wilton, Connecticut and Tom Sarakatsannis of New York City. Tom said they were “all pretty slow – but clever.”

And over there was the youngest player. Little Elliot Leinweber, age four, Scrabbled with his mom Rachel and his grandma Donna Rubens of East Marion. Now I’m not suggesting Elliot was the best player in the room, but he knows his alphabet, he does. And he can count. So take note, John Williams Jr. We may have a Scrabble champ on our local hands. If that’s the case, Elliot can head over to Southold or Greenport library. Regularly scheduled Scrabble games are played in both places and I bet they’d love to have Elliot join them.

I want you to know I learned a new word too. Hamantashen. Thanks to Phil Goldman, past-president of the synagogue. Phil, who’s also active in Community Action Southold Town (CAST) and the Southold Tree Committee, was working at the Scrabble festival along with his pal, Dr. Micah Kaplan. When our conversation turned to food (it always does), Phil mentioned that he makes 400 hamantashen for the Feast of Purim each spring. Turns out hamantashen is the very same Mohn cake my German-Czech grandma always made. Only my brother and I, way back then, thought it was Moan cake. Another funny word to a couple of silly kids.

Funny words, sad words, big words, little words. Words shape us, as we fashion them. And if you were with me at the Scrabble Family Festival, you’d understand why I want to put in a very good word for Greenport’s Congregation Tifereth Israel.