Word war 8

Literacy Council funds learning with letter tiles

The Literacy Council of Benton County started an uproar when war broke out in the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel in Bentonville last Saturday night. Some 150 wordsmiths broke into groups of 10 and competed in a board game some said causes the sabres to rattle.

Each team was allotted 40 minutes to use letter tiles from an unopened Scrabble game with the goal of scoring as many high-point words on the square board as possible. Cunning teams made good use of "triple word" boxes and complicated seven-letter words. The champions won by more than 20,000 points.

Fast Facts

Scrabble Wars

When: Jan. 24

Where: DoubleTree Suites By Hilton Hotel in Bentonville

Money raised: $24,000

Information: goliteracy.org

But they didn't necessarily fight fairly.

The Dubious Champions was a team sponsored by the Walmart Museum. The group proudly cheated, bribed and stole its way to 38,000 points, using dictionaries, smartphones and cold, hard cash to get the highest score possible.

The Traditional Champions, who used only their brains and word skills to rack up the points, were The Squares, sponsored by Martha Walsh, vice president of the Literacy Council of Benton County Board. The team came in at an impressive 2,872 points.

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette lost hard at just over 600.

Other participating sponsors included the Arkansas Music Pavilion, NorthWest Arkansas Community College, DoubleTree Suites and Daybreak Rotary.

The eighth annual Scrabble Wars, presented by the Literacy Council of Benton County, raised more than $24,000 Jan. 24, said Kathie Chambers, assistant director for the nonprofit organization.

"Literacy changes lives," she said. "Funds will be used to teach local adults needing help with reading, writing and speaking the English language."

The lively event also featured a silent auction that the Executive Director Vicki Roland described as "full of good deals and steals and bargains to be had." Household items, such as a toaster oven, over-the-toilet shelf and heated blankets, sold for around $30 while larger ticket items, such as high-end beauty products and hotel stays, ran in the hundreds.

A live auction followed the close of the silent auction. Items sold included a travel package to Downstream Casino Resort, an autographed first edition copy of "Climbing the Mountain" by Kirk Douglas and the Nickelodeon suite at the Naturals Arvest Ballpark for a game this season.

The event received more than $20,000 worth of donated goods, including local restaurants and books that "authors autographed and sent to us to help LCBC improve literacy in our community," Chambers said.

When not playing or bidding, warriors noshed on a dinner provided by the hotel. An All-America buffet of pulled pork and chicken pesto sandwiches, DoubleTree's homemade potato chips and a salad bar including fruit salad and pasta salad, prepared participants for battle, she said.

Two Scrabble-themed cakes, one strawberry and one vanilla, satisfied the sweet tooth of each participant.

The names of the champions were added to the hall of fame trophy that stays the halls of the Literacy Council, Ronald said.

Allison Carter can be reached by email at a [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAAllison.

NAN Profiles on 02/01/2015

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