The October Fundraiser on Sunday 14^th attracted 39 players.  There were only two sections which allowed the higher Advanced players a shot at the Masters. The results showed that the only Advanced player to finish higher than expectation was Jeanette Hansen whose pre-tournament rating of 1088 had put her as the last entrant in the section. She finished 12^th in the field of 20. Her rating rise of 30 was the highest in Section A.

Anne Drew recorded a return to form after a few disastrous tournaments, 6 wins out of 7 and a rating gain of 23. Anne’s cooking skills were also on show with savoury pinwheels, honey slice and cookies being enjoyed by many. Her Queen of Marmalade and strawberry jam also graced the snack table. Thank you, Anne.

In Section B, Wendy Batt managed a clean sweep, a rise of 92 points, and a four figure rating, 1016, for the first time. Svend Grunnet was also a fast finisher. Bernice Jonathan started in 12^th spot and rose to 4^th. John Kereszteny took out both High Word with 140 points for SOARINGS and High Game of 560.

Visitor from India, Carolann Pais, showed her form in her 7^th placing. Carol has enjoyed a two month visit with her son, Jose, who has lived in Brisbane for more than a year. Carol and her husband, Eustace, return to Mumbai at the end of the month. She has enjoyed visits to the Great Barrier Reef, Sunshine Coast and its attractions, Gold Coast, and my friend’s cattle property near Gayndah. The one dark cloud on her horizon has been the hospitalisation of her 6-month old granddaughter, Janelle, with a serious illness. The baby is recovering well but the family has been extremely concerned. We wish Carol and Eustace a safe return to India.

At lunch time we had a visit from Michael and Rowena Vnuk with their son, Lachlan. They are returning to South Australia where both their families live so that Lachlan can begin school without having a change in systems to upset his progress. Our loss is South Australia’s gain. Michael has been an essential part of Scrabble Queensland, keeping records of achievements, and tracking results to award our special prizes each year. Rowena has kept a scrapbook record of Scrabble around the state, the nation and the world. Their contribution to Scrabble Queensland will be missed. Michael originated the statement: “Please don’t rattle the tiles”. As a fond farewell to the family, all players were asked to charge their bags and rattle the tiles. They did this with much merriment. We hope that South Australia will rattle tiles with the Vnuks for many years to come.

I was lucky to win the door prize of a money tree. The Scratchits netted me a grand total of $7. I was hoping for more so that I could attend iGate in January next year, but it’ll have to wait. With funds of $500 to our coffers, we are beginning our collection towards Nationals 2013.

Olga