Members of the Hampton Bays Middle School Scrabble Club held a “Scrabble FunRaiser” at the middle school in order to raise money for a trip to the 2012 National Scrabble Championship in Florida later this year.

According to Scrabble Club advisor Kathy Hummel, approximately $500 was raised at the event. That money will go towards airfare for Scrabble Club members to fly to Orlando, Florida for the championship matches at the Royal Pacific Resort in August.

Lisa Watson and Nancy Esposito, as Team Zapbar, won the tournament on Friday night. Second-place honors went to Lucas Kraus and Giancarlos Ruiz, and the third-place team was made up of Michelle Vega and Brian Intermaggio.  

Others who participated in the Scrabble FunRaiser included former National Scrabble Championship players Vincent Primavera and Alexander Papajohn. Mr.  Intermaggio and Mr. Kraus have also competed in the Scrabble Nationals.

Scrabble Club participants on Friday night included: Riley Kangas, Todd Anderson, Vanessa Farrell, Jake Fotopoulos, Daniel Dimijian, Olivia Dimijian and Ava Bianchi. Other student players present were Willie Kraus, Lilly Griffin, Dommy Pensa and Kaitlyn Hummel. (alphabetize by last name)

Support for the Scrabble FunRaiser was courtesy of Dunkirk’s, Katrinka’s Deli, Classic Beverage, Panera Bread, the Southampton Kiwanis Club, Hampton Bays Chamber of Commerce, Hampton Bays Fire Department, Christine Flynn and chef Ellen Greaves, who made a special chicken alphabet soup for the occasion.