All staff members, including the three Merriam-Webster word judges, lined up behind John D. Williams, Executive Director of the National SCRABBLE^® Association. We were fetching in our purple L.L. Bean pullovers. John welcomed the students and thanked them for contributing to making history. He said, "Of the more than 200 tournaments a year and of the thousands that have taken place in the past, this is the first tournament of its kind and I we thank you for your contributions to history and to SCRABBLE^®. This is an exciting day."

Mr. Williams then introduced Mark Morris, Public Relations Director of Games for Hasbro. Mr. Williams discussed how pleased Hasbro was with the popularity of the event and he went on to make an annoucement for Springfield Mayor, Michael J. Albano. He read:

A Proclamation:

Whereas, SCRABBLE^® has been one of our nation's favorite board games for decades and generations of American families have grown up with it; and
Whereas, SCRABBLE^® is manufactured here by the Milton Bradley company, a division of Hasbro; and
Whereas, the first ever Massachusetts School SCRABBLE^® Championship will be hosted at the Springfield Civic Center, bringing 100 students from schools across the Commonwealth to our city and students will participate from our own Brookings, Chestnut, Forest Park, Rebecca Johnson, Kennedy, Kiley, and Sabis International Schools; and
Whereas, the National SCRABBLE^® Association, the governing body for 10,000 SCRABBLE^® game enthusiasts in the United States and Canada is proud to invite 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to compete in this five-round tournament.
Therefore, I Michael J. Albano, Mayor of the City of Springfield do hereby proclaim November 14, 1998, as "Massachusetts School Championship SCRABBLE^® Day" in the city of Springfield, and I urge all our citizens to join with me in welcoming the competitors and this event to our community and invite you back to host the future National School SCRABBLE^® Championship.

signed,
Mayor Michael J. Albano.