Gladys Wilson just arrived back from Quebec City, where she won a gold medal in Scrabble at the Canada 55+ Games Quebec 2024.
Wilson left for Quebec on Aug. 26 and opening ceremonies was the 27th, with the Games taking place until Aug. 30.
Wilson said it felt, “pretty darn nice,” to win the gold medal.
“My first gold (in the Canada 55+ Games). I've been to five Canada Games.”
She's travelled to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Kamloops and St. Albert to compete in the game of Scrabble. And she's been playing in the 55+ since she was 55. She is now 86 years old.
Wilson, who is originally from Tisdale, Saskatchewan has taken part in the game of Scrabble since about her early twenties. She used to play with friends and family for hours.
“This lady and I, our husbands were on the afternoon shift, so they'd leave at 2:30 p.m. to go to work, and we both each had a daughter and a son, and we would play Scrabble until dark,” she said with a laugh.
When she was living in B.C. from 1957 to 1995, she also took part in the Games.
And it's not just the one gold medal Wilson has won. She's won eight gold medals, six silver and two bronze. She won the silver in the Nova Scotia Games, the bronze in New Brunswick and a silver in the Games in Kamloops.
Wilson won her other medals in various Games in the province level.
“You have to win in the province before you can go to the Canada Games,” said Wilson, adding that it took her many years to qualify for the provincial games.
There are eight zones in Calgary and she had to win in her zone before she got to go to the provincials.
Wilson said that eventually, there wasn't anyone in the province in the zone that wanted to play her, so she automatically got to travel to the provincials.
“That's been going on for the past 10 to 15 years. There's just nobody who has wanted to compete in Scrabble in the zones, in my zone.”
At Wilson's most recent competition, there were only five others who played against her in all of Canada.
“There was I think six people who competed at the provincials and there was six in Canada,” she said.
Wilson said it was quite a challenge for her to travel to the Games, as she had her leg amputated years ago, but credits her son Randy Conti for getting her there.
Her favourite part about Scrabble is trying to find the best spot on the board and making the most of the spots available.
“I don't spend too much time thinking of a word in my hand. I look at the board and see where the best place to play is and then I fit my letters accordingly.”
When it comes to the game, Wilson said if you put a high-count word on a triple and then work it both ways, you end up making a lot of points.
“I'm not very good at making bingos, that means getting rid of all your letters, but I manage to catch up when they make bingos."
The next Games will take place in two years in Winnipeg.
“I'm certainly going to try and get to that but who knows? I'm already 86, but we'll see.”
