- Title: Newswink
- Issue: 2 (volume 2, number 1)
- Date: April 1970
- Format: black and white, 8.5″ x 11″, 1 and 3 columns mixed
- Pages: 8
NEWSWINK
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN TIDDLYWINKS ASSOCIATION
________________________________________________________________________________
Vol. II No. 1 · April, 1970
MITCHELL WAND RE-ELECTED
AS SECRETARY-GENERAL OF NATwA
The North American Tiddlywinks Association Congress was held on February 15th at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Mitchell Wand, the “hard-driving intense field general of MIT” was re-elected for the third consecutive year to the post of Secretary-General. After the ballots had been tabulated, supporters at the Noyes Centre ecstatically screamed for their leader to comment.
Hand [sic, should be Wand] hushed the audience with a wave of his wand and muttered, “Let’s get on with business.”
The Proposed Policy on Regionalisation and Organisation of Competition, as initiated by Wand and Severin Drix of Cornell earlier in the year, was passed after certain members had managed to waste precious time by forcing trivial issues. One was the official abbreviation for the North American Tiddlywinks Association (the abbr. NATwA was accepted after much heated debate) and the order in which winks should be played (blue, green [,] red, yellow, unless the players agree otherwise.)
The Secretary-General conducted the meeting in his usual informed, authoritative manner.
EDITORIAL
This year I am pleased to welcome Andy Tomaszewski to the editorial staff. His boundless enthusiasm for NATwA and almost daily presence around the editorial office has earned him the long-awaited and well-deserved promotion from Chief Pencil Sharpener to Assistant Editor. His journalistic talents shine throughout this issue, particularly in the Classified Ads and on the Sports pages, and culminate in the masterly editing of my editorial.
In the world of Winks, the greatest advance during the past year has been the interest generated in the re-organisation of NATwA as a whole. Early in the fall, Severin Drix of Cornell instigated the idea of regionalisation and formulated ideas for playoffs in the unlikely event of the sudden appearance of sixty-three teams in NATwA, all wishing to compete at the Washington’s Birthday gathering.
Also during the fall, some thought was given to the non-existence of any form of executive in NATwA. The Secretary-General was all-powerful and temporarily lost on the west coast, completely remote from Winks which so far has not penetrated any further west than Cleveland.
With all these thoughts in mind, and after some opposition from the MIT camp, a meeting took place between the Cornell, Harpur, and Carleton teams and a tri-partite agreement supporting regionalisation and re-organisation was drawn up and submitted to the Secretary-General. Everything was finalised and agreed upon at the Congress. We have decided to condense most of these policy changes for publication in NEWSWINK. Likewise we have condensed the tournament results. THis information has already been circulated to team captains and if further details are required they may be obtained from Mitchell Wand.
We are contemplating presenting a trophy to NATwA to be known hereafter as the Yvonne F. Lukey Memorial Trophy. This will be awarded annually for the most improbably shot in the Continentals. Andy and I feel that the 1970 award should go to Mel Solomon [sic] of Toronto for performing a shot which since then has been referred to in Canada as the mythical “Mel Reversal Shot”. In rounds, when he desquopped a pile in which Carleton had had complete control, Mel, playing green, emerged with two free greens, and three other green winks squopping several of the Carleton winks. Toronto then went on to win the game 4-3. This is one of the most amazing shots we have ever seen, and wish that the trophy had been available at the Continentals for presentation to Mel.
The other news from Canada was the wild rumor that shot through Carleton in late January. We heard that the team once captained by Ronald Rumm was still alive and well, and living in Waterloo. After several phone calls, Ronald was located but our hopes were shattered when we discovered that it was in fact a mere rumor. It seems that there are still a few of the infamous 1967 Waterloo Winkers running around the campus, but their club—and grant—are no more.
FInally, I should like to point out that winkers have a tendency to hibernate during the summer months so please make sure that when you re-emerge in the fall, the Secretary-General has your correct mailing address. We have made great advances this year and cannot afford to spend the first half of next year hunting out dormant teams. The next issue of NEWSWINK will be published in the early fall giving, we hope, the new address list, reports of the matches to be played this May, and the pairs tournament, together with ideas for next year’s Continentals.
Rosie Wain
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Rosie,
I am being transferred by my company to South Africa fairly soon and thought I would give you some details of the early days of Tiddlywinks in Canada before I left.
I came to Waterloo in the fall of 1965 and with two other Waterloo students, John Douglas and Mark Taylor, founded the University of Waterloo Tiddlywinks Club. Waterloo Lutheran University formed a club shortly afterwards but during 1965-66 the two Waterloo clubs were the only active ones in Canada. We did get a letter from some people from the University of Saskatchewan who had a somewhat inactive club—I do not know how it started of what became of it. The two Waterloo teams traveled to Boston in February of 1966 for what was probably the first North American Tiddlywinks Championship. University of Waterloo won after an easy game against Harvard and a not-so-easy game against Harvard Medical School (led by Michael Crick). A more detailed account of the games appears in WINKING WORLD for March, 1966.
The sponsorship from the manufacturers of Cheerios, discussed in that issue, never materialised (like many other sponsorships).
There was also a club at Pittsburgh when I was at Waterloo, but we were never able to play them.
These are just sketchy notes and thoughts but I hope they are of some interest.
Yours sincerely,
Charles C. McLeod
Toronto.
* * *
Dear Rosie,
After reading Samson’s “proposal”, I find it not only impractical, but, the way he has it, impossible. If you examine it, you will find that it is not a complete round robin in as much as B and C never play E, F and G. Also, it is very inefficient: E, F and G meet each other in both the second and third matches. I played around this afternoon with all the different permutations of the problem and have found that the only efficient, non-repetitive system is having all seven teams together at once, which is right
where we started.
I feel that, at this time, we should continue to operate as we have in the past, i.e. with everyone together. My reasons for this are the following:
- As of yet, we haven’t grown that much from last year.
- The need for a more complex system is still at least a year or two off.
- With the exception of MIT, the NATwA is not organised enough to run such a system.
Now, about the championships.
I have assumed, that, as in the past, the defending champions were responsible for the next year’s contest. I have prepared my own timetable, (which basically follows Mitch’s from last year) and I’m working on it now. Since MIT is the place where new teams are writing to, etc. I would prefer that the championships be run from here rather than somewhere else. I’ll be sending out the registration forms, etc. in a month or so as soon as I take care of some new teams and find out which old teams exist.
I feel the the “granddaddy of family trees” method used last year will be adequate again this year as about the same number of teams will be participating. Also, with everyone together, I believe that it will strengthen the new teams and, for that matter, the NATwA.
Added reflection. Although the tournament system used last year was not perfect, I feel that the solidarity and spirit outweighed whatever defects it had.
Tim Schiller
Cambridge, Mass.
October, 1969
SPORTS
SOMERVILLE WINS
THE 1970 NORTH AMERICAN TIDDLYWINKS CHAMPIONSHIP
The 1970 “Continentals” were held at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York the weekend of February 14-15. Participating teams were:
EASTERN DIVISION
SOMERVILLE: P. Villar, J. Wieselthier, Ferdinand T. Bull ?, Bob Henninge, Charlie and Ralph.
M I T: M. Wand, T. Schiller, J. Shadix, J. Marlin, J. Petree, and M. Schwartz.
SUNSHINE: Sunshine, G. Lavelle, R. Hussong, D. Solomon, P. Nestor, and Shana Bricklin.
WESTERN DIVISION
TORONTO: B. Alexandroff, L. Horenblas, M. Solomon, M. Cohen, P. Milgram, and B. Corbin.
CORNELL: S. Drix, Fitz Nowogrodski, S. Freund, M. Vine, A. Friedman, N. Gusowski, L. Cousins, D. Barbana [sic, should be Barbano], and M. P. Rouse.
CARLETON: J. Davies, A. Alden, R. Wain, A. Tomaszewski, C. Boast, and L. Boast.
CASE: Cruze, Jennings, Henninge, Long, and Lewianski.
“B” DIVISION
CORNELL B: Lloyd, Diego, Mark, Cohen, Vido, John B., Irving, Howie, Phil, and Debbie.
M I T B: Renke, Haines, Zachary, Bricklin, and Christ.
REGIS: R. Earls [sic, should be Earles], R. Gaffney, Kathy, Cheryl, Leslie, Marilyn, and Max.
EAST WEST
TOTALS TOTALS
MIT 43½ / 31½ / 75 TORONTO 20 / 25½ / 40 / 85½
/ 19½ / 31½ / 43 / 37½ / 23
SUNSHINE 16 / 37½ [note 1] CORNELL 42 / 47½ / 107 [note 4]
/ 47 / 21 / 15½
SOMERVILLE 78½ CARLETON 37 / 95½
/ 26
CASE WESTERN RESERVE 64½
"B"
CORNELL B 37½ / 46 / 78½ [note 2]
/ 30½ / 17 SOMERVILLE 43
M I T B 47½ / 78 [note 3] FINAL:
/ 15½ CORNELL 20
REGIS 32½
- Note 1. 37½ is incorrect; it should be 35½.
- Note 2. 78½ is incorrect; it should be 83½.
- Note 3. 78 is incorrect; it should be 77½.
- Note 4. 107 is incorrect; it should be 132½.
* HARPUR – CORNELL *
In an attempt to initiate regionalisation, a match was arranged between Cornell and Harpur last November. A large convoy of Volkswagens took the Cornell team and three onlookers from the Carleton team on the cross-country trundle to Binghamton, and after a rather boring political meeting, the match got underway.
The Cornell team was somewhat jinxed this weekend. One of their star players, Aaron Friedman, was unable to participate due to a sprained squidging thumb, and Severin Drix, the Cornell captain, was playing with a broken leg. However, despite these handicaps, Cornell managed to pull through by a three point margin. Final score: 57½ – 54½.
* THE CONTINENTALS *
The 1970 Winx Jinx became even more apparent during this weekend. Severin Drix had broken his leg for the second time and the starts certainly did not favor travel from Cornell to the Boston area. Three cars were written off by the MIT and Somerville groups and Phil Villar, travelling alone back to Hartford, had an uncontrollable sneezing fit and was promptly squopped by a truck.
Seven teams competed in the “A” league and three teams participated in the “B” league. After much discussion, hot air, and table thumping, the “A” league was divided into an Eastern and a Western division. THe results have been tabulated on the preceding page and, as was to be expected, there were some tense and exciting games.
Hearty congratulations to Somerville for a well-played tournament.
Honorable mention to Wand and Schiller of MIT; the pair won every game they played at the Continentals.
* CORNELL – CARLETON *
On March 14th, Cornell fielded a team to play a match against Carleton University in Ottawa. The Cornell group consisted of Lee Cousins, Naomi Gusowski, Pat Rouse, Fred Hesser, Phil Cohen, and Tom Matheny. (Incidentally, Tom found he liked Canada so much, he decided to stay in Ottawa.) Severin Drix was unable to appear as Friday (travelling day) was the thirteenth, and his horoscope foretold disaster on March 15th, which was the Ides of March in any case.
Carleton came out on top 39½ – 23½. Some interesting games were played in spite of the fact that members of both teams seemed to be troubled by hangovers from the night before. Except for Phil Cohen, who drinks milk.
MIT B lost at the Continentals even though they had Christ on their side.
* MIT – SOMERVILLE – REGIS *
Mitch Wand – reporter
MIT – Somerville – Regis match took place on March 14th. M I T played without me. Somerville played – Phil and Jeff plus two former MIT players who hadn’t played since before Waterloo (Ed. note – Battle of ?) [.] The match wound up with MIT and Somerville in a dead tie for first [,] something like 132½ – 132½. Apparently MIT lost to Somerville by about three points, but beat Regis by three points more than Somerville did.
COMING EVENTS
Mitch Wand has just wired information to the effect that there will be a match between Cornell, Hartford, Harpur, and MIT on April 18-19 [note: 18-19 crossed out and 25-26 written in by hand], at MIT.
* PAIRS TOURNAMENT *
News flash from Severin Drix
On the first weekend in May (that’s May 2-3) there will be a pairs tournament at Cornell. That is, various pairs of players will compete for “Top Pair in NATwA”, second best, third, etc. There will also be other games, as the whim hits us then, such as perhaps an attempt to discover who the single best winker in NATwA is, or an East-West (or North-South, or Canada-America) All-Star match, etc. Perhaps a NATwA All-Star team will be selected. The basic attempt is to get together about 20-30 of the top winkers in NATwA, and just have a gas playing in whatever interesting setup appeals most. Also, since 20 or 30 is a more congenial number than 70, we hope to continue and deepen that beautiful sense of community that pervaded the Continentals, and get to know each other more on a personal basis. Nobody will be forbidden to come because he’s not good enough, but if you {\underline are} good, and don’t come I will get pissed. If you come with your regular partner, that’s the best. But the two best players (or any other two) from a team who might not usually be paired for the sake of balance among the team’s pairs, may come as a pair. Or, if you wish, you may come with a partner who is on another team entirely. Individuals who would like to attend but don’t know who to pair with, should definitely come—you can pick a partner once you get here. Every team should send at least one or two players. Anyone wishing to attend should write me and let me know, or call me—up to Monday,
April 27th, so I can arrange things. Bring sleeping bags, as only floor space is available.
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
MINUTES OF 1970 CONGRESS OF NATwA
These Minutes were submitted and signed by Mitchell Wand, Secretary-General of NATwA.
The Congress was called to order by Secretary Mitchell Wand at 4:00pm, Saturday, February 14, 1970, in the Noyes Centre, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
The “Proposed Policy on Organisation and Decision-making” was adopted.
Rosie Wain brought up the issue of a consistent abbr. for North American Tiddlywinks Association. After some discussion, the standard abbr. NATwA, with capitalisation as indicated, was agreed upon, in order to conform with the usage in the IFTwA rule booklet.
Rosie Wain brought up the issue of color order. After some discussion it was moved that the colors be played in alphabetical order (blue, green, red, yellow) unless the pairs consent to play otherwise. The motion was carried 15-11.
After much debate, the “Proposed Policy on Regionalisation and Organisation of Competition” was adopted with paragraph 7 (which contained a roster of regions) deleted (and paragraph 8 renumbered).
The “Proposed Policy on Location and Site of the Continentals” was passed. The location of next year’s Continentals was left open pending the beginning of next school year.
It was agreed that we should communicate to the ETwA our desire to be included in any reorganisation of IFTwA.
Bryon Alexandroff was added to the Sponsorship Committee.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:15pm.
NEW NATwA POLICIES
(condensed)
Organisation and Decision-Making:
NATwA shall consist of players, rather than teams, who will pay $2 per year (novices 75¢) and only members can take part in the Continentals. Permanent policy to be made by vote of members at Congress. Between Congresses, the Secretary may change policy on the condition that he inform all team captains, and not more than one-third of them object within a month.
Regionalisation and Organisation of Competition:
NATwA will consist of regions of 4-7 teams which will play among themselves. The two top teams in each will Qualify for the Continentals. The rest may play in the “B” Division to compete against teams outside their region. For the 1971 Continentals [,] the two regions are:
WEST – Cornell, Harpur, Case, and Toronto.
EAST – MIT, Regis, Carleton, and Hartford.
Regional Secretaries will be elected to arrange regional matches.
Location and Site of Continentals:
The weekend before the third Monday in February each year. Site to be selected the year before with regard to centrality and accomodations [sic, should be accommodations].
STOP PRESS: PHIL VILLAR ON JOHNNY CARSON SHOW APRIL 7TH.
WOMEN’S section
* * ROSIE WAIN About Town * *
(Syndicated gossip}
Rumor has it that Regis was also at the Continentals. Bob Henninge gets the Best Dressed Winker Award even though he wore the same outfit on both days; Lee Cousins, in kilt, came a very close second and drove all the women crazy with his sporran full of squidgers.
Sunshine really seems to prefer Frisbees to Tiddlywinks.
Severin Drix has played Tiddlywinks longer than anyone else in North America (apart from British Imports.) This makes him an elder statesman at the age of 22.
Lindsay Horenblas was interviewed on Canadian radio and admitted to the world that the Tiddlywinks diet is, in fact, food (peeled grapes in particular) and that, when in training, all Tiddlywinkers are reduced to doing five-finger pushups.
If anyone doubts the existence of Yvonne Lukey, they probably doubt the existence of Ferdinand T. Bull. Those who do, see Lee Cousins.
* * DEAR ROSIE * *
Dear Rosie,
Ever since the Continentals in February, I have felt like a squopped wink. At times I see myself as a piece of fluff under a pile of winks about to be exploited. I feel blue, but I keep seeing green, yellow and even red. I know there’s more to life but I can’t bring myself to cross the base line.
Rosie, what is the answer to my problems?
Fluffy.
Dear Fluff,
POT !
* WINKLE *
(Submitted by Carl Boast)
Paul, Helen, Barb and Sam played a game of Winks. The following occurred in the fifth round of that game:
- Green, who had last shot, potted two of four unsquopped winks.
- At the end of the game, Sam had 4 points.
- Barb freed a red wink to give her partner an eighth point.
- She also freed one of Helen’s winks, which gave her a chance to pot for first.
Who played what color?
[upside-down at bottom of page:]
ANSWER TO WINKLE
Barb played blue
Helen played green
Paul played red
Sam played yellow
GOTCHA !
CLASSIFIED ADS
NUPTIALS
The engagement is announced of Mitchell Wand and Barbara Freedman, both of Masachusets [sic, should be Massachusetts].
OBITUARIES
Fitz Nowogrodski has retired from Winks.
MISSING PERSONS
Harpur Winks team
Lewianski’s partner.
POSITIONS VACANT
One place on the Case Winks Team.
Chief Pencil Sharpener for NEWSWINK
POSITIONS WANTED
By a handful of Winks players, presently employed part time in the Cornell platoon.
ARTICLES FOR SALE
One slightly used squidger. Mystical properties. Once belonged to the famed Yvonne Lukey.
One slightly soiled Winks partner. Twice broken, but now as good as new. Good potter, reasonable squopper. Cheap. Reason for sale – retiring. Applyto Fitz.
ARTICLES WANTED
On yellow submarine. Contact Fluffy.
ARTICLES WANTED
One pair of crutches with lifetime guarantee. Contact Severin Drix.
One left handed squidger to complete my collection. Write Phil Villar.
PERSONALS
We wish to thank Fitz and Samson for their hospitality. We really enjoyed taking in the atmosphere in Ithaca.
—Four members of the Carleton team.
Jeff ! Where are you??? Please write.
—Rosie
Ferd was so upset that Severin had been mentioned in NEWSWINK more than he had that we felt we had to rectify this. So here goes a load of Bull: Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd Ferd.
* ADDRESSES *
Secretary-General of NATwA
Mitchell Wand
346 Lincoln Street
Waltham, Mass. 02154
617-891-4155
Editor NEWSWINK
Rosie Wain
292 First Ave.
Ottawa 1, Ont.
613-235-6539
Team Captains:
CORNELL
Severin Drix
[?]32 Linden Ave.
Ithaca, N. Y. 14850
607-277-2846
MIT
Tim Schiller
Burton House
420 Memorial Dr.
Cambridge, Mass 02139
617-864-6900
CARLETON (Ottawa)
Carl Boast
27 Ross Ave.
Ottawa Ont.
613-722-2820
TORONTO
Bryon Alexandroff
8 Burmont Rd.
Toronto 19, Ont.
416-783-9203
CASE
Wayne Jennings
11202 Euclid
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
216-368-3120
SUNSHINERS (Phila.)
Dave Sheinson
1337 Robinoff
Phila., Pa. 19111
HARTFORD
Phil Villar
30 James St.
Hartford, Conn. 06106
203-232-9352
REGIS
Rosemarie Earles
Box 237
Regis College
Weston, Mass. 02193
SOMERVILLE
Ferd T. Bull
14 Kenwood Ave.
Somerville, Mass.
617-OAKBYTE
HARPUR
Warren E. Clark
Box 1722
Harpur College
Binghamton, N.Y. 13901
716-798-4552
WATERLOO
Mark Taylor
45 Lexington Ave.
Waterloo, Ont.
519-576-3607
Severin
Severin
Severin
Severin
Severin
Severin
BULL!