Category Archives: Rev Chan family Legacy Project

Janice Wong's Book CHOW at Vancouver Public Library January 18th + Panel Discussion

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Janice Wong's Book CHOW at Vancouver Public Library January 18th + Panel Discussion

Wednesday January 18
7:30 pm
Free
Event
Peter Kaye Room, Lower Level
Central Library
350 West Georgia Street

Janice Wong presents her book, Chow from China to Canada: Tales of Food and Family.
A collection of over 50 traditional Chinese village dishes, it contains
early photographs, immigration documents, 1940s restaurant menus and
handwritten recipes from some of Canada's first ethnic restaurants.

Janice
Wong, a Vancouver-based artist and daughter of a Chinese restaurateur,
has assembled her father's recipes and her family's history in this
unique cookbook;

Panel Discussion on Chinese food and Chinese Restaurants:
Janice is joined by by: 

Larry
Wong of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society
Todd Wong of the creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy
Stephen Wong, celebrity chef

Here is the inside story on the event

Janice is my 2nd cousin-once-removed.
We are descendants of Rev. Chan Yu Tan, who arrived in Canada in 1891.
  And I only met her earlier this year when she announced that her
book was coming out.  We immediately bonded, and I have enjoyed
helping her promote her book.  We did a panel discussion together
with Larry Wong at the West Vancouver Library and had so much fun, we
decided to do it for Vancouver.

Janice Wong's Book CHOW featured on CBC Radio North By Northwest with host Sheryl Mackay

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Janice Wong's Book CHOW featured on CBC Radio North By Northwest with host Sheryl Mackay

This morning Janice Chow was interviewed by Sheryl Mackay on CBC
Radio's North By Northwest, just after the news about 8:40am to 9am,
Sunday Morning, Novemeber 13th.

CHOW From China to Canada: Tales of Food + Family, has been making all
the local talk show rounds.  It is a unique book that blends
together the recipes of her father's Chinese Restaurant “The Lotus”
together with stories of how her great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan
came to Canada, his 6 children and their integration into Canadian
life, and growing up with her family in Prince Albert.  The book
is a combination cookbook, family history, Chinese-Canadian history and
memoir.

Janice described giving a book launch at Prince Albert, SK, at the site
of her father's first restaurant called “Wings.” She had never been
there before, but the present owners had found boxes in the storage
area containing menus and items from the original restaurant.
 
Chow is available for sale on Amazon.ca and was #132 of Amazon's top  10,000 selling books yesterday.  You can even flip inside the book for select pictures and quotes

Janice has also let me know that you can hear some of the past CBC radio interviews at archived bits, 20051021 is Shelagh Rogers, Week 43 is Don Genova.

Chinese Canadian History Fair in Nanaimo at Malispina College

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Chinese Canadian History Fair in Nanaimo at Malaspina College

The Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC
organized another history fair, this time at Nanaimo's Malaspina
University-College.   Nanaimo's Chinatown used to be a thriving bustling
place from 1860 to 1923.  My great-great-grandfather, Rev. Chan Yu
Tan, had ministered at the Chinese United Church around 1924. After becoming increasingly derelict it was destroyed by a fire September 30, 1960.  CCHS board member Dr. Imogene Lim played a big part in
bringing many presenters together from Nanaimo, Cumberland, Vancouver
and Prince George. 

Here's what Imogene had to say about the event:


“Although we had a very wet and
stormy day, I think we can say the second CCHS Chinese Canadian History
Fair was a success; we drew a sizable crowd to all the featured
activities.  There was a lot of mingling and conversation between
visitors and between exhibitors; in many cases, a reunion and
reconnecting of intersecting lives.” 

Fourteen displays were presented including the Nanaimo
District Museum, Cumberland Historical Society, Chinese Women Aviators,
Trev Sue-A-Quan's Guyanese Chinese  genealogy titled “Cane Reapers,” Head Tax Redress, 1907
Riots, Chinese soccer team featuring Queene Yip, chinese cemetaries, and Chinese Canadian women pionneers.

Janice Wong presented her book CHOW From China to Canada:
Stories of Food and Family.  This was followed by a panel
discussion with Dr. Imogene Lim, restauranteur Gerry Wong who along
with Janice all grew up in restaurant enviornments.  Gerry's
father had chinese restaurants in Nanaimo, while Imogene's uncle and
father ran
the WK Gardens in Vancouver, which she described as a “high end”
restaurant which had catered to Prime Ministers, royalty and
entertainers
such as Frank Sinatra and Gary Cooper.  Imogene even showed some of the
original menus and special event menus created for events such as
weddings and royal visits.

Karin Lee also showed her movie Comrade Dad, as well as having a
display table.  It was the Vancouver Island premiere of Comrade
Dad, a Karin Lee film about her father, Wally, who ran a Communist
bookstore in Vancouver's Chinatown in the days before China was
recognized by the Canadian government.
The NFB film featuring my cousin Rhonda Larrabee's story about growing
up half Chinese and half First Nations, Tribe of One, was also shown.

I set up a display of the Rev Chan Family, including the poster
displays that were made for our family reunions in 1999 and 2000. 
It was very cool that I had pictures of Janice Wong's parents, Dennis
and Mary, her grandparents Joseph and Rose, and her great grandfather,
the Rev. Chan Yu Tan with his wife Wong Shee, as Janice is my 2nd
cousin once removed.

Rhonda Larrabee is also a relative as her father Art is my
grandmother's elder brother, so we had pictures of Rhonda at the
reunions as well, with her brothers, daughters and grandchildren.

I had meant to phone my grand-aunt Helen who lives in Nanaimo, and
tried to reach her through Directory Assistance once I got there but to
no avail.  As I was setting up the display, I saw a white haired
woman approach the Rev. Chan Family display flanked by CCHS board
members Larry Wong and Edgar Wickberg. 

“That's my grandfather!” she exclaimed, “And my grandmother! How did you get these pictures!”

Both Larry and Ed looked over at me, as I stood silently behind my
Auntie Helen.  I held my finger to my lips asking them not to say
anything.

“That's his sister! How did you get these pictures!” my Aunt continued pointing at the pictures.

I finally spoke saying, “Please don't touch the pictures, they are very sensitive.”

“Sorry,” she said as she kept looking at the pictures saying, “That's my Aunt!  That's my Uncle!”

“Excuse me,” I said, “How are you related to these people in the pictures?”

She turned and looked at me.  Her eyes suddenly widened joyfully
in recognition.  “Todd!  What are you doing here?”

It turned out that Auntie Helen's friend had been listening to CBC
Radio's North By Northwest, and host Sheryl Mackay had talked about the
Chinese Canadian History Fair at Malispina College, and she told
herself that her friend Helen had to be there. 

“You look just like your sister!” Janice Wong exclaimed to Auntie
Helen, when I introduced them to each other for the very first time,
during the CHOW book signing, after the panel discussion with Janice,
Gerry and Imogene.  They had never met each other before, but they
knew they were family.

Janice Wong on City Cooks & Vancouver Museum Tuesday… + reflections of Sounds Like Canada…

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Janice Wong continues to make the rounds with her book Chow. 



Monday: City Cooks

Tuesday: Vancouver Museum



City Cooks airs on
Monday morning at 9:30am and 12 Noon, as Janice tells her stories with
Simi Sara.  Janice reports that Simi was great to work with. 
There will be a skill testing question to win a copy of the book. 
Hint, the question has something to do with Janice's father, Dennis.

I heard Janice's radio interview with Shelagh Rogers on CBC Radio's Sounds Like Canada
on Friday.  It was a very warm and friendly interview, with
Shelagh asking many questions about Janice's family ancestors and how
they came to Canada, and how her parents settled in Prince Albert,
Sasketchewan.   I particularly enjoyed hearing about Janice's
first ancestor in Canada, Rev. Chan Yu Tan,
who arrived in 1896, as a Methodist lay preacher for the Chinese
Methodist Church (especially since he is my great-great-grandfather).

Janice
also brought some chicken wings, steamed sable fish and beans with dow
see (bean curd) and presented the food in a laquerware box, and Shelagh
complimented Janice
on the presentation, and also upon tasting the food.  Shelagh was
also particularly interested in hearing the stories about how Janice's
father was born premature, and his mother wrapped him up in blankets
and put him in the oven to keep him warm.

Another fascinating story was how Janice had started the book as a gift
for her family, after her father died.  A friend encouraged her to
turn it into a book, and Whitecap Books appreciated her  creative
in the book design, recognizing Janice as an accomplished and
professional visual artist- Janice Wong Studio.

Janice also told stories about how her parents met in Nanaimo
Chinatown, and seeing her grand-Uncle Luke Chan in Hollywood movies
that her father would point out, such as “The Mysterious Mr. Wong,” as
well he was
in movies with Clark Gable, Bela Lugosi and Katherine
Hepburn.



Afterwards, Janice sent me this e-mail:
“The interview with Shelagh was
fun.  She's such a warm person.  I met Philip (Ditchburn) and
he mentioned your geneology connection.  I don't think the
producer told Shelagh about you and me as Philip mentioned it after the interview and she was pleasantly surprised.”


I join Janice Wong for CHOW book launch at West Vancouver Library Oct 18,2005

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I join Janice Wong for CHOW book launch at West Vancouver Library Oct 18, 2005

Tuesday

October 18th

7pm – 9pm

West Vancouver Memorial Library

I will be joining Janice Wong as a panelist for the West Vancouver
launch of her book, CHOW From China to Canada: Memories of Food +
Family.  Jeannie Mah is unable to attend from Regina.

This will be lots of fun.  Janice and I only discovered each other
about 2 months ago, when she e-mailed me and identified herself as a
relative from the Rev. Chan Family.  We have enjoyed sharing our
mutual love for family history, and discoveries about who we know and
what stories about relatives we know.

I will be talkign about discovering Chinese restaurants on my travels
throughout North America, stories about Chinese restaurants, and how I
have integrated Chinese food into my Robbie Burns Chinese New Year
dinner, aptly named…. “Gung Haggis Fat Choy!”

Earlier on Tuesday she will be taping a tv segment for CityTV's
CityCooks with host Simi Sara.  I have appeared two times on the
show with restauranteur/chef Joseph Lee to prepare haggis wun-tun, and
lettuce wrap.

CHOW: Janice Wong book launch at Sylvia Hotel

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CHOW: Janice Wong has successful book launch at Sylvia Hotel

Janice Wong
wrote some stories about her father and his Chinese restaurant a few years ago as a gift for her family, and  paired them with his recipes that she had found.   Before she knew it, she had created a new genre of cookbooks.

“Janice knows a lot of people,” smiled Alicia Schlagg, Marketing coordinator for Whitecap Books. She was very pleased as author Janice Wong signed autographs and posed for pictures with family and friends.  It was a busy crowd at the Sylvia Hotel on Wednesday evening, Oct 12th.  Whitecap Books had taken over the restaurant, wine was served along with mandarin oranges, and many bouquets of unique flowers had been brought by admirers to mark this special
occasion.

I walked in and quickly spotted my grandmother, and her younger brother Dan Lee.  I greeted her cousin Josie (Janice Wong’s aunt), and Janice’s cousin Rick Lum.  These are all relatives that I had known and grown up with since I was a little boy.  At the same table sat Janice’s mother
Mary, who had flown in from Saskatoon.  I find it hard to believe that I only met Janice two months ago, when she e-mailed me looking for an e-mail list for the Rev. Chan family  descendants.

Who else did I see?  Larry Wong, now president of the Chinese Canadian Historical Association of BC.  Larry has arranged to have Janice present her book, along with Paul Yee at the Vancouver Museum on ???.  Larry will also be part of a panel discussion on growing up with chinese restaurants at the West Vancouver Memorial Library on Oct 18, where Janice Wong will present a slide show.  I will also be part of the presentation sharing my experiences of Chinese Restaurants, and the importance of Chinese food, as I have developed haggis wun-tun
and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners.

Janice’s book, CHOW, really is amazing.  It is filled with pictures and stories about her father, her family, the restaurant where she grew up in Prince Albert Saskatchewan.  Recipes alternate with
pictures and stories, giving a context to how and when certain dishes would be created and served, as well as eaten.  The recipes come alive, as you can read the stories and imagine all the family members sitting around you, or her father Dennis Wong in the kitchen.

I opened the book and found stories about Great-grand uncle Luke who went to Hollywood and became an actor, starring and supporting in movies with Clark Gable and Gary Cooper.  A story about Rev. Chan Yu Tan, reveals the name of his wife Wong Chiu Lin, whom nobody in my
family could remember except as “Tai-poh” (great-grandmother) or as Mrs. Chan.

Harvey Lowe the Yo-Yo King, is a friend of Dennis Wong, inviting Janice’s father to go to England with him, but Dennis’s parents forbade him, never imagining that Harvey Lowe will go on to tour the world and perform yo-yo tricks on the Smothers Brothers TV show, for Nat King
Cole, and for royalty.

At the end of the evening, Janice is still beaming widely.  She is still signing autographs when I pull her away to take a family picture, because Aunt Josie and my grandmother – both in the 90’s have to leave. 

“Have you met Toddish McWong, yet?” Janice asks a friend.  She introduces me to her friends and says, “My friend Robin has wanted to meet you for years.”  She adds later, “We will have to get a table and attend the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner this time.” 

I think to myself, that there will be ways to feature CHOW at the dinner – maybe as a raffle prize or silent auction prize.  Imagine winning a private Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner in your home with chefs Toddish McWong and Janice Wong, along with a copy of CHOW.

CHOW is an accessible recipe book, that is sure to be a Christmas gift for many people as it will be at home on the coffee table, next to the photo albums, or the kitchen.

pictures from the book launch and book review of chow to come….

How I discover a distant family member, Janice Wong, who has just written a Chinese Canadian cookbook called “Chow From China to Canada: Memories of Food and Family”

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Funny how things happen… discovering distant family members you never
knew you had.  In 2000, we planned a family reunion for the
descendents of Rev. Chan Yu Tan, my great-great-grandfather who came to
Canada in 1896.  We discovered the descendents of his elder
brother Rev. Chan Sing Kai who had arrived in 1888, and their younger
sister Naomi – both whom had moved the United States.

Janice Wong introduced herself on e-mail to me last month, as the niece of my grandmother's cousin in Victoria.  She is a visual artist
and shares with me a deep interest in Chinese Canadian history. And…
she has written a cook book based on family stories and recipies. 
I can hardly wait to see the book… and to meet her too… of course!

Book launch will be October 12th at Sylvia Hotel, Vancouver BC.
For book details contact www.fireflybooks.com
or try the publisher Whitecap Books
Here's a link to find the book distributed in UK, USA, France, Germany or Canada

A cookbook and a fascinating glimpse into Canadian history.

Born a two-pound preemie in 1917, Dennis Wong may have begun his love
of food after spending the first months of his life keeping warm in his
mother's cooking oven.

Miraculously surviving his tenuous beginning, Dennis went on to
pursue an ambitious culinary career, opening two Chinese-Canadian cafés
in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, to introduce countless adventurous
Canadian diners to Chinese food.

In Chow, Dennis's daughter Janice Wong tells her father's tale through heart-rending stories and traditional Chinese village recipes.

A collection of more than 50 simple family fare dishes, Chow
contains early photographs, immigration documents, 1940s restaurant
menus, and handwritten recipes that trace the history of some of
Canada's first ethnic restaurants. Written with refreshing sincerity, Chow is both a terrific cookbook and a detailed record of an intriguing chapter in Canadian history.

It includes recipes for:

  • Dungeness Crab with Black Bean Sauce
  • Steamed Chicken with Rice, Sausage and Mushrooms
  • Asparagus, Mushrooms and Pork
  • Chinese Barbecue Duck
  • Peking Doilies
  • Wong's Chocolate Chip Cookies.
About The Author: 

Janice Wong is a visual artist whose work has received numerous
awards. The daughter of a restaurateur, she was born in Prince Albert,
Saskatchewan. She now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Vancouver's Tracey Hinder makes it to final five in CanSpell national contest

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Vancouver's Tracey Hinder makes it to final five in CanSpell national contest

Here are excerpts from the Ottawa Citizen story by Haley Mick with files from Joel Baglole of the Vancouver Sun.

Tracey Hinder, the Vancouver regional CanSpell winner made it through
the words appetitost, nival, and calypso at the national spealling bee
in Ottawa over the weekend.

But the 13-year-old Grade 8 student from West Vancouver secondary
school lost when she failed to correctly spell “daven” a Jewish word
that refers to the act of praying.  Hinder finished fifth overall
in the Can West CanSpell National Spelling Bee.

“I knew my words, and most other people's words, so I think I did all
right,” Hinder said in a phone interview iwht The Sun on Sunday. 
The contest was eventually won by Finola Hackett of Edmonton, who went
head-head-for 11 rounds with Edwin Ho of Toronto Saturday night….

Hinder of Vancouver and Anqi Dong of Saskatoon wept when they
eventually ended their run.  But there was some controversy over
Hinder's loss.  She claims she spelled “daven” incorrectly because
the competition's officials mispronounced the word when asking her to
spell it.  Hinder says the officials pronounced the word “Dove-In”
instead of “Dav-In.”

“I appealed,” said Hinder.  “But they didn't accept my
appeal.  The judges said they had gone on, and it was too
late.” 

Still Hinder said she enjoyed the competition as the other competitors
where nice and she liked looking at the old buildings in and around
Ottawa.

“It was fun,” she said.

http://www.canada.com/national/features/canspell/index.html

Tracey Hinder goes to CANSPELL national spelling contest in Ottawa

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Tracey Hinder goes to CANSPELL national spelling contest in Ottawa

My 2nd cousin Tracey Hinder is on the cover of the April 16 Vancouver Sun today – again! And there are more pictures and stories about the 8th grader on page A5, B1 and B10.

She won the March 13 Vancouver
regional Can Spell contest that propelled her to face off this weekend
in Ottawa for national finals.

There are pictures of her with the other regional winner in front of
the Parliament Buildings, with Prime Minister Paul Martin, and also
with Governor General Adrienne Clarkson (to whom we are distantly
related by the marriage of our grandmother's eldest brother Henry Lee
to Clarkson's Aunt Cecilia.)



For pictures and details of the March 13 Vancouver Sun story, click here.

Here are some excerts from the Vancouver Sun story:

“I'm a bit nervous, but I'm really excited too.  I've never
been to Ottawa,” said the 13-year old winner of the March 13 regional
spelling bee hosted by the Vancouver Sun.

“I'm very grateful to have won because I'm lucky that I got the
words [apotheosis and capitulation] that I did.  I knew them and I
hope that happens again at the nationals,” she said Wednesday in an
interview….

The past few weeks at the Hinder and Wiegel homes have seen frenzied
activity and many late hours as the girls have had to practise their
spelling by painstakingly going through the 3,900 word study guide on
which the questions will be based, as well as keeping up with their
already heactic schedules.

For Tracey, this meant balancing her Grade 8 studies – “I have so
much homework,” she groans – and extracurricular activities.  Her
passion is figure-skating, the reason for the dozen medals that adorn
the living room of her home near Horseshoe Bay.

“I don't have enough time for this [studying for the spelling bee],”
she says.  “I don't really have a schedule.  I'm more like,
if I have any spare time, I'll go through with it.”

With figure-skating practice four days a week, she's been putting in about 45 minutes a day studying for Saturday's finals.

On Tuesday, though, she studied for four hours and took the day off
school Wednesday to perfect her spelling – and to pack her bags ahead
of Thursday's 6 a.m. flight to Ottawa, during which she was to have put
in five more hours of study.

Tracey's interests are many and varied, judging by the contents of
her bedroom.  The walls are plastered with posters of
figure-skaters and pictures of dogs.  And electric guitar that
Gail Hinder says her daughter “fiddles and diddles” with, sits in a
corner next to a Barbie-doll-topped bookcase crammed with her fabourite
books by authors Meg Cabot and William Nicholson and a Tamora Pierce
fantasy story about a girl who wants to become a knight.

“I read any kind of book as long as it's well written,” she
says.  In the summer, she usually goes through up to five books a
week; other times just  one or two.

Tracey plays the piano as well as the flute, which she plans to take
to Ottawa to play with two other finalists who play the violin.

As for the competition itself, Tracey thinks she's as ready as she can be.

“I like the competition.  I think it's fun even though I have
some stress and nerves – I think that's all part of it – and I really
like competing; that's why I do skating.”

Apart from the support family and friends, she has also recieved
letters of encouragement from Premier Gordon Campbell, West Vancouver
Mayor Ron Wood and local MLA Ralph Sultan.  “I feel kind of like a
big deal.  It's very nice of everyone to send it to me and makes
me feel important,” she says.

She also has the support of her coach and teacher Maryam Moayeri,
who read out a letter on her behalf at a meeting of the West Vancouver
secondary school board Tuesday night.

 

My cousin… Tracey Hinder wins CanSpell regional spelling bee in Vacouver

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Here's a
story about my 2nd cousin Tracey Hinder, my mom's cousin's
daughter.  Tracey is an amazing youngster with an extraordinary
aptitude for learning and meeting challenges…

L-E-T-T-E-R P-E-R-F-E-C-T

West Vancouver Grade 8 student wins regional spelling bee
 
Doug Ward
Vancouver Sun
Monday, March 14, 2005

1 | 2 | NEXT >>
CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
COULD YOU SPELL APOTHEOSIS?: Winner Tracey Hinder will compete in a national bee next month in Ottawa.

West Vancouver student Tracey Hinder emerged as the apotheosis of
cool under pressure Sunday, winning the CanWest CanSpell regional
spelling bee, after the capitulation of Delta student Nicaela Weigel in
the event's closing spell-off.

Hinder, a 13-year-old Grade 8
student at West Vancouver Secondary, spelled 'capitulation' correctly
and then won by nailing the word apotheosis at the Vancouver Sun
provincial final held at the Stanley Theatre.

“I studied so many
words, but I think I did study 'apotheosis' once,” Hinder said
afterwards. “I also studied 'capitulation' on Saturday.”

Hinder's
victory was a dramatic ending to four hours of extreme spelling that
began with 50 competitors from schools around B.C., except for
Vancouver Island.

The words given by pronouncer Kirk LaPointe,
managing editor of The Vancouver Sun, became progressively more
difficult during the contest as the number of competitors dwindled to
the final two.

Some of the students held the microphone
confidently, and easily recalled the right letters. Others spelled the
words slowly and with trepidation, clearly hoping that their letters
would match the pronunciation of a word they couldn't totally remember.
Some looked at the three-member panel of judges with surprise when the
bell that signals a mistake did not ring.

Both Hinder and
runner-up Weigel will be competing in the CanWest CanSpell National
Spelling Bee in Ottawa on April 16 for the first-place prize of a
$10,000 educational fund and their name etched on the CanWest CanSpell
Cup.

And Hinder will be one of 11 regional winners across Canada
who will compete later in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in
Washington, D.C.

Tristan Brett, from Eugene Reimer middle school
in Abbotsford, looked strong throughout the event, but finished third
after being hit with the arcane word prosody, which means the study of
the metrical structure of verse.

Runner-up Weigel said she was
happy to have finished second against a field of mostly older
competitors. She had studied the fatal word capitulation, but her
memory failed her.

“Nicaela never spelled that word
[capitulation] wrong before,” said her mother, Marie Weigel. “But
that's all right. Ottawa is good.

“When it got down to the two
competitors, I could see her nerves getting to her. But good for her,
she's 11. She can compete in this for two more years.”

Nicaela
Weigel is no stranger to success. Last year, Nicaela and her twin
sister, Shelbie, played the same character in a TV movie The Five
People You Meet In Heaven, based on the novel of the same name by Mitch
Albom.

Todd Weigel said he thought his daughter would do well:
“What can I say: I'm an extremely proud father. I'm holding back the
tears.

“But she's an overachiever. I thought she would get pretty far. But all the sisters, they really drive each other.”

While
memory and hard work were the key factors, luck played a role too. As
in any spelling bee, some words were tougher than others.

The young spellers also had to keep their composure while four TV cameras moved around covering every moment.

<< PREVIOUS | 1 | 2
CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun
Tracey Hinder, (right) placed first in the CanSpell contest on Sunday. Nicaela Weigel was second.

“You have to sort of pretend there is no camera there. It makes it
easier for you to spell,” said Rachel Davidson of Collingwood School in
West Vancouver, who fell out in the third round.

A few of the
participants were visibly crestfallen when they mis-spelled a word and
found themselves walking off the stage. They were quickly ushered
downstairs into a makeshift comfort room where they were offered
solace, along with drinks and snacks.

“Oh, I'm so stupid. I don't
know how I missed that,” lamented Oliver Telfor to a volunteer
comforter, who assured the West Sechelt Elementary student that he
wasn't stupid.

As Telfor explained how he knew he had erred even
before completing his word, another one of the fallen, Tori Caswell of
Pacific Academy in Surrey, arrived and shouted: “I screwed up on jerkin
— jerkin!

“But this is just for fun. And I like reading, so I got extra reading privileges.”

Christopher
Dodds, of Vancouver, was angry with his abrupt exit late in the
competition. “I'm disappointed and surprised. I'm feeling mad at
myself.”

Tears welled in the eyes of Brandon Sanderson, a
precocious 10-year-old from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Vancouver who
had a smile all afternoon until after his last word.

Sanderson
admitted later that he had guessed his way through at least one other
word, so he was pleased to have made it to round five.

“Hopefully, I'll get this far again next year,” he said.

CHALLENGING…:

Sunday's winning word:

Apotheosis

Some other tough ones from the competition:

Centurion

Diverticulum

Corpuscle

Xylograph

Arthurian

Affidavit

Ran with fact box “Challenging…”, which has been appended
to the end of the story.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005