Q: What's a four word phrase for a special Morgan Hill event that can bring together the whole community for a day of brain building fun?
A: Silicon Valley Puzzle Day!
On Sunday, Feb. 3, the Friends of the Morgan Hill Library are presenting the second annual Silicon Valley Puzzle Day. The event will take place at the library from 11am to 5pm and will include crossword and Sudoku tournaments for adults and youth (ages 8-16), free workshops on a variety of puzzle-related topics, giant crossword puzzles for the community to complete together, a marketplace featuring local organizations and vendors, and all sorts of other puzzles and games to try, including brain teasers and parent/child crossword puzzles.
This year, the puzzles for the adult crossword tournament are being provided by famous puzzle master Will Shortz, puzzle editor of The New York Times since 1993 and founder of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Original puzzles are also being specially created for the youth tournaments, and prizes will be awarded in a number of categories.
Puzzles like crosswords and Sudoku provide all sorts of benefits. Crosswords can teach new words and new meanings - they are used by teachers of all subjects to drill their students. Learners of all ages enrich their vocabularies every morning over their daily puzzles.
Puzzles can teach patience and focus, offer an often needed break from reality, and provide a fantastic sense of accomplishment when they are successfully completed (or a good dose of humility when we're completely stumped). Puzzles are a great way to exercise our brains.
Recent studies have also shown doing puzzles can reduce the risk of dementia, Alzheimer's, and other age-related neurological disorders.
While puzzles have many benefits, they are generally a solitary or small group activity (I know lots of couples who work out the puzzles together over the breakfast table, relying on two brains with different stores of trivia to fill the grids as a team, and I often find myself calling my mother across the country to compare notes over a particularly tough clue).
For many puzzle lovers, a gathering like Puzzle Day is one of the first chances they've had to be in a room full of other people who share their passion. Not only does Puzzle Day give people a chance to test their skills and match wits against others in the tournaments, but it's an opportunity to meet and chat with other people who share the same joy and frustrations every day when faced with those endless black and white squares. You're not alone in your love of the thrill of a completed puzzle - come see who else shares that passion.
Event organizers are excited to offer an event that appeals to a wide range of ages and experience levels. We're working with local senior centers, schools, and other local organizations from Rotary to the American Association of University Women Morgan Hill Chapter to the American Institute of Mathematics to promote the event. Susan Fent, the new director at the Morgan Hill Senior Center, has even offered to host an on-going puzzle group at the Senior Center. Stop by the Puzzle Day marketplace area to find out about these organizations and other activities and upcoming events.
Because Silicon Valley Puzzle Day is such a unique event (currently the only tournament of its type on the West Coast), it draws in competitors from the whole region to our town. Morgan Hill's Downtown Association will promote local restaurants and businesses to those out of town visitors at the marketplace. Other local groups are invited to participate in the marketplace as well - this is truly an event that can bring the whole community together and spotlight all of the wonderful things Morgan Hill has to offer, including our beautiful new library!
Please join us on Sun, Feb. 3, for this fun event. Spend the day exercising your brain, meeting new friends, building community, and showcasing our town.
For more information, please visit the web site or send an email. If you would like to volunteer or participate in the marketplace, please let us know.
Emily Shem-Tov Emily Shem-Tov is a member of the Morgan Hill Library, Culture and Arts Commission and co-chair of Silicon Valley Puzzle Day. The LCAC meets the second Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Morgan Hill Library.
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