The Councils on Aging of Shirley, Ayer, Pepperell, Townsend and Ashby are calling for players for a regional senior Scrabble tournament.

As we all know, mental stimulation is important to seniors. It helps with slowing the onset of Alzheimer's, dementia and other mental illnesses. Few things besides a nightly dose of "Jeopardy!" can help you keep a mind active more than Scrabble. Scrabble not only improves vocabulary but makes a player think about letter combinations, strategies, placements on the board to maximize scoring and more. It is a great game for seniors.

To highlight the impact of Scrabble on seniors, the groups are sponsoring the tournament. It will be a single-elimination contest over four to five weeks (depending on how many players are involved). Official Scrabble rules will be used, and judges will officiate in case of a dispute.

Each of the COAs will hold separate tournaments with the first- and second-place winners of each playing for the title of Best Senior Scrabble Player in the Nashoba Valley.

Each match will consist of two games with total points serving as tie breaker if necessary. Brackets will be drawn with all players placed randomly on the grid. The brackets allow players to see who their next opponent would be if they advance. Each COA group will draw names to create the initial pairings for their tournament.

The matches in Shirley (for Ayer and Shirley seniors) will be held on Thursday afternoons at 1:30 p.m. beginning

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on Sept. 20. The deadline for signups will be Sept. 17.

The matches in Ashby, Pepperell and Townsend will be held at the Townsend Senior Center on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. beginning on Sept. 18. Deadline for signups is Sept. 13.

Once both tournaments are over, the dates and times will be set for the run-off between the winners of the two groups and the matches for Best Senior Scrabble Player in the Nashoba Valley will begin.

Call your local Senior Center or stop by to sign up.