Can you spell “champion”? How about “knuckle-biter”?
The 6th annual Great Grey Bruce Spelling Bee for Adult teams came right down to the wire, with The Bee Bombs and PropolisPellers exchanging blow for blow, word-wise, right down to a written, 5-word winner-take-all tiebreaker. The PropolisPellers, formed from a swarm from previous Bees, emerged bloody but unbowed to claim the 2019 trophy for Queen Bee, with 3 of the 5 words in the spell-off; the Bee Bombs were right behind with 2 out of 5 correct.
The Co-operators Hanover/Durham were our Bees’ Knees Event Sponsor, with Co-operators representative Ryan Enright on hand to see the excitement and good spirits at the Garafraxa Café in Durham on a recent blustery Thursday night.
New-bees The Galler-bees, sponsored at the Honey Bee level by the Durham Art Gallery, picked up Best Spirit and Best Costume medals, and the FANS (Friends and Neighbours Spelling Club) got Best Name. Another first-time team, The Bees’ Knees earned Most Room for Improvement (first out of the running) medals.
Local individuals and businesses did their bit, too, with sponsorships from Hatten Home Hardware Building Centre (Bumble Bee sponsor of the FANS), former Youth Literacy board member and all-around good guy Elizabeth Hahn (Busy Bee sponsor for both Bee Bombs and PropolisPellers), and Re-Max (Team Re/Max Bee Max – Honey Bee).
The final words were killers like “ortanique” (get out your OED), but there was plenty of competition right up to the final shoot-out.
The evening raised almost $3000 for youth literacy, which serves children and youth 6-18 who are building their literacy and other essential skills, and their families, too. Youth Literacy offers one-on-one tutoring with screened and trained volunteers, public speaking and presentations on literacy-related subjects, a lending resource centre for tutors and families and drama workshops and other literacy-linked learning alternatives.
Next up: Scrabble!!! Can you spell “retribution”?
