By Jennifer Eisenbart
This wasn’t your grandfather’s spelling bee – not by any stretch of the imagination.
For starters, it was adults teaming up to spell words. Then there were second chances, the ability to “swat” a word away (complete with a bee swatter) and even “sting” a team with a word – meaning your word became the next team’s word.
A stinger was used three times before the word “carburetor” was finally spelled correctly by team No. 9, but the winning word turned out to be golden for team three, “bourgeois.”
That word clinched the victory for the combined team of Nicole Hajewski and Amy Roselle, competing for the Walworth Joint School District No. 1. The team was awarded with trophies and a jar of honey for defeating team No. 10, Adam Jaramillo and Colin Doerge from the Williams Bay Lions.
Hajewski and Roselle survived the battle at the end – several difficult French words – because of a bit of luck
“I took French in high school,” Hajewski said.
“There were a lot of hard words. We’re just lucky we knew the words that came to us,” Roselle added.
The spelling bee was a fundraiser for the Walworth County Literacy Council, which provides adult basic education, a citizen program, English as a Second Language program, GED support and jail literacy.
Seats were sold for the event at Lake Lawn Resort, with an appetizer-type dinner provided by Lake Lawn chefs, a cash bar, silent auctions and a 50-50 raffle that featured coins flips for “heads or tails” to eliminate people in each round.
Teams were sponsored by various businesses and organizations, as were words in the opening rounds of the spelling bee.
The bee was judged by Mary Alice Stone and Michelle Carter, with Erin Creed serving as pronouncer, Tegan Beese as the scribe and Meredith Harvey as timekeeper.
All told, more than $25,000 was raised for the Literacy Council, including money raised in a bid-card format to fund full months and weeks of education and materials.
“I was elated,” said Lilly Barrett, executive director of the Walworth County Literacy Council. “First of all, that so many area organizations, businesses and individuals came to support our mission of providing adult education in Walworth County.
“Second, the enthusiasm and the fun that the event brought,” “Several people commented to me that this was a creative and unique fundraiser, which we were really excited about.”
In addition to the fundraiser, the Literacy Council also honored founder Judy Stone, who died in April. A video during an intermission of the spelling bee also showed the work being done by two adult students through the council.
