NTPL staff prove that reading regularly makes you a better speller!

April 16, 2014 · 0 Comments

The 5th Annual ‘Grate Groan–Up Spelling Bee’, a fundraiser for Next Step: The Literacy Council of South Simcoe, took place on Saturday evening at the Club at Bond Head.

The event was a huge success for Next Step, with more than 140 people in attendance and 13 teams registered to show off their spelling abilities.

The evening got underway with a practice round to acclimate everyone to the standards of the evening.

Opening ceremonies began with an introduction on the history of the event by Master of Ceremonies, Craig Butler, followed by the procession of judges (Robert Murdock, Maija Hoggett, Wendy Gabrek), with Master Pronouncer Laurie Laing carrying the C.O.D. (Canadian Oxford Dictionary).

The first team to miss a word were “The Rotary Wheelers” (Joan McFarland, Kerry-Anne McFarland, Bette Cerar, sponsored by The Rotary Club of Alliston). They got back-to-back words with double letters that seemed to trip them up. They bought their way back in, and would later go on to win the award for ‘Best Team Spirit’.

“The Word Nerds” (John Rosenthal, Deb Rouleau, Jane Anderson, sponsored by Dunn–Wright Engineering Inc.) were next to miss a word, they misspelled ‘hodgepodge’ by forgetting the ‘e’ in ‘hodge’.

“Bee Tenders” (, Alice Edwards, Cathy McGrath, sponsored by the Essa Public Library) proved their commitment to literacy by bringing a 10-day old baby to the event. Although baby Aiden was disqualified from play, he did help to bolster the teams’ spirit and keep them busy –with more than bee keeping – throughout the night.

The Tooth Fairies (Christine Gaetz, Kasia Salem, Stefanie Babiak, sponsored by The Tooth Doctors, Alliston) were next to miss, spelling ‘exchequer’ as it is pronounced ‘ex-check-er’.

The Hunger Dames (Stefani Dubbledam, Susie Stouffer, Annette Pascoe, sponsored by The Circle Theatre, Alliston) missed next, with the word ‘discernible’, replacing the ‘i’ with an ‘a’, but the C.R.I.C. group sitting with them bought them back into play for a mere $20 for a second chance to be even “more discernible” in the next round.

The Tooth Fairies were first to be eliminated, after they had already bought back in. They misspelled ‘indictment’ at the end of Round 4.

The event broke for a dinner break with a humorous story from the Emcee, Butler, on the importance of spelling. His story outlined that a missing letter could make all the difference in an e-mail – especially when the word then became inappropriate.

The Audience Play Along portion of the evening proceeded the dinner line, and in the end there were three potential winners, Janine Harris-Wheatley, Chris Lee and Brian Depoe (The Green Bees of My FM 92.1), but event helper Hannah drew Brian Depoe’s name.

After dinner, “The Hunger Dames” (who had become “The Full Dames”) lost to the word ‘refrigerator’ and were eliminated.

‘Spelling Ain’t Our Thing’ (Joelle Dewsbury, Elizabeth Bartosek, Scott Gale, sponsored by BDO Canada LLP) lost their ‘rhythm’ and were eliminated next.

“Spelling Ain’t Our Thing” got buried next by misspelling ‘sepulcher’.

“The Super Spellers” (Colleen Williams, Blythe Hazel, Natasja Verhaar, sponsored by the Beeton Book Club) marched out of the competition next to the tune of the ‘balalaika’ and in later play…

“The Word Nerds” were kept in the competition (with help from “the lucky mic”) and firmed their ‘grippe’ on the competition.

At the end of Round 7, there were still five teams in the game – way to spell New Tecumseth!

“The Group of Three” (Adele Kostiak, Marianne von Cube, Diana Harding-Tucker, sponsored by Silvercrest) were next to fly out of the competition, misspelling ‘nacelle’.

“The Man Team” (Mayor Mike MacEachern, Beeton Councillor Richard Norcross, Patricia Middlebrook, sponsored by The Town of New Tecumseth)tried to pass on the word “fricassee’ but made an attempt at it and got creamed.

“Spellbound” (Colleen Butler, Mary Nordstrom, Liana Madocks, sponsored by Feehely Gastaldi) may have been last years Overall Winners, but they needed help to spell the world ‘coulee’ and used lifeline Catherine Jackson to get them out of the “ravine”. Jackson came through for the “witches” and they stayed in the game.

“The Bee Tenders” may have had the cutest team member but they missed the word ‘contrapposto’ and were shown the door.

The green spandex clad “The Green Bees” (Brian Depoe, Kori Rowe, Alexandra Braidford, sponsored by 92.1 MY FM) felt the competition heat up and gave an exit speech before Laing delivered the next word, although they delivered the ‘machaca’ and continued in the Bee.

From this point forward, the competition and the spellings just got harder.

“The Word Nerds” missed ‘guiro’, then “The Green Bees (you wrote BEANS..lol) missed ‘incunabulum’, “The Group of Three” got the sharp end of the stick next with ‘bradawl’ and were out. They were later presented with the award for the Most Pledges.

The Rotary Wheelers went out on a limb with the spelling of ‘monoecious’, Spellbound felt the sting of the thorn with ‘shillelagh’, Bee Sharp (Janine Harris- Wheatley, Alison Kerr, Adelaide Campbell, sponsored by the Tottenham Literacy Society & Knitters Circle) went from the cooking dish into the fire by misspelling ‘cocotte’, and The Green Beans (who were yet unscathed in the game) missed the word ‘catechumen’ – but were sooo close.

The Guardians of Genre (Chris Lee, Heather Houle, Mark Gagnon, sponsored by the New Tecumseth Public Library or NTPL) escaped Round 10 without missing a single word.

Spellbound, who needed three virgins for their bee spell to work (and one member of the group was pregnant, obviously “not getting the memo”) were cast out in Round 10, leaving Bee Sharp, The Green Bees and Guardians of Genre in the Top 3. They would win the prize for ‘Best Dressed’ at the end of the evening.

In the final round, The Green Bees got hit over the head with the word ‘knobkerrie’ but left with the impressive third place bragging rights.

The next word was for the Guardians, and ironically ‘litotes’ kept them working towards a win.

Bee Sharp obviously had help from a voodoo priest and spelled ‘houngan’ correctly.

Double checking the pronunciation of the second last word for the Guardians, Laing gave them… ‘guidon’ (gee-dan or guy-dan) but they still got it wrong… however….

Bee Sharp missed their final word, ‘gyrfalcon’ and the Guardians of Genre had one final chance to win it all…

The word ‘escutcheon’ was Guardian’s for the taking and so the events coat of arms.

The Guardians’ acceptance speech was short, as Mark just thanked his mom and the trio held their trophies high. Amazing job library staffers!!!

Event organizer, Colleen Rideout, thanked all for attending and for supporting Next Step: The Literacy Council of South Simcoe who’s mandate in our communities, is to provide FREE adult upgrading to increase both employability and independence.

By Wendy Gabrek

L to R: Chris Lee, Heather Houle and Mark Gagnon are all smiles after winning the 5th Annual Grate Groan–Up Spelling Bee, hosted by Next Step: The Literacy Council of South Simcoe.