The eighth annual “Letter Bee,” the community spelling bee put on by the Rotary Club, was held on Monday evening, April 15, from about 5 — 8 p.m., Wallowa County time. For the third year in a row, it was hosted at the OK Theatre in Enterprise, thanks to the generosity and grace of owners Darrell and Christi Brann. As usual, nutritious free food was provided courtesy of the remarkable Diana Wortman of Chuckwagon Sisters Catering. Along with Belle Pepper’s Bed & Breakfast in Joseph, the OK Theatre and Chuckwagon Sisters were the Grand Sponsors of the event, but many other businesses and community members also contributed financially as sponsors and donors, as a thank-you notice in this week’s Chieftain will attest.

I served as the chair of our Rotary Spelling Bee committee this year, and I want to tip my cap to Jolene Cox, my fellow Rotarian and our local branch manager at the Bank of Eastern Oregon, for her outstanding leadership as chair for the past seven bees. This year, my aim was to attract more student teams, and through a few changes in our format and some active promotion with the schools and with parents, we were successful in doing that.

For the first time, we had teams in two new divisions, from Kindergarten — second grade, and from third — fifth grade. We also had a robust group of spellers from grades six — eight and our usual complement of high school students, along with a modest number of adult teams. In all, 20 teams competed, with 17 at the student level, which was our biggest total number of teams ever, and by far our largest batch of student teams.

Well over a hundred people attended the event, including 59 spellers — the alternative education high school team bravely stepped up to the plate even after one of their members could not be there. Nearly all teams came creatively arrayed in costume, and gift baskets were awarded in each division for the team who impressed the audience most with their outfits. Winners in that category included “Alford’s Aces” from a first grade class in Enterprise; three home school teams, represented by “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wordrobe” — word play intended — at the grade three — five level, “A Rose Between Two Thorns” for best dressed team in grades six — eight, and “Romeos and Juliet” at the high school age level. Among the adults, “The Punktuators” from Building Healthy Families rocked the audience with their wild, colorful mohawks.

The spelling competition began when six teams from grades six through eight set an incredibly high bar for the rest of the evening, with the home school team “Little Women,” comprised of Eleanor Perry, Bernadette Matthews, and Gloriana Boyd, ultimately prevailing over very impressive competition. The next round featured three teams in the three — five grade division, in which “The Spelling Wizards” from Joseph Charter School, made up of Camdyn Weer, Abigail Dundas, and Mary Henninger, edged out two excellent home school competitors. Our youngest division ever in Letter Bee followed, with two intrepid first grade teams hanging tough alongside three second grade teams. Eventually the Joseph Charter School second graders, “The White Polar Bears,” otherwise known as Cassi Harris, Kaylee Kvasnikoff, and Rylee McKee, took away the honor of best spellers in that group. Among the student divisions, the last to compete were the high school students, where the winners, Shane Lund, Amber Lund, and Adagia Latta, represented the FCCLA in Enterprise.

A twist on previous years was a multi-age Student Grand Championship, where a round with three different word levels provided a chance for the second graders to go up against third — fifth graders, middle schoolers, and high school students. The “Little Women” were given the same word challenges as the FCCLA students from the high school, while the younger groups had easier and intermediate level words. All four division winners performed admirably in this runoff, with the amazing “Little Women” barely outlasting the extraordinary “Spelling Wizards” .

Then in the adult round, the BHF costume champions, “The Punktuators,” consisting of Maria Weer, Michael Cooler, and Autumn Wilburn, bested their competition in spelling too. And in a dramatic final event of the night, the “Little Women” went toe-tot-toe against “The Punktuators,” mastering words very nearly as challenging as the befuddling adult words handled by their friendly competitors. When both teams were down to their last gasp, “the Punktuators” won what amounted to a buzzer-beater in overtime.

Besides having some healthy fun and the chance to demonstrate their spelling skills, the winning teams also had an opportunity to select their own cause or charity for awards of $100 or more. “The White Polar Bears” chose to give their $100 to the Wallowa Memorial Hospital. “The Spelling Wizards” kept their $100 local for the Joseph Charter School. The FCCLA high school team donated their $100 to the Wallowa County Humane Society. The “Little Women,” who won $200 by capturing their division as well as the Grand Championship round for the students, chose the OK Theatre as their cause. And “The Punktuators” from Building Healthy Families gave the big award of the night, $250, to Safe Harbors.

After expenses are paid, the net proceeds of the event, which should amount to well over $1,000, will go this year to the Rotary College Scholarship fund for students from Wallowa County.

Thanks to all who competed and had fun in our event, and to everyone who sponsored it or bought balloons and raffle tickets while attending. We hope to see even more teams next year!

John McColgan is a member of the Rotary Club of Wallowa County.