Ready. Set. Spell.
The Panola Watchman and the Carthage Rotary Club are teaming up to host the second annual Stellar Speller County Bee, an adult spelling competition that will raise money for several local organizations.
The Bee is set for 7 p.m. on April 12 at the Esquire Theater. Proceeds from the event will benefit local education foundations.
“We wanted to put together an event that would be both fun and a benefit to our community,” Watchman Editor Meredith Shamburger said. “It’s definitely going to be challenging for our spellers, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ve got. At the same time, we hope this event will raise awareness about the importance of education and literacy in our community. A community can’t prosper unless it champions those two things.”
Teams of three will be competing to see who can spell the most words correctly. Fun team names and costumes are encouraged, and one team will be awarded the Most Spirited title. Anyone can put together a team, including civic groups, churches, schools or friends.
Last year’s winner was The Phillips Law Firm, a team of Cameron Phillips, Nancy Langford and Isha Brown. The winning word was “intermezzo,” a short connecting instrumental movement in an opera or other musical work.
Teams are encouraged to sign-up by April 8, either online through a link on the Rotary Club of Carthage’s Facebook page or in person at the Panola County Chamber of Commerce, 300 W. Panola St. in Carthage, or at the Panola Watchman office, 109 W. Panola St. in Carthage. The cost is $250 per team, and each team will have the opportunity at sign-ups to buy one $20 mulligan, which will allow a team member to let another member of the team spell a word for them, and one $40 skip, which will allow the team to skip a word during competition.
Checks should be made payable to The Rotary Club of Carthage and can be turned in at the Watchman office, the Panola County Chamber of Commerce or mailed to the Rotary Club at P.O. Box 653, Carthage, TX 75633.
Teams will be given a practice list of words as a starting study guide. Words will range in difficulty from easy to moderately hard.
Corporate sponsorships are also available. Contact the Carthage Rotary Club or the Panola Watchman for more details.
