Can you spell ‘kyoo ne form?’

The Visiting Angels, a team made up of caregivers, Julea Gardener, Marilyn Oswald and Fran Brooks, correctly spelled cuneiform for a victory at the recent community spelling bee competition. Fourteen costumed teams took their places on the stage at Burton Lodge for the 8th annual  Bee.  Vashon Care Center’s team the Spelling Sages, with 200+ years of spelling, brought their own cheering section. Five high school student teams came dressed as witches, farmers, wizards, ballet dancers, and the Braidy Bunch. Other eager spellers included; Team Linguine, a family team; the defending champions The Rotary Roustabouts; Get Spell Soon; The Passengers made up of PO boat commuters wearing rain gear; the Seriously Serious Senior Spellers; and The Fur Bees. One of the original teams had to cancel out because of the weather conditions, but their spot was filled by a walk-on team of two. A young couple from Seattle was eating at the Hardware Store and saw the sign about the Bee. They were just on the island for the weekend and decided it would be a lot of fun to spell in a Bee. They came to check out the Bee and joined teams on the stage, using the name “The Weekends”!

Long time Bee emcee, Jeff Hoyt had to bow out due to a sore throat and illness, but his gracious wife, Cindy Hoyt, stepped right in to help Jeannie Dougherty bring the event to life with jokes and laughter. Just six teams successfully completed the first three rounds of spelling and moved on to round four after intermission. The teams battled it out for two more rounds until two teams, the Visiting Angels and the The Witches, representing the VHS Class of 2014, proceeded to the Challenge Round. In this round the two teams were given the same word to spell at the same time. They then submitted their written spelling to the emcees. The tension built as word after word the two teams misspelled, misspelled, correctly spelled, and misspelled, until finally the Visiting Angels, correctly spelled cuneiform.

Between each round the audience was challenged to spell words, such as tzatziki and kohlrabi. Winners were given gifts of Burt’s Bees products. After a costume parade of the teams, the audience voted the Fur Bees, clothed in perky skirts, fake fur vests and antennae, as the costume winners. The three Fur Bees members, Kathyrn Yeoell, Jenni Wilke and Amanda Long, will spell for free at “Spell It!” 2015.

When the Bee concluded two inches of snow covered the roads. A crew of eight was required to get all of the cars out of the parking lot and onto the road! The event raised $3,540 for the Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation, which awards merit scholarships to graduates of Vashon High School .Ninety eight VHS seniors will receive scholarships on May 28th at the VHS gymnasium and all community members are welcome to attend and celebrate the accomplishments of these young citizens.