Instead of celebrating over a plate of ceviche and a cheese beignet or three, the Morning Star News Bees were reaching for the acetaminophen.
For the umpteenth (not actual spelling bee word, but really a word) time, the News Bees were the bridesmaids – the runners-up, the first losers – at the always popular, always fun Literacy Society of North Okanagan Adult Spelling Bee Challenge, held Wednesday, Oct. 16, at the Prestige Vernon Lodge.
The Morning Star was tied with the defending champion Okanagan College Eggheads – the Eggheads and the Queen Beez are the only teams to have ever won the Bee – after three rounds of five words each, 15 words in total.
A three-word tiebreaker was needed – all teams took part – and the Eggheads showed why they always come sunny side up. They got all three tiebreaker words right.
The News Bees – of which all eight team players attended college – alas, got one, that being the word puerile, which means childishly silly or trivial.
The other tiebreaker words were obloquy and Qigong.
"It was another amazing display of spelling super powers from the Okanagan College Eggheads," said Literacy Society executive director Debbie Nurse.
The spelling bee is part of the society's Raise-a-Reader campaign. The goal for 2024 was to reach $75,000.
"We came very close," said Nurse. "Our campaign total as of Oct. 17 is $62,000. A huge thank you to everyone that supported us this year."
One of the 19 teams entered was the THK Dancers, dressed as BarBees, and who performed a spirited routine to the Aqua classic song Barbie Girl.
The Nakashima family sponsored the Okanagan Regional Library The Hive table, and making their spelling bee debut was the BDO Canada BEEan Counters.
The rest of the field included:
• Kal Tire Auto Korrectz;
• RBC Spell Chequers;
• The Queen Beez;
• School District 22 Dream-Beelieve-Achieve;
• The Cross Pollinators;
• Terry's Team;
• None of Your Beeziness;
• Valley First Credit Union - Spells Like Team Spirit;
• ScotiaBank Spellers;
• Nixon Wenger - The Legal Letters;
• Edward Jones Downtown RESP - Really Excellent Spelling People;
• CFUW Vernon - The Buzzwords;
• The Men's Shed Hammer Heads;
• KPMG/Kal Tire Tax Accountants Tax Bees:
• Okanagan Restoration Clean Bees.
"We'd like to thank all of the teams for their participation, and we thank Planet Bee and Prestige Vernon Lodge for their prize donations," said Nurse.
The judges for the event were Debra Bourdages, Linda Wills, and Barbara Bell. Betty Beck was the timer, volunteers included Sheila Easson, Robyn Thurston, and the event photographer was Keith Hustler.
THE WORDS:
ROUND ONE:
1 - predecessor;
2 - auxiliary (among the most misspelled words);
3 - oscillate;
4 - acquiesce;
5 - inveigh;
ROUND TWO:
1 - beignet;
2 - naugahyde;
3 - ceviche;
4 - insouciant (among the most misspelled words);
5 - calisthenics;
ROUND THREE:
1 - Quetzalcoatl;
2 - acetaminophen;
3 - kwashiokor;
4 - autochthones (the only word that stumped every team);
5 - stanchion.
