Teams compete in Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee

If one were to enter the Buskirk-Chumley Theater Thursday at around 5 p.m., one could expect to see a few familiar characters such as Elvis Presley and members of AC/DC sitting on stage in multiple rows of chairs attempting to spell words such as “osteomyelitis” and “paulownia.”

If that description doesn’t spell it out, the Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee, a popular event at the BCT, is the correct answer.

The event allows three-person teams from local businesses and civic groups dressed in their best costume theme to come together and sound it out for a worthy cause — all proceeds benefiting the county’s educational programs.

Cyrilla Helm, executive director of the Foundation of Monroe County Community Schools, said the event fulfilled its purpose of supporting education.

“We’re here to raise money for the children and for education, so that’s just the cause that we support, and we think that it’s just really powerful to wrap in a part of education, which is spelling and literacy, back into our fundraising so people can actually see that it’s all connected,” Helm said.

The evening’s winning team, the Super Grovers, hailed from the local public broadcasting station WTIU/WFIU.

Holly Thrasher, a colleague working in membership for the station, said the Sesame Street character tribute was an easy team name because of its affiliation with the WTIU broadcast network.

“It came from WTIU public television and that everybody kind of recognizes the Grover name,” Thrasher said. “People can rally behind it.”

Donning a blue shirt and silky hot pink cape to match the famous furry friend, Thrasher said she hadn’t competed in a spelling bee for at least 25 years and enjoyed reminiscing on her elementary school days.

“It was fun to revisit something that I’ve always had a fond memory of,” Thrasher said. “And, I have really smart, fun colleagues, so it was a great time.”

In terms of strategizing for the event, Thrasher said her team was made aware of the difficulty of the words beforehand and was highly advised to ask for definitions before spelling the word.

“If we revisit this [event] next year, that will probably be our same strategy,” Thrasher said.

Along with having a game plan the day of the event, Thrasher said her team members prepared for the bee as much as they could during a hectic time for public broadcasting.

“I’ve kind of been thrown into this because it’s been a really busy time for public broadcasting,” Thrasher said. “So, I haven’t had much time to prepare at all, but this was my first time doing this event and my two other teammates have done it before, so they knew what to expect because it was very new to me.”

Next to prior experience and serious spelling skills, the Super Grovers secured their win with a Rock Paper Scissors showdown after both teams were unsuccessful in spelling the last few words.

Regardless, it seemed the main point of the evening was not to identify a spelling champ but to support the Monroe County School Corporation.

“I thought the event went great,” Helm said. “I think we may have made the words just a touch too hard, and there were a lot of people out in round two, which is unfortunate, but that’s the way it happens sometimes.”

Follow reporter Olivia Williams on Twitter @obwillia.