The first “celebrity” speller in Psi Iota Xi’s annual Komedy Spelling Bea slipped up on the word “banana.”
Jennifer Richardson added an extra “n.” She had to take a seat with an orange “Dunce” sign to wait for others to join her.
A colorful cast of characters soon would, as one by one, the adult contestants tried to spell words from the third, sixth and eighth-grade levels — and failed.
The “bea” is an annual fundraiser for the philanthropic sorority’s educational and charitable programs. Spellers were encouraged to dress up and bring a character to life on the stage.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Brown County Junior High School teacher Amy Oliver — dressed as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — joined Richardson after the second round. Oliver misspelled “artillery,” a sixth-grade word.
Ken Gindling, dressed as a pirate, followed her, misspelling “oracle.” Cindy Grant, as a Hawaiian princess, joined the other three after not spelling “discreetly” correctly.
The top three spellers were Career Resource Center of Brown County Director Christy Wrightsman, Brown County High School library assistant Brandi Ireland, and BCHS student Chloee Robison, a veteran of the Scripps Howard national spelling bee.
Wrightsman won by spelling “kaleidoscope” correctly. Ireland went out on “malfeasance.” Robison was eliminated after misspelling “gubernatorial.”
Wrightsman, dressed up as a “worrywart” teacher, received a traveling wooden bee as her prize.
The evening also included the annual Celebrity Chili Cookoff. Jim Oliver was named the winner for collecting the most donations. Diners were able to vote for their favorite chili by making donations to Psi Iota Xi.
All proceeds from the evening will benefit Brown County scholarships and local music, art, literature and speech and hearing needs.
