Actual words from Saturday’s Bee are in bold. How many could you spell, under pressure?
While the spelling bee is a uniquely American tradition, the Adult Spelling Bee on Saturday August 29th at Dingo Dog Brewery seems like a uniquely Carrboro one. Nineteen spellers gathered to compete in a spelling bee that follows the format of the iconic Scripps National Spelling Bee–the spelling bee lasts as many rounds as there are spellers standing, and the words become more formidable as the rounds go on, from “arcade” to “zymurgy”.
This is the second year of the Adult Spelling Bee (adult as in, adult contestants, not as in R-rated) and there were only a few returning contestants from the previous year–others wandered in the day of, having heard about the competition only a few days (or hours) before, whereas others had this planned for weeks. The contestants seemed to be the epitome of Carrboro, two groups of graduate students, some young professionals, and long-time residents. Some self-identified as good spellers, more identified as good sports. Some just love to compete.
Amanda Scherle, doyenne of cake, events manager of Dingo Dog Brewery, and the host and official pronouncer of the Bee, who also partners with Flyleaf Books to host a book fair at the brewery, wrote that the spelling bee, like the book fair, “tap into that sense of nostalgia that folx seem to be craving.”
Erik Myers, the head judge and former head brewer at Dingo Dog, who was appointed to that role mostly because he owns the sound equipment, says that a spelling bee is perfect for the Saturday Carrboro Brewery community. Searching for a word and failing, he says, “We’re all a bunch of nerds,” And a spelling bee is just that–another reminder that we are a community, bringing together PhD candidates and brewers alike with words like “flocculation.”
During the early rounds, the audience was lulled into a false sense of security, all silently spelling along with the contestants, giving a few oohs or gasps at harder words. Seeing people nodding and spelling along, you could tell who grew up in the age of computers based on how they mocked spelling of words, whether it was their choice of facsimile of writing (scribbling or typing in the air). At one point Amanda remarked that she could almost see the “whole thought bubble” over peoples’ heads.
After about six rounds, the beleaguered spellers started dropping off, and by Round 11 there were only three spellers left. At Round 13 the third place speller was knocked out on “capybara,” and the last two spellers went four more rounds, until the second place speller lost on “abattoir,” a word I had never heard before. Consequently, the contestant later told me that in fifth grade he lost on the word “trousseau” which suggests an ongoing tumultuous relationship with words of French origin.
But do not misinterpret a Saturday afternoon spelling bee at a brewery for a purely whimsical affair. There was thrilling drama, the eventual winner was at first eliminated over “acknowledgment,” which has two acceptable spellings. The three anachronistically dressed judges, in top hats and monocles, debated for a minute as to whether or not to allow the querulous challenge (the rules said nothing about challenges) and who’s to say whether a subsequent word the contestant received (“cantankerous”) was random or not.
At the end of the event, Scherle hopes that everyone who participates feels braver and more confident for having stood up and spelled a word. “So many [of us] leave educational institutions with a sense of shame or an idea that ‘I’m just not good at X, Y, or Z so this isn’t for me.” We can play games in public with other adults and just enjoy the experience, whether we go out on our first word or we’re the last speller standing. At the end of the day, let’s drink some drinks, eat some cake, spell some words, and laugh and clap together.”