The Beebops, the Spell Chicks, The Library Trust-Bees and seventeen other teams competed in the first annual Friends of the Scarsdale Library Adult and Teen Spelling Bee on January 28th in the Scarsdale High School Auditorium.
The Bee was held to benefit the technology upgrade in the community room of the Scarsdale Library. Enough funds were raised to install hard wired-internet access and wifi in the Scott Room, plus some additional items. Ed Coleman (radio voice of the Mets) was the humorous emcee of the event, and the panel of judges included New York State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, Mayor
The Bee competition started with a first round of eliminations. There were three people per team, and each group of teams in the first round was titled Swarms A, B, C, and D. The winning team from each swarm then competed in the finals. The first word of the Bee, Lightning, didn't stump one team, but as the Bee progressed more challenging words knocked teams out. Words that slipped up many teams included carburetor, potpourri, and auxiliary. Proving even more challenging were tricky words like vichyssoise, and pismire. There were also a few comedic words thrown in including nincompoop, which definitely had the audience laughing.
The Bee champions were "To Bee or Not to Bee,” comprised of Bill Roberts, Columbia freshman Zohaib Chida, and Pam Margand. Each member of the winning team received a Kindle, donated by Prudential Centennial Realty. Zohaib’s father Junaid Chida was on a rival team (the Colonials).
The first runner-up team was the Spell Chicks: Library Director Beth Bermel, Head Reference Librarian Jennifer Friedman, and Library Business Manager Roberta Stein-Ham.
The Trigens team (which made the final round) was composed of Randy Guggenheimer, Jr, his son Randy Guggenheimer III, and his grandson, Scarsdale High School senior Brian Guggenheimer.
The oldest participant was Esther Sloan, age 81. She was on the Hip to Be Square team (which made the final round) with Lucas Meyer and Ian Wilson.
The Wanna Bee team was Yale freshman Marcus Moretti and his uncles Dan Moretti and Jon Unger. The Wanna Bees received a special “Nick of Time” award since Marcus was unable to get a cab to the train station, had to take a later train, and arrived at the bee just in time to go on stage.
Incoming Mayor Miriam Flisser and her husband Harvey sponsored one of the teen teams (Spellcasters, aka "Teem" Miriam).
If you would like to donate send checks payable to “Friends of the Scarsdale Library” to “Scott Room Fundraiser, Friends Treasurer, 54 Olmsted Road, Scarsdale NY 10583.” Funds were raised from sponsors, the $150 team entry fee, the $5 admissions fee, food and raffle sales, and individual donors.
Event sponsors
Platinum Level $2,500: Anonymous
Diamond Level $1,000
- Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP
- Brad and Phyllis Perkins
- Sara and Richard Werder
Gold Level $500
- Coldwell Banker
- Country Bank
- Houlihan Lawrence
- Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s international Realty
- Scarsdale Improvement Corporation
- Sylvan Learning Center
Pictured at Top: All of the Spelling Bee Finalists
Photos and Text by Sunny Feinstein
What was it like to be a child in revolutionary Cuba? Or to be an 11-year old orphan in America in the early 1960s? On February 1, National Book Award Winner and Yale Professor Carlos Eire will speak about these experiences in the Scarsdale Library Scott Room. The event begins at 7:30 PM and is open to the public.
On Friday, January 28th at 7:30pm, Scarsdalians of all ages will swarm to the Scarsdale High School auditorium to join in an evening of old-fashioned fun at the Friends of the Scarsdale Library’s first annual Adult and Teen Spelling Bee. Twenty teams have signed up to compete. Admission is only $5 per person. Audience members will be entertained with music, refreshments, word and trivia games, raffles and prizes. The Friends may even pick a Spelling Bee team from the audience! Each member of the winning team will receive a Kindle, donated by Prudential Centennial Realty. Sports broadcaster and radio voice of the Mets Ed Coleman will serve as emcee.
Phillip V.G. Wallace, author of Chasing the Cobra and Call of the Sea, will give a presentation at the Scarsdale Public Library on January 19th at 8:00pm in the Scott Room.
