Runner-up Hopeful for Redemption at Grown-up Spelling Bee in Lancaster

It was just me and Danny Grzywacz on the stage in the multipurpose room at T.E.C. Everyone else was out. Done. Kaput!

They either botched a word or did not properly state it before and after the spelling–that one always gets people, that and ‘i’ before ‘e.’ Either way, it was the two of us, a pair of Pocono kids with difficult-to-spell last names, so perhaps we had an advantage. (Danny, more so.)

The man gave me my word. I took my stab. Easy!

“Banjo. B-A-N-G-O. Banjo.”

No sooner to the last “jo” come out of my mouth did I realize a silly, “spell-it-with-me-kids!” childhood song popped into my head in that exact moment. It was rhythmic muscle memory.

Loser was my name O.

* * *

And now, today, I hope to redeem myself at The Triangle’s Grown-up Spelling Bee. This letter-filled event is a fundraiser for this local literary organization and a new local literary magazine Third Point. The word list, I’m told, will be filled with local-flavored things like Yuengling. This morning, I looked at some maps and lists of local companies to get a feel for what challenges await me, starting at 3 p.m. at Tellus 360.

I’m excited to share the stage with some friends and colleagues, too! Jenny Hill (of Acts of Jennius and writer and maker of many things), Jason Mundock (who makes music and makes things in Lancaster sound good) and Jesse Waters (who brings lit and creativity to Elizabethtown College’s Bowers Writers House and writes stuff too) to name a few. I’m excited to support the Triangle and the amazing people behind it: Tyler Barton and Erin Dorney. (Kind souls who also are supporting me, with Hippocampus Magazine’s HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction, because they just love all things lit and local.)

The least I can do is botch “S-M-O-R-E-G-I-S-S-B-O-R-E-D”* in front of a few friendly folks.

I even have the perfect item to wear, which I will reveal here, on the blog, post-event as I don’t want to give it away. It’s a top I haven’t worn in five years and it’s a little tight, but I will take the shame and embarrassment for the sake of a silly shirt. Just as long as you’re laughing at said shirt and not the roll protruding from under it.

*Misspelling highly exaggerated for emphasis. Or was it?