BUCKLAND — There must be some truth to the benefits of coffee-drinking, because the Spelling Beans (sponsored by Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters) out-spelled 23 teams at this year’s Mary Lyon Foundation Community Spelling Bee, coming down the home stretch on the word “omphaloskepsis.”
This is the fourth time the Beans have roasted their competition in the annual spelling bee; but the real winner of Thursday night’s event are West County educational programs that receive mini-grants from the Mary Lyon Education Foundation. The spelling bee exceeded its $7,000 goal, bringing in $7,331 for education.
“It was a wonderful night,” said Mary Lyon Foundation co-director Sue Samioriski. We couldn’t have done it without the help of all the volunteers.”
Omphaloskepsis is the practice of navel-gazing, as a meditation aid, according to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary. Spelling Bean member and Coffee Roasters co-owner Curtis Rich said he looked it up after winning the contest.
“I always thought (navel-gazing) was a way of making fun of someone — but that is a real, known practice,” said Rich, whose team members included David Henry and Kathy Lytle. “There were some tough words last night,” he added.
When asked if his team practices, Rich said he will open a dictionary on the afternoon before the bee, to “get refreshed on unusual words.”
“Then we go in there and wing it,” he said. “There’s a lot of luck involved. That was a humdinger of a word,” he added. “It was a lot of fun.”
Besides the spelling contest, the teams come dressed in costume. The team winning “best costume” this year was “Team LED,” with Mohawk Principal Lynn Dole, Emily Willis and Drue Johnson. The team was sponsored by VALIC Finance Advisors Inc.
Teams that won their respective spelling rounds were:
Round 1 — Artful Bees or Not, Nancy Baker, Denny Baker and Cheryl Denton, sponsored by Shelburne Arts Co-op.
Round 2 — Spelling Beans.
Round 3 — Mohawk National Honor Society, Mary Monohan, Luke Viens, Dawson Clark, sponsored by Baker’s Pharmacy.
Round 4 — Robert (very) Strong WoodWORD, Whip Withington, Janice Sorenson and Michael Hoberman, sponsored by the Friends of Robert Strong Woodward.