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Library team nabs spelling bee
Adult competition a literacy fundraiser
Spelling bee 1
The Blonde Bombspells, from left, Donna Brinson, Joanne Tolleson and Sara Harrison, compete during Spell Check Live! 2010 on Monday at the Cumming Playhouse. - photo by Jim Dean
It all came down to a Medieval fiddle and an Egyptian rock.The Library Lexicons spelled “gigue,” the fiddle, and “porphyry,” the rock, to take the win Monday during Spell Check Live! 2010, a fundraiser for Literacy Forsyth.The nonprofit promotes adult literacy in the county by providing free tutoring for low-level and non-reading adults, free English and GED classes and practice exams.During the seventh annual adult spelling bee, nine three-person teams faced tricky words most people have probably never heard of to compete for the coveted title at the Cumming Playhouse.Wordsmith Gay Hammond, a self-proclaimed philologist, or literary expert, offered up 57 words to the talented teams. Each received one mulligan in exchange for a $100 donation to Literacy Forsyth.The words came primarily from the classic book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and words misspelled in previous competitions.Some words resulting in team eliminations included “fulgurate,” “bibliopegy” and “hircine,” a word meaning “goat-like,” which has stumped teams for seven years now.The defending champions, the Blonde Bombspells of Lanier Technical College, were knocked out in the fourth round after attempting to spell “nauplius,” a type of shellfish.The Library Lexicons defeated the Justice League — made up of Superior Court Judge Jeffery Bagley, District Attorney Penny Penn and lawyer Renee Welch — in the tough spat for the top spot.“I think this is a record,” Hammond said.