Contestants have a way with words at adult spelling bee
Mar. 12—MARIETTA — The smell of beer and popcorn permeated the Strand Theatre as the boisterous crowd settled in for the evening's entertainment.
A voice boomed overhead as lights flickered on and off, creating dancing shadow-apparitions on the walls of the Strand's art-deco interior.
It was time for the crowd to quiet down so the costume-clad performers could make their introduction.
So began the Sixth Annual Adult Spelling Bee, a fundraiser for the Cobb branch of Communities in School, a school dropout prevention and intervention organization that offers resources to students in need.
Each team burst out from behind curtains to music blaring and roars from the crowd, running up one aisle and down the other, slapping hands with the audience before jumping on stage to find their seats.
"The purpose of the event is to raise money for this organization and have a good time," said Natalie Rutledge, executive director of Communities in Schools of Marietta and Cobb. "It's like Christmas and Halloween in one."
By scanning a QR code from the event's program, audience members could participate by donating money throughout the show. People could vote for at least $1 each time to support their favorite group, or they could buy a team back into the contest for $150 if a word was spelled incorrectly.
The crowd, as well as the contestants, were fired-up throughout the night.
As each team rose from their seats and approached the mic, dancing and singing would inevitably ensue before a spelling attempt was made.
Announcers Tom Heyer and Allan Bishop would sometimes fumble while trying to pronounce the words in a sentence. At one point, Austell Police Chief Scott Hamilton of Team "Nerd Mob" sauntered over to the table for clarification of a word and a bit of intimidation.
A few of the words used in the game were hieroglyphics, unanimous, surveillance, reveille, plagiarism, licentious, pusillanimous, punctilious and pulchritude.
Dressed as Disney princesses Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel, the "Once Upon A Time" team — Joy Doss, Bobby Johnson and Matt Giddens — received the most votes as the fan favorite, raising more than $3,000.
Near the end of the program, Rutledge took the stage to inform the crowd that they were only $5,000 from the goal of raising $75,000. The hype man, John Loud of Loud Security Systems, urged the crowd to donate and reach the goal before allowing Rutledge to leave the stage.
Donation updates were projected on the screen until the goal was met. By the end of the night, just over $85,000 was raised.
As 10 p.m. approached, with many audience members squirming in seats in need of a bathroom break, Bishop urged the contestants to speed up the process and let the evening end.
"I have to tinkle," he said.
Team "Bee-g Bang Theory," comprised of Raymond Goslow, Michael Miller and Andy Tatnall, spelled the final word — incunabulum — correctly and received trophies for winning the big event.
Laura Chastain, a nurse from Kennesaw, came out to support the "Nerd Mob" team of Hamilton, Kennesaw Police Chief Bill Westenberger and Acworth Police Chief Jesse Evans.
"What a fun way to raise money for the kids in the community," Chastain said.
Rutledge was extremely pleased with how the evening turned out.
"It exceeds all expectations every year," she said. The volunteers and talent amazes me. It felt great, the excitement in the room and being part of a great organization. It was just an awesome night!"
