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September 27. 2012 9:35PM
From left, Stephanie Zinser, Andrew Hatch and Eric Reingold, of team Politically Incorrect from Lotions 'n' Potions/Endicott/True Brew, spell "inaugural" during the Intown Concord 4th Annual Adult Community Spelling Bee Thursday night at the Capitol Center for the Arts. (JOSH GIBNEY/UNION LEADER)
Concord grownups team up at a fundraising spelling bee
From left, Stephanie Zinser, Andrew Hatch and Eric Reingold, of team Politically Incorrect from Lotions 'n' Potions/Endicott/True Brew, spell "inaugural" during the Intown Concord 4th Annual Adult Community Spelling Bee Thursday night at the Capitol Center for the Arts. (JOSH GIBNEY/UNION LEADER)
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CONCORD — Nobody could question of the validity of the word that did in a team of spellers from the office of BCM Environmental and Land Law during Thursday's Adult Spelling Bee hosted by Intown Concord.
But when team member Amy Manzelli spelled “oppugn,” which means to question the truth or validity of something, as A-P-P-U-N-E, the BCM team was the first eliminated during the 4th annual event, in which 20 teams of three spellers each attempted to win the bee.
“Yeah. Not where I want to be,” Manzelli said after her team's elimination in the third round. Final results were not available late Thursday, but three more teams joined BCM on the sidelines after the third round.
Organizers said the event is a fun way for downtown businesses to get together and support Intown Concord.
“We were looking for another fundraising source that involved a community event,” said board member Elizabeth D. McCormack.
She said organizers thought it would be fun to take an event traditionally associated with schoolchildren and put grownups on the spot. Since its inception in 2009, the event has raised about $20,000 for the organization, she said.
This year's Bee took on a political motif, with teams dressed in patriotic colors or as politicians. The team that won best costume, Politically Incorrect, featured Lotions N Potions owner Andrew Hatch dressed as a smarmy Bill Clinton, True Brew owner Stephanie Zinser dressed as Monica Lewinsky in the infamous blue dress and Eric Feingold of Endicott Furniture dressed as a Cuban cigar.
“We have no chance of winning the Bee,” said Zinser, whose team survived the third round only because of a “mulligan” it received for winning the best costume award. “That's why we go for the costume award.”
The panel of judges even featured a political angle, with Republican City Councilor Dan St. Hilaire, Democrat City Councilor and state Rep. Stephen Shurtleff and “apolitical” City Manager Thomas J. Aspell Jr. serving as judges. The first round of spelling featured political terms, including endorsement, redistribution and the famous non-word uttered by former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin: “refudiate.”
Then the words started to get harder. After BCM bowed out, a team from the Concord Monitor failed to spell “sylph.”
Tim Buckland may be reached at tbuckland@unionleader.com.
But when team member Amy Manzelli spelled “oppugn,” which means to question the truth or validity of something, as A-P-P-U-N-E, the BCM team was the first eliminated during the 4th annual event, in which 20 teams of three spellers each attempted to win the bee.
“Yeah. Not where I want to be,” Manzelli said after her team's elimination in the third round. Final results were not available late Thursday, but three more teams joined BCM on the sidelines after the third round.
Organizers said the event is a fun way for downtown businesses to get together and support Intown Concord.
“We were looking for another fundraising source that involved a community event,” said board member Elizabeth D. McCormack.
She said organizers thought it would be fun to take an event traditionally associated with schoolchildren and put grownups on the spot. Since its inception in 2009, the event has raised about $20,000 for the organization, she said.
This year's Bee took on a political motif, with teams dressed in patriotic colors or as politicians. The team that won best costume, Politically Incorrect, featured Lotions N Potions owner Andrew Hatch dressed as a smarmy Bill Clinton, True Brew owner Stephanie Zinser dressed as Monica Lewinsky in the infamous blue dress and Eric Feingold of Endicott Furniture dressed as a Cuban cigar.
“We have no chance of winning the Bee,” said Zinser, whose team survived the third round only because of a “mulligan” it received for winning the best costume award. “That's why we go for the costume award.”
The panel of judges even featured a political angle, with Republican City Councilor Dan St. Hilaire, Democrat City Councilor and state Rep. Stephen Shurtleff and “apolitical” City Manager Thomas J. Aspell Jr. serving as judges. The first round of spelling featured political terms, including endorsement, redistribution and the famous non-word uttered by former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin: “refudiate.”
Then the words started to get harder. After BCM bowed out, a team from the Concord Monitor failed to spell “sylph.”
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Tim Buckland may be reached at tbuckland@unionleader.com.
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