Farmington Spelling Bee Creates Buzz in Town

The Farmington Public Schools Foundation's first adult spelling bee was "fun," "unique" and "a blast," participants said Saturday night at Porter Memorial.

Looking for a different way to raise money for the nonprofit's grant program, the foundation's board of directors decided to give the adult spelling bee a try. The program provides funding for teachers to bring innovative ideas to the classroom.

"We didn't want another wine tasting or another dinner dance. This is fun and different," said Heidi Steir, a member of the event committee.

The fundraiser got the support of 230 members of the community, with teams from the Town Council, Board of Education (two, divided by gender), teachers, administrators and parents, as well as the anchors at Fox 61.

As participants planned out their last-minute strategies for the bee and enjoyed dinner courtesy of the Flaggstead Smokehouse, many marveled at the turnout.

"It just goes to show you how important education is in this town. They originally asked for 100 people and they got 230," said AmyBeth Wahl, of the West District PTO.

"This has been beyond our expectations," said foundation Chairman Lori Brantner in opening the event.

The words, chosen by Steir after three days with a dictionary, were read by Master of Ceremonies, Gino Moncada, owner of the Gallery Salon. Judges were Alicia Bowman, West Woods Upper Elementary School president, Vida Lashgari, assistant director of children's services at the Farmington Library and Mary Grace Reed, chairman of the Board of Education. Keeping time by banging on a gong was Doug Clark, interim pastor of First Church of Christ Congregational in Farmington.

Though all the teams got through several rounds against words like 'factious' and 'obsequious' a team of Noah Wallace-related spellers calling themselves The Raiders of Noah's Ark took home the trophy. The team was made up of Jamie Perry, Sarah Torrence and Suzanne Nord.

The evening was sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors, with cocktails sponored by the Reach Foundation and Crazy Bruce. Dozens of faculty, residents and local businesses also donated items for a silent auction.

For more information about the Farmington Public Schools Foundation, visit its website. And check out our photo gallery to see the scene.

Correction: Please note, Gina Fleming, on The Raiders of Noah's Ark, was unable to attend last night. Suzanne Nord took her place and helped lead the team to victory.