Congratulations to the South Simcoe Arts Council Wordsmiths!

The following article appeared in the Briar Crier, May issue, written by Michelle Dinnick:

On April 8th, many of us gathered at The Club at Bond Head to support The Next Step’s principal fundraiser, the Grate Groan-Up Spelling Bee!

The South Simcoe Arts Council Wordsmiths once again put a team together; this year, we were the Artful Spellerz! June Chambers, who designed our unique Rebus costumes, and Isolde Ryan, who had our shirts made, also joined in the fun!

Representing the Wordsmiths, were, (in alphabetical order), myself, Michelle Dinnick; (the short one on the right) Charlene Ryan, centre, and Mary Penner; on the left. Apparently, I didn’t get the memo to wear high heels.
We were joined by other members of the Wordsmiths, Joyce Ernyes, author of Letters from Sugar; and J.C Kavanagh, author of award winning novel The Twisted Climb; whose donation to the silent auction was the privilege of having a character named after the highest bidder in her sequel, which she is currently working on.

We distributed a small piece of paper with a “clue” to our costume: a definition of a rebus, and a hint at what ours meant. June’s creativity knows no bounds!
A rebus is a puzzle that is composed of combinations of pictures, symbols, letters and numbers, that represent a word or a phrase.
Google’s example, for the word APEX, is a picture of an ape, beside the letter X.
Can you guess the meaning of our Rebus?
I’ll give you two more clues: It’s four words, and it’s a hint to help with spelling. (The answer is at the end.)

A total of thirteen groups competed this year, which included teams such as “The Bookaneers”, “Esso Bees”, (say it quickly); “Bee me Up Scotty”, and “Brides to Bee”, who even graciously handed out a wedding bomboniere to each table.

Author Terry Fallis attended this year, and actually auctioned himself “off” to the highest bidder, to join their table for dinner! Terry, who has twice won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, and already has five national best sellers, has his sixth novel, One Brother Shy coming out this May.

Our team made it ¾ of the way through the Bee this year, ending our spelling journey this time with the word ‘pellucid’. We spelled it with only one L. This year’s winners were Beauty & the Bees, for Best Spellers and Best Costumes. Prizes were also awarded for 2nd and 3rd place; most team spirit, most pledges raised, and for the play-along winner. Congratulations, everyone!

We, the Artful Spellerz, would like to thank our sponsors, C.D. Laing Aggregate Management Services; June Chambers, Isolde Ryan, and all of the Wordsmiths; everyone at the SSAC, and everyone at Next Step!
We would also like to thank the kind folks who loaned us black fedoras and long black gloves.

As serious as spelling is, The Next Step obviously knows how to put the FUN in fundraiser! And “bee-tween” you and I; I think the words were a tad more difficult this year!

Our Rebus: “Watch for silent e’s”