When the days are short and cold in January, the Friends of the Ponca Carnegie Library plan to warm up the community with a new version of the old-fashioned spelling bee. Scheduled for January 31 in the High School Fine Arts Center at 2:00 pm, the spelling bee is designed to raise money for the programs of the Ponca Carnegie Library.
The spelling bee is the brainchild of Melissa Ruhrer who is in charge of making everything work, with a lot of help from Friends of the Library. Teams will compete against each other for fun prizes while earning money for the Ponca Carnegie Library. Special awards will be given to teams for Most Original Team Name, Most Team Spirit, Team with Highest/Lowest Combined Age and Best Costumes.
According to Ruhrer, “We’re looking for teams of three people made up of teachers, parents, high school students, community members, local officials, and area businesses. The more teams, the more fun for this event we are calling Spellapalooza.”
Heather Craig-Oldsen, president of Friends of the Library states, “There should be something for everyone at the community event. For those who don’t want to try their hand at competitive spelling, all the teams will need cheering sections. It’s mostly about having fun. The registration fee is $25, so there may be some non-spellers out there who would be happier sponsoring a team.”
The Friends of the Library group will use funds for several upcoming projects, including providing books to young children in Ponca to encourage early reading.