20 Teams to Compete in the Scarsdale Library Spelling Bee Friday Night

Will there be a spelling bee or “Family Feud” at the Scarsdale High School auditorium on January 27th at 7:30pm? At the second annual Friends of the Scarsdale Library Spelling Bee, some husbands will compete with their wives; others will compete against their wives! A mother will compete against her daughter, and three generations of Guggenheimers will return to compete as a team.

Yale junior Marcus Moretti is competing once again with his uncle Jon Ungar, joined this year by family friend David Scinto. “Last year, we were the ‘Wanna Bees.’” said Moretti. “This year, we're the ‘Gonna Bees.’ We've changed our name because we've changed our game. We're going to win.”

Twenty teams are competing for the title of Scarsdale Spelling Champion, and competition will be stiff! Rumor has it that the Friends of the Scarsdale Park team will be wearing the most creative costumes.

Contestants will range from 9th graders to Esther Sloan, the Bee’s most senior contestant at age 81. Esther filled in at the last minute at the 2011 Spelling Bee and took her team into the final round. She and her teammates Lucas Meyer and Ian Weston are returning this year to vie for the grand prize. Sloan attributes her strong vocabulary to the many hours she spent reading at the library as a child.

Audience members will be entertained by trivia quizzes, music, refreshments, a raffle, and emcee Ed Coleman, the radio voice of the New York Mets. Admission is $5 per person.

NY State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin is returning as one of the judges, joined by Scarsdale Mayor Miriam Levitt Flisser and Jamie Tanzer of the Library Teen Advisory Board.

Thomson Reuters is the “Platinum Sponsor” this year. The “Diamond Sponsors” include Houlihan Lawrence, Paul Hastings LLP, Bradford and Phyllis Perkins, and Rick and Sara Werder. For more information and a complete list of the contestants, visit the Friends of the Library website (www.scarsdalelibrary.org/friends/spellingbee/html). February 3rd is the snow date.

Raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 per ticket or $20 for 5 tickets.

Here is a list of the raffle prizes:

• 8 week SAT prep course and all materials (value $1,995) donated by Testtakers
• 32 GB iPod Touch (value $300)
• Monster Beats Headphones by Dr Dre (value $300)
• Diane James silk flower arrangement (value $230)
• Evening bag with bee (value $165) donated by Tracey Novick/ Ah!Dorned
• Five classes at SoulCycle (value $160)
• Basket of Lindt chocolates (value $100)
• Basket of children’s games (value $100)
• Bee Bookends and “History of Scarsdale" by Helen Hultz (value: priceless!)
• Scarsdale Skin Care facial (value $90)
• Picnic backpack with a bottle of wine (value $75)