In a field of 11 teams, Kendalites Carol Monteleoni, Mike Kornfield, and Philip Monteleoni—as team Ten Thousand Words—battled word by word, letter by letter, for the championship of the Irvington Spelling Bee. Words like scyntilla, efflorescence, quixotic, and pulchritude. They made it to the sudden-death final round with three other teams. One by one the others fell. The final two: Ten Thousand Words vs Reservoir Dogs. They fought it out until the word list was exhausted. Gone. Finished. The Bee leader scrounged for more words, finally coming up with the last one: kakistocracy: “government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state.” And the Ten Thousand Words team won! Our heroes left the stage victorious, with Kendal pride justifiably intact. You could say that got an A in Bee.
And if you’d like to see The Hudson Independent article on the Bee, click here.
The KoH Team
The First Round (yes, there were costumed teams—here you see the Spell-quins) Photo by Amanda Slattery
The Final Round: Ten Thousand Words vs Reservoir Dogs—the tension is at its peak! Photo by Ed Lannert
And the winners are: Ten Thousand Words! And the audience jumps to its feet to applause. (Please note the charming bee-bedecked children who served as helpers in distributing prizes.) Photos by Amanda Slattery.
Kendal’s Pride and Joy—and the word that took them over the top (also, a young lady clearly enthusiastic to meet real celebrities). Photo by Ed Lannert