On May 6, 2005 in the King Landing Park's Patuxent Hall, The BAA-ad Girls of the Weaver's Guild spelling team, sponsored by Bayside Chevrolet, correctly spelled "c-h-i-n-o-i-s-e-r-i-e" to knock out The Letterheads, sponsored by Second Looks Books, and to earn them the traveling trophy for the 2005 BEE for Literacy. The BEE-attitudes of St. Nicholas Lutheran Church ended in fourth place after holding the trophy for two years running.

The ninth annual adult spelling bee is the main fundraising event held by the Calvert County Literacy Council. Funds to support the free one-on-one tutoring programs came from the event sponsorships, Mercantile Southern Maryland Bank and Marrick Construction, and from the team sponsorships. A silent auction featuring donated gift baskets, sports memorabilia, and artwork added to the event.

Unlike the National Spelling BEE, The BEE for Literacy has adult teams comprised of three spellers each. Contenders spell as a team and use paper and pencil to jot down their guesses before spelling the word. This year there were 13 teams with 13 different sponsors. Besides the BAA-ad Girls and the Letterheads, there were The Queen Bees sponsored by Advance Health Info Management, The Bee-atitiudes sponsored by St. Nicholas Lutheran Church, The Spell-checks sponsored by Calvert County Public Schools, The Scarlet Ladies sponsored by Jeff Quesenberry of Edward Jones, The Red Hat Mamas sponsored by Springfield Mechanical, The To BEEs or Not To BEEs sponsored by Deb Adair, The Friendly BEEs sponsored by The Friends of the Calvert Library, The Dewey Deci-belles sponsored by John and Pat Hofmann, The Capital Stingers sponsored by Mercantile Southern Maryland Bank, The Saints Alive! Spellers sponsored by All Saints Episcopal Church, and Kullen for Calvert sponsored by Delegate Sue Kullen. The Best Costume Award went to the Queen BEEs, first time participants who went on to place third in the spelling.

The evening began with an hour of soft jazz music provided by the three piece jazz ensemble, Feet for Hands, made up of St. Mary's College students. Special thanks were given to Delegate Sue Kullen, the honorary chairman, and to the Mercantile Southern Maryland Bank, the Gold Sponsor. Also, special recognition gifts were presented to Martha Grahame for her generosity and support to the Literacy Council and to Patsy Haynie for her many years of commitment as a staff member. A large silent auction was on-going as was the delicious spread of light foods, snacks and desserts. Spellers and spectators left the evening with Mother's Day gifts, artwork, sports memorabilia and door prizes in hand.

The evening was a lively affair and is becoming a Calvert County spring tradition that is well attended year after year. If words like netsuke, decollate, aidant, and koinonia, don't intimidate you, then consider joining a spelling team next year. The Calvert County Literacy Council is always looking for new teams and spellers for the BEE.

More importantly, if you want to learn more about their adult literacy programs for yourself or someone you know, call the office at 410-535-3233 or e-mail them at calvertliteracy@somd.lib.md.us. They also offer tutor training workshops several times a year for interested volunteers.