Grown-up spelling bee

The Houston Center for Literacy celebrated its silver anniversary in February with a grown-up spelling bee at White Oak Music Hall. More than a dozen teams of two competed in the bee, which followed many of the National Spelling Bee rules, and utilized words from the national competition lists. Lisa Malosky, sports anchor at KPRC TV2 and co-host of the original American Gladiators, was “Head Mistress” for the evening, and the Spelling Bee Panel included Linda Marshall, Ruben Dominguez and Amy Johnston. After many rounds of words spelled, Joe Herman and Boran Buturovic – wearing the team banner “Can U Use It In A Tweet Plz?” – won the competition as well as Best Team Name. The winning word was “bouleversement,” meaning reversal or upheaval. It was the second win for this team, which also won the Bee in 2015. Pictured (from left) are HCL board chair Leisa Holland-Nelson, 25th Annual Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee chair Mark Sullivan, HCL president and CEO Sheri Suarez Foreman and “Head Mistress” Lisa Malosky.

Editor’s note: The Buzz congratulates Buzz About Town columnist Annie Blaylock McQueen on the arrival of her beautiful baby Georgia. Annie took a short break to spend time with Georgia and twin toddlers Cash and Lila and will return to the Buzz About Town column in May. In the meantime, associate editor Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld handled this column. As usual, please send your high-res photos and community news to [email protected] or 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401. Items are published on a space-available basis.