Local celebrities flex their mental muscles at Read to Succeed’s 2007 Rebecca Jones Celebrity Spelling Bee at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27 in the Patterson Park Community Center Theater.
“All of this is about encouraging our young people to read and enjoy reading …” Rutherford County Mayor and celebrity speller Ernest Burgess said. “We just want to support this and show that reading is fundamental to learning and having a successful life.”
Burgess and Bee Mistress of Ceremonies Shelia Bratton will be joined by Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg and Rep. John Hood, as well Rutherford County Schools Director Harry Gill and other local celebrities.
“If these folks are willing to publicly spell, (then) literacy must be important,” Ronni Shaw, Read to Succeed executive director, said.
The celebrities are scheduled to spelling for one hour, unless a winner is crowned in a shorter time. The winner receives an engraved Rebecca Jones Celebrity Bee Trophy.
Spellers, like Burgess, are relieved to know words start out at an easy third-grade level and advance up to an eight-grade level. Also, celebrities will be asked to spell words related to their chosen field, as in, Burgess may be asked to spell, “Rutherford.”
Also RCA recording artist Chris Young will perform before and after the bee.
“Our goal is to foster an awareness of the importance of reading in Rutherford County and raise operating funds for Read to Succeed,” Shaw said.
Tickets are available for $75 to invited guests. But sponsorships for celebrity spellers are available at www.readtosucceed.org.
Michelle Willard can be contacted at 869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.
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