went down in a spelling bee on the first round
An all-in-one spelling bee / reunion story ...
In sixth grade I was a frequent winner in our weekly spelling bees. But one week, I and everyone else were stumped in an early round on "chili" -- except for the last girl standing, who had never won before and spelled "chili" correctly. It was a proud moment for her, and when I saw her at our first reunion 36 years later, I asked her if she remembered winning a spelling bee in sixth grade. "Yes, I remember," she said, adding, "I spelled 'chili'." Amazing that both a winner and a loser remembered the word after so many years.
The prize for winning the spelling bee was a Hershey candy bar, and the teacher would often give one of us boys a nickel to hike down to a small grocery store two blocks away and purchase the candy. In the fall when my feet were toughened by a summer without shoes, I very well may have walked to the store barefooted. That was 1954 in a small town and a different era.
I would agree that a reunion of a small class likely would be a more meaningful experience than a very large class. Mine had the added advantage of being in a stable time with so many of us going thru all 12 grades together, making it more like a family reunion. |
