• Teams of up to 4 members will play for an entrance fee of $250.
• The cover charge (a great date night) will be $10/person in advance (by Tuesday, 02-13-2024).
• No help from the audience is allowed.
• Trophy - Your Team name and members' names are engraved on a plaque attached to the trophy. When you win, you have the trophy to display for the year until someone else wins! Of course, this could be you!
• There will be a cash bar, appetizers, raffles, 50/50, a silent auction
• Guaranteed lots of laughter!

COULD YOUR TEAM BE THE 2025 SPELLING BEE CHAMPIONS OF HORRY COUNTY, SC? HERE ARE THE RULES:

PRELIMINARY ROUNDS

• Each team will have 30 seconds to spell its word by writing it on the white board distributed to each team.
• Each team will select one member to write the team’s spelling of the word on the board provided. Please print clearly, neatly and as large as possible. Several versions may be written; it is the team’s responsibility to scratch through or erase the misspelled words, leaving only one version to be judged.
• All teams must immediately stop writing when the timer is sounded and the MC directs the team to show its spelled word.

TEAM ELIMINATION

• Any team that does not hold up its board when the judges call for time will be considered as a misspelling of the word. Any team continuing to write after time is called or attempting to change the word as written on the whiteboard will be counted as misspelling a word. If the word is illegible or if letters are ambiguous, the word will be treated as misspelled. If the team erases the board before the judge(s) give the directive will be considered as misspelling the word.
• Judges will determine which team has spelled correctly. If you have spelled the word correctly and the judges notify you of this you may erase and prepare for the next word.
• If you have spelled the word incorrectly, your team is either eliminated or must use a Second Chance to remain in contention.
• Each round is over when all teams have had an opportunity to spell a word and there are still at least two teams left. Eliminated teams may throw their (vocal) support behind another team but may not help with spelling words.

FINAL ROUND - Elimination

• When the competition only has two teams remaining, the elimination procedure changes.
• If one team misspells a word, the other team will have a chance to spell the same word.
• If the second team spells it correctly, plus the next word on the judges’ list, the Bee is over and the second team wins.
• If the second team misspells the original word or the second word they are given, it gets bounced back to the first team.
• If the first team spells that word correctly, they will then be given another word to spell. If they spell that word correctly, the Bee is over and the first team wins.
• If the first team spells that word incorrectly, the cycle continues.
• A round is complete when
  • both teams spell a word incorrectly or
  • one team wins the competition by spelling two words correctly.
• If this back-and-forth spelling duel goes on for three rounds without a winner declared:
  • The judges will give the two remaining teams a test of five words to be written.
  • Teams will have two minutes to submit their written spellings of all five words.
  • The team spelling the most words correctly will be declared the WINNER!
• If this still results in a tie, then the judges will come up with an appropriate task at the time to complete to win.

VOTING FOR BEST NAME/COSTUME

Judges, the MC/word caller, and Palmetto Literacy Council members who are in attendance of the event will cast their votes for these categories which will be announced at the end of the event along with the winners of the Bee.

• Most Likely to Need a Tutor
• Best Team Name
• Most Creative Team Attire
• Biggest Swarm – huge crowd
• Buzzing with Brilliance- the most dramatic or excitable spellers