By Carrie Frye, Editor

PINEHURST - The Moore Council Literacy Council pulled off quite a show Thursday night with their annual Spelling Bee fundraiser held in Owens Auditorium on the campus of Sandhills Community College.  Twenty-two teams of three represented businesses across the county, including OutreachNC magazine. Our team, the OutreachNC Miss Spellers, consisting of freelance writer Melanie Coughlin and columnists Cos Barnes and Jennifer George, were competing for the Miss Speller crown. The team donned ball gowns, tiaras, big hair and plenty of lipstick to portray the beauty queens: Miss Communication, Miss Print and Miss Informed. On stage, Patrick Coughlin, president and CEO of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce,  introduced the ladies with a stunning acapella rendition of “There she is, Miss Speller.” Isabella Coughlin, Melanie and Patrick’s daughter, too, joined in the fun as Miss Behave.  We honored our Miss Spellers with rose bouquets delivered to the stage by Jessica Bricker, OutreachNC‘s editorial assistant.  The Miss Spellers shined in the spotlight, even with a wardrobe change in second round to swimsuits (t-shirt coverups with a swimsuit design) and musical instruments for their talent portion as they made it to the third round of the competition.

On behalf of OutreachNC, I would like to thank the ladies for the dedication and commitment to help the magazine  be a part of such a great cause. We are proud to have the Miss Spellers as our representatives. Their beauty, like those of the many people we have featured in our first year of publication, is simply timeless. And I cannot wait to see what they come up with for next year’s Spelling Bee.

Ultimately, the Sandhills Children’s Center Killer Bees team took home the 2011 Spelling Bee trophy, and over $25,000 was raised for the nonprofit in its mission to eradicate illiteracy in Moore County.