Spelling bee will benefit Methuen Boys and Girls Club project
METHUEN — Sixty children will face off Saturday in a spelling bee that will serve as the first fundraiser for the Methuen Boys & Girls Club project.
The students, in grades two through eight, will compete for trophies, savings bonds and bragging rights at the Spelling Bee Family Night at Tenney Grammar School from 3 to 8 p.m.
The event is to help the Methuen After School Project raise money to bring a Boys & Girls Club to Methuen. Words won't be the only thing on the agenda. There will be face painting, food, nearly 50 raffle items up for grabs and a PowerPoint presentation about why Methuen needs a Boys & Girls Club, said Kathi Ingram, president of the Methuen After School Project.
"(This is) our first fundraiser and our first actual presence in the community, where people can come in and meet us and talk about the project," Ingram said.
The event is free and open to the public. Several local businesses have stepped up to the plate with donations, Ingram said.
Backers of the Boys & Girls Club hope to have the facility open by the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. The School Department has agreed to let them use Tenney Grammar School as its site, and the club will offer after-school recreational and educational programs for youngsters, and will use buses to transport them.
The Methuen After School Project, which is the group leading the effort to bring the Boys & Girls Club, is in the middle of creating a business plan with five Merrimack College students, Ingram said.
Want to watch a spelling showdown?
What: Spelling Bee Family Night
Who: 60 students, grades two to eight
Where: Tenney Grammar School, 75 Pleasant St.
When: Saturday, 3 to 8 p.m.
Cost: Free
