Our 19th Annual Celebrity Spelling Bee was held on Friday, November 7th at The View at Fountains in Murfreesboro. It featured well-known community leaders who competed for the title of best speller in Rutherford County.

Congratulations to Katie Turner (pictured middle), youth services coordinator, at Rutherford County Library System! She took home the spelling bee championship. Kara Carpenter (pictured right) had the most money donated while Dr. Jeremy Lewis (pictured left)secured the most individual donors.

In addition to an exciting adult spelling bee, the evening featured live and silent auctions and food/drinks by Cedar Glade Brews, Julie’s Bartending, Sanders Bros. Coffee, Simply Pure Sweets, and The Sweet Addiction.

This event gave our community the opportunity to come together in a fun, creative way to promote literacy and served as our main fundraiser of the year. We're thankful to everyone who helped make this event a success. Thank you to our spellers, Bee pronouncer and judges, board members, event volunteers, the Leadership Rutherford team, sponsors, and donors who helped us raise over $66,000 for literacy!

One hundred percent of the funds received will stay in Rutherford County and support our organization’s adult literacy program, youth and family literacy program, and other literacy initiatives.