If you need a good winter laugh and think you can spell, mark Feb. 5 on your calendar.

Where else in the world can you find a judge wearing a Wonder Woman costume sitting next to Mr. Incredible, who is the superintendent of schools by day?

Where else will you find adults standing around a whiteboard while attempting to spell words most of us have never heard?

It’s time for the Fifth Annual Adult Spelling Bee. It’s free and starts at 6:30 at Panhandle State Bank’s Community Room. There will be snacks and beverages available.

It’s hard to believe this event continues to be a successful fun and fundraiser but that is exactly what Mary Ann Michaels and Jeanne Jackson-Heim had in mind when they stole the idea from Jackson Hole, Wyo.

“It’s a great way to have a laugh, dress up in a funky costume and attempt to spell incredibly hard words,” Jackson-Heim said.

“It’s a great night and we are proud to be a part of it.”

She and Michaels make the annual trek to Sandpoint from Boise to take on the challenging task of being pronounces.

The spelling bee hasn’t been without controversies and last year the biggest brouhaha erupted when the judges Sandpoint Mayor Gretchen Heller and Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler were obviously bribed and chose the wrong team as the winner of the costume contest.

The Wells Fargo team spent months preparing Spelvis outfits only to lose to a team that taped on several branches.

This year, there will be a People’s Choice award for the best costume as chosen from the audience.

There are also many other twists and turns this year that will make the night even more memorable.

There is still time to put together a team. If you can’t find four spellers, contact Kathy Hubbard at 263-9534, she is putting together a list of “dangling participles” to form a team or two.

I still remember the sting of finishing second in my seventh-grade spelling bee. I went out on the word “hemorrhoid.” Like that’s a word a seventh grader would know. I won in sixth grade, however, by correctly spelling “hypotenuse.”

I’m not bitter, however.

Police log: Jan. 12, at 9:32 p.m. on East Superior Street, an officer assisted a citizen who was unable to start their newly-purchased vehicle after the alarm went off … I still haven’t figured out my rear-window wiper, at least now I know who to call.

Congrats to the Winter Carnival planners. Even though the weather didn’t cooperate, there is nothing like monsoon weather in January to bring people together. Nice work, in spite of the challenges. Great Winter Carnival photos at bonnercountydailybee.com.

E-mail of the week:

The economy is so bad that:

• I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

• I ordered a burger at McDonald’s and the kid behind the counter asked, “Can you afford fries with that?”

• CEOs are now playing miniature golf.

• If the bank returns your check marked “insufficient funds,” you call them and ask if they meant you or them.

• Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM and Ford.

• McDonald’s is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

• Parents in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children’s names.

• A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico.

• Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.

• Motel 6 won’t leave the light on anymore.

• The Mafia is laying off judges.

• Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 congressmen.

• Congress says they are looking into this Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh great, the guy who made $50 billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 trillion disappear!

n David Keyes is publisher of the Bonner County Daily Bee.