A Sunday cartoon resonated with me, following a fun event on Friday night.
Each year for five years I’ve organized and emceed the Tongue Twister Tournament for Start Making A Reader Today. Community members, including as of this year, students, compete to be Tongue Twister world champion. The tournament took place in the ballroom of Hood River Hotel, and though I know I am biased, it was a great deal of fun.
“It felt good to laugh that much,” said my good friend, and longtime SMART supporter, Don Benton, when we talked at Dog River on Monday.
The cartoon in question depicted a man stuck in a life raft with “the world’s most annoying animal,” a rodent who keeps saying, “... and that’s how much wood I would chuck ...” The woodchuck-would classic would figure critically in the night’s outcome.
Plenty of classic and new TTs, as we call them, filled the room (space donated by Hood River Hotel) and we raised nearly $7,000 on the night, thanks mostly to sponsors. (We’ll have a full rundown in an upcoming Neighbors column.) TTT is all about funny phrases and twisted tongues, but the event is underlined by a clear and serious need — helping young children develop their reading skills and a love of reading.
For the second year, a high school student won. As Noah Tauscher learned, and Bruce Ludwig can attest, no TTT defending champion has ever gotten past the first round. Ludwig served as judge this year, along with Terry Browning of the state SMART board, and the Hon. Karen Ostrye of Seventh Circuit Court — our Annual Actual Judge.
Dan Goldman won the educators’ division and Morgan Graves, an HRVHS sophomore, the student division, and Morgan edged Goldman, the school superintendent in the final round. Along the way, Graves and Sierra Lavoie of Parkdale and other contestants did splits and cartwheels, and Tauscher got into the act with a handstand. Runner-up Heather Laurance of New Vision School tumbled, and revealed a spangled red-and-black “I Love Tongue Twisters” shirt, and Jennifer Graves (Wy’east teacher and Morgan’s mom) schmoozed the judges with some unabashed flattery. Student contestants Kelsey Stewart of Wy’east and Sean Counihan — the runner-up — brought their own flavor to the event in which contestants were judged on speed, accuracy, and style.
Goldman and Morgan Graves prevailed to make it to the final round, where Goldman took first choice among three categories, and he took “Dr. Seuss.”
Dan and Morgan then engaged: “You know, I have a kindergartner,” Dan said.
I then pointed out that Morgan has two younger siblings.
“Raised on Dr. Seuss!” Jennifer Graves called out.
Dan gave a playful slump and put his head in his hands — but he and Morgan both proceeded to ace their Dr. Seuss twisters, both from the beloved “Fox in Socks” book. This was proving to be our closest TTT finish yet.
Picking blind from two remaining entries, he chose “WWW” No. 2 — then learned it was the wood chuck one. Long version: “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.”
“Too easy!” the crowd murmured, and Morgan looked at me with daggers. “Seriously?’ she asked.
When the little mutiny subsided, I said, “Let’s hear him do it.”
Dan was quick out of the gates, but — halfway through his jaws locked up on all those Ws and hard consonants; the devil is in those details. Dan let out a groan, shared by the crowd; there are no good guys or bad buys in Tongue Twister.
Morgan asked to do the same one, and spun through it flawlessly.
Her strategy probably paid off. For, though adept as she is, the other WWW entry was shorter but harder: “Who washed Washington’s white woolen underwear when Washington’s washerwoman went west? Which whites are washed?”
Anyway, since the final score was the aggregate of four twisters done on the night, it was not immediately clear who the winner would be but Morgan seemed to have the edge, and that was borne out when tabulator Carolyn Van Orden revealed the final scores. Dan won a restaurant gift certificate and Morgan won a box full of games, chocolate, and gift cards.
Thanks go to the rest of the contestants, and parents, including May Street teacher T Dalbey, and Rich Polkinghorn, HRVHS principal.
In 2016 we will definitely invite students to compete again. Between skilled navigation of the twisters, the trading barbs with the superintendent, and the tumbling (three Ts!) the students represented the younger generation with grace and, well, style. (With all the gymnastics, it’s tempting to rename it “Tongue Tumbling Tournament.”)
All were accomplished with words: Sean as 2014 co-champion in the State Spelling Competition, Kelsey with acting experience including this year’s Pinocchio at Wy’east, Sierra with her recent run as Dorothy in the Missoula Children’s Theater “Wizard of Oz” production, and Tauscher with his long resume of acting and singing roles at HRVHS and his original song “Blame Game,” now out on YouTube.
And, when asked if any of the students had ever done anything like Tongue Twister Tournament before, Noah raised his hand and said, “Yes, last year’s tournament!”
I like to think that the TTT is part of the local cultural landscape now. We’ve had 56 community members invited to compete over the first five years, and it gives each a chance to share a little something about their lives and things that drive them.
It’s the one time when it’s okay to be tongue-tied, because it means more books, and more reading, for kids who will grow up to read, comprehend and appreciate the language for all its twists, turns, and tumbles.
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