Things got a little squirrelly Saturday at the 20th annual Corporate Spelling Bee in Athens.

The Department of Human Resources spelling team had been asked to spell the word “squirrelly,” as in the sentence, “Children seem to act more squirrelly when they are hopped up on sugar.”

After conferring with fellow team members, Gina Garth walked to the podium inside Athens High School and delivered the team’s answer: s-q-u-i-r-r-e-l-y.

From the judge’s table, Mayor Ronnie Marks honked a most pathetic-sounding child’s bicycle horn, signaling an incorrect answer. Crestfallen, Garth left the podium and headed back to the DHR brain center. But, before she made it to her table, Marks called out that he had erred. He apologized to Garth and her team members. Turns out squirrelly can also be spelled squirrely, with one “l”.

DHR survived more rounds but eventually got stung and wound up in second place. Four hours into the bee, the teams from Athens Rotary Club and Athens Lions Club were still slugging it out and finally settled with a tie for first place. Other teams competing included Quad Plex, St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Athens High School Beta Club and Limestone Veterinary Clinic.

An awards ceremony followed the contest.

The bee, presented by The Learn to Read Council, was sponsored by Publix, Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A and Electrifil Corp.