Zolz Entertainment

ZOLZ "IN THE NEWS"

From the Poughkeepsie Journal:

YMCA official addds levity to literacy fund-raiser - By Larry Fisher-Hertz

It has been said of Rick Zolzer that he cannot spell IBM. He himself admits that he "couldn't spell 'cat' if you spotted me the C and the T." But this ineptitude has not prevented him from entering the annual Dutchess County Spelling Bee, sponsored by the local chapter of the Literacy Volunteers of America.

Zolzer, the Dutchess County YMCA's director of marketing and special events, has been a contestant every year for the past four years. And he's vowed to show up again for this year's spelling bee - March 24 at the Best Western Motel in the Town of Poughkeepsie. The obvious question, for anyone who has ever seen Zolzer struggle to spell even the simplest words, is why. "Well, it's a fund-raiser for a good cause," he told me the other day. "And the YMCA always finds a corporate sponsor for our team, so it's a day off from work, and lunch, and somebody else is paying."

Zolzer says he also believes he brings something positive to this often intense competition: comic relief. "No matter how nervous somebody might be, once they see me try to spell, they have to feel better" Last year, Zolzer hatched a strategy he was convinced would help him spell at least a few words correctly: cheating. He hid a small, battery-operated spell-checking device in his pocket. When he was given a word to spell, he hunched down low in his chair and typed what he believed was the correct spelling on the keyboard. No luck. Zolzer's guess was so far off, the spell-checker didn't recognize the word. Zolzer wasn't surprised. He said the spell-check function on his ancient IBM 386 computer doesn't work either. Apparently, his incredibly bad spelling has somehow corrupted the software.

How, you might ask, does such a lousy speller survive in the workplace? "Easy," Zolzer told me. "If I ever have to write a report or a marketing plan for the YMCA, I fax the whole thing to Mom. She corrects the 300 errors and faxes it back"

A lot of us enjoy participating in the Literacy Volunteers spelling bee, and watching Zolzer try to spell is only one reason why. Thanks in part to the tens of thousands of dollars the event has raised since its inception in 1992, hundreds of Dutchess County residents have learned how to read.

If you'd like to join the fun, find a sponsor (the entry fee is $250 per team) and call Literacy Volunteers at 452-S670. And when you get to the event on March 24, find Rick Zolzer and give him some encouragement. He's easy to spot. He wears a dunce cap every year.