Spelling bee held for seniors
BUTLER TWP — Although food was not a theme in last week's countywide spelling bee for senior citizens, "quesadilla" still flavored the outcome.
Loretta Pospistle of Cranberry Township was named the Butler County winner after her final opponent misspelled the word.
Pospistle won the bee after 17 rounds. The group dwindled to three contestants by the seventh round, and Pospistle and Anna Kresh of Butler battled out the final four.
Attended by more than 200 people, the spellers were cheered on by lively fans. Signs like one that read "Go Flo" — a show of support for Flo Dally of Evans City — were fashioned from brightly colored paper or sticks attached to paper plates.
Spellers stumbled over words like "nil" and "grotesqueness," but achieved success with "diamagnetic" and "hypotonic."
"I thought for sure I'd be out in the first round, but I had a lot of lucky guesses," said Pospistle, who started attending the Cranberry Township center in October.
"At one point I said, 'Uh-oh.' Then I had to (clarify) and say that wasn't part of the spelling."
The bee was hosted by the Lutheran Service Society and held as part of the Butler County Area Agency on Aging Senior Health and Lifestyle Fair, held last week at the Days Inn.
The bee included a speller from each of the county's senior centers, which hosted preliminary bees to determine who would compete at the county level.
Pospistle will advance to the statewide bee on June 6 in Pottsville, Schuylkill County.
Last year's state event included representatives from 21 counties, said Pam Malachin, local bee coordinator and manager of the Mount Chestnut Senior Center.
In addition to a presence at that event, Malachin said the local bee was worth the effort.
"I just think everybody was really psyched and had a good time, and I was really pleased," she said. "The spellers did a really good job."
"It was fun," said Pospistle. "And now everybody's calling my husband Mr. Loretta. They say I'm a celebrity now."
Also participating in the bee were Martha Pennington, Bruin center; Anna Kresh, Butler; Emma Weiland, Chicora; Flo Dally, Evans City; Hazel Huckestein, Mars; Ruth Spack, Mount Chestnut; Florence Snyder, North Central; Jean Bell, Slippery Rock; Sandy Magyar, SouthEast; and Mary Cupps, Zelienople.
