It all came down to an ancient word, regnal, meaning a monarch’s reign, during the Rotary club’s annual spelling bee. Joanna Evans correctly spelled the word, helping her cinch the win. The Bee, emceed by Steve Bowman, started off with 22 students ranging from fourth through eighth grade. Pronouncer Carolyn Haugen assigned words like flavor, and snowflake during the first few rounds, escalated to bulwark and manufacture 14 rounds later. During this round, all but two of the contenders were eliminated, fifth grader Marcia King and eighth grader Joanna Evans.
Marcia King gave it her best shot, but ended up coming in second. She was awarded $75, and an additional $150 was given to her class, $200 was given to was the Friday Harbor Elementary School.
After Joanna Evans spelled “regnal” correctly, she was asked to spell one final word, nigh, which the master speller also got correct. Evans was awarded $100, another $200 went to her 8th grade class, and $300 to the Friday Harbor Middle School.
Co-chairman of the event were Rotarians Carol Linde and Mary Sliger. Judges were Carol Linde and Carla Wright. Paul Mayer gave medals to all non-winners, and Rotary President Johathan Piff presented the awards.
The Rotary club gave $850 toward the local schools with this event.
