It was a long and tense slog to the winner’s circle at the 33rd annual BizBee, the annual spelling contest fundraiser for the Literacy Council of Alaska.
The event opened Friday evening at the Westmark Hotel and Conference Center with 12 teams hoping to spell their way to victory. After Round 8, only two teams remained. They battled back and forth for about 30 minutes, stumbling over many, many words — some spellings were so close, others far afield. Each word seemed to get increasingly more difficult to spell.
After much consternation on both sides, the AAHKword Bees team, sponsored by Aging at Home Fairbanks and IBEW Local Union 1547, took the top prize. This team also had the most fans cheering them on.
Team members Rheba Dupras, Joseph Dupras, and Claire Matthews faced off against the second-place Healy Buzz team, made up of Amanda Austin, Bridget Mayer, and Sarah Walker, sponsored by Usibelli Coal Mine.
Here are the words both teams grappled with during that final battle: nasaump, Waropen, kendang, Thessaloniki, anonang, sampaguita, lebhaft, feoffee, and more. Then, finally, the AAHKword Bees team spelled two words correctly in a row: kamloops and theopneustic.
Cheers and relief swept through the crowd.
Third place went to Two Drones and a Worker, made up of members Richard Seifert, Paula Long, and Matthew Reckard and sponsored by Fairbanks Co-Op Market.
The Literacy Council of Alaska promotes literacy for people of all ages in the Interior. The organization provides student-centered tutoring and classes in reading, writing, math, English as a second language, computer literacy, and other life skills.
Throughout the evening, teachers shared heartwarming success stories of students who benefitted from opportunities at the Literacy Council.
There was a table decoration contest, won handily by the Bit O’ Honeys team, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Fairbanks. Fittingly, it highlighted a Christmas theme. Kiwanis sells live Christmas trees locally every year.
The Golden Hearts, sponsored by Denali State Bank and including members Teresa Thompson, Paige Poston, and Katie Yarrow, had the most vocal fans. They waved golden pom-poms and whooped and hollered every time the team took a turn at spelling a word.
There were at least two people there who have attended every BizBee for 33 years — Greg Hill and Mary Matthews. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner has sponsored this event since it began.
Reach columnist/community editor Kris Capps at kcapps@newsminer.com.
