HARLINGEN — Charley Kidder carried the Literacy Center Spelling Bee traveling trophy as he walked into St. Alban’s Episcopal Church multipurpose room Thursday night.
About two hours later, he walked out with the same prize.
Kidder and his Harlingen Lions Club team proved once again to be the best spellers at the annual fundraiser, which brings thousands of dollars to the Literacy Center.
A total of 12 teams, made up of three people each, from all different facets of Harlingen competed in the event, paying $500 per table to participate.
It took nearly 90 words to determine the winner and when it was all said and done, a familiar champion stood and spelled the final word seconds after the second-place team, from Harlingen Medical Center, was unable to.
But, it wasn’t easy for the Lions. After spelling words like “filament,” “odyssey,” “magnanimous,” and “maelstrom,” just minutes earlier, the team struggled with the word “gourami.”
Kidder appeared to not know the word, but his teammates Juan V. Garcia and David Day each had their own ideas. As he stood up, Kidder seemed unsure.
He picked Day’s spelling and all were relieved when they were deemed correct.
The third-place Harlingen Sunburst Rotary followed. They were unable to spell the word, “isinglass.” Then, Harlingen Medical misspelled “Mikado.”
Kidder rose to his feet quickly following the miss and spelled the word easily to take the title once again.
Other than the top three teams, tables were sponsored by St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, St. Anthony’s Catholic School (two teams), Texas Regional Bank, Harlingen Rotary Club, the Valley Morning Star, Lone Star Bank, individual Anne Denison and IBC.
Would you know how to spell these words?
Here are just a few examples of the words from Thursday night’s Literacy Center Spelling Bee.
• Insidious
• Incredulous
• Maelstrom
• Epiphany
• Langlauf
• Braggadocio
• Mercerize
• Tertiary
