The 2021 Logan County Spelling Bee is slated for 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at the Indian Lake High School auditorium, and this year, the Midwest Regional Educational Service Center reports that the local spelling bee champ from 50 years ago will serve as a guest judge for the contest.
Retired Bellefontaine Examiner editor Miriam Baier won the Logan County Spelling Bee as an eighth-grader in 1971. She recalls the competition at that time was conducted at Memorial Hall during the school day. She said the runner-up misspelled “hygiene”, and she was able to correctly spell “hygiene” and then “cafeteria” to win the bee.
“I’ve always loved reading and words. I loved reading aloud in class and hoped I got a long paragraph when it was my turn.
“In second-grade, I was very much incensed when a classmate accused me of not reading on my own because I wasn’t moving my lips. I’ve always paid attention to how things are spelled, especially names, and that came in very handy at the paper. The dictionary (and later Google) was my very good friend.”
Baier retired in the fall of 2019 after 40 years with the Bellefontaine Examiner. She began as a staff writer and for the last 10 years, she served as the editor of the newspaper.
“We are excited to have someone at our Bee who has made their life’s work using spelling,” said Karen Sorreles, Midwest Regional Educational Service Center youth development liaison.
Competitors at this year’s spelling bee include the top two spellers from contests hosted by each of the grades 1-8 schools in the county, as follows:
• Bellefontaine Intermediate School — Sloan Stolly, fifth-grade, parents: Whitney and Joshua Stolly; and Bryant Carter, fifth-grade, parents: Tami Johns and Ernest Carter.
• Bellefontaine Middle School — Graham Lotts, eighth-grade, parents: Shane and Tina Lotts; and Mackenzie Stripe, sixth-grade, parents: Deb and Frank Stripe.
• Indian Lake Middle School — Czar Dickson, eighth-grade, parents: Ryan and Beth Dickson; and Chazlance Moore, seventh-grade, parents: Charles and Lany Moore.
• Benjamin Logan Middle School — Autumn Cline, fifth-grade, parents: Randy and Jackie Cline; and Wyatt Gordon, sixth-grade, parents: Eric and Summer Gordon.
• Riverside Middle School — Abbigale Scherer, eighth-grade, parents: Veronica and Mike Scherer; and Thomas Burden, eighth-grade, parent: Sara Burden.
• Riverside Elementary School — Brody Orsborne, fifth-grade, parents: Jessica Mathison and Josh Orsborne; and Kara Klingler, sixth-grade, parents: Steve and Donna Klingler.
In case of inclement weather, the make-up spelling bee date is set for Jan. 28.