McHenry senior wins bee for 2nd time

From the Thursday, June, 12, 2008 edition of the Northwest Herald:

McHenry senior wins bee for 2nd time
By DIANA SROKA - dsroka@nwherald.com

She came, she spelled, she won. Then she won again.

For the second consecutive year, McHenry resident Jean McGrew took first place in the McHenry Township Senior Spelling Bee, held Wednesday at the township recreation center.

“I like to spell, and it’s a challenge,” said McGrew, 75. “It keeps my mind going.”

McGrew and second-place speller Cheryl Hammerand of Wonder Lake battled back and forth during the final rounds – tackling words such as “monticle,” “biblioklept” and “scaphoid” – until McGrew finally triumphed.

McGrew properly spelled “misdemeanant,” on which Hammerand had stumbled, and then, to take the title, McGrew spelled “prerogative.”

Three other seniors competed at the bee: 85-year-old Wayne Heiser of McHenry, 80-year-old Madelyn Duel of McHenry and 75-year-old Ruth Enyart of McHenry, who took second place in the bee last year.

All participants received a certificate of participation and a gift certificate. To be eligible, participants had to be township residents age 50 or older. Hammerand, whose mother came to see her compete in the bee, was thrilled with her second-place finish.

“I’ve been doing this for five years and I finally got somewhere,” said Hammerand, 55.

McGrew and Hammerand will compete in the regional bee in July, to be hosted by Maine Township in Park Ridge.

“In this age of spell check, [spelling] is a skill that may be diminishing,” McHenry Township Supervisor Donna Schaefer said, adding that the bee is an important part of township programming for seniors.

“Seniors aren’t just bingo anymore,” she said. “Seniors are productive, involved individuals in our community and having something like that demonstrates that they still have a lot to offer.”