D-O-D-E-C-A-H-E-D-R-O-N, meaning a three-dimensional figure having 12 faces that are pentagonal in shape, was the winning word spelled by 72-year-old Olga Williams of St Mary to win the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC)18th National Seniors Spelling Bee Competition.
Williams was among 13 parish finalists who converged at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St. Andrew on Thursday (September 22) to match spelling skills in rounds of nail-biting competition, that lasted well over six hours.
Spell master, Dervan Malcolm, ably led the day’s proceedings, where the senior citizens were asked, one-at-a-time, to spell a specific word out loud, with the spellers eliminated for misspelling.
In the end, the soft-spoken Williams, who was poised throughout the rounds, was the deserving winner.
She took on word after word with a calm yet unhesitant demeanor. This was her fifth time entering the contest.
In second place was Trelawny’s Lenworth Wright, the comical and worthy opponent whose antics kept the virtual and in-person audience quite amused, with St. Andrew’s Marie Purcell placing third.
Eighty-three-year-old Evan Grey of Portland was the oldest competitor.
The winner and two runners-up received trophies, gift baskets and Konoko Falls gift certificates, courtesy of the NCSC.
Executive Director, Cassandra Morrison, said that the contest allowed the seniors to showcase “their intellectual prowess, their commitment, their work ethic and their value to Jamaica”.
She noted that one is never too old to learn or to study.
“Lifelong learning, the voluntary and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for personal or professional reasons, enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, health and personal development,” she said.
“You are an example to the youth, working-age Jamaicans and older adults, that growing old can mean growing better,” Morrison noted further.
An entity of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the NCSC hosts the spelling competition as part of activities for Senior Citizens Month, which is celebrated annually in September.
Other activities to mark Senior Citizens Month 2022 included a National Thanksgiving Service held on National Grandparents Day (Sunday, September 25) at the Webster Memorial United Church in St. Andrew.
An “ageing” fair is scheduled for September 29.
