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Vajnar crowned spelling bee queen

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Jane Vajnar of Tampa was a celebrity of sorts this weekend after she finished in first place at the first-ever state spelling bee for senior citizens.

Her victory was anything but surreptitious (gotten in a secret, stealthy way), the word that put her at the top. It was won Thursday on stage in front of an audience at the Bicentennial Center in Salina.

The contest included 48 participants ranging in age from 53 to 89 years old.

Vajnar was one of 17 who spelled 50 words correctly in a written test and went on to compete orally.

Contestants were eliminated when they misspelled a word.

"I went there thinking I would go just for fun, but I started to get nervous when there were just five of us left," Vajnar said. "I was wound pretty tight by the time there were just two of us. I guess I'm more competitive than I think I am."

In the end, Vajnar and Delphine Holston of Abilene were the only two remaining.

After Holston misspelled the word "surreptitious," Vajnar spelled it correctly. She then correctly spelled a follow-up word, "writhe," and was declared the champion.

Vajnar said her good friend Kim Frantz of Tampa attended the bee to cheer her on. She displayed a poster saying, "Go, Jane" in large letters.

According to Vajnar, KWCH-12, Wichita, was there and reported "the crowd went wild" as the contest neared the finish line.

"In reality, the wild crowd mainly was Kim waving her poster," Vajnar said, "but the others in the audience seemed to get excited, too."

Vajnar and the second- and third-place finishers received woodcut plaques for their efforts. Vajnar also will receive an expense paid trip in June to Cheyenne, Wyo., to compete in the national seniors spelling bee.

She credits another friend, Dee Duggan of Tampa, as the person who obtained the application form and got her involved.

"I do things like this to reassure myself that my brain is still working," Vajnar said with a laugh.

The 68-year-old longtime substitute teacher writes a monthly column, "One Woman's View," for the Hillsboro Star-Journal, reports on Tampa and Durham city council meetings, and is a Marion County Record country correspondent for the Tampa area.

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