Pokryfki defends title at Wasilla Adult Spelling Bee

WASILLA — The Wasilla Library held its annual Adult Spelling Bee Thursday. The competition was held in the historic schoolhouse within the historic town site, behind the museum. Eleven people competed for the $100 grand prize. The contestants were all female with one lone male in the ranks. According to Ivory Vanzend, the lead coordinator for the Adult Services, almost everyone there had competed before and returned because they reportedly have a “great time” and a “lot of fun.”

The spelling bee took over an hour and for the second straight year the winner was Sammye Pokryfki. The winning word was portmanteau, “1. a large trunk or suitcase, typically made of stiff leather and opening into two equal parts or 2. a word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two others, for example motel (from ‘motor’ and ‘hotel’) or brunch (from ‘breakfast’ and ‘lunch’).”

Each year, the words selected fall under a theme. This year, the theme was “words about words,” falling under the library’s “Build a Better World” campaign. In the flyer, the slogan was present with the L marked off to spell “word.” Vanzend said she spent about a month and a half preparing the word selection. She designed the spelling bee to have a “good balance of words” to start off on the easier side, ramping up to more difficult words. She said this is so people don’t get eliminated right off the bat and are able compete further into the bee. Prior to the event, the staff have their own trail spelling bee to make sure contestants can make it through long enough.

Pokryfki said the spelling bee was “a lot of fun.”

“I’m a big supporter of the library,” she said. “It’s a great way to engage the community with the library.”