YPG spells out F-U-N

Six contestants with professions ranging from law to mathematics took a swig of Wild Turkey American Honey whiskey and gave their best for the Young Professionals Group Spelling Bee Thursday night at Florida Studio Theatre. 

The event is the first of its kind by the group and is part of an effort to have more creative events according to YPG Coordinator Mimi Cirbusova. 

“No one else is really doing something like this and we want to do more of it,” Cirbusova said. 

“Can you use it in a sentence? What is the definition of the word?” Those were the only clues participants were given to help them spell out words from categories like Sarasota/Florida words. Each contestant was given a one-time option to invite a friend from the audience to spell a word on their behalf. 

“Can you ever be ready for a bee?” Rebecca Williams said. “Anything can happen.”

The first round contestants were asked to spell words classified as "words you should know." The word that brought the first elimination was 'ecstasy.' For some it was the words of French origin that delivered defeat, others it was double consonant sounds. 

The final round came down to three contestants Chris Nigro and Rebecca Williams were eliminated and Gavin Dietrich was declared the winner. 

“This was my first time doing a spelling bee and I suck at spelling,” Dietrich said.