AMERICAN industrialist Henry Ford once said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young”.

These words proved true as Manchester claimed the victory in the finals of the National Senior Citizens Spelling Bee Championship on September 23.

Although not as lengthy as other spelling competitions, it was nothing short of thrilling. The preliminary rounds began in April of this year to find the top senior citizen speller in each parish. However, the contestants who won at the parish level for Hanover and Trelawny were unable to attend the national championship, leaving 12 contestants to vie for the top prize.

The competition began with a brief note from executive director of the National Committee for Senior Citizens (NCSC), Beverly Hall-Taylor, who gave the welcome and introduced the judges and spell master. The competition also hosted member of parliament and minister of state in the ministry of labour and social security, Andrew Gallimore, who joked about himself soon becoming a part of the NCSC.

Each contestant was given a maximum of three handicaps, which meant that on their third mistake they would have been knocked out of the competition. After three rounds, Fay James of Manchester was declared the winner and the Clinton Davis trophy was awarded to her by Merel Hanson.

“It was a great feeling,” James said, trying to find words to describe how she felt in the midst of all the excitement.

“To know that I worked so hard and did my best, the feeling is just amazing,” she continued. The runners-up in second and third place were Janice Evans and Thelma Kidd from St James and St Mary respectively.