It was a Winn-win at last night's 7th Annual RVNA Spelling Bee when the final word went to Jonathan Winn, founder and co-artistic director of Ridgefield's Thrown Stone Theatre Company. After a fun-filled evening of orthographic sparring, intense concentration, best guesses, Lifeline rescues, and audience buy-backs, Winn emerged victorious. So, what was the last word? Dormition, or "death resembling falling asleep."
Words -- misspelled or not -- cannot express RVNA's gratitude to the 13 contestants who took to the stage, put their skills to the test, and maintained their senses of humor to make the event a tremendous success. This year's Bee raised nearly $13,000 -- through ticket sales, donations and event sponsorships -- to support RVNA's Nursing Education programs.
Thanks also goes to the contestants' Lifelines who stood by to bail them out if necessary, as well as the audience members who generously donated to buy eliminated spellers back into the competition.
"Once again, we owe a debt of gratitude to our contestants and their Lifelines, our moderator, judges, and audience members who gave their support to this important tradition," said Theresa Santoro, RVNA President and CEO. "Together with our sponsors, they made an invaluable contribution to our Nursing Education program, allowing our clinical staff to continue to offer the best possible care to our community."
Stay tuned next year when we return with a new crop of spellers. Who knows.... you may be one of them!