Riveting 4th Annual Spelling Bee – Riding the Sampan to Victory

Sampan and riveting.

Spelling those two words brings bragging rights and $3,000 of scholarship money to the winners of the Rye Free Reading Room Fourth Annual Spelling Bee. The library held the bee on Veteran’s Day, Thursday, November 11, 2021, in its meeting room.

Library Board of Trustee President Kathleen Riegelhaupt, and Director Chris Shoemaker introduced the eighteen Rye middle and high-school participants, while Mayor Josh Cohn and Rye resident Adrienne Mecca were the co-readers for the competition’s spelling words.
After many rounds of competitive spelling, eighth-grader Katelyn Haines won the middle-school competition by correctly spelling “sampan.” Patrick Harrigan, a tenth- grader, emerged as the high-school winner on his spelling of “riveting” as his final word.

Sampan is a flat-bottomed skiff used in eastern Asia and usually propelled by two short oars. Riveting is having the power to fix the attention.

Winners will receive a trophy and scholarship prizes to be awarded at the Library’s annual meeting in February 2022. Their names will be added to the permanent Spelling Bee trophy that is housed in the main reading room at the library.

Scholarships prizes, $2,500 for middle school and $500 for high school, are sponsored by Carpet Trends, and in honor of Emanuela Riccio.