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TOP JOBS

By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor

A late surge by Trane was held off by spelling champions East Texas Medical Center as ETMC pulled off the hat trick, a third consecutive victory at the 17th Annual Corporate Spelling Bee on Wednesday.

The winning word at the lunchtime event benefiting the Literacy Council of Tyler was "fantoccini," an Italian word describing a show with puppets operated by strings or mechanical devices. ETMC was declared the winner in the 11th round after various competitors had stubbornly spelled their way past "oratorio" "ubiquitous" "recidivist" and "contrapuntal," among other offerings.

Words eliminating the spell warriors included Netsuki, samurai, infinitesimal, cedilla, barrio, nachtimusik, schottische, Anschluss, perestroika, narcissistic, sassafras and boudoir.

Trane, the only team of the original 16 to challenge ETMC, stumbled on "novillero," a young bullfighter not yet named a matador. Contenders from ETMC quickly spelled novillero and then Dave Brotzman cautiously spelled the winning "fantoccini."

Brotzman, who has been on all ETMC teams during its three-year reign, was accompanied by Mary Beth Harris and Samantha Allen. The team's secret was "p-r-a-c-t-i-c-e," said ETMC spelling coach Rebecca Berkeley. That and Brotzman.

"Dave even found five misspellings in the study guides sent to us for preparation," she said. "That kind of dedication and lots of practice by this team, which works as a team" enabled the three-year run.

About 300 people watched as ETMC survived a brutal 10th round that eliminated five of seven remaining teams. Trane was overcome by the word "blitzkrieg" in the ninth round, but judges reversed themselves when a misspelling was found in their own guides. Coming back from the dead-zone, Trane remained as the lone obstacle to the perennial champions after spelling "poltergeist" but could not hold on in the end.

Judges pulled out the big guns in the 10th round, eliminating Mentoring Minds with "anschluss," the 1938 annexation of Austria by Germany. "Perestroika," the 1987 Soviet Union economic reforms, cashed out Henry & Peters, P.C.

The Tyler Morning Telegraph team survived a "super-mulligan" attempt by relaying "raconteur," but could not negotiate "schottische," a Bohemian country dance. A "super-mulligan" is when a team pays to have the word they must spell transferred to another team, hoping to eliminate them. "Raconteur" - a person skilled at storytelling - was easily spelled by the news editors, foiling the attempt.

The Franklin Bank team was awarded The Joey Seeber Early Exit Award when cut down by "samurai" in the fourth round. The award recalls when the former Tyler Mayor once misspelled a word in the first round, causing his team an early defeat. All of Wednesday's teams survived the first three rounds.

The event is always good fun and attended by a generous citizenry, said Nancy Crawford, executive director of the Literacy Council. Mrs. Crawford presented Jim Brettell with the Golden Hive Award for his "kindness, humility and full commitment" to the Literacy Council, despite his severe and ongoing medical obstacles.

"He never talks about himself," she said. "He comes to meetings ready to help."

Brettell has been diagnosed with cancer eight separate times.

The coveted "Spirit Stick" was given to Gollob, Morgan, Peddy and Co. for their "theme, costumes, props and noise."

Competing teams represented Austin Bank; Carrier Corporation; Mentoring Minds; Sam's Club; Suddenlink; East Texas Medical Center; Franklin Bank; Gollob, Morgan, Peddy & Co., P.C.; Henry & Peters, P.C.; Snelling Staffing Service; Trane Company; Trinity Mother Frances Health System; Tyler Independent School District; Tyler Pipe Company; the Wilson Law firm; and the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Judging the event was Tyler Mayor Barbara Bass, Tyler Junior College President Dr. Michael Metke and Tom Harken, author of "The Millionaires Secret" and winner of the 1992 Horatio Alger Award. The emcee was attorney Alan Jackson. David Long of LCOT was the pronouncer.

The Tyler Paper sponsored the contest. Also sponsoring the event were the Brookshire Grocery Co., the Hoffener Foundation, Southside Bank and Wal-Mart Supercenters on South Broadway Avenue, Texas Highway 64 and in Mineola.