Members of the Boeing spelling team listen for their next word during last week's Seattle Times Corporate Bee for Literacy.
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 Spellers take second; no sweat

  
   By Mark Ziegler
   Boeing News





Perhaps blame lies with those darn sudoriferous glands.

"We lost first-place on a word we had practiced," lamented Boeing spelling team member Roy Bondurant.

"Sudoriferous," an adjective meaning "producing or conveying sweat," cost Bondurant and teammates Joe Peritore and David Nelson a repeat win in last week's fifth annual Seattle Times Corporate Bee for Literacy at the Seattle Sheraton.

The team from U.S. West correctly spelled the word after the Boeing team misfired in the tense final round. U.S. West then won the bee with "douceur" (a conciliatory gift).

Nevertheless, the fine second-place finish kept intact Boeing's record of finishing in the top three each year of the competition. Safeco finished third.

Teams from nine companies, including television stations and the Seattle SuperSonics, vied in the bee, which benefited Washington Literacy, a non-profit agency dedicated to eliminating illiteracy.

A TV Guide worth of local television personalities participated. KOMO news anchor Kathi Goertzen, KIRO meteorologist Harry Wappler and KING newspeople Lori Matsukawa and Jim Compton, among others, showed considerable spelling prowess.

Boeing also excelled in a related competition.

Amy Gerson, a systems engineer at Boeing Defense & Space Group, finished in a first-place tie in an audience spelling bee prior to the main event. Gerson, a member of the spelling team in previous years, served as coach this year. Boeing Commercial Airplane Group employees Bondurant and Nelson, a cable swager and a specialist engineer, qualified for the team at the recent Boeing Spell Off.

"This was a chance to participate with some real pros," said Peritore, vice president - Operations Development, Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, the executive selected to join Bondurant and Nelson on the team. "It was a lot of fun. A good competition and a good cause."

The Boeing team's tendency to take its time in spelling words drew praise from witty pronouncer (moderator) Donald Cummings, dean of the college of arts and sciences, Central Washington University.

"I find it reassuring that people who make airplanes are so cautious," he observed.