Cabin Radio’s Adult Spelling Bee crowns a champion

Katrina Leonardis, Kristie Leach and Jacki McKinnon go head-to-head-to-head in the grand final of Cabin Radio’s Adult Spelling Bee.

Cabin Radio on the ball, who is the greatest speller of them all?

More than 100 people came out on Saturday to discover the answer to that question.

Cabin Radio’s Adult Spelling Bee, its first edition, took place on the air throughout October and culminated in a grand final at Yellowknife’s Top Knight bar.

Fourteen contestants who made it through spelling bee heats on Mornings at the Cabin faced off in three semi-finals before a showdown with a $1,000 top prize.

Heather Heinrichs, Kelly McLaughlin, Meagan Wohlberg, Katrina Leonardis and Nicole Haywood face off in the first semi-final at the spelling bee. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

Kristie Leach, Aaron Manton, Philip Boulton, Jessie Shaw and Scott Falshaw face off in semi-final two of the adult spelling bee. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

Patrick Meloche, Delphine Dippmann, Jacki McKinnon and Julian Morse in the third semi-final of the spelling bee. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

The winners of those semi-finals who appeared in the grand final were Katrina Leonardis, Kristie Leach and Jacki McKinnon.

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McKinnon ultimately won the title to become Cabin Radio’s inaugural territorial Adult Spelling Bee champion.

She was nearly knocked out at the semi-final stage when she misspelled wainscoting, but was back in the game after Julian Morse misspelled syllepsis.

Heather Heinrichs, Kelly McLaughlin and Meagan Wohlberg are all smiles at the spelling bee. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

Philip “bee” Boulton shows off his spelling skills. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

It then looked like McKinnon would take second place in the grand final when she misspelled inveighed, but she was given another chance after her opponent failed to correctly spell her championship word, Tsiigehtchic. (Cabin Radio’s rules dictated that anyone winning the grand final had to spell a northern-themed “championship word” to seal the victory.)

As she progressed through the event, McKinnon correctly spelled halcyon, inveterate, finagle, calisthenics, abhorrence, presbyterian, sequoia and querulous.

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She correctly spelled Kitikmeot, the Nunavut region, to seal her win.

Julian Morse is shocked by the correct spelling of a word. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

Scott “the spelling bee” Letkeman and Andrew Goodwin draw ballots for a door prize. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

Jacki McKinnon celebrates winning Cabin Radio’s Adult Spelling Bee. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

Other highlights of the evening included a lightning round where costumed audience members – it was Halloweekend, after all – were put on the spot and asked to spell a range of challenging words, including sesquipedalian, demitasse, aquiclude, tatterdemalion, and paramahamsa.

Just when the audience had almost lost hope there would be a winner, someone correctly spelled tussock.

Jesse Wheeler hosts an intense lightning round during the spelling bee. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

Taylor Saracuse plays with The Co-op. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

The Co-op plays at Cabin Radio’s Adult Spelling Bee. Emily Blake/Cabin Radio

The Co-op (the band, not the grocery store) provided sound effects during the spelling bee. After the competition, the band played music as people danced the night away.

Cabin Radio’s Adult Spelling Bee raised $2,580 for the NWT Literacy Council through donations at the door.