Three years into what would become a five-year journey that culminated with a co-championship in 2014, Sriram Hathwar of Painted Post, New York was a talented speller without a sponsor. His local newspaper could not continue their affiliation with the Bee, and Sriram’s mother desperately reached out to her friend Richard Pope for help in finding a new sponsor.
“I was successful in convincing my Rotary Club to take on the challenge, but since we had not planned for this in our annual budget, we needed some assistance,” Pope said. “A member of our club is a former hospital administrator, so he asked his former colleagues for some help funding the program.”
Through the donations from the local hospital and a variety of additional sponsors, the Corning Rotary Club became the first and only Rotary Club in the world to sponsor a Scripps regional spelling bee in 2013. Less than two years later, they are celebrating the co-championship won by Sriram Hathwar.
“I noticed that the expression on Sriram’s face when Ansun Sujoe got his word right was a smile,” Pope said. “That told me Sriram was happy to be a co-champion and my wife and I were bursting with pride.”
Pope organized a “spellerbration!” to honor Sriram at the Rotary Club, inviting friends, family and classmates. And even though they’ve enjoyed some early success, the Rotary Club has no plans of slowing down.
“Our first year, we had about 20 schools participate, but that increased to 29 this past March, so we are growing nicely,” Pope said. “We hope to inspire other Rotary Clubs to get involved in this worthwhile endeavor.”