National spelling meet bears down
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Fifteen-year-old David Tidmarsh has toured the Oval Office, played a gag on David Letterman, and been congratulated “champ to champ” by heavyweight fighter Lennox Lewis – all because he knew how to spell “autochthonous.”
That was the final word that made David the winner of last year’s national spelling bee, beating 264 other top spellers through 15 tense rounds of tongue-twisting, head-scratching words that caused one contestant to faint in front of the microphone.
“I’ve learned to deal with celebrity status,” said David, his now lanky, teenage frame folded into a living room chair as his mom prepared dinner in his family’s South Bend home. “Before, I was just some ordinary kid.”
This year’s 78th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee takes place Wednesday and Thursday in Washington, D.C.
Not only is the final day of competition broadcast on cable sports network ESPN, but the bee also has been the subject of a critically acclaimed documentary, “Spellbound,” as well as the inspiration for a new off-Broadway musical. Two fictional movies about the bee are expected to be released this year.
“There is just so much interest in the bee that I never would have believed it,” David said. “I guess it’s just some sort of all-American thing.”
David’s celebrity status began not long after the 20-pound trophy was placed in his arms and his mom gave him a hug and whispered “I love you” in his ear.
The family was whisked to New York to make the next morning’s talk show circuit.
When they returned to South Bend, they were greeted at the airport by cheering students and a white stretch Humvee.
President Bush gave David and his family a tour of the Oval Office and even introduced him to first dog Barney.
Indiana’s governor came to town on “David Scott Tidmarsh Day” and gave him the state’s highest honor: the Sagamore of the Wabash Award, “sagamore” being an American Indian word for a great man in the tribe.
And the local library gave him a fine-free “platinum” library card, much to the pleasure of David’s dad, Jay Tidmarsh, who said his son was supporting the library in overdue fines.
But what most surprised the spelling bee champion and his family this past year is how his mastery of spelling inspired average people.
Of the hundreds of letters he received, one of David’s favorites came from a 94-year-old Oklahoma woman who earned her high school equivalency degree when she was 82. She told David that she likes to apply herself, too, and enjoys competing in spelling bees at her senior center.
“It’s just great that my victory has touched people like that,” David said.