Trenton Middle School eighth grader Titus Kottwitz presented the program to members of the Trenton Rotary Club at their Thursday, April 22 meeting at the BTC Bank community room. Kim Washburn presided at the meeting, Dan Wilford gave the prayer and Chris Hoffman was the sergeant of arms.
Kottwitz recently won the Northwest Missouri Regional Spelling Bee and will participate in the national spelling bee in June. The national bee will be held virtually, with the top 12 finishers qualifying for live competition in Florida. The finals will be televised on ESPN. Kottwitz, who was also the Grundy County champion, said he prepared for the spelling bee by studying a word list provided for the event as well as doing a lot of reading. When spelling a word he is given, he said he tries to determine if he has ever heard the word and, if not, will ask for a definition as well as the word origin. He also asks for the word to be used in a sentence. At the end of the program, Titus competed in a spelling bee round with four members of the club, winning in the fourth round with the word valiant. E’Lisha Gass, who serves as the TMS spelling bee coordinator, pronounced the words for the club spelling bee.
During the business meeting, members were reminded the shoe collection project will continue through the end of April. Phil Hoffman, who will be the program chairman for May, gave the schedule of programs that include a tour of the Trenton R-9 Performing Arts Center on May 6, Crowder Park Superintendent Anna Persell on May 13, Grundy County Health Department Supervisor Elizabeth Gibson on May 20 and Friends of the Thompson House member Gary Dolan on May 27.
The club will meet at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 29 at Cross Hall on the NCMC campus. There will be a recognition of Paul Harris recipients as well as a formal presentation of the club’s donation to the Rotary Foundation on behalf of the late Joe Brinser. District Gov. Donald Gladhart will also be in attendance along with other district Rotary officials.
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