The Rolla Optimist Club 14^th Annual Old-Fashioned Spelling Bee was held at Rolla Middle School Auditorium on Tuesday April 18.  Exceptional spellers were invited from Rolla Middle School, Rolla Lutheran, St. Patrick’s, Wyman, Mark Twain, Truman, and Newburg.  The 4^th grade winner was Paige Noble of Rolla Lutheran and the runner-up was Tara Mace of Mark Twain Elementary.  The winning word for the 4^th grade contest was “inspiration”.  The 5^th grade winner was Erica Hilmas of St. Patrick’s School and the runner up was Zoey Craun of Rolla Middle School.  The winning word for the 5^th grade contest was “functions”.  Congratulations to all of the contestants!  The Optimist Club would like to extend special thanks to the faculty and staff of the Rolla Middle School who helped make this event a success as well as Mr. Bill Bates for his services as pronoucer for the evening.  Information on the Optimist Club of Rolla and its programs can be found at http://www.rollanet.org/~optimist