It's been 40-year spell for volunteer

By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- When he was a teen-ager, Andrew Hamady played a bellhop in his first Youngstown Playhouse production.
He mispronounced hors d'oeuvres and had to say his line again to get it right.
After the initial embarrassment, however, he developed an appreciation for language.
"Words have always intrigued me," said Hamady, 63, a fixture at The Vindicator Regional Spelling Bee.
This year's bee is Saturday in the Chestnut Room of Youngstown State University's Kilcawley Center. It begins at 8:30 a.m.
Part of the job: Years after his onstage faux pas, Hamady would go on to teach speech. With that job came an unexpected assignment.
"The principal at South High School said setting up the fieldhouse for the spelling bee was one of my duties as a speech teacher," said Hamady, who would later teach for 32 years at Woodrow Wilson High School.
Hamady has volunteered with The Vindicator bee for 40 years. The part-time Youngstown State University speech instructor talked in his Poland home about his role and shared a few memories.
"I see that everything is set up, check the mike and keep the students moving. I'm like the traffic coordinator," Hamady said in describing his duties as floor manager.
Hamady recalled his first year with the bee and how he met a Youngstown legend.
"Esther Hamilton had a giant teddy bear for the winner. She asked people, including myself, where it was, but no one knew what she was talking about."
After remembering its location, "she asked a sheriff's deputy to get the teddy bear, and he drove to her office, siren and all," Hamady said.
Why he likes it: Hamady, vice chairman of the Mahoning County Mental Health Board and treasurer for the Mahoning County Democratic Party, talked about his long service with the annual bee, whose winner qualifies for the national spelling bee in Washington, D.C.
"I enjoy the bee for the kids. It's a major event in their lives and it gives them something to look forward to. It's also nice to see kids who study so hard appreciate words."
He mentioned seeing some former participants years later. The event has meant more to them than correctly spelling a difficult word, he said.
"It's nice to see parents who come back with their kids. After 20 years, some are still proud they came in second. It's like a close-knit mutual admiration society," he said.
Hamady has no plans to reduce his schedule or leave the spelling bee.
"I have to keep functioning and doing things," he said.
The judges for this year's spelling bee are Sister Mary Dunn, Marcella Crann and Paul Carney. Carney also was a checker for 10 years. He was in the bee as a student at St. Columba's School in the 1950s.
Returnees: A few familiar faces will return for this year's lineup.
Leslie Giles, an eighth-grader at Youngstown Christian School Junior High, was last year's runner-up. Sean Pakos, who's in seventh grade at Edison Junior High School in Niles, finished third last year.