The 72nd annual event starts at 9 a.m. Saturday.

The 72nd annual event starts at 9 a.m. Saturday.
AUSTINTOWN -- Spelling appears to be a talent that runs in the Dolak family of Austintown.
This year 12-year-old Nicholas Dolak, a fifth-grader at Frank Ohl Middle School, and 9-year-old Samuel Dolak, who is in fourth grade at St. Anne Ukrainian Catholic School, compete in the 72nd annual Vindicator Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday.
While it is not uncommon to have siblings participate in the spelling bee in separate years, it is unusual to have two brothers compete in the same year.
Ironically, both boys found out on the same day that they would be going to the Vindicator bee. Sam corrected the spelling of stereo from another pupil, and then spelled castle to win his school championship.
He said that he knew how to spell stereo because he had studied the winning word with his mother, Helen Dolak, before the school competition.
Nick said he feels "pretty good" about being his school's champion and that he has been studying from the "Paideia" booklet published by the Scripps National Spelling Bee and distributed to eligible schools by The Vindicator.
Both brothers like to read, and both are on the honor rolls at their schools. Neither boy is competitive over the other.
When asked what he would do if his brother, Nick, would win the Vindicator bee, Sam said, "I would probably faint."
Nick said he's really rooting for his younger brother. "I would want Sam to win so that he can be proud of himself," he said.
The boys' spelling skills may come naturally since their mother was the school champion at West Junior High in Youngstown as an eighth-grader in 1971. And as most spellers will admit, she remembered the word she missed, medallion.
She said she couldn't be more proud of her sons and that both boys will do their best.
Sam and Nick's father, Randy, said Saturday will be a very special day. "When I realized that both boys would be in the spelling bee, I sensed it would be a real nice day for this family."
He's hoping to bring the boys' grandfather, Joe Dolak, to watch both compete.
Overcoming obstacles
Meanwhile, when 13-year-old Barbara Force, a seventh-grader at West Branch Middle School, steps onto the stage to spell her designated words in the Chestnut Room in YSU's Kilcawley Center, she will not only have triumphed as her school's spelling champion, but she will stand proudly after winning a two-year battle over scoliosis.
The Homeworth girl was diagnosed with the medical condition, a lateral curvature of the spine, while living with her family in Florida.
Barbara wore a brace for six months with no noticeable progress. Her mother, Mary Force-Parke, felt discouraged with medical professionals in Florida, so she decided to move to Ohio, near where her husband's aunt and uncle resided in Alliance.
They told the family about the Shriners organization and how it might be able to help Barbara at the Shriners hospital in Erie.
Force-Parke said Barbara was fitted for yet another brace, but eventually they decided Barbara would undergo surgery at the Erie Hospital and that metal rods would be placed along her spine. The eight-hour surgery, which took place Aug. 25, 2004, corrected her condition. She now stands 5 feet 10 inches; before the surgery, she was 5 feet 6.
Force-Parke said Barbara returned to the classroom in October, having received home instruction during her recovery. She said it was not easy journey for her only daughter, but she has nothing but praise for Barbara's persistence.
"I am very impressed with her determination, her stubbornness about reaching her goals. When she puts something in her mind to do something, she does it," her mother said.
Barbara said of her spelling bee win, "It was kind of unbelievable that I won, that a seventh-grader would win over an eighth-grader."
In addition to Barbara's remarkable desire to recover, she is a prolific writer, having penned six novels in the past year geared to pre-teen readers.
She said the theme of her books focus on how good wins over evil. "Everyone should realize that one little thing can mean a lot. I always defend someone who's getting picked on or abused."
Her book titles include "Inner Secrets" and "Royal Family" and her latest and favorite is "Money Vs. Power," which has two installments.
Barbara, who is a "very smart girl," her mother said unabashedly, is also a volleyball player and hopes to make the volleyball team next year.
There will be 79 pupils representing their public, parochial, charter and home schools in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in the annual Vindicator Spelling Bee. The competition will begin at 9 a.m.