Lustre News
The Valley County 2026 Spelling Bee was held at Frazer High School gymnasium on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 1 p.m. The pronouncer was Miss A. Hinchcliff. She welcomed the crowd of parents and grandparents, guardians and teachers to the event, telling the students that “they were participating in a Great American Tradition”.
The spell-down is one that has many benefits, among them, “learning correct vocabulary in communication, speech use and pronunciation and poise under pressure.” Our own Mindy Olfert was one of the Judges.
T.J. Skolrud, a fifth-grader from the Nashua Public School, won the county spelling bee with correct spelling of “pumpernickel” and “deployment” at the end of the third round.
Three more rounds were needed to determine the alternate, and three were in these rounds: Harlo Reddig (grade eight, Lustre), Gavin Pancratz (grade fifh of Lustre), Jaime Windy Boy (fifth grader from Frazer). Reddig won the final round, spelling “obliterate” correctly.
The schools participating were Frazer, Hinsdale, Lustre, Nashua and Opheim. Cooper Albus of Hinsdale was the only alternate who took the place of a teammate, Nikiyah Jones who qualified, but could not attend. The first name in the list below for each school won their school’s spelling bee.
Participating from Frazer were Kaitlyn Old Person (sixth grade), LaForce Lilley (seventh grade), Cassidy Mail (eighth grade), Jaime Windy Boy (fifth grade) and Londyn Rattling Thunder (seventh grade). Anevay Daniels (seventh grade) was Frazer’s alternate. Those who won the privilege to participate from Hinsdale were Hudson Hubbard (fifth grade), Kort Strommen (eighth grade), Evan Rutherford (fourth grade), Rory Remmich (fourth grade), Cooper Albus (eighth grade). Lustre’s participants were Justin Schiller, Harlo Reddig, Ava Holzrichter (all eighth graders), Brielle Keller (seventh grade), and Gavin Pankratz (fifth grade). Coleman Hilkemann (eighth grade) was alternate. Nashua sent Ayala Rivera (eighth grade), Brodi Saiz (fourth grade), Elizabeth Clampitt (sixth grade), TJ Skolrud (fifth grade), Snow Saiz (seventh grade). Ellie Laumeyer (eighth grader) was alternate. Opheim Elementary School brought Paytin Stenglein (seventh grade), Tate Allestad (sixth grade), Cayson Hall (fifth), Declan Sather (fourth) and Sheila Mason (seventh grade).
Tickets for the upcoming Schmeckfest (March 27), are available at Wolf Point’s Agland Hardware, Baker’s Jewelry in Glasgow, and LCHS at Lustre.
