The “This” team, comprised mostly of St. John’s Lutheran Hospital employees, won Monday’s spelling bee at the Little Theater in Libby hosted by Lincoln County Public Libraries.

The team donated its prize of $20 to the library — making the total donation $40 since the sign-up fee was $20. Proceeds will benefit the 2009 summer reading programs for children and young adults at the Libby, Troy and Eureka libraries.

“Forty dollars does go a pretty long way towards kids’ books,” said librarian Melody Condron, who emceed the event. “We tried to rile people up, but last time it was in the spring rather than in June.”

The “That” team took second. Gary Huntsberger enlisted the help of his extended family to round out the team.

Words like “babushka,” “paraffin” and “innate” were tossed around for three rounds. The winner had to spell two of three correctly before “hypocrisy” tripped up both teams and finally “calisthenics” spelled doom for the “That” team.

The event has attracted as many as 12 teams in past

Condron added they will most likely try for an earlier date next year to avoid scheduling conflicts with graduation and summer vacations.