(May 5, 2008) -- A good old fashioned spelling bee -- a gutsy public crucible -- challenged courageous adults to match wits by spelling words including "burgher," "tilde," "aikido," "axolotl," "decoupage" and "isinglass" at LB's Bay Shore Church on Sunday.

Organized by LB promotion and internet maven Justin Rudd, the National Adult Spelling Bee rolled through 37 politely grueling rounds. Janice Davis of Garden Grove survived and won 1st place by correctly spelling "decoupage" and "isinglass" without misspelling a laundry list of other mind-numbing words.

Ms. Davis was awarded $1,000 for her feat: $500 personally and $500 for her favorite nonprofit organization, school or church.

2nd place went to David Riddle of Pacific Grove, CA (who misspelled "axolotl"). 3rd place winner was Michael Petrina of Arlington, VA (tripped up on "aikido").

In photo below, left to right: 2nd place, David Riddle, Pacific Grove, CA; 1st place Janice Davis, Garden Grove, CA; 3rd place, Michael Petrina, Arlington, VA; Bee founder/organizer Justin Rudd.

Photo courtesy: Justin Rudd

Other winners: Christy Ewing of LB finished 4th (tripped up on "tilde") and Vicki Paris Goodman finished 5th (after misspelling "burgher").

Among the gutsy participants, Ryan Davis of Burbank (misspelled "epicurean" in round 12).

Photo courtesy: Justin Rudd

Robin Edmondson of Signal Hill correctly spelled words including "cologne" (round 1), "dingy" (round 3) and "secede" (round 10).

Photo courtesy: Justin Rudd

The event's Pronouncer was Kate Karp, 2006 Adult Spelling Bee Champ.

Among the words that tripped-up some participants: "desuetude," "minaret," "suet," "souk," "epicurean," "kohlrabi," "wassail," "revenant" and "daguerreotype."

Among the words in the final round: "electroencephalograph," "etouffee," "trichocyst" and "quarto."