St. Joseph's eighth-grader state champion speller

Ben Cendana's winning word was "sufficient."

Props to Ben Cendana. The Saint Joseph Catholic School eighth-grader is the Knights of Columbus State Spelling Bee champion. He won it Feb. 1 in Orlando, correctly spelling words such as benign and encephalitis. His winning word was sufficient.

Sherri Mannix

• Congrats to HomeBanc’s new director of retail operations, my wife, Sherri Mannix.
• Palmetto’s First United Methodist Church is hosting a piano-and-violin concert welcoming pianist George Kern and wife, Sarah, an opera singer, 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the church, 330 11th Ave. W. He will be accompanied Sunday by longtime friend, violinist Anne Hooper, national Scottish fiddle champion.
• Florida State University senior Erin Lisch spent national signing day assisting ESPN’s Holly Rowe Wednesday in Tallahassee and tweeted updates for ESPNU.

Abigail Holmes

 • Big ups to Braden River High School soccer flash Abigail Holmes, who’s going to “The U.” She’ll attend the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and major in marine biology. Parents Ted and Cassandra Holmes and little sister EmmaLee are proud.

Read more Friday in Vin's People on Bradenton.com.