Dec 1: "Youth Leadership" leads the way

Veteran Toastmaster Mac Mercer was our able Toastmaster but youth held the spotlight. The Best Speaker ribbon was won by 16-year-old Austin Starnes. His mother Kenna Starnes took the prize for Best Table Topic.

Austin won the speech contest in the Afterburners' fall Youth Leadership program. Participants in this program believed they also were winners because of the basic speaking skills they gained.

Other prepared speeches included a humorous sales pitch by Mac Mercer (he was doing double duty) and an interesting speech by Theresa Eller about her relative Joseph Conrad.

Tom Brents