Sept 7: Fall contest has big turnout

Test speaker Rick Newton and evaluation contestants Mack Mercer,
Brenda Daniels, Dámaris Thorn, Joyce King, and Tom Brents

We had a big night at this year's Fall Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest, in spite of it being the day after a holiday. First, we had excellent attendance: lots of members and several visitors came to assist with eating all that good food. (I'm sure they were interested in the contest as well.) Second, we had quite a full slate of contestants: five evaluators and five humorous speakers, with two people participating in both contests. Third, we accepted applications from three new members — Holly Trinh, Melessa Baker, and Ron Baker.

Yum!

Toastmaster Rodney King kept the contest humming along, with the necessary breaks for plate refills. Did I mention that we had a lot of good food? Leading off, our guest test speaker Rick Newton (of Tip Top Toastmasters) had us all wanting a Porsche. Or was it Por-sche? This was a question that came up several times in the evaluations!

After a short break (too short to be called halftime or intermission, but we had a lot of speakers still to hear), Rodney conducted the humorous speech contest. What an entertaining and educational night this was! A real-life "Bates Motel." A creative practical joker named Benny. The risks of apartment living. Dangerous, independent women. How to determine if your socks are ripe enough to launder. (If you are worried about that last one, don't sit next to Ryan at meetings.)

Humorous speech contestants Steven Timmons, Jodie Sanders,
Brenda Daniels, Dámaris Thorn, and Ryan Gallagher

After the judges and vote counters did their work, the highly-anticipated results were finally announced. There were two disqualifications for time (out of the 10 speakers). The first-place winners will go to the Area 12 contest on Sept 25. Each second-place winner will be ready to compete if the first-place winner is unable to.
Speech evaluation contest results:
1st place: Mack Mercer
2nd place: Brenda Daniels
3rd place: Joyce King
Humorous speech contest results:
1st place: Jodie Sanders
2nd place: Ryan Gallagher
3rd place: Steven Timmons

A big THANK YOU goes to contest chair Pat Quick and the helpers, judges, contestants, participants, club members, guests, cooks, and eaters — all of whom made our contest a success and created an enjoyable evening for everyone. I want to especially thank our wonderful photographer: