Public speaking winners crowned
Kathleen Walsh first in intermediate category
The ability to speak in public is an important skill in society and the Royal Canadian Legion hosts an annual Public Speaking Contest to help promote and encourage young people to learn and hone their abilities.
The Norwood Legion held its annual public speaking competition on Saturday with 17 talented young girls and boys from Norwood District Public School and Norwood St. Paul School.
The young narrators spoke passionately and enthusiastically about their individual interests. Support for the speakers was good with a room full of parents, relatives and friends. The first place winners from each grade level will go on to competitions for the zone; if they continue to achieve first place they will move on to compete for the district, then the area and potentially at the provincial level in Ottawa later this year.
Achieving the top spot in the Primary Competition this year is Jolene Payne from St. Paul who took a defensive approach, delving into the disease fighting role played by certain blood cells with her speech on Being a White Blood Cell. The second spot went to Andrew Chappell also from St. Paul. Andrew’s position in his family gave him a unique insight into the benefits and pitfalls of Being the Little Brother. The third spot belongs to Norwood Public School’s Jackson Pye with his avian-inspired speech about Great Blue Herrings.
In the junior level the top spot was earned by Rowan Stewart from Norwood Public for his humourous speech about Funny Expressions. The second placing belongs to Lora Ross from St. Paul who highlighted the important tradition of storytelling in society with a unique tale inspired by the ancient story of the great flood titled The Story of Stories. Helen Genge from Norwood Public secured the third spot, with most of the audience agreeing with her reasoning that Mondays Should be Banned.
In the intermediate level the top three spots were earned by students from St. Paul. In the top spot is Kathleen Walsh, who is quite obviously a true “Canajun” with her patriotic speech about What it means to be a Canadian. Claire Walsh showed her own considerable intelligence with her thought provoking speech about Artificial Intelligence garnering her second spot. Public speaking can be stressful for some, not for Emma Harding though, as she showed poise and confidence delivering her speech about Stress in Teenagers to earn the third spot.
The other speakers also delivered wonderful and inspiring speeches and the judges had an incredibly difficult time selecting a top three for each division from the fantastic array of quality and skill that was presented.
“The students are simply amazing,” remarked one observer.
The Legion extents its congratulations to the winners and their sincere thanks to all the competitors for their hard work and impressive abilities, thanks are also extended to all the legion members, Ladies Auxiliary members, volunteers and judges who all gave freely of their time to make the event possible.
Pancake Feast
Norwood’s Christ Church Anglican at 71 Queen St. will mark the beginning of the Lenten season with their annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Feast on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Enjoy a hearty helping of pancakes, sausages, ham, baked beans and dessert for $7, smiles and conversation are free.
Coffee Hour Breakfast
The first Norwood’s Christian Coffee Hour Breakfast for 2018 will take place on Saturday at 9 a.m. The popular gathering is moving this year to the Millennium Room at the Community Centre (88 Alma St.) The Christian Coffee hour is a non-denominational setting for people to gather together with friends for a time of worship, music and fellowship. There is also usually an indoor yard sale to browse (The proceeds are used to help the less fortunate. Donations of small items for the yard are always appreciated.) Breakfast is provided and everyone is welcome; a small admission charge of $2.50 is requested to help cover the cost of food. Future coffee hour dates include March 24, April 28, May 26 and June 23.
World Day of Prayer Services
The Norwood United Church, (Highway 7 at the lights) will be hosting this year’s community World Day of Prayer Service on March 2 at 1:30 p.m. The 2018 service was prepared by the women of Suriname with the theme All God’s Creation is Very Good! Everyone is welcome to attend.
International Women’s Day
International Woman’s Day is March 8 and Counciller Debbie Lynch will be hosting the second annual International Women’s Day event in Asphodel-Norwood in the Millennium Room at the Asphodel-Norwood Community Centre (88 Alma St.) from 6:30 to 9 p.m. This year the guest speaker will be Hiawatha First Nation Chief, Laurie Carr. The inaugural event in 2017 was a great success and there is already considerable interest for this year’s event. The 2018 theme is ‘Press for Progress’ and for this reason, the event will be open to everyone - men included. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Debbie at 705- 6962416 or dmalyn@gmail.com.