2009 Humorous Speech & Table topics Competition

[gerry.prewett]

The second Cannington Communicators Humorous Speech and Table Topics Competition was held on Tuesday 25th August 2009.

Great credit is due to Naomi Hanna, who Chaired the organising Committee and to Natalie Mathieson who carried out a fantastic role with the logistics of the competition.

Thanks is also due to Club 303 who provided funding for the gifts to outside Judges and the cost of Trophies.


Naomi Hanna checks that all the contestants are ready to go

We managed to secure Mark Richards as the Chairman for the day and Judith Allen, Robyn Richards, John Palmer, Alan Smith and David Nicholas who acted as Chief Judge. Naomi, Natalie and myself all took the opportunity to act as Judges.


The view from the front

The Judges and other officials all took their places and Sergeants at Arms Diane Cook and Wendy Schneider Benge were ready to commence proceedings.


David and John compare notes before events get underway

Christine Vine and Kim Thompson very capably took charge of timing. Whilst Jane Rogers and Jo-Ann Williams took on the role of tally counting.


Kim Thompson and Christine Vine in control of the traffic lights

The draw was made for the 'batting order' and events got underway. Opening 'batter' was Ruth Taylor with her story "Lost" about a ginger cat who wasn't! Lost that is.


Before the competition gets under way Ruth Taylor almost lets the cat out of the bag, much to the amusement of Lila and Beth

Lila Byart took centre stage next and entertained us with a tale about her Dad's private car yard that accumulated cars.

Beth Colegate (with an E as she told Chair Mark Richards) had a mirthful story of her time as a youngster on a cultural visit to Holland and experienced a massive 24 hour temperature change.


Who is that hiding behind the Dutch flag? All was revealed when Beth Colegate told us about her sojourn in Holland.

After the Judges deliberated it was eventually announced that Lila Byart was Winner and Beth Colegate Runner Up.


Lila takes a close look at the Winners trophy

Table Topics followed and the running order here was Lila Byart, Beth Colegate, Alan Burnett and Natasha Alwyn. The question posed was, "Why, in your opinion, does Australia perform so well, both individually and collectively in sport?"

Lila Byart immediately made her impact by bellowing “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” and achieving the desired response of “Oi, Oi, Oi” to make her point that sporting competition is a part of the Australian Psyche.


Beth Colegate listens intently to the Table Topics question

Beth Colegate took the view that the diverse cultural nature of Australia from the indigenous peoples through to the early migrants and then various refugees had provided not only a rich cultural heritage but a sporting one too.

Alan Burnett believed that Australia’s isolation served it’s sporting representatives well, in that in order to afford the cost of going ‘all that way’, they had to be ‘pretty bloody good’.

Natasha Alwyn seized on the various Institutes of Sport around the country and the amount of public funding heaped on sport.

After deliberating the Judges decided that Winner was Beth Colegate and Runner Up Lila Byart.

The presentation of trophies to Lila and Beth was made jointly by Chief Judge David Nicholas and Chairman Mark Richards.


That winning feeling! Beth Colegate and Lila Byart are presented with their trophies and certificates by David Nicholas and Mark Richards.

It only remained to present the external Judges with a gift of thanks before the Sergeant at Arms declared the competition closed.

Well done to everyone who participated and who helped to ensure the event went of so well. It now remains for us as club members to support Lila and Beth at the Area competition. I’m sure they will both do well. Go girls!

[gerry.prewett]

Well done to both Beth and Lila for taking part in the Area competition last night and performing admirably. Whilst neither won they must have been close. Congratulations you did yourselves and the Club proud. Watch this space for a full review of the evening