Posts Tagged ‘Dinners’

After Dinner Speech Contest travels back in time to October 1977

Sunday, March 18th, 2018

To commemorate 40 years of Wetherby Speakers Club we travelled back to October 1977, the month when  the club was founded.

Opera Gin-free (niki Boersma) receives the trophy from judge Catriona Webb

Opera Gin-free (Niki Boersma) receives the trophy from judge Catriona Webb

Speakers adopted thinly disguised characters representing half a dozen young(ish) people talking in 1977 about their hopes and ambitions and how they thought things would turn out for them over the next four decades. This was the scenario for the annual After Dinner Speech Contest held at the Bridge Inn, Walshford, on Friday 16th March.

After 6 light hearted and entertaining speeches the winner was declared – congratulations to Niki Boersma who gave a powerful and humorous address as Opera Gin-free.

The other speakers were Nutella Lawson (Jocelyn Brooks), Alex Fergietime (Neil Wilson), Tim Earners Glee (Peter Wilson), James Tryson (Howard Herbert) and Bill Doorways (John Holian).

The MC was Jeremy Axeman (Chris Clissitt) and the judge was Catriona Webb.

National President’s Dinner, Oxford

Monday, November 2nd, 2015

William Warren held his National President’s dinner at St Cross College Oxford on Saturday 24th October, an initiative begun in 2013 in York by Lindsay Dutch.

Eastern District was represented by the President, Martin Bishop, Bill Mitchell who led one of the afternoon seminars (on prescription speaking) and Chris Clissitt, one of the dinner speakers.

The 66 guests were arranged on three long tables, and with his characteristic wit and bonhomie, William Warren, acting as MC, kept the evening moving along with good pace and humour.

The dinner followed a welcome by the South East District President, Bernie Morgan, and after dinner we had eight (yes, eight!) speakers rounded off by a vote of thanks by Jackie Mafi. As at York in 2013, Chris Clissitt was the last of the speakers, following an accomplished line up of Thomas Scott, Anne Bouget, John McGhee, Andrew Western, Margaret Robertson, Paul Johnstone and Bruce Golding.