The Eastern District Speaking Competition took place at the Bridge Inn Hotel, Walshford on Sunday 17th February 2013 commencing at 1.30pm. The Chair for the afternoon was Barbara Cresswell of the White Rose Ladies Speakers’ Club and the chief judge was Clive Dawson from the Vale of York Area (York RI Club) ably supported by Joe James from the North-East Area (Tyneside Club) and Chris Birch from the Yorkshire Dales Area (Wharfedale Club).
There was an excellent attendance and the standard was very high in all three contests. After a long deliberation, Clive Dawson announced that the winners were as follows:
Speech Competition Chris Clissitt Wetherby Club
Runner-up: Martin Bishop Bradford Club
Evaluation Competition (Sheila and Trevor Wyatt Trophy): Sylvia Walker Craven Club
Runner-up: Neil Wilson Wetherby Club
Topics Competition Veronica Baldwin Huddersfield and Halifax Club
Runner-up Niki Boersma Wetherby Club
The winners were congratulated and Clive Dawson gave a very effective and helpful evaluation of the performance of the candidates in each contest.
Chris, Sylvia and Veronica will now represent the Eastern District at the Association of Speakers’ Clubs National Conference 2013 at the Thistle Hotel, East Midlands Airport, Castle Donnington from Friday 26th April until Sunday 28th April. Wetherby Club wishes all the Eastern District contestants the very best in the competition, in particular our own Wetherby Club Webmaster, Chris Clissitt.