News

We were saddened to learn of the death of Bill Mitchell on the 23rd January at the age of 87.

He was a talented speaker and contributed a great deal to the ASC over many years. He was a great supporter of our club too, attending our dinners, judging our competitions, delivering educational sessions and taking part in many an inter club visit.

Bill was a founder member of Wharfedale SC in 1979, helped to establish York RI SC and served as National President 1987-88. He was the instigator of ‘speaking to a declared purpose’, originally known as prescription speaking, but which now comes under the heading ‘Applied Speaking’ and can be found in the Speakers Guide. He spent his final years devoted to his wife, Margaret, following her stroke.

Joe James, past national president, wrote: “My  memories of Bill are that at first meeting he seemed rather severe and forbidding, but as one got to know him his wonderful dry sense of humour became an absolute delight. What at first appeared to be severity gradually revealed itself to be truly a meticulous sense of what was right and appropriate, and a manifestation of the highest standards of speaking and organisation which he set for himself and encouraged others to set for themselves. When you knew Bill was in the audience, you would not dare to deliver anything less than your best performance.”

And this from Denise Adlard: “His stern rather formal demeanour disguised a generosity of spirit, a willingness to help,  guide and support and most of all a wicked dry sense of humour.”

Peter Wilson gave the target speech for the club Evaluation contest on 19th January entitled “Apocalypse Fatigue”. There were three entrants with judge Jeff Denton declaring Chris Clissitt the winner. He will represent the club at the regional contests in March.

The same three entered the Topics contest with Chris Clissitt selected as the winner by judge Jan Seymour.

As for last year, there will be no Area contests this year. There are only four clubs in the region entering contests (Wetherby, York, Craven and Halifax & Huddersfield) and all will progress directly to the Eastern Regional contests on 11th March in Bramhope.

Here is the club line up for the regional contests:

Speech:          Neil Wilson

Evaluation:     Chris Clissitt

Topics:           Chris Clissitt

Thursday 16th September saw the return of Wetherby Speakers Club to Linton Memorial Hall for our first face to face meeting since February 2020 and what a welcome relief it was! Zoom was invaluable through the Covid interregnum, keeping us in touch and in practice, but nothing beats speaking to a live audience. Being able to see the audience reaction, the immediacy of the feedback, the “feel” of  the venue, the shared humour, the tangible bonhomie…..much missed over the last 19 months, and so good to be back!

We were treated to two excellent speeches, all the better for the “live” setting. Niki Boersma spoke on “Camping or Caribbean” and Lisa Duffield delivered “The Circus.”

Two days later on Saturday 18th September the National Conference took place at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the first attended conference since April 2019. A report on the event can be found here on the main ASC website.

Chris Clissitt acted as a judge in both the Speech and Topics contests and took part in the Evaluation contest, finishing in 3rd place. Anne Todd of Halifax & Huddersfield SC did our region proud with a fascinating and entertaining speech entitled “Long Live Language” which secured 2nd pace and some deserved silverware.

A few changes to our dates for the rest of the season to avoid clashes with York. This will allow members of both clubs to join each others’ meetings.

Here are the dates for the remainder of the season (all dates are Thursdays):

At the club AGM held on Zoom on 3rd June there were some changes to the committee for 2020/21  including a new committee role of Social Media Co-ordinator.

John Holian took over from Peter Wilson as President, Howard Herbert stepped in as Treasurer and Lisa Duffield was appointed Social Media Co-ordinator. The new role came about following the National Secretary’s request for committee details including “Social Media”, a new position not defined in the current guide which combines the social media responsibilities of several existing roles.  Successful clubs often attribute membership growth to their use of social media and it was agreed that our club would benefit from co-ordinating activity across all channels including Facebook, LinkedIn, Meetup, local websites, links on our own website and any other channels deemed appropriate. Lisa Duffield offered her services, already familiar with using social media to promote her business, and was enthusiastically and unanimously voted in! Members can continue to contribute as they do now within the overall strategy for social media set by our new office holder.

Dates were agreed on the assumption that we will be able to meet in person from September and that Linton Memorial Hall is open and available. The new season is scheduled to kick off on Thursday 17th September at 8pm.

This is the full committee:

President: John Holian

Immediate past President: Peter Wilson

Treasurer: Howard Herbert

Education Director: Jocelyn Brooks

Social Media Co-ordinator: Lisa Duffield

Social Secretary: Niki Boersma

Publicity Officer: Neil Wilson

Secretary & Webmaster: Chris Clissitt

In what turned out to be the last meeting before the season was suspended, five members of Wetherby SC visited York RISC on Thursday 12th March for our biannual joint meeting.

Peter Ryans with the InterCity trophy

Peter Ryans won the Inter City Trophy for the best speech of the night, his topical and witty piece entitled “Just Do It” ably evaluated by Sarah Daniel.  The name of the trophy provides a clue to the era in which the prize originated! The meeting was evaluated by Peter Wilson of Wetherby SC.