Full house at PNW District Optimist Oratorical Contest

They just kept coming! As the Pacific Northwest District Optimist Oratorical Contest was set to start at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 22, we had to delay just a few minutes to add more seats to the venue. The room was set for 120 guests and 11 contestants. According to Ed DeSantis, acting sergeant-at-arms for the contest, they were pulling chairs from the room next door when the hotel staff arrived with twenty more seats.

What a great problem to solve," remarked Linda Jackson, Governor. We had expected just over 100 Optimist Club members plus the parents of the contestants or about 120 people. It was exciting to see others, people from the Newport community, come out to hear the thoughts of our students."
A little over 150 people enjoyed the speeches of the young contestants. All contestants under 16 years of age spoke on the topic "Cyber Communications: Progress or Problem?" Eight students were part of the traditional oratorical contest for the PNW District and three competed in the Communications Contest for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCDHH). They vied for two first-place scholarships of $2,500. In the traditional oratorical contest, they also earned scholarships of $1,500 and $1,000 for second and third place.

The winners were not yet announced when this post was made. Please check back soon to find out more.