October 17, 2023
South Burnett Toastmasters’ members took out several major awards at the Area 28 Speech Conference held at Wondai Diggers Club on Saturday.
Area 28 consists of five clubs, including online groups as well as clubs in Gympie, Maryborough and the South Burnett.
The Speech Conference included four competitions: Humorous, Table Topics, Evaluation and International.
Competitors earned the right to take part in the Area competitions by winning their club’s annual speech contests earlier this year.
As well, several Area awards were handed out.
The “Toastmaster of the Year” trophy was presented to South Burnett’s immediate past president Trevor Stead by Area 26 Director Cassie McMullen.
Trevor also came third in the prestigious International competition, won the Humorous contest and came third in the Evaluation category.
South Burnett member Marietta Wetzig won the Table Topics contest.
The trophy for “Most Improved” was presented to South Burnett club member Ben Nicholson.
The winner of the International Contest, Sandy Turner from the online Weblec club, will go on to represent Area 28 at the Central Division Conference in Gympie next March.
Winners from this event will proceed to semi-finals and the chance to participate in the World Championship.
Results:
- Humorous: Trevor Stead (1st), Dawn Smith (2nd) and Nick Rinaldi (3rd)
- Table Topics: Marietta Wetzig (1st), Nick Rinaldi (2nd) and Sandy Turner (3rd)
- Evaluation: Donna Kildea (1st), Deb Barnett (2nd) and Trevor Stead (3rd)
- International: Sandy Turner (1st), Shakara Rose (2nd) and Trevor Stead (3rd)
