The Lions Club of Young played host to the district finals of the Lions Youth of the Year competition on Saturday March 17 with five contestants vying to reach the next level of the competition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mary-Louise Minehan represented Young and her zone after winning both the Lions Club of Young’s event as well as the Zone event which was held in Grenfell.
Competing on her home turf the local entrant was tipped by many locals to come out ahead, but the Hennessy High School student was just beaten out after winning the Public Speaking component of the competition by Paris Cappell of Orange who was named the overall winner for the district.
The evening was attended by special guests from the Lions Club that included District Governor Ann Jones OAM who travelled from Geurie near Wellington, the state chairperson for Lions Youth of the Year Peter Perry, Lions Youth of the Year district chairperson Jackie Strempel from Leeton as well as Gavin Ellis from Bathurst.
The Youth of the Year Program is designed to encourage students interest in leadership and the qualities required to take an active and constructive role in the community. As well as impromptu questions presented to the five candidates, each also had to give a five minute prepared speech on a subject of their own choice.
- MaryLouise Minehan (Young) – ‘Each Their Own’
- Paris Capell (Orange) – ‘Computers and Cognition’
- Samantha Barton (Tumut) – ’Waste Consumerism and the Environment’
- Thomas Breed (Coleambally) – ‘Rural Fire Service’
- Shakirra Bock-Kemp (Trangie) – ‘Silent Killer’
The program aim is to select an outstanding young individual to be an Australian ambassador with the opportunity to travel overseas under the auspices of Lions Clubs International.
The judges at the district event were Gail Steinhardt, Carol Robertson, Sharon Bruce, Gary Quinn and Steven McIllhatton who definitely found their role difficult because of the calibre of the students.
Paris will now continue on to the Lions Youth of the Year state final which will be held on April 14 in Bankstown.