Alaskans sweep international competition

PALMER — Three residents of southcentral Alaska just won the top three places in an international, taped speech competition. This contest was open to more than 2,000 Toastmasters from areas all over the Earth, including Alaska, Northern Canada, South America, Eastern Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia.

All community members are invited to meet two of these speakers and hear their award winning speeches from 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday at the Downtown Palmer Pavilion. Light refreshments will be served at this free event.

Meschelle Kolb of Wasilla won first place in the contest with her speech “October Inspections.” Kolb also won first place in the regional International Speech Contest in Fairbanks last March. She is a member of Palmer Toastmasters Club, which meets from 6 to 7 p.m., Tuesday evenings in the basement of the MTA Building, at 480 Commercial Drive in Palmer.

“I am very humbled and honored to have won the International Speech Competition sponsored by Toastmasters International,” she said. “The training and experience I have acquired through Toastmasters have refined my speaking skills and developed a sense of excitement in me to speak in front of large groups of people.”

Pascale Umekwe won second place. He is a member of the Great Land Toastmasters Club that meets from 7 to 8 p.m., Thursdays in Suite 336 of the Frontier Building in Anchorage. Unfortunately, he will not be able to attend this Saturday’s event due to other commitments.

John Royce, who also lives in Wasilla, took third place in this international contest. Royce was a member of Chugach Power Talkers when he submitted his speech. This club meets at noon,Wednesdays in the Chugach Electric building, 5601 Electron Dr., Bldg. A, in Anchorage. He has since taken a job with MEA so that he’ll spend less time commuting and have more time for his lovely wife and six children. Royce said he expects to join Palmer Toastmasters now that he lives and works in the Valley.

He joined Toastmasters in March 2008, after hearing their applause through the wall of his office and discovering that they offered free pizza to those who attended. While it took pizza to overcome his fear of public speaking at first, the safe and friendly environment of his club soon taught him to enjoy public speaking and develop leadership skills.

Royce achieved Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest award level offered by this organization, last February. This required that he give more than 40 speeches, teach a workshop, serve as a club officer, serve as an Area Governor (supporting four clubs), lead a new club to success, and organize and lead several teams to complete special projects.

Karen Robinette is the Area 7 Governor of the Yukon-Alaska Council of Governors.