Kilgore student wins Rotary speech contest
By GREG A. COLLINS for the News Herald

Two juniors from Kilgore High School participated in the annual Kilgore Rotary Club Four-Way Speech Contest Wednesday. The competition was won by Meagan Youngblood of Kilgore.

Each year, students from Kilgore, Sabine and Leverett's Chapel are invited to give a theme-oriented speech to the Kilgore Rotary Club for cash prizes. The theme is selected by district officials and the information is then given to the students to prepare a speech of five to seven minutes. They are judged on about 20 different criteria and the winner and runner up receive a cash prize.

The winner is also invited to attend the district competition for a larger cash prize. This year the district competition is in Wills Point.

Both girls spoke about the importance of sharing and tied it into the Four-Way Test, a Rotary staple which includes the following tests: is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? And, will it be beneficial to all concerned?

The district competition is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 2 in Wills Point. Nikki Patterson of Kilgore High School was the guest of the club and the school liaison. Melvin Jordan with the Rotary Club was the chairman for the contest.

In other Rotary news, Steve Brown reported on his trip to the Governors-Elect Conference in San Diego this past week.

David Castles asked for volunteers to support the Youth Leadership Weekend at Camp Pirtle.

The club will put out flags in February for President's Day. The holiday is on Feb. 18, but the flags will be put out the weekend before.

The Foundation Dinner is set for Feb. 23 in Texarkana.

This week, Pam DeCeault will give a program on Hetty Green, the Witch of Wall Street.

Kilgore Rotary Club meets each Wednesday at noon in the Masonic Lodge on Stone Road. Guests are always welcome.