The Central Ponoka 4-H Beef Club held its public speaking event on Feb. 6 at the Elks Hall.
The members had to present both their prepared and impromptu speeches in front of a panel of six judges — and family and friends who came to watch.
In the senior class, first place went to Ashley Gartner, with second going to Melissa Gartner.
“I was a little nervous but I’ve done it before quite a few times so that helped. I really enjoyed it and added my own personal story to it,” said Gartner who presented on climate change and global warming for the research portion of the competition.
The impromptu speech followed. In this round Ponoka 4-H clubs hand out hardware the members must pick three topics out of a hat and then after some time must select one topic to discuss.
“I spoke about the million dollar cow. The Holstein that sold for a million dollars in Canada,” said Gartner.
Kaitlin Malterer won the intermediate class, with second going to Ryan Gartner.
First place in the juniors went to Chase Fleck, with Kristofer Malterer placing second.
The top two members from each division go on to represent the club at the central zone public speaking on Feb. 27.
“I’ve been public speaking for eight years and I was happy to win. It was nerve-racking but hopefully I do well at zones as well,” said Gartner.
The East Ponoka 4-H Beef Club held its competition on Feb. 13.
In the junior class, Megan Boltontook top honors, followed by Julianna Harvy and David Vold.
Virginia Harvey won the intermediate division, with Tawni Kjenner placing second and Allie Bolton taking third.
Kiara Kjenner was the top senior, while Nola Curran was second and Jonah Harvey, third.