HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-04-13, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2017.
Speer, Bieman destined for Legion Area comp.
District achievement
The Royal Canadian Legion held its District competition in Brussels recently and two locals
were among those who were honoured and therefore tapped to move on to the Area
competition, which will be held in Barrie on April 22. Above, James Speer of the Brussels area
placed first in the Primary division to earn the right to move on by way of his speech about
how adults say the darndest things. Back row, from left: John Lowe, District C Youth Education
Chairman; Patty Sargent -Gibson, District C Commander and Lynn McLellan, District C
Deputy -Commander. Front row, from left: Grace Routenburg-Evans, fourth place; Lyla Kuntz,
second place and James Speer, first place. Absent was Amy van Rhijn, third place. Below,
Austin Bieman of the Belgrave area placed first in the Junior division thanks to his speech on
his grandparents and the funny sayings they come out with. Back row, from left: Lowe,
Sargent -Gibson and McLellan. Front row, from left: Kelsey Rody, fourth place; Chelby Morris,
third place; Evan Johnson, second place and Bieman, first place. (Photo submitted)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
James Speer of the Brussels area
and Austin Bieman of the Belgrave
area are both advancing through the
Royal Canadian Legion Area Public
Speaking Competition in Barrie.
The Maitland River Elementary
School students first competed in
their own classrooms, then against
other students their own age before
advancing to the gym at their school
then on to the Branch competition in
Wingham. From there, the students
went to Kincardine to participate at
the Zone competition and, from
there, the two went to the Brussels
Legion for the District competition.
Now, after earning first place
finishes, the two are getting ready to
head to Barrie on April 22 for the
Area competition, which could lead
to provincial competition.
The two found themselves talking
about very similar subjects: the
comedy they found in the way their
elders communicate.
"My speech is on `adults say the
weirdest things'," Speer said in an
interview with The Citizen. "I
thought it would be good because it
has lots of research on my family."
Speer said he felt some of the
phrases his parents use are
particularly humorous like, "As clear
as mud", "I may have been born at
night but it wasn't last night",
"Money doesn't grow on trees",
"When pigs fly", "Put your money
where your mouth is", "Act your
age, not your shoe size" and "Wipe
that look off your face".
"It's about how kids don't
understand what adults are talking
about and not understand them when
they are speaking," he said.
Bieman's speech was about his
grandparents and the funny things
they say.
"I was telling a few of my friends
some of the things they say and they
were laughing so hard," Bieman
said. "I thought I could use it on
other people. I basically decided that
would be my speech"
Both students have experience
with the competition. Speer has
proceeded to Legion competition
with his past two speeches.
"My first year was 'How I Became
a Pirate, which was a story written
by Melinda Long," Speer said. "The
second year I got first in the
Wingham Legion and then I went to
Kincardine and got third... I made a
speech that was payback against my
brother doing his speech in Grade 4
about a brother for sale. I did
`Brother free to a good home'. That
let me share my side of the story
with Ben."
This year, Speer said he felt good
about his speech throughout the
different levels of competition.
"I spoke in my classroom first," he
said. "My classmates felt good about
it. They laughed a bit."
He then competed against the rest
of the Grade 3 classes, before going
to the gym to speak in front of the
Grade 1, 2 and 3 students at the
school.
"They felt my speech was good,"
he said. "I got five or six laughs and
then the announcements came up
and James Speer got first. I felt
pretty good."
From the school, the two went to
the Branch level at the Wingham
Legion and spoke against students
from other local schools including
Sacred Heart School and Hillcrest
Central School in Teeswater.
Bieman also excelled in previous
years, being selected to represent his
school from Grades 2 through 5.
"My speech last year was on
commercials," he said. "I was a little
bit nervous."
Bieman explained that part of his
training through school was a means
to control nervousness.
Speer said that nerves can be
difficult, but one of the most difficult
things is finding a topic that will
appeal to the audience.
"It's a lot of hard work, coming up
with all the ideas for a speech," he
said. "I worked over Christmas
break. My mom printed out all my
ideas, so I could look over them and
memorize them. I practised a lot"
Bieman said he has a specific style
when it comes to his speech.
"Typically my goal is to have
funny speeches," he said. "Our area
you either have to make people cry
or laugh, and I figured I'm too
young to make people cry."
Bieman said he is anxious for
Barrie. He has made it there in
previous years, but the closest he
came to winning was finishing
second.
"I'm hoping this is my year to hit
the top spot," he said.
Both Bieman and Speer have
experiences to fall back on to help
them succeed in the competition.
Bieman was the 2016 Ambassador
at the Elementary School Fair in
Belgrave and Speer, like his brother,
has been involved with the Brussels
Fall Fair Ambassador contest,
being named Little Ambassador in
2016.
Speer said he is also involved in
the Studio 410 Musical Theatre
Company in Teeswater, which has
helped him learn to broadcast his
voice.
Watch The Citizen for information
on how Speer and Bieman fare at the
upcoming competition.
Cambridge man dies
after canoe capsizes
The Huron County Ontario
Provincial Police (OPP) detachment
is currently investigating an
apparent drowning that took place
on the Nine Mile River west of
Dungannon on April 7.
At approximately 5:53 p.m.
emergency services providers from
Huron County OPP, Huron County
Paramedic Services, Lucknow Fire
Department and Air Ornge
responded to a property located on
Cransford Line to assist an
unresponsive male.
The preliminary investigation has
revealed two friends were canoeing
the rapid waters of the Nine Mile
River when their canoe struck a
fallen tree. The canoe capsized and
one of the males became trapped
below the water surface. He was
brought to shore by his friend,
however despite life-saving efforts
performed by emergency crews, the
male died at the scene.
The deceased is identified as 23 -
year -old Nicholas St. Pierre-Beke
Continued on page 24
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