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The Golden Gavel
Speech Contest is an
annual event sponsored by the Golden Gavel Committee. The purpose of
the contest is to encourage people to become involved in public
speaking through friendly competition. The contest is open to any
resident of Vancouver Island who is 17 years of age or older, whose
training and experience in public speaking is limited to the 18 months
immediately preceding the contest and who has not entered a Golden
Gavel speech contest before.
The Golden Gavel contest was first sponsored by the Union Toastmasters
Club 331, the second Toastmaster club in Victoria – now known as Rise and Shine Toastmasters Club. The
first competition was held in 1946. The Golden Gavel Committee, as an
independent organization, is proud to carry on this tradition.
 The
Golden Gavel trophy is, in itself, an historic object. Crafted
immediately after the Second World War, the materials came from the
ship, "Prince Robert", a decommissioned troop carrier. The craftsman,
Harvey Phillips, used mahogany from one of the ship's cabins to form
the case, or "casket". The gavel itself is turned from lignum vitae,
the "wood of life". Being extremely hard, and containing an abundance
of natural oils, this wood was used to form the steering bearing
casings on ships. These materials have been beautifully crafted to form
the Golden Gavel trophy, honoring past and present winners of this
contest.
To learn more about HMCS Prince Robert, please click here.
HMCS
Prince Robert Photos with
permission of Bill Hillman. |
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| Revised
by Brian Dodd, DTM May 12, 2010 |
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