Loyalty Days first event

Today was the Loyalty Day Princesses' speeches! The Toastmaster of the day was Brian, and he lead the meeting directing the changes between each of the princesses and all four evaluations. Dave was the general evaluator, who both showed his appreciation for the Loyalty Day's court, sharing his story about coming home from Vietnam and having people sneer at him. When he came to Newport, Oregon and went to Loyalty Day's he felt like people appreciated his service. He complimented Brian on being a good host, and the Loyalty Day's Princesses for their poise.
Laura was the first speaker of the day. Her speech started off with a story of a girl who was ostracized during recess, and turned to running to combat the loneliness. The beginning of her speech built suspense through seemingly starting off in the middle of a story. She talked about how valor is not just soldiers fighting for their country or fire fighters running into a burning building, but courage can be seen in everyday life. She also reminded us to live in the moment, because we do not know which breath with be our last. Laurie suggested that Laura use an outline and put her paper on the lectern. While evaluating her, she complimented Laura on building suspense and reigning in the audience with her introduction.
Chelsea was the second speaker who talked about how immigrants are brave coming to a new place, or without knowing anyone there. She talked about her parents who came here from a different country to provide a better life for their family. They came over when they were in their twenties, and together they had two daughters. As she talked about her family, she emphasized that valor does not have to be a single act, but it can be a lifestyle based on facing new challenges and serving your family. Avital was Chelsea's evaluator, and complimented her on projecting her voice so the room could hear. She suggested to Chelsea that she slow down while speaking because her speech felt a bit rushed.
Sydney spoke thrid about her take on valor. She spoke on an experience that she had recently where she had the opportunity to go to Portland and serve the homeless there. It was on that night that Sydney said she was able to look the homeless people in the eye and hear their stories. In her speech, said talked about how over 40,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. She said that those soldiers are valorous, and it is our duty to care for them when they get home. Lee was Sydney's evaluator for her first speech. He said that she should say 40,000 veterans instead of the very specific statistic she used that was hard to remember. One of the compliments Lee gave to Sydney was that she used personal experiences to convey her message on the importance of valuing valor.
The last princess to speak was Galilea, who highlighted the subject of immigration. To talk about the subject, she focused on how America was built by immigrants who came from across the world to be free. Galilea said that they showed great courage by coming to a new world they did not know. To bring the story back to Newport, she talked about how Sam Case came from the East Coast to Newport and built the first post office here. Christa evaluated Galilea for her speech. She complemented her courage in giving a speech to an unknown audience. To help her with the speech, Christa suggested to have the whole introduction and conclusion written out and then the rest of the paper written in an outline. The other suggestion she gave Galilea was to look at the top of the audience's head to give a more personal feeling to the speech.
The word of the day was valor, chosen by Lauralee the grammarian. Laurie was the timer of the day. Peter was in charge of table topics, but the speeches and evaluations took longer than expected. In lieu of the table topics winner, the winner for most used word of the day was Sydney who used the word 15 times.