Bow High School senior Albushies wins first place, headed to semifinals in 4-Way Speech Contest

Bow Rotary held its annual 4-Way Speech Contest on March 19 at the Baker Free Library. A total of seven contestants from Bow High School participated. All contestants spoke about personal experiences in various subjects.

Joseph Albushies, who won first place, spoke about the need for a community center in Bow and how it would create a hub and a place for community and build more meaningful relationships. Second place went to Matthew Kropp who talked about homelessness and how kindness and volunteering could build more goodwill to those less fortunate. Emily Fauteux came in third place and spoke about family hardship when her aunt had cancer and how it took a village to step in to help raise the children when her aunt was in the hospital.

Prizes were awarded to the winners in the amounts of $500, $300 and $200, respectively.

The four other participants included Liam Miller, who spoke about community service, Annabelle Cattabriga, who spoke about the ways that learning another language expands cultural understanding, Hannah Miller, who spoke about the positive impact of unified sports, and Carter Monroe, who spoke about how esports is all inclusive and provides opportunities to make friends and grow through experience.

Congratulations to all the participants for taking the time to write speeches and present to the more than 30 attendees. Thank you to the judges: Judy Goodnow, Ian Flanagan, Duane Ford, Matt Poulin and Mary Ann Wells.

Albushies will go on to compete in the Rotary District semifinals at the Henniker Community Center on Sunday, April 6 at 1 p.m.