(Photo: Fred Shacklett, Department Historian)
On March 30, 2025, the Department Oratorical Contest was held at Clovis Veterans Memorial District, at 808 4th Street, Clovis, CA. The contest started at 1pm. There were 6 students who participated, one from each Area.
The contest finals were the following:
1st place – 6th Area, Dwayne Famenia, speech “Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak”, Van Nuys High School, 12th grade, Post 817, won $2,400
2nd place, 2nd Area, Sylvienne Karlstrand, speech “The Beauty and the Burden”, St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, 12th grade, Post 647, won $2,000
3rd place, 3rd Area, Isabells D’Mello, speech “Citizen’s Obligation: The 8th Amendment”, Clovis North High School, 10th grade, Post 247, won $1,400
4th Place, 5th Area, Gavin McGowan, speech “Naturalization in America”, Ramona High School, 12th grade, Post 79, won $1,400
5th Place, 1st Area, Srindhi Nagunuai, speech “Empowering Your Voices”, Vista Del Lago High School, 9th grade, Post 362, won $1,400
6th Place, 4th Area, Omar Siddeswaran, speech “Our Unfinished Duty”, Gretchen Whitney High School, 9th grade, Post 359, won $1,400
We thank the following Judges for their help with this contest:
Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua, City of Clovis
Jenna Welch, Field Representative, Office of Shannon Grove
Traci Fritzler-Kirkorian, Assistant DA, Fresno County District Attorney’s Office
Syndi Day, Associate Director, Fresno Veterans Administration
Kevin Christopher, American Red Cross
Also thanked are the following groups for their behind-the-scenes work:
American Legion Posts 2, 23, and 147
American Red Cross
Department of California Headquarters Staff
Fresno Veterans Administration Staff and Volunteers
Finally, this could not have been done without the donations from the following:
District 15, $1,550
Post 177, $2,000
District 24, $1,000
District 22, $500 (Ron Seden, PUFL, Post 6)
Your commissioners and TA were instrumental in making this competition a success. They are:
Commissioner, Area 1: Patricia Lovisone
Commissioner, Area 2: Larry Maggio (Co-Chair)
Commissioner, Area 3: Mildred S. Wright-Pearson, (Chair)
Commissioner, Area 4: Gil Soto
Commissioner, Area 5: Josephine Thomas
Commissioner, Area 6: David Gibson
Technical Assistant: William Rodriguez
The last time California won the National competition was 2005. We wish our student luck and hope that he will be the first-place winner. The competition is to be held May 16-18, 2025, at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan.
Mildred S. Wright-Pearson
Oratorical Chair
3rd Area Oratorical Commissioner
Department of California
Orate for Americanism
Photos By: Fred Shacklett, Department Historian
For more photos of the 2025 Department Oratorical Contest, visit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1a6rZwH92TwMzVKRwMSrJca4a17ZDaoWA?usp=sharing
Author: caLegion Contributor
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