Gas City Kiwanis readies prestigious Norm Payne Award for one of nine deserving 4-H members
By Samantha Johnson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on October 22, 2022.
reporter@medicinehatnews.com The Gas City Kiwanis Centre Society has been hosting the Norm Payne Award for more than four decades. The award is only open to members of a 4-H club, who must be nominated by their club and have a letter of recommendation from a 4-H leader and another 4-H member. Kiwanis vice president Chris Herrmann says they have nine applicants this year. “I think every club has at least one representative.” Each fall Kiwanis sends out a notification to the 4-H clubs that they are going to host the event again. In addition to the letters of recommendation, each applicant must submit a resume. This is the first year applicants were able to type their resume, as previously they had to be handwritten. Herrmann looked from the perspective of his role as manager of agriculture in banking with Connect First Credit Union, “if someone brought me a handwritten resume, I wouldn’t look at it. They are applying for college and scholarships, it’s all online now.” Some applicants attach a cover letter and others don’t. Packages were submitted prior to the deadline of 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 and will be delivered to the three judges this weekend. The panel of judges changes from year to year and are often all Kiwanis members, although there are years non-members volunteer to judge as well. Applicants will deliver their speeches in Seven Persons on Wednesday, however, it’s not only about the speech for Kiwanis, but the entire individual. Judges will be looking at how they present themselves, their deportment, along with interactive and networking skills. But the speech itself is the most important. “We follow the 4-H Alberta guidelines for what the speech has to look like,” explained Herrmann. “Three to five minutes in length on a 4-H appropriate topic.” 4-H leaders, their peers, parents, friends, Kiwanis members and judges will all be present for the evening to hear the speeches. Judges will look at both the handwritten speech and then how it is presented. After the prepared speech, all applicants leave the room before returning one at a time. Each gets the same question and must answer it without preparation. And the suspense doesn’t end that night either, as they must wait until Colour Night on Nov. 19, which takes place in Hilda, before finding out who won the Norm Payne Award. The winner is presented with a trophy which has names of all past winners, including Herrmann. “There are leaders of 4-H clubs on there, parents of kids who are now competing; it’s kind of neat. 4-H clubs look forward to it.” Along with the trophy, there is a $1,000 cash prize – the winner gets $600 and the representing club gets $400. 15-14
