CAPE YOUTH WINS ORATORICAL CONTEST

Champ Friend of Cape Girardeau and Tiffany Sewell of Cedar Hill are the 1996 regional winners of the Optimist Oratorical Contest, held recently at the Jackson Municipal Courthouse.

Friend and Sewell will compete in a field of four boy and girl regional finalists for two $1,500 scholarships from the Optimist International Foundation.

Friend, age 13, is the son of Charles and Maggie Friend of Cape Girardeau and attends Nell Holcomb School. He qualified through the Evening Optimist Club of Cape Girardeau before winning at the zone and regional levels.

Sewell, age 13, is the daughter of Cheryl Graf of Cedar Hill and Darrell Sewell of Springfield. She attends Cedar Hill Middle School and won the High Ridge Optimist Club competition in addition to zone and regional contests in qualifying for the finals.

Other zone winners competing at the Jackson Courthouse regional contest included: Sarah Nothdurft and Benjamin Martin, representing the Jackson Noon Optimist; Megan Odneal, representing the Ste. Genevieve Optimists, and Phillip Dunn, representing the Fredericktown Optimists.