First pg 11 7-21-11
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- Category: Past Issues
By John Carter
POMFRET — The Pomfret Senior Association’s first-ever Patriot Contest saw Kathy Varga take home the prize for her account of what it was like for her family to immigrate to this country, become citizens and learn the meaning of freedom.
The contest was part of the association’s annual picnic and it was held in the Pomfret Senior Center to dispense with worries about the weather and add air conditioning to the event.
In the past, all the Association did at their picnic was to eat and go home. Well, I had the idea of providing some kind of entertainment because there was going to be a large group of seniors present for free food at the Center. Knowing our seniors like to entertain themselves, I came up with the idea of the Center sponsoring a Patriotic Contest. The entrants had to do five minutes on anything with a Patriotic theme.
The Board of Directors of the Center gave their approval. I then approached the June meeting of the Association to see if they were OK with this idea. They were in favor also. I told them that any senior could enter and there would be judges and prizes.
The judges were going to be the Board of Selectmen. The next worry was, “Would anyone enter?” so to entice other seniors to enter, I said that I was going to enter and try to beat me. The contest ended up with four contestants.
The contest was a great success. The entrants did a monologue saying I’m proud to be an American; a group of ladies sang and told jokes; and even Abe Lincoln was there doing his Gettysburg Address. But the best of all and the winner of the contest was Kathy Varga who told us what it was like for her family to immigrate to this country, becoming a citizen and learning the meaning of Freedom.
The Center now looks toward Aug. 16 for its next contest, an adult Wii Bowling Tournament. There will be a youth-only Wii Bowling Tournament later this fall and more contests are sure to come.