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Tom Marchant, a home-schooled senior from Hanover, was the winner of the 2008 Minnesota American Legion Oratorical Contest.
Marchant won a $1,200 scholarship, and will automatically qualify for another
$1,500 scholarship by attending the National Oratorical Contest in Indianapolis in April. The top prize at the national contest is an $18,000 scholarship.
The final contest was held at the Anoka Post
with preliminaries at the Osseo and Champlin Posts.
Marchant, the son of Todd and Kim Potter, is in a post-secondary options program at Crown College in St. Bonifacius.
He is a communications major with a minor in music. His ultimate goal is Christian ministry "and reaching out to my generation through speaking and witnessing."
He said a teacher at Crown, John
Grainger, helped him prepare for the Oratorical Contest. He was sponsored by Wayzata Post 118.
Marchant, 18, plays the piano, guitar, and sings. He is a worship leader at his church.
He said his
parents first urged him to pursue speaking. "They kind of forced me, and the first time I had tears in my eyes. I was really scared in that first speech, but then it got better."
Marchant's prepared
oration for the contest was on "Freedom and Responsibility."
He spoke of the contribution of veterans: "Our final responsibility is by far the most honorable and sacrificial. It is the duty to fight
for the United States," he said. "Many great men and women have answered the call of freedom… In deserts and foreign lands, through sleepless nights and lonely days, they hold high our blessed flag of
freedom."
He concluded, "We love freedom, and we don't want to lose it. But we must remember, always remember, that freedom didn't and doesn't come free."
Marchant has been involved with the
National Christian Forensic and Communications Association. He has been both a regional and state champion.
The Oratorical Contest requires speakers to do a prepared oration on the Constitution and be
prepared for an impromptu oration on one of the parts of the nation's law. "I loved the topic, and I learned a lot," he said.
He said for recreation he enjoys playing music with friends and "spending
time with people I love to be with."
This past summer, he participated in the Boys State program at Marshall. "It was a great experience. It's one thing to read about government, and another to live
it." He was elected to the Boys State Senate during the week-long program.
Marchant said he is ready for the national competition. "I look forward to competing with the best in the country."
The eight contestants included: LaBecca Johnson, an 11th grade home schooler from LaCrescent, sponsored by St. Charles Post 190 in the First District; Eric Wolf, New Ulm, senior at Minnesota Valley
Lutheran, sponsored by New Ulm Post 132 in the Second District; Cecelia Hubbartt, a junior at Red Wing High School, sponsored in the Third District by Red Wing Post 54; Arthur Carlson, a junior at
Southwest High School in Minneapolis, sponsored by Wold Chamberlain Post 99 in the Fifth District; Rebecca Gagne, a senior at Pequot Lakes High School, sponsored by Pequot Lakes Post 49 in the Sixth
District; Sarah Brock, a 10th grader at Litchfield High School, sponsored by Litchfield Post 104 in the Seventh District; Amber Wood, a junior from Nashua who is home schooled, sponsored by Fergus Falls
Post 30 in the Ninth District; and Marchant from the Tenth District.
Wolf finished second in the state contest, Wood finished third and Carlson finished fourth. They earned scholarships worth,
respectively, $900, $700 and $500.
The Fourth and Eighth Districts did not have contestants this year.
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