Young writers find "happiness in nature" for Rotary competition
Lochaber’s young creatives were to the fore last week when the local winners of the Rotary Young Writers competition were revealed.
Lochaber Rotary President David Mee hosted the annual awards ceremony at the Club’s business lunch on Wednesday March 4 at the Alexandra Hotel.
With a wealth of creative essays and poems submitted, the judges had a challenging job working their way through over 120 entries.
Head judge, totally independent from the Rotary Club, was our own Senior Reporter Fiona Scott.
In the interests of fairness, and to reflect the ages of entrants, the competition is split into three categories – junior (up to 10 years), intermediate (11-13 years) and senior (14 and over).
The theme of this year’s competitions was "Happiness in Nature".
Winner at senior level was Charlotte Lacey from Strontian with her sensitive "Like an Oak Growing Old" essay closely followed by Jamie Hogg’s clever poem “Do we Find Happiness in Nature Anymore?”.
At Intermediate level the winner was Elspeth MacLean from Spean Bridge with her engaging "Happiness in Nature" story with Aisling Flavin’s lovely and imaginative "A Dawn Chorus" in second place.
The Junior level winner was a touching essay titled "Family" by Kami Neville from Roy Bridge closely followed by Ava MacLeod’s warm and descriptive "Happiness in Nature".
Judge Fiona said that she was extremely impressed by the standard of entries, particularly from the Junior age group who were entering the competition for the first time.
President David presented all the young writers with a certificate with the winners being awarded a £30 book token and runners-up a £20 token.
Praising and thanking the Lochaber Times and school teachers for their encouragement. He added: "The students are a credit to their schools and to Lochaber."
The three winning entries will proceed to the Scotland South final where they will compete against entries from over 90 Rotary Clubs.
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