From left to right, Mayumi Ono, 3rd place contest winner, Midori Monobe, 2nd place contest winner, and Raymond Vanwey,1st place contest winner, stand next to Rika Uemoto, Area 51 Toastmasters Governor, presenting their awards to the crowd during the Area 51 Tall Tales Toastmasters contest at the Iwakuni-shi Fukushi Kaikan in Iwakuni City. The area contest was a part of a Toastmasters international contest where the 1st and 2nd place area winners will proceed to the district, division and to the international level if they continue winning. Seven contestants participated in the event where they demonstrated their public speaking capabilities. “The point of the contest was to tell tall tales, kind of like fake stories.” said Vanwey. “But all of it is to give us a better ability to speak in public. It’s difficult to get in front of a lot of people and give speeches, so making a tall tales competitions gives you a chance to use your imagination to do stuff that’s more outlandish than what you would usually do.” Vanwey won the competition by telling a tale of the biggest fish he’s ever caught, with the fish doubling in size with each reference he made to it. The next contest is scheduled Oct. 11.Toastmaster meetings aboard the station are open to ages 18 and up, with meetings taking place the second Wednesday and forth Friday of the month. Meetings take place at the facilities building in the second floor conference room from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and at the Marine Aviation and Logistics headquarters building in the first floor airspeed room from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to come free of charge to view the proceedings or join the Toastmasters for a fee of $33.00 every six months. Anyone wanting more information on the Toastmaster can contact Michiko Yasuda, at 253-4501.