FUSION Speech and Debate Showcase

Hello, friends! It is an absolutely gorgeous day today and I am enjoying it immensely. I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I talked to all three of my handsome, precious sons, who bless me so much.

Hubby and I enjoyed a unique treat recently, when we attended the FUSION Speech Showcase. Fusion stands for "Floridians Using Speech to Influence Our Nation," and it is a Speech and Debate Chapter of the Institute for Cultural Communication. Don't worry, I had never heard of it either, until our nieces got involved. They've been going for months and working really hard; this showcase was a sort of "recital," but the kids had to audition to recite in it. The standards are very tough.

It's a little difficult to explain the evening exactly. The kids performed what some might call skits, but not exactly that. If you are familiar with Anne of Green Gables, you'll remember the gatherings where people would recite poems and things. It was more like that. The kids, either singly, in duos, or sometimes in a larger group, use their voices, facial expressions and body language to dramatize something. They don't use props or costumes; they act the material out. Sometimes they've written the material themselves, but not always. Sometimes the recitation was comical, other times dramatic. I laughed and I cried! This was a thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining evening; and I am pleased to say that there are some very impressive young people (in this chapter, home-educated) learning how to communicate compellingly!

This was also a fund-raiser for the Gabriel House, which is a local "Christian home for abandoned, displaced, underprivileged, and medically needy children." And I do mean home; this is a loving couple who sponsor children in their home, find adoptive homes for them, and often adopt the children themselves. They accept no government funds, and they are not an institution. But over the past 20 years they have been rescuing children, getting them medical treatment, seeing them adopted, and also loving them.

Altogether an excellent evening!