Australian Mark Hunter: World Champion 2009
World Champion 2009 : Mark Hunter from Australia, "A Sink for a green tomato".
2nd Place : Mary Cheyne of Region VII, "Naly". Mary is Hong Kong Chinese and moved to Australia at the age of 7.
3rd Place : Erick Rainey of Region I, "Feed the Right Dog".
Rich Hopkins says of the champion, "Mark is wheelchair-bound and has a sharp wit to go with a caring demeanor. From Brisbane Australia, I believe he's in D69, now Region 14? He took third in 2007, and did VERY well in 2001 despite not placing that year. The 2001 year, btw, now has 3 World Champions from its class, as well as repeat contestants Rich Breiner and J.A. Gamache. Often considered the best class ever, this certainly clinches that argument."
I was in the audience. Mark was on point throughout his speech. His facial expressions were so good--as someone who has judged contests I think that put him over the top!
Congratulations, Mark. I just got an email from Andrew about you winning the Championship - I think he set the text to the largest font he could find :-)
We're proud of you
hugs
come back, I'll make you a cake Grazina from Gaythorne Toastmasters