NEDERLAND - A big congratulations to Ruby Gustafson, who represented Nederland and took second place at the Lions' State Youth Speech Competition.

Ruby competed against other District winners from around the state at the Colorado Lions Convention in Denver on Saturday, May 3. 

The theme of this year’s speech was “What role can you play to help young people develop a ‘we serve’ mindset in today’s world?”

Ruby’s smart and inspiring speech proposed that the way to address this goal in today’s challenging world is for her and her generation “staying educated.”  

 She said in her speech, “By setting an example both online and in person to stand up for the truth, to be kind and educated within the growing community, and to make it the standard to double-check the information I  learn and share, I  can serve and inspire the youth to continue to become educated members of society fighting for a positive future and fighting for this future for passion and with honesty.” 

This was the first year that Nederland participated in the Lions Youth Speech contest.  The success in providing this opportunity for local high school students was largely due to the efforts of Elektra Greer and the Nederland Community Library in co-sponsoring the event with the Nederland Lions Club.

Yay for community partnerships!