Martin Luther King orator and poster winners announced

DINGMANS FERRY — At the first annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebratory Tea, hosted by the Delaware Township Democratic Club on Jan. 20, the African American Orators and Poster Contests were held and judged. The participants in the African American Orators competition made their presentations before an appreciative audience of 55 individuals from across Pike County and beyond. The first place prize of $100 in the Orators competition was presented to Diondra Martin for her stirring rendition of poetry by Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes. Second place prize of $50 was presented to Al-Tarik Johnson for his reenactment of a fiery speech by Malcolm X. Honorable mentions went to Tricia Forgit, Alyssa Tomaskovic, and Josh Peacock, all students at Delaware Valley High School. The judges noted that only a couple of points separated the first place winner from the rest of the field. The prizes were provided by the Delaware Township Democratic Club and the Vivian Louise Anderson Glenn Memorial Foundation. The Poster Contest was intended as a celebration of the contributions of African Americans to science and technology. Participants from younger grades created posters and presented a narrative describing the contributions of the subjects that they had chosen. Their work will be on display at the Delaware Twp Municipal Building during Black History Month in February. First prize of $50, for her rendering of Daniel Hale Williams, the first surgeon ever to perform successful open heart surgery in 1893, was awarded to Yakira Mirabito. Second prize of $25 went to Andrea Hernandez and honorable mentions and awards of $10 each were presented to Shannon Wagner and Karilyn Klag.