On Patriots’ Day, Sept. 11, Pam Hollrah-Asleson won first place in The Great American Experiment speech contest at the Hobgoblin Music store in Red Wing. The contest was sponsored by Toastmasters and it honored those lost in 9/11. Pam spoke to the topic, “What it Means to be an American,” and drew upon her life experiences that began with her birth on an island off Hawaii, prior to Hawaii’s statehood; her childhood as a “military brat;” and her motherhood to a military veteran.

“It was exciting, because I love to speak about anything related to our government and our military and what it means to be an American,” she said.

The contest was open to the public and seven contestants participated.

Hollrah-Asleson is a member of two local Toastmasters International groups. Her home club is Tuesday With Toastmasters that meets at Hormel Foods Corp. at noon every Tuesday and the soon-to-be-chartered club, Austin-nites Toastmasters, which caters to business people and meets twice monthly at the offices of Life Safety 4 U in downtown Austin.

Hollrah-Asleson lives in Lyle and is a private business person in Austin who has Poets Heart, Life Safety, 4-U HELP Button LLC, and RN Consulting and Coordinating experience.