Zone Chairman and Youth of the Year Chairman, Lion Terry Carroll of the
Grenfell Lions Club, welcomed Quest entrants and their families, judges, Lions, Lions Ladies/partners and guests to Lions Club Youth of the Year Zone
judging for 2018 which took place at The Railway Hotel on Sunday February 25.
   Past District Governors of 201N4, Anthony Smith and his wife Judy, John Skelton and his wife Diane and Sarah Higgs THLHS Lions Youth of the Year coordinator were in attendance for this most prestigious event on the Lions calendar.
   The Youth of the Year judging took place whilst members from Cowra, Young, Forbes and District, Boorowa, Canowindra and Grenfell attended a Zone meeting.
   Four very worthy students, Jessica Pereira -The Henry Lawson High School Grenfell, Samuel Long – Cowra High School, Marylouise Minehan from Harden – Hennessey Catholic College Young and Elly Katharine Collins – Parkes Christian School (Forbes and District) participated in the final.
The four entrants displayed their talents and knowledge before a distinguished panel of judges, Carly Brown – Councillor of Weddin Shire Council, Ngaire Soley – Manager Grenfell Record and Matthew Lynch – former Head English teacher at The Henry Lawson High School.
   Following the Zone meeting, private interviews and prior to lunch, forty four people were in attendance to hear the outstanding responses to the two by two minute impromptu questions.
•The media is reporting potential looming energy crises in Australia. What are some factors that should be taken into account when formulating effective responses?
•A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Syria. What are some ways that countries like Australia can contribute satisfactorily to its resolution?
Contestants answered these questions with enthusiasm and some very
interesting and different aspects were presented.
 Marylouise Minehan’s speech was “Each to their own”
 Spokesperson for the judging panel, Matthew Lynch said that the judges were astounded by the calibre of all four students. At this level of the competition this is what we would expect – he said that it was a very difficult decision.  He emphasised to the audience that the public speaking segment which the general public witnessed only accounts for 30% of the marks with the other 80% of marks being allocated from their performance at the private interview and information supplied on their entry forms.
Marylouise Minehan was announced as Public Speaking winner as well as overall winner of the Lions Youth of the Year Zone Final.