Saugus selectman wins Humorous Speech Contest with story of her own disastrous wedding

SAUGUS – Saugus selectman Debra Panetta may be all business when it comes to town government, but residents may not know that Panetta also has a funny side.So funny in fact Panetta recently won the division Toastmaster Humorous Speech Contest earlier this month at the American Civic Center in Wakefield.Panetta also won the contest at the club and area levels, and will move on to the district contest on Saturday at the Toastmaster Fall Conference at the Four Points by Sheraton in Norwood.?I?ve never won a division contest before,” said Panetta. “I?ve won the area contest before quite a few times and have competed in the division competition.”Panetta?s speech is called “Wedding Day Blues” and tells the story of the never-ending stream of catastrophes that plagued her wedding day 26 years ago.?It was like Murphy?s Law,” said Panetta. “Whatever could go wrong would go wrong. I was trying to make it very funny and thought, ?Maybe I could make things up.? But the things I made up weren?t nearly as funny as the real things that happened.”Panetta said it all started in the morning, when the wrong limousines were sent, then during her and her husband Mark?s vows at the church, a cab driver waiting for a fare outside kept blasting his horn over and over.?One of the things I learned is never have an open bar at your wedding,” said Panetta. “My videographer at the time was practically on the floor. He didn?t take any pictures of anybody?s faces. We still have the video. It?s horrific. All I have is pictures of feet and shoes. It was terrible.”Even the cake was a disaster as Panetta said the wrong one was wheeled out and it had the wrong names on it.However, there was one silver lining to the wedding.?The woman who caught my bouquet, and the man who caught the garter, they were both elderly, they actually got married one year to the day and asked my husband to be the best man,” said Panetta.Panetta lives in Saugus with her husband Mark and their two children, Mark Jr. and Sabrina. Panetta currently works at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston as the Director of Financial Reporting and Analysis. Aside from being a selectman, Panetta serves as president of the Saugus River Watershed Council and is a member of various organizations throughout her community.Panetta said she joined Toastmasters in the early 1990s to help develop her “impromptu speaking skills.” Since then, Panetta said she has gone on to hold numerous Executive Club officer positions, including president, vice president of public relations, vice president of education and treasurer.Panetta also received her Distinguished Toastmaster designation in 2009.According to Panetta, Toastmasters International is a worldwide nonprofit organization that encourages and helps members to become more experienced and comfortable in front of an audience This nonprofit organization now has 280,000 members in 13,500 clubs in 116 countries, and offers a proven way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills, said Panetta.?There is no instructor,” said Panetta. “Instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.”Panetta said she?s both excited and nervous for the district contest on Saturday.?There?s going to be hundreds of people there,” said Panetta. “It?s fun and it?s really exciting.”For more information on Toastmasters visit toastmasters.org.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].