Erin’s official town crier Andrew Welch was declared the overall winner of the recent town crier provincial championships.
The Ontario Guild of Town Criers held its annual provincial championships on May 21 and 22 as a signature event of the 200th anniversary celebrations of Perth, in Lanark County.
Welch has often represented Erin in town crier gatherings around the province since his appointment by town council in 2012.
The guild championship, hosted in a different municipality every year, brings together criers from all over the province in friendly competition to promote the vocation and celebrate heritage.
For the Perth tournament, the criers were challenged to write three proclamations: one to promote their home town, a second to promote a local Perth business, and a third to share some important aspect of Perth’s 200-year-old history.
Competitors were then judged on their content, presence, vocal delivery and accuracy.
Resplendent uniforms, proclamations often spiced with a bit of humour, and perfect weather meant that the audiences were impressively large.
In the end, Welch, who also represents the Town of Caledon, edged out Chris Whyman, the town crier of Kingston and current World Champion, by only half a point (out of 300).
Third place went to last year’s provincial winner Bill McKee, representing Scugog, Uxbridge and Oshawa. Welch also placed third in a separate “loudness” ranking, hitting 98.9 dB – a measurement not often included in competitions.
“Many of my colleagues having been doing this for decades, are full-time criers, and are ranked amongst the very best. I just happened to have a good weekend,” said Welch.
