Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
On Friday night the first annual “Mr. Swarthmore” competition was held by the Ladies Soiree Society (LaSS) in Upper Tarble. The event, well attended by students and curious parents visiting for Parents’ Weekend, was designed as a fundraiser to make money for the American Cancer Society. Total, $1,084 were raised from the event.
Founders of LaSS, and MCs for the event, Claire Melin ’08 and Jessica Hamilton ’09 were pleased with the competition. Melin was grateful, writing “I want to thank the participants and judges for helping us put on a great show. Above all, I would like to thank everyone who attended.” Hamilton noted, “We had a great time putting on a performance that so many people attended! Our contestants were absolutely amazing and the night wouldn’t have been the same without every one of them.” Both expressed the hope of making this an annual tradition.
The competition was made up of five portions. First formalwear in which each of the contestants was introduced, second swim/beachware, and third, talent, followed by a brief intermission. After the intermission, the top five contestants went through a Q and A round led by the judges, Martin Warner, Myrt Westphal, and Tom Elverson. The final portion of the competition was a modified dash-for-cash, in which the fully clothed contestants raced around the room trying to gather as much donation money as possible.
The talent competitions were especially entertaining. Jonathan Petkun ’07, Mr. College Democrat, was inspiring with his patriotic ribbon dancing, done in his eloquently selected beachware, a woman’s onepiece. Twan Claiborne ’07, Mr. Rhythm and Motion, Andrew Koczo ’07, Mr. DU, and Saeed Ola ’07, Mr. SBC, wowed the audience with their dance moves. Singing was also a popular choice: “Arthur” Viescas ’09, as Mr. SWIL, lip-synched the pokemon song; Andrew Loh ’10, Mr. Badminton, sung in the shower; Alan Walsh ’07, Mr. Volleyball, and Jesse Handler ’09, Mr. Lacrosse, both serenaded the audience with guitar and voice; and Raul Ordonez ’09, Mr. Basketball, sang and danced as Ricky Martin.
Instrumentalists were equally notable: Dylan Smith ’09, Mr. Baseball was persuaded to play the saxophone after an impressive demonstration of “how-to-assemble-an-instrument”; Mark Loria, ’08, Mr. Orchestra, played keytaur; and Patrick Christmas, ’07, played Guitar Hero blindfolded. Non-musical talents included those of Jonathan Ferrence ’07, Mr. Phoenix, who performed a dramatic monologue from the “Mighty Ducks”; Fletcher Wortman ’09, Mr. BMT, with a scathingly ironic poetic reflection; and Doug Gilchrist-Scott ’09, Mr. Swimming, and his shocking ability to eat a jar of marshmallow fluff in under sixty seconds.
The five semi-finalists selected were Ordonez (after a tie breaking “walk-off” against Loh), Petkun, Ola, Smith, and Gilchrist-Scott. The competition was ultimately won by Ordonez, who in the final round of competition succeeded in gathering together over two hundred and fifty dollars for the American Cancer Society.
The article stated that Jonathan Ference ’07, Mr. Phoenix, performed a dramatic monologue from the “Mighty Ducks.” His monologue actually came from “Miracle.”
The last names of Ference and Fletcher Wortmann ’09, Mr. BMT, were also incorrectly spelled in the original article. The Gazette apologizes for the errors.
