PORT ANGELES — The biggest liar of 2012, Josh McLean, is coming back for another try.
McLean, the Olympic National Park ranger who took first prize in the inaugural Liars Contest last year, is among the contestants in this Friday night’s second annual competition.
The Story People of Clallam County invite listeners to hear the Liars Contest slate of tall tales at 7 p.m. Friday at the Sons of Norway hall, 131 W. Fifth St.
Admission is a $10 donation, with proceeds to go toward the 19th Forest Storytelling Festival at Peninsula College the weekend of Oct. 19.
McLean is one in a varied field.
Other competitors include Jon Preston, the Olympic National Park ranger who’s long worked in the Hoh Rain Forest, aka Sasquatch’s stomping grounds; Jack Hughes, a retired ranger who spent 48 years with the National Park Service; musician Carlos Xavier; proofreader Pat Shaw; librarian Pat Ferris; social worker Bob Nuffer; and Port Angeles Fire Chief Ken Dubuc.
Last year’s competition
The 2012 Liars Contest had McLean telling a tale of a backpack lost in the mountains — and returned by a kindly monster.
Nuffer was the second-prize winner with his story of mosquitoes growing so big they could, and did, haul a man away.
The lying rivals are judged on stage presence, creativity, delivery and audience response, said Ferris, organizer of the contest.
The judges this time around are Bushwhacker restaurant owner Bob Grattan, Peninsula Daily News Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz and storyteller Dennis Duncan.
Ferris added that another judge may be recruited from the audience.
The prizes are recycled trophies purchased at Goodwill, she said.
Cherie Trebon, a well-known Port Angeles storyteller, will serve as mistress of ceremonies as she did in 2012.
Last year, “I had a blast,” she said.
To find out more about the Liars Contest, phone Ferris at 360-477-2180 or email Liarcontest@gmail.com.
