We’re talking up Toastmasters more than ever. The government of British Columbia issued a proclamation to declare February as Toastmasters Month across the province. The first Toastmasters club outside the United States was chartered in 1935 in Victoria. After more than 76 years, Toastmasters in British Columbia has grown to serve over 4,500 members in 269 clubs.
Toastmasters programs help people develop skills in speaking, listening, giving feedback, enhancing leadership potential, and promoting self-actualization.
Anyone who is a Toastmaster or has been a Toastmaster will tell you that Toastmasters has changed their life in one way or another. It is an amazing program and we have fun as we grow and support others as they grow.
Our meetings are open to guests all the time; however, this year we have stepped it up a bit by hosting theme nights and bringing in guest speakers. So far we have been honoured to have had Jen Comer and Len Parkin from the Creston Valley Farmer’s Market and Tammy Hardwick, manager of the Creston Museum. Our last theme night was to honour our local Red Hat Society ladies and we had a blast.
Toastmaster and Red Hat lady Mary Davies organized the event and was our first speaker. She gave a speech called “Ladies With Hat-itude” which explained how the Red Hat Society got started.
Our second speaker was guest Shirley Luke, the present queen of the local Red Hat ladies, the Polished Rubies. Luke shared her experiences going to Red Hat Society Conventions.
Our third speaker for the evening was Toastmaster member Dolly Kaetler. She shared some of the experiences she had when she was a member of the Red Hat Society. The whole evening was filled with fun, laughter, information, food, and fellowship.
Creston Toastmasters Club 4949 is busy this month. March 1 was the local spring speech contest. On March 17, we will be hosting the area speech contest.
On March 29, we will be hosting an informational evening; instead of the regular meeting we will share how the Toastmasters program works. We will be explaining the communication and leadership manuals and the different levels of achievement. We will also have a time for questions. The last half of the meeting will be the same as usual, with three manual speeches and three evaluators. Speeches are normally five-seven minutes up to eight-ten minutes and evaluations are two-three minutes. Everything in Toastmasters is timed and evaluated.
Toastmasters in Creston is also planning an event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Creston Toastmasters Club 4949.
We meet every Thursday night in the Redeemer Lutheran Church basement (across from the hospital), from 7-9 p.m. with a coffee break and snack in between. Guests are welcome any time and do not have to participate unless they wish to so feel free to come and just observe.
— CRESTON TOASTMASTERS