Manotick Toastmasters celebrate 25th anniversary
The Manotick Toastmasters Club celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a virtual celebration done through Zoom.
“We had a great time, commemorated the moment, and had new guests, past and current members and Area, District and Division Directors from other clubs help us celebrate,” said Cindy Little, the VP of Public Relations for the club. “We even had the current International President of Toastmasters attend and inspired us with a speech. Also past President Of International Toastmasters and Co-Founder of the Club Chris Ford was present to dazzle us as always.”
Karen Stillman, the current President of the club was the master of ceremonies for the evening, which members call the “Toastmaster”. She skillfully led a great meeting from start to close.
The word of the day by Elizabeth Munn was “milestone”. The word of the day is used to expand members’ use and knowledge of various words, and was used many times throughout the evening, and was fitting for this “milestone” for the club.
Cindy Little, a longtime member of 11.5 years, gave the toast and recognized what Toastmasters has done for so many of its members.
“We had four amazing guest speakers lead the meeting including the International President of Toastmasters Richard Peck,” Little said. “Richard spoke on perception and how we perceive things in life. It was very interactive and thought provoking. Co-Founder of the Manotick Toastmasters Club, Chris Ford delivered a speech about the accomplishments of past and present members and took us down memory lane. Long time Toastmaster and former Club Trainer, Francis Rounding gave an insightful storytelling speech on improving his immune system on a farm when he was growing up, and Kimberly Dueck, a District 61 Director gave a speech on “The Road to Recovery” from a horrific ski accident. Each speech gave inspiration and something to reflect on.”
Although it was an anniversary celebration, the club followed the procedures of a traditional Toastmasters event. The meeting included a timer-Lorrie Brown, a Grammarian-past member Jennifer Murphy, an Ah Counter, newer member, Sarah Enouy, Evaluators, Table topics Master, Heidi Schmidt for impromptu speaking portion of the evening and the participants of Table Topics.
Guest Ronald Servant provided the closing thought, which led into post toasties where beverages and conversation were shared, and a few awards for commitment and participation for the evening were presented. This was a team effort and we had many roles filled by happy attendees.
The Manotick Toastmasters is always open to visitors. The group’s website is https://www.manoticktoastmasters.org and they also have a FaceBook and LinkedIn page called Manotick Toastmasters.
