Club Celebrations
Open House Meetings
Charterversary Meetings
Golden Gavel Meetings
Alliance Networks – Club #5718 – Golden Gavel
Alliance Network organized a fantastic Club Contest! Four contestants for International Speech Contest (picture attached) and five contestants for the Evaluation Contest. Since there were many who wanted to compete, the contest covered two meetings. Each meeting, each contest, was run well. They followed their contest agenda and kept to it. Members filled contest roles. I visited with Michael Duckworth. Wow! What a contest it was!
Tammy Kasterke, Division Director
Meeting: February 8, 2022
AAFCU Flying Toasters Club – Club #643446 – Open House
AAFCU Flying Toasters had a great Open House on June 22nd. This was our first meeting we had in person after 2 years of the pandemic. We had sent out a lot of fliers throughout the company and emails to our past members that were within the club.
Our theme was Toasting Toast as you can see within our pictures. You also can see how everyone was interested in our speaker’s speech and in Table Topics.
We had 4 members that were there and 8 guests. One of our guests was our speaker Chuck Menke who gave us a wonderful speech. The title of his speech was Tick Tock, Time Is Ticking Away! He inspired everyone. We had great Table Topics and we gave everyone the time to ask questions on the Table Topics and about the club Toastmasters. The four members that were there were Scott Payne, Rehan Hafeez, Sarah Hrabal and Celeste Castro as well as our guest speaker Chuck Menke explained their experience with Toastmaster and how we grew to enjoy Toastmasters.
Out of the 7 guests 5 of them are wanting to join us. We had a great meeting and a wonderful time even though we were a small number of people at the Open House. We are looking forward to doing another one soon for our next term.
Celeste Castro, VP Education
Meeting: June 22, 2022
Fear-Less Toastmasters – Club #7594460 – Open House
The “YOU” in our invitation was an invitation to many! The many consisted of prospective members’ contact information gathered for years by our VP Membership, Joyce Trimble. Over 26 contacts accepted our invitation. Five attended and 3 joined that day.
The agenda and virtual backgrounds set the theme of our Open House, “Becoming FEAR-less.” A fun word was introduced as the word of the day, Plucky. Just saying it still makes me smile. It means having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties.
Joyce served as Toastmaster, Table Topic Master, and General Evaluator weaving Jamie Pickering’s “How to prepare a speech in 5 minutes” into the meeting.
FEAR-less members filled the agenda to show-case both new and seasoned members. Emily Green, who join in March shared “The Art of Being Grateful” and how a life-threatening motorcycle accident forced her to become grateful and how it changed her life. President, Elly Malaxos DTM, presented a call to action speech “What Happened When I faced the Fear.” She shared how she listened to the 1% of her brain that told her to go to the first meeting and join Toastmasters. You may remember Elly, she won the D25 International Speech Contest in 2021.
Table Topics consisted of sharing the speech subject and 3 attributes of the members developing speech. A plucky guest even participated in Table Topics.
Polished Evaluators, Kelly Pelkey, DTM and Vanessa Rivera provided evaluations to motivate. Their personal styles were part of the meeting conclusion demonstrating how we help overcome the fear of public speaking by providing quality feedback.
Overall, a huge success. Members were the one lacking component to become President Distinguished.
And the 3 new members have their Ice Breaker ready to present!
Joyce Trimble, Member
Meeting: June 11, 2022
Highway to Excellence – Club #3332446 – Open House/Charterversary
Our Highway to Excellence ended our 2021-2022 year with an Open House/Charterversary meeting – a great time was had by all. Since returning to in-person we’ve been meeting at la Madeleine in Grapevine. We had lots of good food and visiting before the meeting started promptly at 7PM.
There were no changes to the agenda but best of all we had 2 first time guests. We all cheered when Jamie announced we’re a President’s Distinguished Club for 9th consecutive year.
We had two speeches. David completed his Path and did “Reflect On Your Path” project. It was a nice way for us to learn a lot about one of our newer members. Marylee did a great job on that project that she did two short impromptu speeches. Nice job!!
Our theme made the meeting even more festive – “Walk Up Music.” How fun was that?
The unique thing about our club is our workshop following regular meeting. Diana led us down memory lane with club past, present and future journeys as we trave that “Highway to Excellence”.
Diana Patton, Member
Meeting: June 16, 2022
Charter Date: June 28, 2013
Out On The Town – Club #897575 – Open House
Out on the Town June 11, 2011: The plan was to have first meeting of the summer at park in Grand Prairie. Mike was able to secure location. Kimberly created SignUpGenius for all the picnic fixings. Grocery list was created for Saturday morning trip to Costco for hamburger, hotdogs and grilling supplies. Chef (Bob) was ready to do the grilling. Members of the Grand Prairie Clubs were invited to join in the fun and see what our specialty club is all about.
Then the forecast was for record highs – over 100! Plans were quickly changed. Chuck was able to secure meeting room at Spring Creek BBQ in Arlington. Our plans may have changed but we had a our last meeting of 2021-2022 was another great success.
We ad 5 guests which included 1 new member. That new member along with several education goals completed and submitted were what was needed to be President’s Distinguished. This is our 5th consecutive year to finish as President’s Distinguished.
Our newly elected officers for 2022-2023 will continue to lead this club to success.
Full set of pics – click here
Diana Patton, Member
Meeting: June 11, 2022
Afterburners – Club #6191 – Open House, Charterversay
This successful meeting was in 3 parts: Reflection, Recognition, and Renewal. We reflected on 36 years of being chartered, led by the president, and awarded our charter member, Tom Brents, with an award. Then the VPE hosted the Recognition of 29 educational awards this year, and Renewal, led by VPMembership as we inducted new members into our organization. Wonderful speeches, wonderful fellowship, wonderful opportunity to celebrate all things Afterburners and Toastmasters.
Laura Stewart, VP Education
Meeting: May 29, 2022
Charter Date: 3/1/1986
Waco – Early Birds Club – Club #3546 – Open House, Golden Gavel
This was a very warm and welcoming meeting. The hybrid meeting went off without a hitch. Started on time ended on time. The speech was captivating and held all our attention. Table topics was great fun and made us think on how we would answer if called upon. Guests were welcomed whole hardly. Very enjoyable meeting. It was a pleasure to be up so early!
Rahmana Warren, Area 35 Director
Meeting: May 25, 2022
Panther City Toastmasters – Club #4716146 – Charterversary
We had a great meeting with 2 speakers and 2 evaluators and the theme for the night was Lucky 7 Charterversary. A total of 6 members were present plus 1 guest (will be joining).Rose Timmons, VP Education
Charter Date: 5/15/2015
Meeting: May 11, 2022
First Command – Club #8474 – Open House
First Command Toastmasters had their first hybrid Open House on May 3, 2022 with a theme of Stars Wars Day/May the 4th Be With You. We had 11 Toastmasters and 14 guests in attendance. We served delicious snacks, and had fun talking about the history of Star Wars Day. Did you know it’s called Star Wars Day because May the 4th Be With You doesn’t translate well in other languages? We were entertained and informed while listening to engaging Toastmaster Danny Coonce. We are overjoyed to be able to welcome several new members in the next week as a result of this highly successful Open House!Kelsey Dean, Club President
Meeting: May 3, 2022
San Angelo Toastmasters – Club #4486922 – Golden Gavel
(We held a “Double Hybrid Meeting!” We set up two in-person sites in San Angelo and in Austin and we also had virtual attendees via Zoom)Meeting Theme: “Explore. Dream. Discover” (Quote by Mark Twain)Our Toastmaster for the evening was our charter member Pam Davis, DTM (see attached screenshot photo/ Pam pinned as Speaker).We had 14 people in attendance: 8 members (out of 9 current members on our roster), 3 non-Toastmasters guests, and 3 Toastmasters members from other clubs (2 of which were filling a role to qualify for the NEMELITA AWARD).All guests were greeted warmly and enthusiastically prior to the meeting being called to order and again at the beginning of the meeting by our Presiding Officer.Our two prepared speakers were Jason Jett (Pres. of SATM, see attached photo/ pinned as speaker), and Eddie Merla, DTM (Guest Speaker). Each speaker gave a Pathways speech.Our Grammarian was guest (and pending SATM member) Lena Brown, DTM.Our Speech Evaluators were Larry Prince and Jesse Ford. (Additionally, we also held a “round robin format” for one of our speakers where five of us each got to provide a one-minute rapid feedback that was specific and supportive.)Our General Evaluator was our VPE Hilda Guffey.Our Timer was Lisa Melton.We had fun and interesting Table Topics provided by our Table Topics Master Jenny Riddle (Guest Toastmaster, Member of Peaks Speaks).We had a prepared agenda distributed to attendees virtually and to those attending our two in-person sites.We had no agenda changes prior to the meeting.Our meeting started on time at precisely at 6:00 P.M. and ended on time at precisely 6:59 P.M. (This had been our biggest challenge when we attempted to earn this award a few weeks ago, but we did it this time!)Our VPE Hilda Guffey presented the First Place Ribbon on zoom screen to our Table Topics Winner, (guest) Donna Fossmeyer.Zoom attendees labeled their profiles appropriately with their first and last names. Those attending in person wore nametags on their shirts.Applause was given to each speaker and functionary as they passed the lectern. (Zoom attendees were instructed to use the clapping hands emoji under the Reactions tab on Zoom OR show their hands clapping on camera.)WE DID IT! (See attached photo of screenshot of almost all attendees.)Jason Jett, Area 15 Director
Meeting: May 5, 2022
Southlake Club– Club #4987 – Golden Gavel
This was a regular meeting (no open house or charterversary). They had 21 in attendance and have 22 members. 2 guests were at the meeting. Myself and a new guest who joined that day. All members were wearing name tags. The agenda had no changes. Two prepared speeches. The meeting was run very effectively. Toastmaster did an excellent job. Had introductions for all the speakers. The Table topic s master called on members who had lessor speaking roles. The evaluations were done positively. timer effectively recorded time and kept the meeting on time. The guests were all given time to speak. the VPM was right next to the new visitor and processed application on the spot. And had information on orientation ready and informed her immediately. They ran over next weeks assignments at the end of the meeting. It was a model meeting! I presented Jacquelyn Martin her trophies from the Area Contest. Several members met afterwards and socialized.Deb Sanford, Area 62 Director
Meeting: May 2, 2022
Texas Talkers– Club #1082726 – Open House
Our Texas Talkers cub has been so fortunate to have a wonderful physical meeting location now that we are having hybrid meetings. We had our second open house this Toastmaster year. We reached out to past members, guests and others that have shown interest. We sent emails, texts, posted flyers and mass message to our MeetUp members.We had a very strong meeting that was well run and great speakers, Table Topics and evaluations. Cassie did a great job on decorations and everyone brought nice treats for those in-person.We have a wonderful Area Director, Frank Correa. He was able to join us on-line. We had a few guests with hopes to continue to reach out to build our membership.Diana Patton
Club Member
Meeting: May 1, 2022
Wichita Falls Club 305– Club #305 – Golden Gavel, Charterversary
We celebrated 77 years! We had many former members, guests, and district leadership in attendance. The event committee created a fun table topics type speech leading us through the decades since our club was formed, 1945. Many former members shared how impressed they were with the growth and longevity of the club and may return! It was a fun meeting and we continued to treat it with the official format of TM meetings.Katie Britt
Club President
(copied Area Director – David Winkowski)Club PresidentMeeting: April 28, 2022
Strategic Communicators– Club #3331520 – Open House, Golden Gavel
Our theme was “Leaders of Tomorrow”; a creation by our Toastmaster, Samuel D. Hartman. We had 9 of our 12 members in attendance. The big gain was 11 guests! This club has so much momentum, but has struggled to have a positive Open House the last few times. It was incredible to have so many people in attendance. It showed the hard work the members were willing to do to grow. We had two prepared speakers that spoke about their journeys, both in Toastmasters and with their dogs. I am working on gathering photos or screenshots, but did not want to miss the deadline.Chris RaneriClub PresidentMeeting: April 27, 2022
Information added – from Area Director, Dwight Collings, Golden Gavel Meeting
This meeting had all the hallmarks of a Golden Gavel Meeting which are strong attendance, an agenda that did not need tweeking, and many new guests. It was a very successful open house.
Off the Cuff – Club #4354 – Open House
We had an amazing open house at our Off the Cuff Club – Open Mic Night. We had 13 members and 11 guests – 3 of those are our newest member.Four of our guests got a taste of how to prepare a well organized and delivered speech in five minutes.Everyone gathered for a Taco meal with all the fixins’ at 6PM with meeting starting at 7PM. We were inspired and entertained by our four guest speakers.This is club for anyone wanting a second club. We meet the 4th Saturday of each month. Here is our website: https://4354.toastmastersclubs.org/Diana PattonMemberMeeting: April 23, 2022
San Angelo Toastmasters – Club #4486922 – Open House. Charterversary
SAN ANGELO TOASTMASTERS held their OPEN HOUSE EVENT ON THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2022 at 6:00 P.M. (CST). We had a total of 8 guests attending our Open House Event! (6 of those guests were non-Toastmasters, and 3 of those had never attended a Toastmasters meeting before!) Lisa Melton received a special honor for bringing the most guests (she brought 3 guests to the meeting)! We had a total of 15 people who attended our Open House Event!We had two speakers: (1)Cassie Bullock – Special Guest Speaker booked through D25 Speaker Bureau’s webpage. Cassie gave a speech on connecting with others by being vulnerable. It was an incredibly moving speech! (2) Hilda Guffey – VPE San Angelo Toastmasters gave a speech entitled “Abacadabra” and she spoke about the power of intention and inspired all of us to “think” our goals and dreams into existence!Our Toastmaster for the evening was Larry Prince, who gave us our theme: “TAX TIME,” which was appropriate since the tax deadline was approaching (and it was a fun theme since we had three CPA’s at the meeting)!We celebrated our 6th Charterversary during our meeting and gave a special tribute to the 20 members who chartered our club in 2016.We held a drawing for a $25 HEB gift card for all our guests and for our members who brought a guest. Lisa Melton won the drawing for the gift card!We also presented the Concho Valley Regional Food Bank with food items and cash donations collected during our 2022 Spring Donation Drive. The items donated totaled over 40 pounds! The cash donations collected by members and friends of SATM enabled the food bank to provide 480 meals to people in the San Angelo area!Cassie Bullock won the Better Speaker Award. Lisa Melton won the Best Table Topics Award. Jason Jett won the Better Speech Evaluator Award.Educational Awards were also given out during the meeting: Jason Jett was awarded the certificate in Level 2 of Presentation Mastery. Larry Prince was awarded the certificate in Level 5 of Presentation Mastery.Overall, it was such a special event and seemed to “ignite” a new sense of pride for our club members!Sallie JettVP Public RelationsMeeting: April 14, 2022
Charter Date: 5/16/2016
Nissan Toastmasters – Club #5922 – Open House. Charterversary
On April 13, 2022, Nissan Toastmasters opened their virtual doors to guests both within and outside of Nissan to celebrate their 26th Charterversary with a meeting theme of “Welcome”. Structured like a traditional Toastmasters meeting, the agenda included excerpts throughout to provide the guests with club information. Club officers introduced themselves, their role, and a description of their role. The speaker and evaluator were club and area contest winners who will be competing in an upcoming division contest. Speaking and evaluating during this meeting gave them an opportunity to practice before the competition. It was a great meeting and that brought forth several new guests that the club hopes to see return soon.Brandi WesleyVP Public RelationsMeeting: April 13, 2022
Charter Date: 3/1/1996
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Once Upon A Time – Club #6103644 – Open House. Golden Gavel, Charterversary
Once Upon a Time annual Charterversary and Open House featuring special guest author and fellow Toastmaster, Robi Ley, who led discussion of her book The Seventh McGuffyn. Four guests attending, one all the way from Turkey!Sandy SwanArea 24 DirectorMeeting: April 10, 2022
Charter Date: 3/10/2017
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Heart of Texas Bridge Gappers – Club #676842 – Open House. Golden Gavel
The HOT Bridge Gappers really know who the throw a party!!! The Open House was very entertaining and met all of the criteria to be considered a Golden Gavel Meeting. Although it was a virtual meeting all members and guests were greeted warmly and enthusiastically at the beginning. 75% of the membership was in attendance along with one non toastmaster guest. All roles were filled and pathway specific. There was a lot of energy and great communication throughout the meeting. I wish them much success in attracting new members.Bobby TatumArea 42 DirectorMeeting: April 2, 2022
Southlake Cub – Club #4987 – Open House
Our Open House on April 4, 2022 was a big success. We had 2 guest join along with 1 returning guest and 1 first time guest. Several of our members brought refreshment. It was a festive atmoshere with theme of “Happy Birthday” including party hats and horns which were a nice addition to clapping. Things ran smoothly as normal. We had two outstanding speeches and clever Table Topics questions. Two outstanding evaluations.Our 7AM starting time may seem a bit early but all the positive, inspiring, motivational, education atmosphere is a great way to start our week!Diana PattonMember Southlake ClubMeeting: April 4, 2022
Clearly Speaking Toastmasters – Club #5440 – Golden Gavel, Open House, Charterversary
Clearly Speaking had an exciting Open House/Golden Gavel meeting with Ron Davis giving a speech on ‘Not Wasting the Moment’ . He eloquently demonstrated how to capture an audience from the first word or non-word in a speech! With 5 guests and the Area and Division Directors in attendance, a wonderful time was had by all. AND the Zoom Master & Toastmaster smoothly engaged the virtual attendees in every aspect of the meeting, except for the in-person food. Reports are that the food makes in-person attendance really worth it, because West Texans ALWAYS dish up the best food! I loved the way, the meeting roles were revealed throughout the meeting, so the guest where never left wondering what was happening and why. Each role holder explained what they were doing in such a personable manner. No reading of a banal rote role description. Warmth and laughter prevailed and reached across the internet to the virtual attendees. And if ANYONE meets Suanna Davis, just say the words, ‘there is a tickle monster in the room’ and watch her reaction! Yup! You can find the ‘best of the West’ at Clearly Speaking Toastmasters Club 5540.
Donna Young, Division A Director
Meeting Date: 3/23/2022
Abilene Club 1071 – Club #1071 – Golden Gavel
Abilene Club 1071 really puts on a great hybrid meeting. Last night’s meeting drew in 2 non-Toastmaster guests. The theme was the year of the Tiger, playing up the Chinese new year. The two advanced speakers and lively table topics kept all of us entertained and on our toes. Everyone enjoyed the inventive Quiz Master who stumped the Division Director. In addition to having all meeting roles filled before the meeting, the VP whizzed through filling any open holes in the lineup for the next meeting AND worked in future DCP educational goal reminders with the members. Wow! Talk about having all your ducks in a row OR in-keeping with the meeting them, all your TIGERS by the tail. AND the club is planning an OPEN HOUSE in April! No date has been set, but the Open House Chair has been appointed. If this was a regular meeting, then this Division Director can’t wait to see what their OPEN HOUSE will be like.
Donna Young, Division A Director
Meeting Date: 3/14/2022
NST Toastmasters Club – Club #7744858 – Open House
NST Toastmasters Club hosted an Open House today at Nanglo Restaurant. Today was a day for many “Firsts.”NST Toastmasters hosted their first open house.After two years of making speech online Diana Wigginton presented her first live speech.Kushagra (Kush) Wagle is breaking into Toastmasters with the aspiration to be a attorney.NST Toastmaster Dinesh Sharma who crafted his public speaking skills through Toastmasters is running for the Texas State Legislature. Dinesh spoke about how Toastmasters gave him the skills of public speaking and that he believes every person deserves a decent quality of life and the opportunity to go as far as their dreams and ambition will take them.Today’s Open House was a smashing success recruiting 15 new club members!!Also in attendance: Division Director E Tammy Kasterke, Area Director 63 Suresh Basyal,Area Director 65 Conda Rice, Area Director 64 Pedro Melendez and Club Growth Director Emily MurrayJim Chappel, Area 61 Director
Meeting Date: 2/26/2022
Burleson Club – Club #706449 – Golden Gavel
The meeting was well organized. There was a variety of speeches which make the meeting very entertaining and fun. The interaction between members and guest was remarkable. As Area Director I had the pleasure of congratulating and presenting a trophy to the winner of the Area International Speech contestant and give challenge coins to the Club President and other contest participants. The club members were very proud of the club and supportive of their members. Overall, it was a great experience for me which makes me look forward to the next time I have an opportunity to visit their club.Bobby Tatum, Area 44 Director
Meeting Date: 2/21/2022
FAA Toastmasters – Club #6102 – Open House
This Virtual Open House was hosted by 3 FAA Toastmasters Clubs from across the country. The event was advertised widely via agency internal communications. 60 guests attended including the current TM attendees. We plan to continue to host joint open house events regularly due to the success of this inaugural event. The event has also sparked interest from managers of various Lines of Business who have requested presentations for future employee engagement sessions.Jeri Bird, VP Public Relations
Meeting Date: 2/1/2022
Burleson Toastmasters – Club #706449 – Open House
Burleson Toastmasters held an Open House January 3, 2021. Sixteen members and 9 guests were present for 2 speeches, evaluations and Table Topics fun!No Area or Division Directors were present (so no Golden Gavel was submitted), but the meeting was a huge success with lots of food and fun!Ninfa Flewitt, District Director, Club VP Education
Meeting Date: 1/3/2022
Roanoke Texas Toastmasters – Club #4236 – Open House/Charterversary
RTTC opened its doors and windows on January 24, 2022, to past members, fellow Toastmasters, and inquirers who want to know about Toastmasters. The theme was Open Your Possibilities. It was a splendid evening with 13 Club Members and 13 Guests! WOW! In addition, we all celebrated Roanoke Texas Toastmasters’ 19th Club Anniversary.
The Open House/Anniversary meeting resulted in one guest becoming a member. Woohoo!
As mentioned we opened doors and windows. The doors at the Roanoke Public Library were opened for our in-person members and guests. And, we opened the Zoom Windows for our virtual members and guests. Ten attended virtually and 15 attended in person.
We also had dignitaries present! Shout outs to Marcheta Gardner, PQD; Diana Patton; Past District Governor; Tammy Kasterke Div E Director!
Our celebratory meeting ended with door prizes for 4 lucky attendees… Diana Patton, Sarah Jensen, Celeste Castro, and David Roth.
Tammy Kasterke, Division E Director, Club Secretry
Meeting Date: 1/24/2022
Charter Date 1/17/2003
Grand Orators – Club #7173767 – Open House/Charterversary Meeting
We had a combination Open House and Charterversary Celebration on December 15, 2021. Our fellowmember Monte Whetstone was Toastmaster Santa. The theme was a “A Holiday Celebration”.
Food, fun and fellowship was had by all in attendance.
Chiquita Taylor, President
Charter Date: 12/17/2018, Meeting Date: 12/15/2021
Northwest Tarrant Toastmasters – Club #1440249 – Open House
We had 10 people attend the meeting in total. We only had one guest come. There was one speaker who gave an intriguing story about one of her adventures as we stuffed our bellies with lunch-sandwiches, salad, and fruit!
Kelcee Tarrence, VP Public Relations
Meeting Date: 11/17/2021
Longhorn Toastmasters – Club #3178 – Golden Gavel Meeting/Open House
This has been the second Open House meeting that I have attended with Longhorn Toastmasters and I must say that this one was the greater.
Thenishia Smith drew in a good crowd by advertising the Open House in the City of Fort Worth Roundup. President Annette Henderson went above and beyond with making sure that the meeting was a success.
There were eight guests present three of which were Area Director, Phylliss C-Daniels, Division Director Donna Young and Special Guest, D25 Club Growth Director, Emily Murray.
A gift exchange , which may have caused the meeting to go over by a few minutes worked well on a hybrid level to make the meeting that more fascinating. One new member has joined as a result of this Open House!
Phylliss Christian-Daniels, Area 11 Director
Meeting Date: 12/20/2021
Keller Communicators – Club #621025 – Golden Gavel Meeting
In this meeting there were 3 speakers — two of which (Clark & Steve) gave a ‘tandem’ speech on “Life with Kids” They received a tandem evaluation in a similar style (from Jim & Liz). The meeting theme was “Holiday Movies” and there were some spirited discussions during table topics. There were 16 members and two guests present, and one of the guests (Tony) joined!Jim Jameson, Area 31 Director
Meeting Date: 12/2/2021
Waco Early Birds – Club #3546 – Golden Gavel Meeting
The guest Rami presented in Table Topics. It was wonderful to have a first-time guest willing to participate. This is a hybrid meeting and they do very well for an early hour club. The guest won table Topics.Joann Smith, Area 45 Director
Meeting Date: 11/24/2021
NE Tarrant Toastmasters – Club #4618496 – Golden Gavel Meeting
This meeting was an Installation of Officers and they had one new Guest. The excitement of having their First Installation and having grown their membership by 4 was exciting to witness. All the Officers met prior to meeting for their Executive Meeting and are having their 2nd Open House in less than 6 months. This Club is not only following all protocols but are inspiring new members to begin their pathways journey early as soon as they join. The energy and engagement is contagious. This Club has earned the rights to be awarded The Golden Gavel Award and recognition.Frank Correa, Area 55 Director
Meeting Date: 11/1/2021
BNSF Expressed – Club #879088 – Open House/Golden Gavel Meeting
Every member of the club played a part in success of our open house. We’ve spent some time at our last several minutes making sure details were discussed and assignments made. Our theme was “Be Our Guest”. We had a high percentage of our members present. Angela was our speaker with a little longer speech that gave background of our club from her involvement in chartering until now. He was funny yet explained nicely about our club and what Toastmasters is all about.
Everyone from Toastmaster to Table Topics Master and all our helpers did a great job (just like always)!
Our Area Director, Alberto Pineda, attended along with 8 other individuals.
Submitted by Diana Patton
VP Education
Date: 11/3/2021
Golden Gavel:
A massive amount of guest joined the session, a great achievement for this club. It was fun and educational, and at the same time they had time to answer guest questions and inspire them to achieve their goals.
Every member of the club played a part in the success of the open house. They’ve spent some time making sure details were discussed and assignments made. The theme was “Be Our Guest”. We had a high percentage of our members present. Angela was our speaker with a little longer speech that gave background of our club from her involvement in chartering until now. It was funny yet explained nicely about our club and what Toastmasters is all about.
Everyone from Toastmaster to Table Topics Master and all our helpers did a great job (just like always)!
Submitted by Alberto Pineda, Area 54 Director
Off the Cuff – Club #4354 -Annual Halloween/Backwards Meeting
We had another great meeting at our annual Halloween/Backwards Meeting. It was nice to have a guest Toastmaster (David (Divad) Martin). Our theme was “Beginning at the end….”. We ended (actually began) with a recap of our meeting, reports (Posture Monitor and Timer) then evaluators followed by speakers and Table Topics and Funmaster. It truly was a ‘backwards’ meeting. Our names were even spelled backwards on the agenda.
For those in person they shared a meal and us others virtually felt part of things too. If you’re thinking of a second club or just want to see what we are all about (off the cuff speeches and a few extra fun roles) we meet 4th Saturday of every month. We had 3 guests, 11 members and 4 great speeches and evaluations.
Website: https://4354.toastmastersclubs.org/
Find out about advanced and specialty club in District 25: https://www.d25toastmasters.org/find-a-club/find-a-club-specialty/
Submitted by Diana (Anaid) Patton, DTM, Off the Cuff
Annual Halloween/Backwards Meeting 10/23/2021
Highway to Excellence – Club #3332446 – Open House
We had a great Open House at Highway to Excellence’s October monthly meeting. Michelle Bayes was the Open House Chair and did a great job. We had a fun theme: Ghosts & Monsters. We had 15 in attendance including 4 guests. At least two are great prospects for our newest members.
It was a lively meeting with good conversation on Zoom before meeting began promptly at 7:00 PM.
Are you considering a second club ? We’re an advanced club. Check details out details of advanced and Specialty clubs in District 25. – click here
We meet 3rd Thursday of each month – click here
Submitted by Diana Patton, DTM, Member Highway to Excellence
Club Open House: 10/21/2021
Nissan Toastmasters Club – Club #5922 – Charterversary/Open House
On July 14 Nissan Toastmasters started the year with a bang by meeting to celebrate a remarkable achievement: their 25th Anniversary. They doubled the event with an Open House and by taking full advantage of the virtual environment were able have several dignitaries in attendance including several founding members, the Area Director and Nissan Motor Acceptance Company LLC’s Vice President. Way to lead by example and set the bar high from the start. Congratulations on being our Open House Winner this month!
Club Charter Date: 3/1/1996
Charterversary Celebration Date: 7/14/2021
Something to Talk About – Club #5518497 – Charterversary
Club Charter Date: 9/15/2016
Charterversary Celebration Date: 9/14/2021
Savvy Sayer – Club #1082792 – Open House/Charterversary
Open House/Charterverary
Savvy Sayers had an open house on September 23rd to celebrate our charterversary.
We had over 20 guests and are working the prospects.
With Zoom we really couldn’t have refreshments or group photos.
Submitted by: Les Condit
Club Charter Date: 9/7/2007
Charterversary Celebration Date: 9/23/2021
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Afterburners – Club #6191 – Open House / Golden Gavel
Open House / Golden Gavel:
Afterburners had a well-attended action-packed open house on Sept 7, 2021. They managed to take advantage of the hybrid nature of their meetings and have attendees from far away places. The club set the scene for their guests by running a shortened regular meeting first before they split the 2 groups into interactive fun workshop activities. They took on the challenge of engaging both online audience and in person audience at the same time but in different ways, and much laughter and fun resulted. Congratulations Afterburners- you are our Open House Winner for September!
Submitted by: Emily Murray
District Club Growth Director
Date: 10/7/2021
Texas Talkers – Club #1082726 – Open House / Golden Gavel
Open house:
We had an outstanding meeting. All our members were involved in planning and executing meeting. Cassie did a great job with decorations. Nice treats for those in-person. We had all of our paid members in attendance along with 2 past members and 1 returning guest. We have lots of people that have shown interest in joining us. We will definitely follow up with them.
There were 3 great speeches and evaluations. Cassie has fun Table Topics. Our guests felt welcomed and even involved with meeting.
Golden Gavel:
All paid members and 2 past members and 1 returning guest were in attendance. The club has a great new meeting location which is going to help club grow. The club has been successful with hybrid meetings. To improve technical issues at club they has ordered and received some new equipment that will be using in upcoming meetings by using TI gift certificates (speaker, camera, etc.). Plan is to start using this equipment in next couple weeks.
There were 3 great speeches and evaluations along with fun Table Topics. All around great meeting!
Submitted by: Diana Patton
Member Texas Talkers
Date: 10/3/2021
