Electric Toasters – #2194281 – Open House, Golden Gavel
We held yet another successful Corporate Open House Meeting for our company, Vistra Corp. We had a powerful prepared speaker and an effective evaluation. We had the opportunity to showcase our Toastmasters group which is an Employee Resource Group, fully supported by our Executives and senior leaders. We held an executive Table Topics session where two of the execs were able to share some powerful impromptu speeches on New Year’s resolutions. It was a great time with food, laughter and lots of interest in our club.
Event: 1/14/2025
Submitted by: John Aparicio, Club VP Public Relations
Lakeside TAC Leaders – #3692 – Open House, Golden Gavel, Charterversary
Lakeside TAC Leaders (formerly Lakeside Toastmasters) celebrated it’s 22nd Charterversary (virtually) on Tuesday, January 28th with an OPEN HOUSE CHARTERVERSARY EVENT!
We welcomed eight guests to our celebration.
An advanced community of Toastmasters, Lakeside TAC Leaders meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at 7pm CT (virtually via zoom). Lakeside TAC Leaders directly supports leaders who are leading in their workplace, leading as volunteers in their local communities, and leading in their Toastmasters districts/regions. Lakeside TAC Leaders provides a unique meeting format that illuminates the TAC acronym: Think, Act, Communicate.
Lakeside TAC Leaders was chartered in 2002 in Lewisville, Texas, USA and welcomes guests from around the globe to their twice-monthly virtual meetings. To learn more, please email:
Event: 1/28/2025
Submitted by: Nicole Dogan (Division Director) and Sallie Jett
Abilene Toastmasters Club 1071 – #1071 – Open House & Golden Gavel
Let me start by saying that this meeting was an absolute blast.
This was Abilene Toastmasters’ very first meeting in their new location. Not only that, but they also decided to throw an Open House to commemorate this momentous occasion! And, on top of that, it was a home run!!
Club President, and Toastmaster for the Open House, George Forbis-Stokes set the tone of the meeting by introducing the meeting theme: “Speak More Better”, and added hilarious anecdotes and lessons on how to Speak More Better. Newly minted DTM, Larry Prince, kept the meeting energy alive and flowing with his hilarious speech about his Toastmasters career. He gave a memorable speech about his journey and what insights he’s learned through public speaking. Larry’s speech was immediately followed by Lisa Stone’s master elocution of hope and coming out the other side of a rough patch of life that immediately gripped the audience from the first sentence. I know I wasn’t the only one leaving that meeting hopeful and inspired.
Table Topics by Joann Smith gripped attention as she carefully crafted her questions around Toastmasters experiences in general. It allowed everyone to get to know each other on an even deeper level without relying on surface questions. It was wonderful hearing about each unique experiences during their speech journeys. The meeting wrapped with fellowship. AND NOT ONLY THAT, but COOKIES. I had a blast attending.
Congratulations to Abilene Toastmasters for their exciting, inviting, and successful Open House!
Event: 11/18/2024
Submitted by: Chris Ritz, Area 14 Director
Colleyville Toastmasters – #1582921 – Open House
We had 16 people at our meeting. Rich Hopkins was our guest speaker, DTM, and 2x WCPS Finalist. We had Table Topics and Evaluations as well. A complete agenda is attached.
Event: 11/15/2024
Submitted by: Ellen Slezak, Area 31 Director
Centex Clearly Speaking Toastmasters – #638381 – Golden Gavel
Energy and laughter filled the virtual room while we all gathered. Luanna Alo-Broughton presented Part 2 of her Perfect Timing life events and Gary Lee Webb shared Crashing into the Horizon to understand his leadership style. We learned much about each other’s rebelliousness and lessons learned to get through the holidays. There’s a rumor that Victor Heetai may attempt a July 4th Tree to avoid taking down the Christmas tree. David Sanchez and Christine Ontiveros gave encouraging evaluations. A special shout-out to returning guest, Mayar Selfidgaran who was the ballot counter for the evening’s meeting. Congratulations to each of you for a well-run and energetic meeting.
Event: 11/5/2024
Submitted by: Joyce Trimble, Area 34 Director
Denton Toastmasters – #3365– Open House, Charterversary

We were captivated by 3 educational and interesting speeches, as well as entertaining Table Topics, all while enjoying delightful refreshments.
Event: 12/2/2024
Charter Date: 12/1/1983
Submitted by: Renée Marietta, Area 23 Director
Irving Toastmasters Club – #3365– Open House, Golden Gavel
ongratulations to Irving Toastmasters Club – 3365 as they hosted an Open House on November 4, 2024. There was time before and after the Open House to mingle and enjoy the food and refreshments provided. The meeting also consisted of 5 guests that included the Area 42 Director who confirmed that the club also achieved the Golden Gavel award for completing all requirements with excellence!
The Open House provided two excellent speeches by Aiden Cornforth and Mahesh Kaleru, followed by excellent evaluations by Ed Beekman and Novella Landau.
Table Topics was also an entertaining event as we were challenged to be Presidential election campaign managers to different fictional characters that included Winnie the Poo, Harry Potter, Sherlock Homes, and Mary Poppins! Lots of laughs and smiles were in abundance.
If you are in the Irving area, and are free at 7pm on Monday nights, I encourage you to visit this excellent club, and now a November 2024 Golden Gavel recipient.
Congratulations Irving Toastmasters! Well done!
Event: 11/4//2024
Submitted by: Lorenzo Narvaez, Area 42 Director
IT Egos- #1483991– Leaders-Speakers of Tomorrow – 1879279 – GROW 2gether
IT Egos – Submitted by Cinthia Haros, Club VP Public Relations
We had a great time on Sunday, September 29, we gathered at La Madeleine in Irving, TX
In attendance there was a total of 12 people, including two guests and our area director, Lisa, and club coach, YuJun.
Leaders-Speakers of Tomorrow – Submitted by Emily Murray, Club President/Sergeant at Arms
Lots of laughter, fun and jokes. We all had the same table topic question- tell us something we don’t already know about you- and learned quite a bit about each other as a result. It was a great boding and building experience that we hope to repeat.
Event: 9/29/2024
Off the Cuff – #4354 – Open House
Our Off the Cuff club has a great turnout (total of 10 guests – included 4 significant others). Our theme was Halloween-Open House. Our four speakers (including one being guest) did excellent jobs on organization and deliver o their ‘off the cuff‘ speech. As always our Toastmaster comes up with theme/teasers to give to speakers for 5 minute preparation.
One highlight of meeting was having Bill Smith with us in person!
We have a couple unique roles – Posture Monitor and Funmaster. Those roles along with our Table Topics Master added even more Halloween fun to our meeting.
Of course we had a wonderful meal before meeting started – four choices of soups, chips, cornbread, desserts and the fixins’.
A great time was had by all!
Diana Patton, Club Secretary
Event: 10/26/24
Top of Texas Toastmasters – #5788- Open House/Golden Gavel
The meeting celebrated the 100th anniversary of Toastmasters. Special guest speakers were Ralph Smedley and Helen Blanchard, the founder and the first woman Toastmaster. (Members Richard Hinckley and Laura Stewart portrayed them.)
We had 9 guests!
Jodie Sanders, Club VP Education
Top of Texas Toastmasters chose the theme “Celebrating 100 Years” The attendees were in awe to hear educational speeches that celebrated the legacy of founder Ralph C. Smedley portrayed by Richard Hinckley as well as the history behind Helen M. Blanchard who was the first female Toastmaster portrayed by Laura Stewart. The meeting was priceless, and we all walked away feeling inspired to be Toastmasters. “Cheers To 100 Years”
Phylliss Christian-Daniels, PQD
Event: 10/26/24
Golden Triangle – #1082792- Open House/Golden Gavel
We had a Halloween Open House. There were 2 non-toastmaster guests (one was off camera, so not in the screenshot). The Area Director (me) was present, as this is her home club.
Submitted by Savannah Smith, Area 61 Director, Club VP Education.
Event: 10/16/24
Savvy Sayers – #1082792- Open House/Golden Gavel/Charterversary
The Savvy Sayers club was founded September 7th, 2007. We had a Charterversary Celebrations with our Club to Celebrate the 17 years the club has been active. With this event we have 15 members join the celebration, along with special guests Larry Harmon, Will Frieder, and Phyllis Christian-Daniels from District 25.
Additionally, we had 2 potential new members that enjoyed and participated in the table topics and in the events festivities. See the attached agenda below for the meeting.
Our club is a closed club, onsite at Medtronic in Fort Worth, but have a number of members from around the world from other Medtronic sites. See the pictures from the Team’s meeting below, along with the attendance records from the online meeting and from the onsite meeting.
Submitted by Brian Barber, Club VP Membership
Event: 10/3/2024
Chartered: 9/7/2007
Mr. Cooper Speaks – #3349691 – Open House
The theme was “How to bring a cozy feeling to your life”. An ice breaker from one of the newest members and a prepared pathway speech for a seasoned member. The new role of “Listener” was a real treat. Very well organized and supportive meeting.
Submitted by Lydeisha Gossett, Area 24 Director
Event: 9/18/2024
Progressive Leaders – #3467810 – Open House/Charterversary
Celebrating our 11th Charterversary. Our founding sponsor talked about the history of the club and a current candidate for Texas State Senate discussed how Toastmasters has helped him. Table Topics focused on our goals for the coming year. Our Toastmaster of the evening created displays showing our club’s history. Several dignitaries joined us: Our Division B director Nicole Dogan, our Area 23 Director Renee Marietta, Division D Director Naajaf Dostaliyev, and Area 22 Director Chanakya Sah.
Submitted by: Sandy Swan, Club VP Education.
Event: 9/23/2024
Charter Date: 9/26/2013
Burleson Toastmasters Club – #706449 – Open House/Charterversary
Burleson Toastmasters celebrated 100 Years of Toastmasters and 20 Years of Burleson Toastmasters with our Open House on September 30, 2024. While we were 1 member short of a Golden Gavel Meeting, an excellent time was had by all. With 13 guests and 14 members in attendance, we heard an Ice Breaker speech and two more seasoned speakers. Food and fun were had by all. Burleson Club accomplishments were celebrated in the meeting highlighting the 10 years of Distinguished or better with an emphasis on the five years of President’s Distinguished!
Submitted by: Ninfa Flewitt, Club Treasurer
Event: 9/30/2024
Charter Date: 10/20/2004

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Top Flight Toastmasters Club – #251471- Golden Gavel
The highlight of this online meeting was when their newest member presented their second speech and was supported with praise. Another highlight of the meeting was the theme and table topics questions which were on “Gold Star Mothers” who are entitled to display a gold star on a service flag as the mother, stepmother, adoptive mother, or foster mother of a United States Armed Forces member who died while engaged in action against an enemy. This is observed on the last Sunday of September to honor surviving mothers and families of fallen service members.
Submitted by Lorenzo Narvaez, Area 42 Director
Event: 9/26/2024
Something to Talk About – #5518497- Golden Gavel/Charterversary
This meeting was a fun celebration of Something to Talk About’s Charterversary. The Table Topics questions were so fun to listen to. We got to hear from charter members speaking about the beginning of the club, and the Toastmasters guest even made a Table Topics appearance. This meeting was a lot of fun!
Submitted by Chris Ritz, Area 14 Director
Event: 9/17/2024
Charter Dave: 9/155/2016
Tip Top Toastmasters – #9595- Open House/Golden Gavel
Highlight of this meeting |
Tip Top Toastmasters celebrated a momentous occasion with a Golden Gavel Open House themed “The Roaring 20’s”, in honor of Toastmasters International’s 100-year anniversary. The event was held at the delightful Catfish and Company where attendees enjoyed a wonderful meal and a grand time filled with inspiring speeches and engaging activities. The Toastmaster of the Day, Rhonda McCarty captivated the audience with fascinating facts about life in the 1920s, adding a rich historical context to the meeting’s theme. Jacques Daniels delivered a heartfelt speech about his journey to becoming a confident speaker and leader and Ken Tarango gave an insightful speech about the impact of Toastmasters on personal and professional growth. The meeting was further enlivened by Lola Stone who served dual roles of Ah Counter Grammarian and conducted a rousing session of Table Topics. Charles Sanzone provided a meaningful overall evaluation of the meeting and speech evaluators Jeff McFall and guest Chuck Mencke offered positive and valuable feedback, sharing pearls of wisdom that were greatly appreciated by the speakers. Division A Director Jenny Riddle served as Timer and 1st time Non-Toastmaster guest Lelani acted as Listener. Tip Top Toastmasters Open House was a resounding success filled with camaraderie, inspiration, and celebration. Here’s to another 100 years of Toastmasters excellence.
Total of 5 guests. |
Submitted by Jenny Riddle, Division A Director
Event: 9/29/2024
Southlake Club – #4987 – Open House/Charterversary/Golden Gavel
Southlake Club proudly celebrated 28 years at our Charterversary and Open House on September 9, 2024! We were honored to welcome eight guests, including District Officer Les Condit, who graciously joined us for the occasion. The word of the day, “bliss,” not only resonated throughout the meeting in terms of usage but was also reflected in the smiles of fellow Toastmasters as we greeted new visitors and reconnected with past members and friends. The event featured three inspiring pathway speeches, a lively table topics session, and meaningful evaluations. Our club meets every Monday at 7:00 AM at White’s Chapel Methodist Church, Lecture Hall, Room 3103. Come join us!
Submitted by Marilyn Hall, Club President
Event: 9/9/2024
Charter Date: 8/1/1996
Mr. Cooper Speaks – #3349691 – Open House/Charterversary/Golden Gavel (need to verify GG)
What a wonderful open house we had Wednesday September 4th! Our charter member, Distinguished Toastmaster Joyce Trimble led our meeting. We heard an ice breaker speech from returning Toastmaster, Past President Andres Aguilar, the evaluation of his speech by yours truly, and courageous impromptu speakers that took the challenge of the Table Topics section of our meeting.
Joyce reminded us of all of our accomplishments as a club for this past Toastmaster year ending June 31st. Mr. Cooper was a Silver Sponsor in the District 25 Toastmasters Year-End Celebration that took place this past August at the Ridglea Country Club in Fort Worth.
Our Mr. Cooper Speaks Toastmasters Club was recognized with multiple awards including:
Pacesetter Award for Excellence in Marketing ( 9 or more new members)
Pacesetter Award for Excellence in Goal Setting (5 or more goals by January 31st)
District Director’s 20+ Clubs (clubs ending the year with 20 or more members)
Five Star Club (club dues on time with 8 more new members)
Golden Gavel Award (for having an excellent meeting as it is described by Toastmasters International)
President’s Distinguished Clubs (clubs that achieve 9 or 10 goals, educational and membership-wise)
Director’s Award (clubs that are President’s Distinguished for 3 consecutive years or more; we have been for 11 years!)
Best of all, we had several guests whom we encourage visiting again. We also extend our heart-warming welcome to our newest member Terry Lilly, who joined recently, and Matthew Byas who joined today!
Congratulations to all members of Mr. Cooper Speaks!
Submitted by Vanessa Ravera Colon
Event: 9/4/24
Charter Date: 8/9/2013
Alliance Networks – #5718 – Open House/Charterversary/Golden Gavel
What another amazing meeting at Alliance Networks. We celebrated our 27th Charterversary on September 10. We used this opportunity to have an open house too. We had first time guests (3), past member and our Division and Area Director. One of our speeches was the social speech project which honored our club and some of the milestones and awards as well as all the great members and officers.
It was great having our Area Director install our 2024-2025 officers.
Submitted by Diana Patton, Club VP Education
Event: 9/10/24
Charter Date: 9/1/1997
Golden Gavel
In this club one of the speakers, Diana Patton, shared an exceptional speech on the history of the club sharing how awesome it is to see how far the club has come and continues to succeed overtime.
Kevin Kellan, Area 52 Director
Blue Castle Collaborators – #7975857- Open House/Golden Gavel
Blue Castle Collaborators held their quarterly in person meeting with over 20 people in attendance, including 2 first time guests. A member of the Trio joined the meeting and gave an inspiring speech.
They presented awards to members for the past year for completing levels/pathways and shared the awards the club had earned. Denise McConnell joined and gave an inspiring speech to the group. The Table Topics were thought provoking, and the members were engaged in all the speakers. Both guests were given an opportunity to speak at the end of the meeting and they both did.
Submitted by Sherry Foster, Area 11 Director
Event: 8/20/2024
Denton Toastmasters – #3055 Golden Gavel
The highlight of the meeting was that this was the club’s very first meeting in the club’s new location which is a larger space that accommodates more people. And, the club members and visitors really liked the space. This permitted the speakers to have more room to “own the stage”.
Event: 8/19/24
Submitted by: Renée Marietta, Area 23 Director
Denton Toastmasters – #3055 and Progressive Leaders #3467810 – GROW 2gether
Denton Toastmasters:
This was not a regular meeting for either club. It was a special event. This was a combined social and educational event coordinated by these 2 clubs. We gathered together to enjoy dinner at a nice restaurant for the first hour and then we heard from Fursey Gotuaco who presented an Effective Evaluation Workshop.
This was a lovely evening and well attended. There were rave reviews. It was nice to work collaboratively with another club to put on this special event. And, we also had several visitors who were not a member of either club, but are interested in joining Toastmasters.
Event: 8/12/24
Submitted by: Renée Marietta, Area 23 Director
Progressive Leaders
Fursey Gotuaco presented an Effective Evaluation Workshop and presented 2 of his semifinalist speeches which he will be competing in at the 2024 Toastmasters International Convention. Attendees gained an inciteful education in doing Evaluation, were dazzled by Fursey’s speeches and networked with 33 attendees, representing 5 D25 Division B Toastmasters clubs. A good time was had by all and we sure appreciated Fursey fitting this evening into his busy trip to North Texas!
Submitted by Nicole Dogan, Division B Director
Event: 8/12/24
Golden Triangle Toastmasters Club – #5297– Open House
We had 2 guests and our Area Director (who is a club member) was present. We started on time and had participation from all attendees.
Event: 8/7/24
Submitted by: Savannah Smith, Area 61 Director, Club VP Education
ThumbsUp Toastmasters – #1415 – Open House
ThumbsUp Toastmasters is excited to be recognized as President’s Distinguished for 2023-2024! To build on this excitement, the club had a wonderful Open House event honoring Parent’s Day inspired by centennial celebrations in Toastmasters International to kick off the new Toastmasters 2024-2025 year.
As members and guests paid homage to parenthood and its varied lessons, many of the 14 in attendance used the word of the day (perspicacity) with perspicacity in their contributions during the meeting! The club welcomed a bevy of guests including new, seasoned, and incoming Toastmasters!
The audience enjoyed a Pathways Speech fitting to the theme with the speech title “Leaving Behind a Legacy of Purpose” plus a thought-provoking TableTopics session followed by meeting evaluations including role reports, announcements, etc. Congratulations to the club for bringing in the new year in a mighty way, all supported through teamwork!
All are welcome to GROW by joining ThumbsUp Toastmasters which meets weekly online every Sunday 3p-4:15p CT / 4p-5:15p ET / 1p-2:15p PT.
Event: 7/28/24
Submitted by: Volanda Harris, Club President/Sergeant at Arms
Progressive Leaders – #3467810 – Golden Gavel
13 members and 3 guests enjoyed another great Progressive Leaders Toastmasters meeting and wished our friend Toastmaster Bill Menius farewll as he moves out of state.
Event: 7/22/24
Submitted by: Nicole Dogan, Division B Director
Golden Triangle Toastmasters Club – #5297 – Golden Gavel
We had a wonderful guest speaker (Fursey Gotuaco) and great guest engagement.
Event: 7/17/24
Submitted by: Savannah Smith, Area 61 Director
PRO A.M. Toastmasters Club – # 7407– Golden Gavel
The club’s newest member, Rex, gave his Icebreaker speech and shared with us how a negative past experience standing up and speaking in front of others has led him to join. The fellow club members were very supportive, and they were excited to see the growth in their newest member. Additionally, the Table Topics Master came prepared with thought-provoking questions, and most all of the members used the word of the day, “gratis,” in their responses.
Event: 7/11/24
Submitted by: Matthew Navy, Area 32 Director
ACH Renaissance – #3214758 – Golden Gavel
Many highlights! Jaime Tinsely, the Jokemaster, began the meeting with a humurous number of jokes. The word of the day was “tempestuous,” and every meeting attendee used the word, including the guest, Gary. Larry informed us that he doesn’t like Houston, Brady is a KOA camper, Fabrice is humble and carefree, and Helene is a non-native English speaker who has been in the country for over 5 years. The meeting Toastmaster, Lillian, expressed interest in meeting in person at least once a month, with more info to come.
Event: 7/9/24
Submitted by: Matthew Navy, Area 32 Director