Tri-County Toastmasters #5682

Jim Blankenship (right) and John Davidson were the speakers at Thursday’s Tri-County Toastmasters meeting. Blankenship, a New Berlin resident, promoted the 2006 Sangamon County Fair with an informative presentation, while Davidson delivered a dramatic talk.

The Tri-County Toastmasters club met on Thursday 5-18-06 at the Virden Area Community Center. Club members present at Thursday’s meeting were: Dr. Todd Austin, Jim Blankenship, Dawn Boyer, John Davidson, Rev. Ron Grimes, Jackie Rakers, Alan Saeger and Billy Watkins. President Grimes announced that the new slate of club officers will be installed by the area governor at the next meeting.

Todd Austin served as the Toastmaster of thursday’s meeting. Alan Saeger conducted the Tabletopics (impromptu speaking) portion of the program, during which each participant was given a different question. All then delivered a one to two minute response. Ron Grimes came up with the word-of-the-week which was ‘prosaic’ meaning dull or unimaginative.

The evening’s first prepared speaker was New Berlin's Jim Blankenship. His informative talk was entitled "Sangamon County Fair", and was a speech that he also delivered to the Springfield Chamber of Commerce to promote the Sangamon County Fair which will be held in mid-June in his home town. The second prepared speaker was John Davidson. His dramatic speech was named "The Best Book I Ever Read".

The Toastmasters club will next meet on Thursday June 1, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center at 105 West Jackson Street in Virden. The scheduled speaker for next meeting is Auburn's Dawn Boyer. "Guests and new members are always welcome to attend our club meetings, which are devoted to helping area residents from all walks of life to improve both their communication and leadership skills in a friendly environment" states club vice-president Les Apps. For more information about the Toastmasters program, please call (217) 965-3100.