Sunday, December 31, 2006
Toastmasters hold farewell party for Rev. Ron Grimes
The key members who made Thursday’s Toastmasters Christmas party / surprise farewell party for Ron Grimes an evening for Grimes to remember were (from left): speaker and award presenter Jim Blankenship; master of ceremony John Davidson; speaker Todd Austin; Ron Grimes; speaker Les Apps and tabletopicmaster Alan Saeger. 
New Berlin resident Jim Blankenship (left), a current club officer, presented an attractive plaque to Rev. Ron Grimes Thursday for his 9 ½ years of service to the club, including 3 ½ years as club president. The Tri-County Toastmasters club met on Thursday 12-21-06 at Showtime Café in Virden. Club members present at Thursday’s meeting were: Les Apps, Eugena Austin, Dr. Todd Austin, Jim Blankenship, John Davidson, Rev. Ron Grimes, Liz Mollett from Auburn, Alan Saeger and Billy Watkins. Guests in attendance were Sharon Apps, Nancy Blankenship, Dawn Boyer from Auburn, Kathy Grimes and Rev. Howard Shockey.
Ron Grimes, a founding member of the Tri-County Toastmasters club back in 1997 and a former Toastmasters Area Governor, has served as the club’s president for a total of 3 ½ years. It was Grimes’ final meeting with the club as he will be relocating to the state of Michigan in early January. As far as Rev. Grimes knew, he was just going to be attending a club Christmas party. John Davidson served as the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, which doubled as a surprise farewell party for Grimes who was the guest of honor. Davidson roasted Grimes a few times during his MC duties.
Alan Saeger conducted a special Christmas-themed impromptu speaking portion of the program. Thursday’s first prepared speaker was Les Apps who delivered a humorous “Roast of Ron Grimes”. The second prepared speaker was New Berlin's Jim Blankenship who presented a special plaque to Grimes for his years of dedication and service to the club. The evening’s final speaker was Todd Austin. Austin gave an emotional farewell “Toast to Ron Grimes”.
The Toastmasters club will next meet on Thursday January 4, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at the Virden Area Community Center. The scheduled speakers for that meeting are John Davidson and Marcia Osterholt. For more information about the Toastmasters program, please call (217) 965-3100.
// posted by Jim @ 9:05 AM 
