Tri-County Toastmasters #5682

The Tri-County Toastmasters club met on Thursday 2-15-07 at the Virden Area Community Center. Dr. Todd Austin of Virden served as the meeting’s Master of Ceremonies. Austin, a member of the National Motorist Association, also conducted the impromptu speaking portion of the program, during which he asked each participant a different question related to several controversial traffic law enforcement-related issues that have made recent headlines throughout the U.S. Each participant then delivered a one to two minute off-the-cuff response.

The prepared speaker was Girard’s Les Apps. Apps gave an officer training presentation. Officers trained at the meeting included President Apps, Vice-President Austin, Secretary / Treasurer Jim Blankenship from New Berlin and Sergeant at arms Bill Watkins.

The Toastmasters club will next meet on Thursday March 1, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center at 105 West Jackson Street in Virden. The scheduled speakers for next meeting are Bill Watkins, Marcia Osterholt and Jackie Rakers. “Guests and new members are always welcome to attend our club meetings, which are devoted to helping people from all walks of life to improve their communication and leadership skills” states club president Apps. For more information about the Toastmasters program, please call (217) 965-3100.

The Tri-County Toastmasters club met on Thursday 2-1-07 at the Virden Area Community Center. Club members present at Thursday’s meeting were: Les Apps, Dr. Todd Austin, Jim Blankenship, John Davidson, Liz Mollett, Marcia Osterholt, Jackie Rakers, Michelle Suslee and Bill Watkins.



Marcia Osterholt, one of the newest club members, served as the meeting’s Toastmaster (or master of ceremonies) for the first time. Jim Blankenship, from New Berlin, conducted the Tabletopics (or impromptu speaking) portion of the program.



The evening’s first prepared speaker was Liz Mollett from Auburn. Liz, an IDOT employee, gave a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Untapped Potential”. The presentation was her individual part of a larger group presentation that she helped to deliver at her workplace a few days after the meeting.



The second prepared speaker was Michelle Suslee. Michelle, another of the club’s newer members delivered her second speech as a member of Toastmasters, which was a motivational presentation, entitled “Reach For Your Dreams!” Suslee is an Arbonne Independent Consultant as well as a Realtor for Montgomery County Realty.



John Davidson gave the final presentation of the meeting. The Red Rooster Inn in Hillsboro contacted the Tri-County Club last month. The Inn was in search of a speaker for a special event they were having on Saturday 2-3-07 called the Teddy Bear Tea. John volunteered to be the speaker for that event. Davidson’s speech called “Somebody’s Teddy Bear is Watching You” was the same one he gave two days later in Hillsboro to a crowd of approximately 30 people of all ages.



The Toastmasters club will next meet on Thursday February 15, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center at 105 West Jackson Street in Virden. The scheduled speakers for next meeting are Les Apps and Jackie Rakers. “Our club is a community club, so all area residents are encouraged to attend. As our most recent meeting demonstrated, whether your goal is to lead a business meeting, gain some speaking confidence as a new member or to talk to a whole room full of people, Toastmasters is an awesome, yet extremely cost-effective opportunity to fine-tune one’s communication and leadership skills” states club vice president Todd Austin. For more information about the Toastmasters program, please call (217) 965-3100.