On October 31 we went to President Lynn’s house in Booragoon for a meeting with a big difference. It was fun time. Rachel, Lynn’s friend and frequent visitor to our regular meetings at the Fremantle Bowling Club, organised a set of games with a difference. And it was that American Halloween night, so several members came dressed for the occasion.

It was certainly a meeting with a difference.
There were many games. Here are some participants in the Role Plays. The two characters sitting on the chairs are carrying on a vigorous conversation on a nominated subject. Their hands are down at the side, unmoving. Two other actors are kneeling behind the chairs, providing the hands and the hand movement.

It was a fun night. Here are a few more shots, taken before the meeting began.

It was certainly a meeting with a difference.

It was the Table Topics Contest on September 12.

Alan was Contest Chair, and the Judges comprised all Club Members not taking part in the Contest. Since we had a very strong field of Contestants, there were as many Contestants as Judges. David presented a Workshop on how to Judge.

Alan’s Table Topic subject was “My favourite bathroom is my current one, but …”

Claire Lacy

The contestants in order were

• Gail
• David P
• Pascale
• Claire
• Ou
• Brett

All spoke well, but there had to be a winner and placegetters.

Third was Brett

Second was Pascale

The winner was Claire Lacy . She will represent Victoria Quay in both the Humorous Contest and Table Topics at the Area W21 final in October. If Claire wins either or both of these Contests, she will represent Victoria Quay and W21 in the Western Division final to be held in March next year. If she wins those, she will be competing in the District 73 final at Lilydale, Melbourne in May, 2008.

We had three excellent Humorous Speeches at the Contest on September 5.

Glenis was Contest Chair, and the Judges comprised all Club Members not taking part in the Contest. David presented a Workshop on how to Judge.

Heljo told us of her sporting career, starting with her failed attempt to play tennis in the style of her ballet training. She looked graceful but couldn’t hit the ball. Sport was a disaster for her until she became an Aerobics Trainer and as a Trainer she is a great success, because she can tell people what to do, without having to do it herself.

Nicky gave us a powerful reason to remember April 6, 1946. That was the day she married Bill in Kenya. It was a tally of disasters, failures, interrupting phone calls and a final triumphant “I do!” just before the Commanding Officer conducting the ceremony had to rush off to more important business. Getting married was a rocky process, but the marriage was a great success.

Claire had a passionate dialogue with “Her”. She started with a confession - she has been deceiving us all this time, but now she can’t keep it secret any longer. Behind the screen was “Her”, her sixty odd year old companion. She went behind the screen, and confirming predictions “Her”emerged and delivered a vitriolic attack on Claire, as she lived out her anti-social behaviour.

And the winner was

Claire with “Her”

Lynn Peirce

District 73 has held its Annual Convention at Fremantle, from May 18-20.

On Saturday morning the Evaluation Contest was held with 7 Contestants from each of the Divisions in our geographically enormous District. And the winner was our very own Lynn Peirce.

In this photo, Lynn is overjoyed, having just received her trophy.

Congratulations Lynn.

We celebrated our 600th Meeting on Wednesday, August 8th.

The photo shows Founding Members Lesley Amm, Alan Smith, Judith Ingle, Mary Outh-Aut, Glenis Nicholas, David Nicholas

It was a fantastic meeting with 40 people there. There were 20 members, 13 former members and 7 visitors. Among the former members were 6 Founding Members, from 1995.

The whole meeting was crowded with highlights, controlled effortlessly by Toastmaster and former member Cliff Boer.

The Check In was a wow. It was split into two sections to cope with the crowded room. Everybody gave their name, when they belonged or joined the club, and a highlight or two from their time. And everybody got photographed as they spoke because Andy Outh-Aut, Fremantle professional photographer and married to former member Mary, was on the job. The Check In was a riot of reminiscence, revelation and rapturous retrospection. We haven’t had a funnier meeting in the whole previous 599.There were three speeches - Nicky Quekett on her nightmare train journey through Central Europe, Mark Richards using Stepping Stones in his Toastmaster journey to Division Governor, and Alan Smith Plodding.

There were two sets of Table Topics delivered by Glenis Nicholas and Sharon Wayland. Again there were gales of laughter throughout and gasps of apprehension as Janet Boer-Draffin shed whatever inhibitions she may have had before she put that hat on.Judith Ingle, a founding member who rejoined in January this year, inspired us at the beginning of the meeting and Mary Outh-Aut, another founding member who hasn’t rejoined yet, gave us a tonic about doing one small extra thing to keep the world cleaner and better.

Claire Lacey mounted her Soapbox and revelled in her progress to freedom and individuality.Former member David Parkhouse rejoined the club after a 5 year break.District Governor Mike Helm identified Victoria Quay as the powerhouse incubator in Western Australia for many years now. He mentioned 7 DTM members during the Club’s history - Lesley Amm, David Nicholas, Glenis Nicholas, Peter Nichols, Jenny Mills, Alan Smith, Lisa Cluett and Betty Hart. He particularly praised us for the many District leaders who have served in WA and the whole District, including the current Western Division Governor, Mark Richards, and the current W21 Area Governor, Michail Overkov.

Lynn Peirce mounted a spectacular supper. The food was great and many people used the opportunity to circulate and renew acquaintances or meet some of colourful members from past years.Was it serendipity or the influence of this wonderful meeting that inspired former member, David Parkhouse, to attend the previous week and rejoin on our 600th. David was a member from June 1998 to September 2000, and was VPE during that time. He signed the membership application and paid Treasurer Alan Smith the fee before the meeting began, so he attended as a current member. Welcome back, David, and any other former member who feels the urge will get the same warm response.

We had 6 of our 20 Founding Members at the meeting. Glenis and David Nicholas of course and Alan Smith have been members right through. Judith Ingle took a break towards the end of 2003, but rejoined at the beginning of this year. Lesley Amm and Mary Outh-Aut were there at the beginning and visited us on this exciting night.

David Nicholas

Success at the Inter District Speech Competition

Cliff Boer accepts his trophy

Speakers from 8 Districts outside the USA and Canada competed for a place in the World Championship of Public Speaking at Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, August 19, 2003.

He competed in the World Championship of Public Speaking held 4 days later. Cliff didn’t win this time, but the experience gained will help tip the balance next year.

The International Speech Competition Process

The final of the World Championship of Public Speaking is arrived at after a long and exhaustive process.

There are 9 speakers in the final, each representating one of 9 Regions in Toastmasters International. There are about 8 Districts in each Region. 8 of the Regions are in the USA and Canada. The Overseas Districts Region covers the rest of the Toastmaster World with Districts from Australia (3), New Zealand, Indonesia, Southern Africa, the Phillipines and Ireland and Great Britain.

In each Region there is a series of heats. To get to the final a speaker has to be successful at the level of Club, Area, Division, District and Region.

The 77 District finals are held in May each year. The USA and Canada Region finals are held in their respective regions in June. However, the Overseas District Region final is held as part of the World Toastmaster Convenion in late August in the USA. So, after winning on the Tuesday night, Cliff had to compete in the World final on the Saturday morning, with a completely new speech.

The Overseas Districts are currently making a submission for their Region final to be held in June somewhere in their geographical region. This will make for a more level playing field in the Final at the Internation Convention.

Competition Chair, Jon Greiner, congratulates Cliff and his support team from Victoria Quay Janet Boer-Draffin, Glenis and David Nicholas