2014 Activities
A Toastmaster's Remembrance Day Message
(This submission was originally written for the District 86 Blog)
November 11, 2014
I wish to share a message with my fellow Toastmasters about an everlasting experience I had on Remembrance Day. I believe that this is important to share with others in District 86 that serves its members so well.
I am a member of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 36 in Dundas. On Remembrance Day, this past Tuesday, I dressed in my uniform and walked almost 2 kilometers to the branch where I was to fall in with the Colour Party (flag bearers). Along the way, through a neighbourhood park, an elderly man stopped me to express his thanks for my service. I asked him for his first name and I said, "Thank you, Ozzie, for your kindness". I felt my spine straighten even more so. Further on, I came upon three municipal workers who paused to praise me. My chin went up higher. I thanked them for their service, as well. As such, this experience already had a remarkable effect upon me.
When the Remembrance Parade started at the fire hall, the Colour Party was the second unit behind the Dundas Pipe and Drum Band which lead a long column of military and service units. When we wheeled onto King Street, we all marched to a pace that was measured by the drum roll. Step by step, we approached the cenotaph with the streets tightly packed with thousands of people. At that point, a tremendous crescendo of cheers arose from the onlookers - something I never heard before. Then the Scottish pipers played their marching tune and the cheers escalated to an even higher volume. During those moments, I did not feel any burden, whatsoever, carrying the Ontario provincial flag.
The Colour Party took its place front and centre at the cenotaph with the names of the young men and women inscribed who sacrificed all during their service to Canada. After the venerable Remembrance ceremony was conducted, local community organizations were called upon to lay their wreaths. For the second consecutive year, Valley Town Toastmasters was announced. As fellow Toastmaster Kenrick Chin stepped up to the cenotaph, a large applause from the packed audience was heard. I do not think that I ever stood taller in my life.
I am very proud to be a Toastmaster as well as a member of the Legion. It is such a great honour to serve others.
Tony Bratschitsch, DTM, Immediate Past District 86 Governor, President Valley Town Toastmasters
Presentation at the Masonic Lodge
October 29, 2014
Our club, Valley Town Toastmasters, considers itself to be a true "community" club in the sense that we will reach out to other organizations if we can be of assistance.
We have done this many times in the past to such organizations as the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire, the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, the Community Food Advisors of Hamilton, The Arthritis Society of Canada, The Royal Canadian Legion, the Industry Education Council of Hamilton, the Dundas Valley High School Co-Op, the Hamilton Public Library, the Women's Institute, the Young Taiwanese Merchants Association of Toronto and Mohawk College.
Besides helping other community organizations, we are able to provide an opportunity for our members to practice their presentation skills outside of the club. Quite often, these events are like "litmus tests" when it comes to evaluating our communication skills in a different environment.
On Wednesday, October 29, 2014, three members of our club gave an one-hour presentation to a combined meeting of Brothers of The Masonic Lodge in their Stoney Creek location.
The purpose of this event was to demonstrate some techniques in public speaking - and audience interaction - that would help the Brethren to improve their speaking skills.
It was a great opportunity - and honour - to be of service to such an outstanding organization that has been contributing to the values of our society for hundreds of years.
Valley Town proud!
Area 51 Contests
October 9, 2014
Area 51 conducted its annual Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contests at the Dundas Town Hall.
There are four clubs in Area 51: Ambitious City Toastmasters, Brant, McMaster and Valley Town.
Congratulations to David T Shaw who will represent Area 51 in the Division L Contest on October 24 at Niagara College near St. Catharines.
Congratulations to David Ojeyinka who will represent our area in the Division L Table Topics Contest.
Area 51 Proud!
New Members
October 2, 2014
Our Vice-President of Membership, Artur Filc, had a busy and enjoyable evening welcoming three new members into Valley Town Toastmasters.
Marisha Heinen joined our club to improve her presentation skills.
Marisha is a manager with a large retailer that is dedicated to customer service.
She wishes to improve her "message sending" to employees and co-workers to help her employer's continuing success.
Marisha presented a humorous speech in our recent contest even before she have her Ice Breaker!
Dale Skvereckas is a legal professional who wants to maintain and improve her people skills.
She is an experienced Toastmaster who has held many leadership roles in another club.
Dale has attended some of our club functions in the past and she recently walked with us in the Cactus Festival parade.
Welcome, Dale!
Derek Livingstone is a teacher who wishes to improve his comfort level in front of large groups of people.
Derek enjoys humour and challenges. He bravely entered our club contest recently and qualified to ne one of our two representatives at the Area 51 Contest on October 9.
Well done, Derek!
Welcome to our new members! We look forward to growing with you!
Us, nervous? No way!!
September 25, 2014
It was unusual but awesome! Our club opened our contest event (see below story) with two Ice Breakers by Rose-Anne St.Jean and Andrea Malick (left to right in photo).
Both Andrea and Rose-Anne presented superb introductory speeches in front of the lectern and without notes. Wow!
Thank you, Andrea and Rose-Anne, for your inspiring presentations!
Contest Night
September 25, 2014
Valley Town Toastmasters conducted their Annual Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contest. Everybody won!
It was an action packed event with started with two Ice Breakers before the contests started.
The Table Topics Contest consisted of a two-minute impromptu presentation. In this case, the topic was "patience".
The Humorous Speech Contest had presentations of seven-minute prepared speeches.
Our top two place finishers for both contests will advance to the Area 51 Contest that will be held in our meeting room on October 9.
Contests are club events that try to get everyone involved as either a contestant, official or, sometimes, both. For over 20 years, Beverley and Gary Reid have participated and supported our club contests.
Rose Kulyk followed Gary's lead by being both a contestant and a contest official. Unlike Gary, this was Rose's first contest event but you wouldn't know it based on the level of her enthusiasm. Thank you, Rose, for the joy that you bring to our events!
One person who really embodied our Table Topics subject - "patience" - was Zhao Hui, our timer. Hui never stopped working throughout the evening. Members like him represent the true success of our club. Thank you, Hui!
Thank you, everyone, for making this club contest very successful and memorable!
Special Presentation
September 11, 2014
Our club member Karen Wood (centre in photo) gave a special presentation to the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire (IODE).
Karen's topic was about handling the fear of public speaking in which she gave personal examples.
The IODE was founded in 1900 and is involved in many generous and worthwhile events such as their War Memorial Scholarships for students.
Such speaking opportunities as this gives our members a chance to enhance their skills outside of our club while providing a service to others at the same time.
Well done, Karen! It was a great speech for an excellent organization.
New Member
September 4, 2014
Sahil Arora (left in photo) was warmly welcomed as a new member by VP Membership, Artur Filc.
Sahil is a Hamilton resident and he is working on a post-graduate degree. His interest in joining Toastmasters was to improve his presentation skills while learning in a positive environment.
Welcome, Sahil!
New Member
August 28, 2014
Our club was very pleased to induct Rose-Anne St.Jean as a member.
Rose-Anne is a Dundas resident and she joined Toastmasters to improve her comfort level with presentations and speaking skills.
Welcome, Rose-Anne!
Youth Leadership Program
August 19, 2014
An excited group of young people graduated from a Youth Leadership Program that was conducted at the Dundas Public Library.
The Youth Leadership certificates were enclosed in beautiful portfolios provided by our local Member of Parliament, The Honourable David Sweet.
Congratulations to our graduates!
Cactus Festival Pavilion
August 15-17, 2014
For the 6th straight year, Valley Town Toastmasters and fellow members from neighbouring clubs promoted the benefits of our organization to the public at the Cactus Festival with an information pavilion.
From Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, there were enthusiastic representatives providing information to interested people.
It was another great opportunity to work with our local clubs.
Cactus Festival Parade
August 14, 2014
Members, family, friends and fellow Toastmasters from nearby clubs took part in this year's Cactus Festival Parade.
It was a festive occasion with our participants dancing most of the 2.2 kilometer parade route. Click on this link to watch a brief video.
Thank you, everyone, for making this event very memorable!
New Member
August 7, 2014
Valley Town Toastmasters were pleased to welcome Andrea Malick as a new member at a meeting in the Dundas Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
Andrea is a corporate consultant who is working on enhancing her presentation skills. She is pictured being greeted by Artur Filc, VP Membership.
Welcome, Andrea!
Touring Historic Dundas
July 24, 2014
Valley Town Toastmasters participated in a historic walking tour of Dundas, one of the oldest communities in Ontario.
A great turnout was guided by one of the town's most ardent history buffs.
Thank you, Stan, for donating your time to sharing your knowledge and passion of Dundas' history with our club!
A Great Barbecue
June 26, 2014
The weather was perfect and so were the people!
Toastmasters and friends from all over attended our annual barbecue to share their good cheer.
Thanks to the generosity of our club member, Jonathan Spiegel, who hosted this event at his home, we all had a great time.
Thanks also go to Steve Bartley of Honeymoon Toastmasters for this entire collection of excellent photos. Steve painstakingly took a lot of beautiful pictures that were difficult to choose from for this posting.
There was a lot of food to go along with the camaraderie. Old friendships were re-united and new ones were made.
We had great musical accompaniment with club members Kenrick Chin and Mark Mullins and friends.
Dominion Success
May 9, 2014
On Canada's first National Day of Honour, the Dundas Branch of The Royal Canadian Legion recognized the 2nd place Dominion (national) finisher of its 2013 Annual Colour Poster Contest at Westdale Secondary School.
Srinidhi Shaw, a Grade 10 student, submitted the entry that will be displayed in the lobby of the House of Commons during Remembrance Week, 2014.
A number of our club members also participated in this event by helping to judge the entries at the branch level.
Congratulations to Srinidhi!
A Legion of Success
March 15, 2014
During the last five years, our Valley Town Toastmasters club has benefited from our friendly relationship with the Dundas Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. Quite often, we have used their facilities to host some of our meetings, Christmas parties and to even stage contests for other Toastmaster Areas outside of our own. As well, many of our members have joined the Legion.
Last year, we were asked to run their Annual Literary & Poster Contest that promotes Remembrance to the students in the Canadian school system.
Valley Town members, such as Imelda Esporlas-Jewer, Judy Shepalo, Karen Wood, Nina Goncharenko and Tony Bratschitsch were involved in judging 67 submissions from local school children in the categories of poetry, essays, black & white and colour posters.
All four of our senior (Grade 10 - 12) winners went on to win at the next level (Zone) with three submissions winning at the District.
One of our student's entries - a colour poster created by Srinidhi Shaw (Grade 10 at Westdale High School) won the Provincial Command 1st Place finish and will now vie for the Dominion (national) honours.
Srinidhi was recognized at the Dundas Legion's Honours & Awards Banquet on March 15, 2014 where she received a number of awards and gifts from the Royal Canadian Legion. Srinidhi is pictured with our club member Tony Bratschitsch who is the Legion Branch's Education & Leadership Chair.
This is a joint effort of our club working with our excellent community neighbour, Branch 36 of the Royal Canadian Legion.
Thank you to our club members for helping with this success!
New Member
March 6, 2014
Our club was pleased to induct Katherine Finelli as a new member. Katherine, a Hamilton resident, is studying towards an advanced degree in the social field. She is also involved with computer technology and marketing.
Katherine (right in photo) is shown being welcomed by Esther Smith, VP Public Relations.
Thank you, Katherine!
New Member
March 6, 2014
Sandra Green was warmly welcomed as a member by VP Public Relations, Esther Smith.
Sandra is a Dundas resident who has a passion for nature and animals. She also has a particular interest for northern Canada.
Welcome, Sandra!
New Member
February 15, 2014
Valley Town Toastmasters were pleased to induct Aileen Verheul as a new member.
Aileen is a medical professional who wishes to improve her presentation skills including public speaking.
We look forward to growing with you, Aileen!
New Member
David Hayes was inducted as a member (for the 2nd time). He had belonged to our club before and his interest was rekindled when he attended our 20th Anniversary Celebration two weeks earlier.
David is a financial services specialist who enjoys public speaking and he is interested in improving his inter-communication skills. He is pictured with Artur Filc, VP Membership.
Welcome back, David!
Contest Night
February 15, 2014
Valley Town Toastmasters conducted its Annual International Speech & Evaluation Contest with a good number of enthusiastic competitors.
Jonathan Spiegel won the Evaluation Contest with Nina Goncharenko earning 2nd place.
Thank you to all of our contestants, officials and guests for making this a memorable evening!
Our 20th Anniversary
January 30, 2014
A lot happened at Valley Town's 20th Anniversary - before the event as well as during this special occasion.
For the full story, please click on this 20th Anniversary link.
Thank you to Karen Wood and the Committee for all your hard work!
Mentoring for Success
January 15, 2014
Our Immediate Past President, Karen Wood, has worked very hard to help VMware Toastmasters in Burlington charter their new club, late last year.
In her official role as Club Mentor, Karen assisted in launching their first meeting on May 28, 2013 and all the way through until their Charter Party on November 26.
While most Mentors would leave their roles upon chartering, Karen has continued to visit and support VMware to ensure their ongoing success.
It is such commitment to other Toastmasters outside of our club that truly makes Toastmasters a satisfying and wonderful experience.
Well done, Karen!
Valley Town Proud!
Folding Lectern For Youths
January 12, 2014
Al Wood, husband of respected Toastmaster, Karen (pictured in photo), graciously donated a folding lectern for the Valley Town's Youth Leadership Program.
Ingeniously designed and skillfully constructed, this folding lectern will help showcase our members' commitment to the youth of our community.
Thank you, Al!
