Club Updates
Stirling Toastmasters 30th Anniversary
To celebrate this auspicious occasion, 31 current, past and distinguished guests gathered in Stirling Community Centre, Yokine, for a trip down memory lane. Special guests included Immediate Past District Director, Ian Pickens, DTM; Club Growth Director, Maree Pickens, DTM and Northern Division Director, Desmond Miranda.
Stirling Toastmasters 30th David Barton
A member for the past 22 years, David Barton served as Toastmaster, sharing interesting history snippets and activities of past members throughout the evening. Nicola had written a book and Roy Stewart had met his wife through the club. Radheya Jegatheva is an Oscar-qualified and AACTA nominated director and animator who joined the club to practice accepting awards for his film making. In fact, he has now moved to London following the success of his film Bird Drone, winning Best Australian Short Film in 2023.
Karen Tregenza is the longest continuing member of the club and she and husband Barry shared some history going back to 1994. They were members of Sandgropers Toastmasters club and because of significant growth they decided to start a new club with help from Northern Lights Toastmasters. Karen was a Sponsor and the club started in Scarborough. It has moved many times since then from the Rendezvous Hotel to the Nookenburra Hotel, Osborne Park Bowling Club, Osborne Park Hotel, Nollamara Church, Tuart College and finally the Stirling Community Centre.
Several current and past members were invited to share how being part of Stirling Toastmasters has impacted them. Andrew Pawluck has been a member for the past 20 years. He is a town planner who values gaining practice and experience in handling challenging presentation situations. Rocco, a past member, recently had to present a petition to the Council four times on short notice. Toastmasters helped him learn how to structure a speech effectively. Maria, who works for the Public Transport Authority as a communications advisor and a photographer, often has to talk to people. She introduced Table Topics into the workplace to help people learn about their colleagues in new ways.
Daniel, a doctor, spoke about how doing something challenging like Table Topics prepared him to ask difficult questions at a medical conference. The value of constructive feedback has greatly helped him in his career. Praneeta shared her incredible journey from being a very shy and scared individual to transforming into a confident and courageous person. Wendy Farrow, a current member, shared how being uncomfortable has helped her stretch herself. David Slater concluded with a humorous anecdote about his first time as President—an experience that served as great practice for his upcoming participation in the District Finals next year in the Humorous Competition.
The evening finished with a magnificent cake and festive supper with several past members considering returning to the club – they remembered how much they enjoyed the camaraderie of the club!
Noranda 303rd Meeting
In a novel approach to celebrating a club anniversary and Christmas, Noranda held a debate on the topic, “Christmas decorating should be a competitive sport.” It was an intense contest, with the affirmative team of Steve Vella, Dennis Chong, and Wan Teck Chung bravely arguing in favour, but ultimately defeated by the negative team of Gerry Freedman, Alice Peng and Maree Pickens, who successfully championed the ‘spirit of Christmas.’ Great fun was had by all and even the guests weren’t too bewildered by the ‘fierce competition.’ The evening also included a “Ridiculous Round Robin,” featuring ‘pass the parcel’ to Christmas music to determine who answered the next question. A sumptuous supper followed, complete with a celebratory cake.
Noranda Toastmaster’s 303rd Meeting – Debate teams line up
Noranda Toastmaster’s 303rd Meeting – President Paula with winning debate team Gerry, Alice, Maree.
Noranda Toastmaster’s 303rd Meeting – President Paula with affirmative team
Harrisdale Piara Waters Toastmasters Help Children in Crisis
During October we spied a poster in the library where we meet, announcing that Carey Baptist College Community were having a book drive in order to donate books to Operation Sunshine WA for their Sunshine Packs and Christmas Appeal.
Operation Sunshine WA is a volunteer run, Perth based charity. Established with the objective of providing a positive impact in the lives of children and young people in out-of-home care, Operation Sunshine’s primary focus is the Sunshine Pack initiative. This initiative quickly extended to support the needs of children and young people escaping family and domestic violence, along with an annual Christmas Appeal providing gifts to children and young people in care and crisis across Western Australia.
What better way could we find to support a community event for 2024. We appealed to our members to bring a book or two to add to our collection throughout November. We were staggered and so grateful for the number of books members donated. We collected so many, we were delighted that we had to find a larger container to hold them all in.
It was an absolute pleasure to collect these books and it was even more exciting to see the elation this gave. We sincerely hope that this will help children in WA enjoy some precious reading time when their lives are most disrupted.
Many thanks to all our members who contributed books to this drive, your generosity was overwhelming.
If you would like to help in other ways, please visit the Operation Sunshine website for ideas. https://operationsunshinewa.org.au/ I’m sure this is now a partnership we will develop more in the years to come.
CPA Toastmasters 13th Anniversary / CPA Networking event
CPA Toastmasters club has been busy in November and December with two significant events – a celebration meeting and a networking industry event.
The club was chartered on November 14, 2011, and has since conducted over 300 meetings. In honor of Toastmasters’ 100th year, the club chose to celebrate its 13th anniversary and the centennial with members, past members, district leaders and three special guests from the CPA Leadership team. These guests spoke highly of the club and reiterated their commitment to promoting it among Chartered Practicing Accountants. The guests included Liz Kodituwakku (Business Partnerships and Relationship Manager for CPA), Erica Haddon (WA President Divisional Council for CPA) and Caolan McEwan (Member Services and Events Executive for the CPA WA office).
The meeting included four speeches and evaluations, a club and centennial celebration, followed by morning tea and networking—all before 8:30 a.m.—a great start to the day! Our club’s achievement and longevity are no small feats and they are only possible due to the dedication of our founding members who initiated the club, as well as past and current members who have committed their time to learn and grow together in public speaking and communication skills.
Just two weeks later, the club participated in a CPA WA Chapter networking event attended by over 200 people. Members of the CPA Toastmasters Club actively distributed flyers, talked about the benefits of the club, and encouraged people to submit their interest via a QR code. There was considerable interest and the club is sure to be visited by several more guests at the first meeting in 2025!
Jacaranda Festival, Applecross
On Sunday, November 24, on a warm, sunny day in the heart of Applecross, a small crowd of nearly 10,000 people wandered among over 100 stalls, including our own Toastmasters stall. Nestled among other non-profit groups, the stall enjoyed a steady stream of visitors throughout the day, with many expressing interest in visiting a local club and often saying, “I’ve been meaning to do something about my fear of public speaking.” Applecross Toastmasters organized the stall, with several club members helping on the roster, as well as members from nearby clubs like Fremantle Gateway, Fremantle Gourmet, and Como Communicators.
Festivals are a great way to raise awareness about Toastmasters and your club, and organizers are often willing to offer favorable deals on stalls for non-profit groups. Stay tuned for our next stall at the upcoming Bridal Fair in Claremont in February 2025!
Melaleuca Gavel Club TT Contest
On Tuesday, December 4, Maree Pickens and Murray Rogers joined the Prison Gavel Club team, which included Juliana Kelly, Kevin Sansome, Judith Allen, and Chris Houston, to run the second-ever Table Topics contest at the Melaleuca Women’s Remand Centre. The event saw a record-breaking participation of seven contestants out of the current twelve members. With the question “What qualities do you like in a friend?” each contestant drew on their growing confidence and impromptu speaking skills to deliver impressive responses for the judges and the special guest—the head of educational programs for all prisons in Western Australia.
Melaleuca Gavel Contest Team
The membership of the Gavel Club changes regularly as women leave the prison but there are always two to three visitors eager to take their place and develop new skills. In fact, just recently, one member earned their Competent Leadership Award, and another earned their Competent Communicator Award—a great achievement for both.
Christmas celebrations…
Northern – Mt Hawthorn
On Sunday, December 15, the club held a progressive celebration, beginning at Maree and Ian’s home for drinks and nibbles. The gathering then took a short walk across the road to Paul and Lindy’s home for a sumptuous feast fresh from the BBQ smoker. The great turnout, revelry, and generous hosts epitomize what this club is all about—great fun, wonderful support, and lifelong friends.
Southern – Murdoch Southsiders
On Tuesday, December 17, at the Bullcreek Community Centre, current and past members gathered for a feast of food and entertainment. The event featured a debate, a dance showcase by David Mazzotti and his partner, and a Christmas rap by several club officers. I had never attended a meeting like it before but I loved every minute of it!
Central – Aspiring Leaders and TLI
On Thursday, December 19, just days before Christmas, the two clubs came together at the UWA Club at the University of Western Australia for our annual Christmas dinner. Everyone shared what they were grateful for and their hopes for the year ahead. Among us, we had over 150 years of Toastmasters experience—amazing! We all felt truly blessed with the wealth of knowledge, achievements and friendships we’ve made over the years and left the evening inspired to grow both clubs in 2025 by reinventing our missions.
