News from Emily, our club Treasurer

It’s time for members to pay club dues for the October 2010 – April 2011 period. The total cost per member is $42, we’ll send $27 to the Toastmasters organization and we’ll keep $15 for the Twin City club. You can pay dues with cash or a personal check payable to “Twin City Toastmasters”. In order to avoid confusion, please only hand your funds to Emily W. (Treasurer) or John F. (President). Once the dues are paid to Toastmasters online, it will generate an email receipt that Emily will forward to you.

Moving forward, Emily will be the contact person between the club and the Leominster library regarding the use of the meeting room. You can expect that we’ll have a podium and whiteboard for meetings at the Leominster Library, but if you would like to use the library’s projector or other audio visual electronics please let both me and Bill B. (Sergeant at Arms) know a few days ahead of time. The library custodian sets up our meeting space in advance, but he leaves at 4pm on Tuesdays, so the electronics are not available at the last minute.

We are thinking of you David

Last week news spread of David H.'s recent health emergency. Many of our members have expressed their interest in keeping up with David's health. Peter Souders was able to get us some information.

You can keep up with David via his daughter, Jeanette, on a blog. She has been posting updates pretty regularly. http://davidhenshaw.blogspot.com/

David, we all miss and love you. We hope you get better soon so we can see you at meetings again. We are all thinking about you!

Members, feel free to use the comments to post messages for David.

End of the Year Dinner

It's time for our annual end of the year dinner. Everyone is invited to join us!

When: July 22, 2010
Where: Bull Run in Shirley, MA (see menu and get directions)
Time: 7pm (subject to change- check the club webpage)

How is this different from a meeting?
This is not a meeting. There are no speeches unless you want to make a toast. We announce who won our Toastmaster of the Year award. We celebrate the amazing year we had and our success achieving Presidential Distinguished Award.

Who can come?
All members are welcome to come as are guests. We encourage you to bring your families. Just let John know so we can make sure to get enough space at the table.

Using the Webpage Duty Roster/Agenda

Sara gave an demo on using part of the club's webpage. She said there was a video available for us to watch if we ever forgot her instructions. Here is that video for you to easily view:

Congratulations to Our New Officers

Last night we had elections. Congratulations to all our new officers:

President: John Feeley
Vice President Education: Rene Roy
Vice President Membership: Yvette Moquin
Vice President Public Relations: Sara Marks
Secretary: Vielka Jones
Treasurer: Emily Warner
Sgt. At Arms: Bill Burgoyne
Past President: Peter Souders

Our new officers begin their positions on July 1, 2010. Good luck to all of them!

Saying Goodbye

I think it was a shock to all the members of Twin City Toastmasters when we opened our emails one Tuesday to learn that Deanna, one of our members, had suddenly passed away from a heart attack. With heavy hearts many of us came to that week's meeting to mourn Deanna and support each other. We spent time remembering Deanna. Yvette read us a lovely poem. Niti and Maggie both gave us tips on how to identify when you or someone else may be having a heart attack. Many of us just spoke about our fond memories of Deanna. Many of us remember how distinct and infectious her laugh had been.

We have all been touched by the outpouring of support from many people. The club members decided to honor the families request to donate to the Red Cross and to send a sympathy card from all of us.

Please feel free to leave messages for Deanna's family in the guestbooks provided by the funeral home or the newspaper. Feel free to use the comments section of this post to leave your own memories of Deanna.

RIP Deanna, everyone at Twin City Toastmasters will miss you.

Do you want to contribute to this blog?

All members of Twin City Toastmasters can submit posts to this blog. Even those who don't feel comfortable using the blog can submit something! How? Follow these directions:

1. Pick something you want to write about
2. Write about 300- 500 words
3. Make sure you check the spelling (or ask Sara to check it for you)
4. Copy and paste your article into an email
5. Email it to Sara (toastmasters@librarygirl.org)
6. Sara posts it to the blog

Here are a few topic ideas if you need them:

• Your experience with the club
• Something you have learned in Toastmasters
• A recent Toastmasters event (conference, training, another club meeting)
• A speaking, communicating or leadership tip you want to share with other members
• A speech you are working on
• An article you read about public speaking (include a link if it was online)

What do you get out of it? This is our club newsletter. You are helping create our club newsletter by submitting an article. You can get Competent Leader credit (the CL manual for meeting roles) when you help with the newsletter.

Still have questions? Just ask Sara for more information!