Mullingar Toastmasters Club celebrate 28th anniversary

Mullingar Toastmasters Club celebrated their 28th birthday at the end of February with a meeting fit for the occasion. Special guests for the evening were founding member Carol Whyte, who set the club up in 1997, and seasoned Toastmaster Pauline McCabe. Without Carol, the club would not be in existence, and she was thanked for all her great work. She also spoke brilliantly on the night and showed that her Toastmasters skills were strong as ever.

The meeting started with Pauline McCabe, who described her relationship with the club as akin to a passionate love affair.

The first speaker of the night was Ian Cahill, who made a speech called ‘The Return’, which was well received by all those in attendance. Brian McLoughlin described Ian’s speech as brutal, brutish and brilliant in his evaluation.

The second speaker was club president Deirdre Bigley, who made a speech called ‘Nothing Changes, if nothing changes’. John Waldron provided feedback to Deirdre and emphasised the importance of eye contact.

The final speaker was Pat Kenny, who made a speech called ‘You are worth it’, which received good feedback. Pat was evaluated by Rosemarie, who echoed the sentiment that we are all definitely worth it.

To mark the anniversary of Mullingar Toastmasters Club, Fraynes Bakery supplied a birthday cake.

The group meeting on February 13 had a valentine’s theme, and that made for an interesting evening. John Waldron took on the role of Toastmaster and guided the 19 people in attendance through agenda; he remarked that when God made time, he made loads of it.

Deirdre Bigley started the evening’s events with a game of Valentine’s Dingbats.

The first speaker, Philip Howlin, presented ‘How much is enough?’, which made the audience consider what we may need when we retire, emotionally and financially. Pat Kenny provided Philip with feedback and added that nutrition and health are also important during retirement.

Eilish Fox took the audience through her ‘Journey to Self-Love’.

She described the lessons she has learned, such as the importance of compassion, highlighted the value of authenticity and the importance of spending time with loved ones. Brian McLoughlin evaluated Eilish’s speech by remarking ‘All you need is love.’.

John Coyne educated everyone on the history of the SS Warimoo, the steamship that took passengers from Canada to Australia. John explained how it made history on December 31, 1899 when it managed to exist in two centuries and two different seasons at once when it crossed the date line and the equator at the turn of the century. Evaluating John’s speech was Jeff Schwartz, who acknowledged the power of a well-timed journey and captured the awe of a tale of history, science and adventure.

Mags Healy-Donoghue, final speaker of the evening, spoke about ‘The Great Connector’. She reflected on the profound effect music can have on people and their emotions. Patsy Fagan provided feedback to Mags on her speech and hilariously joked that she could have represented us in the Eurovision.

Lorraine Murphy concluded the meeting with Table Topics and made everyone laugh with the romance themed topics.