Mullingar Toastmasters: ‘a Rising tide lifts all boats’

Mullingar Toastmasters is back and ready for a year of growth, celebration and enjoyment. Our first meeting of the year, on September 5, kicked off with an address from club president, Deirdre Bigley, who gave members a call to action and a reminder that ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’.

There was a quick introduction to some of the other incoming committee members, who spoke about the focus of their roles for the year.

The meeting was then handed over to Pat Cavanagh, as Toastmaster of the evening. Fáilte officer, Jacqui Wiley, welcomed 21 members to the meeting, along with four guests. Anthony Viney, as grammarian, introduced the idea of a pregnant pause to be used through the evening to introduce the element of suspense and surprise.

John Waldron gave a speech entitled ‘Toastmaster 27-440-75’, which was a reflection of his time in Mullingar Toastmasters to date: 27 stands for the number of years John has been a member of the club, 440 an estimate of the number of meetings he has attended, and 75 the number of speeches he has given. The club is lucky to have members like John, who commit with such diligence.

Pat Kenny, in line with the master-storyteller he is, indulged members with a tale about an interview. He conveyed the story with suspense and intrigue, making great use of the pregnant pause and elicited laughter when the protagonist responded to question, ‘why do you want to work here?’, with ‘I don’t want to work here, but I need the money’.

Club president Deirdre spoke about a project she is working with the theme of ‘grow, celebrate and enjoy’. She said members need to celebrate all victories, big and small, and a win for one is a win for the club.

The group was entertained with a rendition of the Dubliners song, The Sick Note, by Douglas Raeside, accompanied by props he made and which elevated the performance.

The Table Topics session, after a cup of tea and a chat, was chaired by past club president, Brian McLoughlin, and contained something for everyone. It was funny and creative, and everyone got a good laugh.

At the close of the meeting, there were achievements to be acknowledged as John Waldron completed a Pathways course in Presentation Mastery and Derek Walsh, Toastmasters International Area 9 Director, was a triple crown recipient last year, meaning that he completed three levels of his chosen Pathways course in a single year.

The next meeting is an open night. If you are curious about Toastmasters, go along and see what it is like. It may be for you and may not be, but either way, you have nothing to lose by attending.

The meeting is at 8pm on September 26 at the Greville Arms Hotel. Contact the club on Facebook or by email at mullingartoastmasters@gmail.com.