Mullingar Toastmasters wrap up till September
The curtain came down on a special year for Mullingar Toastmasters as Geraldine Smith led their final meeting. The club concluded their 25th anniversary year and president, John Waldron, described it as an exciting, rewarding and encouraging year. Interestingly, that is a perfect description of John himself and the great work he did in the club this year. John had the support of the committee, Linda Gavigan, Pauline McCabe, Pier Luigi and Angela Boylan.
The star of this year was the first speaker of the night, Linda Gavigan, who put her heart and soul into the year. On the final night, Linda gave a funny and entertaining review of the successes of the year, supported by great pictures. The second speaker, Philip Howlin, talked about how the journey of heroes has matured for him from sporting icons to ordinary people that do extraordinary things.
He mentioned a special coach, Tara Rafter, ‘The Navigation Coach’, who is based in the west of Ireland and has overcome many obstacles. Her work is now going international and she has become a published author. Her message, like the message of Mullingar Toastmasters, is one of kindness and providing a safe space for members, or clients in Tara’s case, to explore their skills and potential.
Evaluators were the positive Pat Cavanagh and the leading light of Active Retirement Anne Drury. Both brought their experience, skills and recommendations to the speakers on the night.
A message of kindness ran throughout the meeting. Incoming president, Lorraine Murphy, identified this as her core leadership style for the year ahead. Kindness can mean a lot of things and Lorraine issued a message of strength with that. She encouraged all current members and incoming members not to be small for the year but to stand tall. Her vision for the new toastmaster year, starting in September is for us all "to blow the roof off"!
Closing the meeting, Damian Rooney asked members to dig deep and see what brought them to Toastmasters and what keeps them there. The answers varied from improving speaking at work to getting out of the house. Asked what keeps them coming back, it was a clear message of a friendly, entertaining and supportive community. Some members have been attending for 25 years and show no signs of stopping.
(Philip Howlin, who now steps down as club PRO, started as treasurer and ended up filling three roles this year, as he stepped in when unforeseen circumstances led to vacant positions. He did this without complaint, even though he has a young family, worked full-time and was training to become a life coach.)
If you would like to improve your career prospects, improve your speaking skills or just join a positive community, contact the club on Facebook: Mullingar Toastmasters; and www.toastmasters.org and: mullingartoastmasters@gmail.com.
Meetings are back in September, in-person, at the Greville arms. Wishing everyone in the Toastmaster and wider community a great summer.