Toastmasters Caught Their Dreams in Calgary

Mavis Oberding Elected 2004/05 District Governor;
Kathy Sheppard & Ilan Cooley Win Contests

Rhys Davies, ATM-S, CL
Area 9 Governor

Mavis Oberding will serve as District Governor in 2004/05 after being elected at the District 42 Business Meeting at the 2004 Spring Convention in Calgary. Kathy Sheppard of the Kakwa Toastmasters Club in Grande Prairie won the District 42 International Speech Contest, and Ilan Cooley of the TNT Toastmasters Club in Edmonton won the District 42 Evaluation Contests. Also, Jim Gray was awarded the Communication and Leadership Award for 2004. The weekend proved to be quite exciting for 325 Toastmasters from Toastmasters Clubs across Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Still, the highlights proved to be only a small part of the fun enjoyed by Toastmasters in District 42. The road to the convention started in Edmonton at 12:30 p.m. My wife (Karen) and three children accompanied me on my trip to Calgary Friday afternoon, where they would be visiting family in Northwest Calgary. This meant that I would miss the rush-hour delight of Calgary's Deerfoot Trail en route to the convention. We arrived in Calgary at 3:30 p.m. to drop off Karen and the kids, and then it was time to take off and battle the Calgary rush hour for the Glenmore Inn.

Fortunately, I made good time on Crowchild and Glenmore Trails, arriving at the Glenmore Inn at 4:15 p.m. I checked in, and then I set out to pick up my registration. This convention, I would be promoting my High Performance Leadership project, Recipes for Success. Recipes for Success will be a District 42 Resource containing a collection of the best club meeting themes submitted by members of District 42. The hard work of my team, especially graphic designer and Prairie Horizons Editor Brenda Gordon-Ginter, resulted in a wonderful display with bookmarks and promotional ideas for Recipes for Success.

Friday Night

Friday night allowed people to "Catch Their Dreams", when people had the chance to dress up as the person of their dreams, or the person of their (or somebody else's) greatest nightmare. With the Calgary Flames advancing to the second round (against the Detroit Red Wings) of the NHL Playoffs after a game seven overtime victory against the Vancouver Canucks, many of the hometown crowd donned Flames jerseys, idolizing Captain Jarome Iginla or another of their heroes.

However, there were a couple of entries that stood out. Sue Mattie and Spencer Fawkes offered their public service message with black shirts saying "Beware of Deerfoot Trail." In retrospect, I learned that I avoided the gridlock of the Deerfoot Trail on Friday afternoon. Also, Area 4 Governor Tim Hubick dressed as the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Friday night also kicked off campaign speeches by 2004/05 District Officers. Mavis Oberding ran for District Governor (DG), Troy Wruck for Lieutenant Governor Education and Training (LGET) and Mona Cooley for Lieutenant Governor of Marketing (LGM). None of the Division Governor spots were contested; however two Edmonton Division Governor spots (A & D) were vacant. This meant recruiting two potential candidates among the Edmonton-area Toastmasters who attended.

Still, Friday was a chance for Toastmasters to socialize, either in the ballroom with the chance of singing Karaoke, or in the hospitality room at the other end of the hall, with the Athabasca Landing Club once again providing entertainment. The festivities continued until the early hours of Saturday morning...

Saturday Morning

Saturday morning kicked off with the Keynote breakfast, which included the Opening Ceremonies. With representation from the City of Calgary (Councillor Madeleine King), the head table was rounded out with District 42's newest member, Stacey Schmidt, and the District 42 Executive. The Main Event though, was the Keynote address delivered by Past District 42 Governor and International Director Linda Hawk. Linda is a familiar face to District 42; however, her story about her ascent in Toastmasters may not have been. She talked about her start in Grande Prairie, and her career with Alberta Agriculture took her through Edmonton, Hanna and finally, Medicine Hat. Still she wondered, "How does a small-town girl get to be District Governor."

She may have offered some answers during her speech. Linda always had a "can-do" attitude and she showed other Toastmasters that they could too. Her dedication to excellence in Toastmasters, learning, and life has rewarded her greatly, and her example has inspired many others in District 42. Linda finished her Keynote announcing her impending departure from District 42 to Montana and District 78 after she completes her term as International Director. Also, Linda will be getting married to Incoming 2004/05 District 78 Governor Rick Fasching. Congratulations Linda, you have served District 42 well, and we wish you the best of luck in future pursuits.

With the Keynote Speech complete, Toastmasters stayed in the ballroom for the International Speech Contest at 8:45 a.m. With each of the speakers advancing at their Club, Area and Division, Toastmasters from District 42 had a chance to see results of the hours of preparation by each of the Toastmasters. Contestants were judged on three criteria - content, delivery and language. For entertainment value though, each of the contestants had an inspiring story.

Many of the speeches offered perspectives on life. When Rachelle Harvey delivered her speech "When Life Gives You Lemons,...", she talked about her father and the way he adapted in spite of his disabilities. Ilan Cooley offered her perspective ("The Birthday Present") on how it was so important to live each day to the fullest after the tragic death of a close friend.

The top three candidates had outstanding speeches. The Third Place winner, Robin Changarathil of N'Orators, encouraged the audience to accept ourselves for who we are in his speech, "Be Yourself". The Second Place winner was Kathleen Bell of the Foothills Club with her speech, "Life is Awesome." She talked about her wish about a vacation to a southern destination becoming a reality. In fact, her husband bought her a vacation to... Antarctica. However, meeting with the penguin residents turned out to be a great experience.

First Place was awarded to Kathy Sheppard of Kakwa Toastmasters in Grande Prairie for her speech, "A Beacon of Light." Her childhood in the Maritimes was shattered at the age of eleven when her father was killed in a fishing accident. Her mother was widowed with Kathy and four siblings. However, a wonderful neighbour provided her "A Beacon of Light" to help her through these dark times. Congratulations Kathy, District 42 wishes you the best of luck at the Region IV Contest in Des Moines, Iowa, en route to the World Championship of Public Speaking in Reno, Nevada.

In summary, here are the results of the International Speech Contest:

1st: Kathy Sheppard - Kakwa, #3068 (Division H), Grande Prairie, Alberta

2nd: Kathleen Bell - Foothills, #3073 (Division J), Calgary, Alberta

3rd: Robin Changarathil - N'Orators, #4939 (Division D), Edmonton, Alberta

The contest was followed by the one hour of educational sessions prior to the Communication and Leadership Luncheon.

Saturday Communication and Leadership Luncheon

The Communication and Leadership Luncheon culminates in the presentation of District 42's Communication and Leadership Award. The Award is given to a non-Toastmasters resident of Alberta or Saskatchewan who makes an outstanding contribution to Communication and Leadership. Since 1971, many public figures have been recognized, including Alberta Premier Ralph Klein and most recently, Reverend Dale Lang. This year's recipient would be a distinguished gentleman who built his career in the oil and natural gas exploration business, and subsequently as a philanthropist, James K. Gray.

Before the presentation, District 42 recognized the educational achievements of its members. When a Toastmaster completes ten basic Communication and Leadership manual speeches, the Competent Toastmaster (CTM) designation is awarded. Toastmasters who complete of all Communication Track (Advanced Toastmaster Bronze, Silver and Gold) and Leadership Track (Competent and Advanced Leader) requisites achieve Distinguished Toastmaster. All Toastmasters were recognized for achieving any of these designations.

Following lunch was the presentation of the Communication and Leadership Award to Jim Gray. Jim started his speech with his introduction to Toastmasters about 40 years ago. Starting out in Calgary at the YMCA, he spent his early years working for an American exploration firm. When the firm consolidated its operations and closed its Calgary office, Gray chose to stay in Canada and blaze his own trail. He and his business partner co-founded Canadian Hunter Exploration in 1973, with two office chairs, a telephone and a lot of faith...

The early years for any new business are trying ones, and Canadian Hunter was no exception. Searching for venture capital for their business idea, it took Canadian Hunter nearly 20 contacts to sell their idea successfully. The work of Gray and his firm paid off, with the Firm growing into a multibillion-dollar enterprise by the time it was sold in 2001.

With financial security no longer an issue for Gray, he then focused his attention on ways he could contribute to the community. To date, he has participated in many community activities and projects in Calgary. For his achievements, he has received multiple awards, including an appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1995, and a Member of the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2002. Today, Jim remains an active member of the YMCA, where he is swimming lengths for his "Swim Across Canada". So far, he has swum the equivalent of the distance from Vancouver Island to Sault Ste. Marie. Congratulations on your achievement Jim, your journey to success proves to be an inspiration to everyone!

Saturday Afternoon

Saturdays at a Toastmasters Conventions would not be complete without educational sessions. This convention, I had the chance of attending one educational session on Leadership hosted by past District 19 Governor and 2004/06 International Director Candidate Martha Tinker. Martha offered her perspective on the qualities of a good leader, and one of her anecdotes was the courageous gesture by United States President George W. Bush. President Bush served turkey to American soldiers in Iraq during Thanksgiving, a great morale boost given the number of lives lost on the road to establishing a democratic order in a newly liberated nation. Well done Martha.

Saturday afternoon continued with District 42 Business and the election of District Officers at the District 42 Business Meeting. With each club having two votes and one vote for each of the Area/Division Governors and Senior Executive, about 220 of the 540 delegates attended, satisfying the minimum of one-third needed for quorum. The meeting discussed issues such as geographical alignment of clubs and divisions. One new announcement was the Spring 2005 Convention in Red Deer, Alberta. For Flames fans, the news of District 42 was better news than the results of the 5-2 defeat to the Detroit Red Wings that same afternoon.

The main event though, was the election of club officers. Mavis Oberding was elected 2004/05 District Governor, and Troy Wruck will return to the executive as District 42 Lieutenant Governor Education and Training. Mona Cooley will join the District 42 team as Lieutenant Governor of Marketing. The issue of candidates for Divisions A and D was resolved when Jeff Sieben and Bill Wickson stepped forward. District 42 will continue strong next year.

Next, it was time for people to get dressed in their best for the District 42 Governor's Ball.

Catching Dreams at the Ball

After a half hour of cocktails, members of District 42 sat down to a formal evening meal, followed by the introduction of District Officers with the senior executive being piped to the Head Table.

After a delicious dinner with the company of my fellow Division F Area Governors and Division F Governor Dan McCosh, it was time for the presentation of the Neil Wilkinson Award for 2002/03 President of the Year by Immediate Past District Governor Jacquie Schnider. This year's recipient was Saskatoon's Dorothy Hudson for the success of the Seven Seas Club. Dorothy recently achieved Distinguished Toastmaster and currently serves as Area E37 Governor. Congratulations Dorothy!

After the dinner, it was time to party, either in the main ballroom or in the nearby hospitality room. Both locations proved to be quite busy during the night. Still, catching some shuteye was necessary for Sunday morning...

Sunday Morning

For Area Governors and other district officers, 7:00 a.m. marked the start of the executive meeting. For some, it was the devotional service. Other Toastmasters were more rested for the 8:30 a.m. Evaluation Contest.

Once again, contestants from nine divisions would have two to three minutes to evaluate a test speaker. Each contestant was scored on the basis of Analytical Quality, Recommendations for Improvement, Evaluation Technique and Summation of the evaluation.

Test speaker Betty Steele of Kakwa Toastmasters delivered the test speech, "Don't Pass Us By", a wonderful set of stories about the people who produce various goods (vegetables, bread, homemade goods, etc.) for the local Farmers' Market. She followed up with a call to action to support our local food producers.

This time, Betty had a chance to hear nine different angles on her speech, with each one being supportive and helpful. However, only three can place in a strong field of candidates. Third Place was awarded to 2001/02 District Governor Drew Kirk of the Bridge City Toastmasters in Saskatoon. Second Place was awarded to Judy Dola of the Leduc Energizers. Finally, Ilan Cooley's wish of a district award came true when the perennial district finalist placed first in the Evaluation Contest. Congratulations, Ilan, for your achievement. Also, congratulations to all contestants who participated.

In summary, here are the results of the Evaluation Contest:

1st: Ilan Cooley - TNT, #2291 (Division A), Edmonton, Alberta

2nd: Judy Dola - Leduc Energizers, #5330 (Division F), Leduc, Alberta

3rd: Drew Kirk - Bridge City, #5107 (Division E), Saskatoon, Saskatchwan

Changing Lives, One Toastmaster at a Time

After the Evaluation Contest, Toastmasters gathered for the Farewell Brunch. It was a chance for Toastmasters to hear the address of our District Governor-Elect, Mavis Oberding. Her theme for 2004/05 is, "Toastmasters: Changing Lives, One at a Time". Mavis gave a few anecdotes about how Toastmasters has changed individuals for the better. One story was the impact that Toastmasters had on inmates at the Bowden Institution.

The final award to be presented is the Mileage Award, given to the club whose members travel the greatest combined distance (members times distance) to the Convention. This time, it was the Kakwa Toastmasters in Grande Prairie, a great end to a great weekend for its members.

Afterwards, it was time to say goodbye to fellow Toastmasters, with our sights now set on the 2004 Fall Conference in Edmonton on November 5-7. This time, the Conference will take on an academic theme of "Education, Fellowship and Fun" at Toastmasters University. This weekend will coincide with Edmonton's Centennial as a city.

Finally, District 42 extends sincere thanks to Dorothy Jones and the Calgary Convention Committee for their hard work in helping District 42 "Catch Their Dreams". You definitely made "Our Dreams, Our Possibilities."

Link to 2004 D42 Fall Conference site. | Back to Southern Alberta Toastmasters

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