District 53 Remembers Former Executive Director
Terry McCann, 72, died Thursday, June 7, at home with his wife, Lucille, and family at his side. Terry, who won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1960 Rome Olympics, died of mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure.  Terry McCann came to Toastmasters International to fill the role of Executive Director in 1975. He came to an organization with declining membership that was struggling to survive. When he retired in 2001 TI was financially sound, double in size and known world-wide for communication and leadership training. We are fortunate to have had him as a leader. He was also a wonderful person and friend to many Toastmasters members. He will be missed.

The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to Kids Konnected Cancer Support and Education, or Pacific Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Condolences may be sent to the McCann family in care of Toastmasters International, PO Box 9052, Mission Viejo, CA 92690.

D53 Spring 2006 News Items

D53 Winter 2006 News Items

Welcome to two new Clubs in District 53.

D53 Fall 2005 News Items

• A Successful Demonstration of Toastmasters
  On the Friday before the Fall District Conference our visiting Region 7 Intenational Director Rodger Baker visited Cendant Mobility Corp. in Danbury, CT to introduce the concepts of the Toastmasters program to key individuals within the Human Resources Department. Joining Director Baker were our executive leaders DG Paul Young, LGM Will Ryan and Div D Governor Susan Troupe. As a result of that initial contact and the ensuing successful demonstration meeting we are anticipating the arrival of two new Clubs in Danbury, CT. Read more about The Cendant Story ...
• Club 3853, Last Word Toastmasters Club Celebrates 35 Years
  Way, way back in December 1970. Do you remember where you were? Were you even here? Last Word Toastmasters in Pittsfield, Massachusetts began its life in 1970 inside the GE plant, which back then had thousands of employees. Fast forward 35 years-layoffs, cutbacks, restructuring. This dynamic club survived all that, moved out of the corporate setting, survived several near closings and today is one of the thriving clubs in District 53. Toastmasters gathered on December 13, 2005, to celebrate their history, share the memories, and toast the future at a local Pittsfield restaurant. Here's to many more successful years and members!

(left photo) 35th Anniversary Celebration organizer and Emcee Andrea Feldman, CTM.
(right photo) Last Word member and resident Humorist Bill Polk, ATM-B, reminds the crowd-'Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

• 
  District 53 Leaders, (DG Paul Young, LGM Will Ryan, LGET John Lynch) Perform Their Comedy Skit"

• From Club, to Area, to Division, and now ... the District 53 Table Topics Speech Contest Winners.

  1st Place	Bruce Cornwell of West-Conn Toastmasters, Club #599, Div A
  2nd Place	Doug Comstock of Windsor Toastmasters, Club #4745, Div B
  3rd Place	Hugh Hughes of Nutmeg Toastmasters, Club #764, Div D
  l to r: Gilda Bonanno, Hugh Hughes, Bruce Cornwall, Doug Comstock Contestmaster Gilda Bonanno asked the TT question: "What advice would you give someone graduating from college today?"

• From Club, to Area, to Division, and now ... the District 53 Humorous Speech Contest Winners.

  1st Place	Perryetta Edwards of Bank of America TST, Club #9100, Div F
  2nd Place	Jeremy Ulrich of Greater Stamford Toastmasters, Club #865, Div D
  3rd Place	Ravi Kulkarni of Pioneer Valley Toastmasters, Club #3902, Div E
  l to r: DG Paul Young, Perryetta Edwards, and ID Rodger Baker

• District 53 Fall Conference Photo Albums

  • 2005 Fall Conference Candids
  • Fall Conference Educational Sessions
  • Humorous and Table Topics Speech Contests
  • World Class Indifference Comedy Improv
  • Recognitions and Hall of Fame
• Fall Conference News Bites - Personal Notes and Observations
• From Club, to Area, to Division, and now ... the District 53

  • Table Topics Speech Contest Winner
    • Bruce Cornwell of West-Conn Toastmasters, Club #599
  • Humorous Speech Contest Winner
    • Perryetta Edwards of Bank of America TST, Club #9100
  • More Contests Results and Photos.
• IPDG Richard Couture, DTM presents the 2004-05 "Of The Year"Awards
• 2004 - 2005 Hall of Fame Honorees

• Ute Brinkmann, DTM Toastmaster of The Year

  Norm Thibodeau, ATMS Area Governor of The Year

  Richard Frantz Jr, ATMS Division Governor of The Year

• There's More ... about our outstanding "Of The Year" Toastmasters.
• Toastmasters at the Towers Club Wins the 2004 - 2005 Golden Quill Award

  The District 53 Golden Quill Award for the best scrapbook assembled by a toastmasters club was awarded to Toastmasters at the Towers, Club 608696, in Shelton, CT.   Club President Patricia Desautels and Vice President Public Relations Gina Ferreri assembled the scrapbook that took the Golden Feather home.  In addition to the golden feather that was given to Area D5 Governor Marvin Cross who accepted the award for the club, the club name will be engraved on the wall plaque for display at district events.
       The concept behind the Golden Quill Award is the cataloging of a full year’s club Public Relations work both inside and outside of the club based on the requirements of the VPPR.  What items should be in your scrapbook?  You need to MIND your Clubs success plan goals, achievements, meeting highlights, new members, special events, leadership milestones and awareness of district events. The 2004-05 award winner has been a club for just two years and is doing the right things to get the word out about our program inside and outside the club.  Congratulations Toastmasters at the Towers!

• District 53 Clubs that have earned The Smedley Award for adding 5 or more new members to their club from August 1 – September 30, 2005

  Area	Club #	Club Name	New Members
  A2	7386	BI Club	+ 7
  A4	599	West-Conn Club	+ 5
  B4	2908	Stag Club	+ 5
  C1	3176	Energy Club	+ 7
  C6	9213	Rose City Club	+ 7
  D1	1628	Brass City Club	+ 7
  D2	820	Yale Toastmasters Club	+ 7
  D3	865	Greater Stamford Toastmasters	+ 9
  F1	542	Bethlehem Club	+ 6
  F1	764383	NYISO Club	+ 6

  
  
• Welcome - A New Toastmaster Club in Division D
  Sikorsky (a subsidiary of United Technologies) and Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) have a new Toastmaster Club called Sikorsky & DCMA Toastmasters Club, Club 842294, chartered on Sept 30, 2005. The club meets every Wednesday at 11:30am at Sikorsky Aircraft Co. 6900 Main St, Stratford, CT. Membership restricted to Sikorsky and DCMA employees. The Club sponsor was PDG Joseph Carney, DTM. The Club mentors are Justin Paulin (who will serve the Club as VP Education) and Joseph Carney, DTM.
       On Nov. 16, 2005, Sikorsky & DCMA Toastmasters received its Official Club charter.
  DG Paul Young and LGM Will Ryan installed the Club Officers. The ceremony culminated nine months of dedicated effort by charter members. The new club consists of employees of Sikorsky Aircraft Co., the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) and Sikorsky contract employees. Our club vision is to strengthen communication and leadership skills of our members in their pursuit of professional and personal excellence.
  
  Presentation of Charter: (l to r) DG Paul Young, DTM and Club President Vickie Joseph
  
  Sikorsky & DCMA Toastmasters, Club 842294, officers (l to r):
  Sgt-At-Arms James Baltrush, Treasurer Raymond Palaka, VP Education Justin Paulin, President Vickie Joseph, Secretary Thomas Anderson, and DG Paul Young, DTM
  
  Sikorsky & DCMA Charter Members, l to r: (front row) Mario DiPreta, Vickie Joseph, George Ilse, Justin Paulin, PDG Joseph Carney, Thomas Anderson, DG Paul Young. (back row): Walter Jones, Raymond Palaka, Steven Kaufman, John Swensson, and James Baltrush
• Welcome - A New Toastmaster Club in Division E
  Westover Air Reserve Base has a new Toastmaster Club called Galaxy Gabbers , Club 836174, chartered on September 29, 2005. Westover Air Base flys and maintains the "Galaxy class" C-5 transport planes. The club meets at 11:30 am on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday at the Westover Club, Westover ARB, Chicopee, Ma. Membership restricted to reservists and civilian employees at Westover ARB. The Club Sponsors were Will Ryan, DTM and Andrew S. Biscoe. Andrew is also serving as Charter President of the Galaxy Gabbers. The Club Mentors are Freda F. Brown, CTM of Pioneer Valley TM and Area E2 Governor, Dennis L. Kunkler, ATMB.

Welcome - Speechbuilders Toastmasters

• Division F and Area F3 have a new Toastmaster Club called Speechbuilders, Club 802213, chartered on July 19, 2005. The club meets at noon on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday at the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce 255 River St, Troy, New York. The Club Sponsors were David S. Freedman, DTM and Nicholas W. Demos, ATMB. The Club Mentors are Theodore D. Otteni, CTM and Eric C. Greppo.

D53 Summer 2005 News Items

• New Dues Structure Effective October 1, 2005
  On August 26, 2005, the delegates at the Toastmasters 2005 Annual Business Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, voted to change the amount of dues. The new dues structure becomes effective October 1, 2005. Here are the new fees for new and renewing members:

  • Dues (renewals) per member: $27 payable every 6 months
  • New Member Fee: $20
  • New Member Dues: pro-rated, $4.50 per month

  Read the FAQs About TI’s Dues Increase. | Get the Newly revised Membership Application (effective October 1, 2005)

• New Region 7 International Director Elected
  Toastmasters of District 53 congratulate Chris Emond, DTM of Rockville, MD, on his election to the Toastmasters Board of Directors. Chris will represent Region VII Toastmasters as International Director for 2005 - 2007. The delegates at the 2005 Annual Business Meeting in Toronto, Canada, voted as follows: Val Albert, DTM (from District 53) = 5,604 and Chris Emond, DTM (from District 36) = 6,873. PDG Val Albert will continue to seek the position of International Director. We enthusiastically support Val Albert's campaign for International Director for Region VII in 2006. Signed, Paul Young, DTM, District 53 Governor

• News and Photos From the 2005 International Toastmasters Convention
  

  District 53 Governor Paul Young, DTM accepts The Excellence in Education and Training Award from TI '04-'05 President John Greiner, DTM. This award signifies that a district has been successful in promoting outstanding educational programming in clubs. It is awarded to Lt. Governors Education and Training for achieving and exceeding Distinguished District Program goals in training and educational accomplishments. He wants to thank everyone that reached the CTM, ATM or DTM levels last year while he was Lt Governor Education and Training; we truly brought MORE to our clubs as we reached our goals! Paul stated during a recent recap of the International Conference in Toronto that he is truly inspired to help others succeed after returning from the convention. Our '05-'06 International President Dilip Abayasekera, DTM (from our own Region 7) stated that "one must reach deeper to find your voice; reach farther to serve your world." Attending an International Convention allowed Paul to share ideas and experiences with toastmasters from South Africa, Malaysia and Australia to name just a few. It was most valuable and memorable convention. He said he learned much ... filling the "Gaps."

  Rich Couture has taken many fine photos of the TI Convention in Toronto Canada. Click Here. The picture to the right show PDG/PID Bob Bradshaw and his wife Rosemary and our IPDG Rich Couture and his wife Mary Ann.

• NEW DTM BADGES in District 53

  District 53 Toastmasters is proud to announce that Sandra Van Hoesen, DTM and Ralph Rabasco, DTM have joined the elite group Distinguished Toastmasters. Both recently completed all requirements for their Advanced Leader (AL) award and filed for their AL and DTM recognitions on July 1, 2005. Sandra is our current Division F Governor and Immediate Past Select Distinguished Area F1 Governor. She is a member of Bethlehem Toastmasters, Club #542, of Delmar, NY.

  Ralph is our Immediate Past Distinguished Area A1 Governor. He is a member and current Club President of the IBM Poughkeepsie Speechmakers, Club #315, of Poughkeepsie, NY. District 53 Governor, Paul Young recognized their accomplishments at TLI '05 and writes: "Congratulations on reaching the highest level in Toastmasters, your progress in the Communications and Leadership areas of our program have changed many people’s lives including your own. I applaud your efforts and encourage every member to strive for this lofty goal, the CTM level is a well built launch pad for this trip to the stars. Thanks for MINDING THE GAP toward DTM Status."

• Toastmasters Leadership Institute
  The premier District 53 training event was held on Saturday August 6th at the Hartford campus of Rensselaer. It was a huge success as nearly 225 Club Officers and Toastmasters attended classes and forums; becoming better leaders and communicators. Congratulations to all TLI Instructors, TLI support staff, TLI Dean Arnie Grot, DTM and Club Officers as they collectively "Minded the Gap in Education and Training." Here are the preliminary results from TLI: Total attendance = 223 members . Total officers trained was 189. Presidents = 45, VPE = 34, VPM = 27, VPPR = 27, Treasurer = 15, Secretary = 18, Sgt@Arms = 23, Multiple offices = 7. Clubs with at least 4 trained = 27 (24%) and no clubs with all seven trained.