Halloween Haunt
It’s Halloween! Join us for some spooky speeches!
Chairperson Zehra Raza hosted a costume party titled: Halloween Haunt, on Wednesday, Oct 27, which was a load of fun!
It’s Fall Again & It’s Raining Gold
It’s Fall again. What a beautiful season – especially the warm weather and beautiful colors.
We had a great meeting titled: It’s Fall Again & It’s Raining Gold
Chairperson Bahareh Tehrani asked us all to speak about the special activities, recipes or traditions that we love in Fall.
It was a great meeting sharing wonderful Fall memories. And we voted in another great new member – Zina!
How To Leave Your Comfort Zone
Did you ever challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone?
We had a great meeting on Sep 29th, 2021, sharing our experience and thoughts about leaving the comfort zone with our Area Director, Ian Horne. Table Topic Master, Nisarg, challenged the audience with thoughtful questions below:
- What is your definition of Comfort Zone?
- How can someone leave their comfort zone?
- Why should someone leave their comfort zone?
- Can you give us an example when you had to leave your comfort zone?
- Can you give us an example when you decided to not leave your comfort zone?
- How do you encourage yourself to take risk(s)?
If you would like to challenge yourself for public speaking, please join our weekly meeting as a guest to hear more.
New Beginnings 2021
As Toastmasters International starts a new chapter for the year 2021-2022, in our club meeting on July 14th, 2021, Glen Abbey Toastmasters shared their plans in their Toastmasters’ journey.
We are all looking forward to this new year with a commitment to doing something new and interesting.
Happy New Toastmasters Year to you all!
Music Meeting 2021
What a great meeting on June 23, 2021. In honor of World Music Day on June 21, Chairperson Joan Teri encouraged us to share all our stories about music and what it does to our souls, ears, and more.
Many Glen Abbey Toastmasters shared what music means to them and especially how during COVID – music brought joy and happiness.
Table Topics included a playlist of songs with famous dances, and a number of Toastmasters showed off their dance moves. The list:
- The Time Warp
- Jerusalema
- Macarena
- YMCA
- Bad Romance
- Gangnam Style
- Jai Ho
- Wavin’ Flag
Do you know the dances to these songs?
Congratulations 2021/2022 Club Officers
Glen Abbey Toastmasters recently held their annual Club Officer elections.
Congratulations to the following Toastmasters for being elected to serve the club.
- President – Connor Grist
- VP Education – Jeethan Tellis
- VP Membership – Roger Cogle
- VP Public Relations – Lili Wang
- Treasurer – Shan Lodhi
- Secretary – Chris Zhou
- Sergeant At Arms – Joan Teri
- Past President – Bahareh Tehrani
The entire club is looking forward to another great year led by this talented and committed group of Toastmasters.
Adventures in Food Meeting 2021
What a delectable (word of the day) night we had! Our meeting Chair Gordon Vuong sent this email to all of us five days before the meeting:
What is an Adventure in Food?
They say “variety is the spice of life”.
I say the BEST way to get variety in life is through the literal spices, textures, flavours of yummy food! You can learn a lot about a country, its people, traditions, and culture through its food. Since we cannot really travel now, we can still go on a CULINARY ADVENTURE!
I encourage you to support your local restaurants and order take out from a new place. If you’re feeling even more adventurous, experiment and cook a new recipe you’ve never made before. Not so adventurous? That’s okay, tell us all about your favorite comfort food that gives you warm fuzzy memories when you eat it.
Please come ready to share stories of your own adventures in food!
Bon Appétit!
Your food obsessed Chair
Of course the whole club jumped in to participate – because of course we all love to eat!
Great meeting theme Mr. Chair!
President’s Distinguished Club – 2020/2021
Glen Abbey Toastmasters is proud to have earned President’s Distinguished Club status for the 22nd year in a row.
What is President’s Distinguished Club status?
It is the highest level Toastmasters Club can achieve in a given year based on the Distinguished Club Program scorecard
What is the Distinguished Club Program?
The Distinguished Club Program includes 10 goals that every Toastmasters club in the world strives to achieve each year. The 10 goals are grouped into four areas:
- Education: How many members completed various Toastmasters Pathways Education Levels
- Membership: How many new, dual, and reinstating members were brought into the club
- Training: How many Club Officers attend twice yearly Club Officer Training
- Administration: Whether our club submitted dues / renewals on time twice yearly
Understanding The Scoreboard
Glen Abbey Toastmasters achieved 10 goals. Each checkmark on the right counts for one goal / one point.
Why Does It Matter?
Achieving President’s Distinguished status means:
- Our club is strong – and has been for a long time
- Our members are engaged – and make meetings interesting and memorable
- We have a great mix of experienced and new members
- Our members are achieving their education goals through a great program and strong club mentorship
- Our Club Officers are committed to helping you on your Toastmasters journey.
If you’d like to become a great public speaker – visit our club any time.
Earth Day Meeting 2021
GATM celebrated Earth Day 2021 with a special Earth Day themed meeting.
The Toast to Planet Earth set the stage for our appreciation of the planet.
GATM Toastmasters spoke of how Earth Day impacts them and the many things they do to help the planet. During Table Topics, many spoke of the actions they take in their daily lives – from:
- eating more plant based diets
- how they are reducing, reusing, and recycling
- how they have helped in reforestation
- what they do for climate change, and
- how they reduce waste when out
Also there were two great speeches on Different Abilities and Communication Styles!
Want to take actions for Earth Day this year? Check out the Earth Day Take Action page
District 86 Toastmasters 2020-2021 Conference
District 86 is hosting it’s Spring Conference from April 10 to April 16, 2021. Over the course of the week, there will be 15 workshops, contests, the business meeting, and lots of fun events.
The conference is online and FREE this year. It is a great opportunity to:
- Learn new ideas, strategies, and techniques to help your clubs, areas, and divisions succeed.
- Connect face to face and network with like-minded Toastmasters from across Ontario
- Spur your personal growth, thinking, creativity, and planning from outstanding workshops
- Be Inspired by Distinguished Toastmasters and District Award Winners who are recognized for achieving their goals
- Be Amazed by fabulous contest speakers, motivated presenters, and selfless volunteers
- Renew Friendships by coming home for a TM Conference – an annual gathering of new & old friends
- Re-Energize your passion and regain your focus for your own Toastmasters journey
Oakville Mayor Rob Burton Declares April Toastmasters Month
Oakville Mayor Rob Burton is proclaiming April as Toastmasters Month for the Town of Oakville. This is a great honour for all Toastmasters clubs in Oakville including:
- Glen Abbey Toastmasters
- Wood Oakville Toastmasters
- Horizon Toastmasters
- Sheridan Toastmasters Trafalgar
- Own the Moment Oakville Toastmasters
- First Oakville Toastmasters
- Callisto Toastmasters
- Burloak Toastmasters
- Trafalgar Toastmasters
- SUEZ Water Toastmasters
The Mayor’s Proclamation:
Spring Is Just Around The Corner Meeting 2021
GATM welcomed spring on March 17th 2021 with a session theme “Spring is just around the corner!” and springy backgrounds.
Hello Spring from Glen Abbey Toastmasters!
Valentines Day Meeting 2021
Everything was coming up hearts at the February 11th Valentines Day themed meeting at Glen Abbey Toastmasters.
Chair Gordon Vuong led the theme by sharing: This week, there are three big holidays that celebrate love – Valentine’s Day, Family Day, and Chinese Lunar New Year. The meeting theme was The Love You Give.
And he challenged everyone to wear red or have red in their backgrounds. Of course Glen Abbey Toastmasters delivered. Great meeting!
Congratulations Zehra Raza and Krista Rowan!
Winners At The 2021 Area 83 International Speech Contest
We’re thrilled for two Glen Abbey Toastmasters: Zehra Reza and Krista Rowan. They placed first and second in the Area 83 International Speech contest which was held online on February 26, 2021.
This means that they will both move up to compete with contestants from other areas in the Division D contest on Feb 20th 2021. Congratulations to both of them from the GATM family!
About the International Speech Contest
International speeches should be original speeches of 5-7 minutes. They can be given on any subject, and can be serious, funny, or inspirational. The International Speech Contest is held at the Club, Area, Division, District, and International level, and as it goes all the way to the International level, it is the most important of all the Toastmaster contests, and where the World Champion of Public Speaking is decided! In order to be a contestant in this contest, a Toastmaster must have completed at least 6 speeches from the Competent Communicator or Pathways Program.
Christmas Meeting 2020
Occasion and special events are always an opportunity for GATM members to be creative, have fun and celebrate our wonderful culture!
In our online 2020 Christmas party, we played “Would you rather …” questions and answers, danced, stretched together and talked about 2020 highlights in our lives and what we were looking forward to in 2021.
Not only did we have fun before the Holidays, but also we learned more about each other.
This is how the GATM family celebrated Christmas and welcomed 2021!
Halloween Meeting 2020
We celebrated Halloween at GlenAbbey Toastmasters like never before!
Unlike other years that we had an in-person celebration for Halloween, we met online for this year. However, that did not stop us from wearing costumes and having fun.
We changed our names to scary ones and told terrifying stories! This was one of the most memorable halloween celebrations at GATM!
District 86 Membership Leadership Award
Glen Abbey Toastmasters won the Membership Leadership at the District level in 2019/2020!
The Membership Leadership Award is given to the club with the highest number of points in the Membership Leadership category – clubs who have successfully grown their membership base.
In 2019/2020,18 new members have joined our club despite the challenges that all the clubs because of the pandemic.
Congratulations to GlenAbbey Toastmasters and the 2019/2020 executive team!