Comox Valley Toastmasters invite guests and past members to their 40th-anniversary meeting at the CRA Lewis Centre at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 29.
“Guests are always welcome at Toastmasters meetings and we’re hoping past members or their children will come and tell us about the early history of the club,” said club president Jim Buchanan.
The club was chartered by Toastmasters International on Dec. 20, 1983. It was initially called Forbidden Toastmasters. In 1998, the name was changed to Comox Valley Toastmasters.
The anniversary meeting will feature prepared speeches by two current Toastmasters plus “Table Topics, a series of impromptu, two-minute speeches by any participants who wish to join in.
The Toastmasters concept originated in 1905 as a series of public speaking clubs organized by Ralph Smedley, a YMCA director in Bloomington, Illinois. Smedley saw a need for men in the community to practise public speaking, learn to conduct meetings, plan programs and work on committees.
The concept was an instant success. Communities across the U.S. organized Toastmasters clubs of their own, and the first Canadian club was founded in Victoria, B.C.
To consolidate the scattered clubs and to prepare for future growth, organizers founded Toastmasters International in 1930. Smedley was named secretary and editor. He remained at the helm until he retired in 1945.
Since that time, Toastmasters International has continued to grow. The organization currently includes more than 358,000 members in 16,000 clubs throughout 143 countries.