Giberti Wins Area,

Moves on to

District Competition!

West Shore Toastmasters Club member Donna Giberti won TI's D-38/Area-12 contest, held on March 12th at the conference center of Camp Hill Giant, and will now move on to the District Contest. She is shown in the photo at right with Lois Cole (l), who won the evaluation contest on behalf of the New Hear This! club. Also participating on behalf of the WSTM Club was Colleen Haws, who competed in the evaluation contest. Club member Ellen Demaree provided the model speech on which evaluations were prepared. See the article below for a report of club contest, held in February, which was the first level of TI's annual speaking competition.

Update: Donna finished third in the District Contest, held at F&M College in Lancaster. This was a very respectable showing in a highly competitive contest.
Congratulations, Donna!

Public speaking is the lot of the West Shore Toastmasters Club, and its members’ skill and moxie were on display during its annual Evaluation and Speech Contest, held Wednesday, February 16^th at the Fox-Eichelberger VFW in New Cumberland. Longtime member Colleen Haws and newcomer Donna Giberti took top honors.

     During the Evaluation segment, Haws, the Club’s defending evaluation champion, prevailed over a slate of three other members. They evaluated a model speech delivered by a visiting Toastmasters member, Kasey Troyer, whose talk lauded the merits of shedding the podium as a speaking prop. Other contestants included David Lanza, Bill Moser and Cicily Waeger. Giberti, meanwhile, won the prepared speech segment with her talk, "Scaling Brick Walls." Other speeches included "The Quiet Champions," delivered by Karen Davis; and "Hey, You Want to Buy Some Snake Oil?," by John Jaminet. The contests featured well-groomed speakers and there were no clearcut winners.

     West Shore Toastmasters hosts the event each year in conjunction with the Toastmasters International Contest, whose 12,500 organizations throughout the world kick off the proceedings with their club-level competitions. The next stage for Haws and Giberti is the Area-level contest, which will be held at the Camp Hill Giant conference facility on March 12^th.

     Davis, the club president, presided over the evening, and the contests were chaired by James Kopp. In each one, a panel of three judges scored the events and selected a winner. The evening’s agenda was executed without a hitch. "Competitive speaking events are filled with excitement, drama and intrigue," says Davis. "Fortunately, West Shore Toastmasters has a seasoned core of organizers who know how to plan a competition, and it was evident throughout the evening."

     A special attraction was the presence of reporter Lara Brenckle and photographer Jennifer Kane, who provided media coverage for The Patriot-News, which serves the greater Harrisburg area. 

 

Shown above, taking the evening’s speaking honors were Donna Giberti (l) and Colleen Haws. Below,  the evening’s contestants included (l-r) John Jaminet, Donna Giberti, Karen Davis, David Lanza, Cicily Waeger, Colleen Haws and Bill Moser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

The West Shore Toastmasters Club has always had a strong cast of veteran speakers. On Saturday, January 22^nd, the skills of many current members were on display during the Club’s 53^rd Annual Charter Night, held at Nolo’s at the Rich Valley Golf Club in Mechanicsburg. About 35 people attended the annual banquet, during which the Club takes a break from the serious side of public speaking and focuses on fun and camaraderie.

 

Sharing the winner's circle with club president Karen Davis (l) were Jim Minder, Alan Yottey and Donna Giberti.

 

     Club president Karen Davis presided over the evening, which provided attendees with three hours of revelry, honorifics, musical entertainment, formal and impromptu speeches, and a delicious dinner buffet. Bob Serafin was Toastmaster. Headlining the agenda was Toastmasters Jeopardy!, which was emceed by Ellen Demaree and Bill Moser. During the contest, one dinner table competed against another in members’ knowledge of Toastmasters trivia. Each table was given noisemakers instead of buzzers, as are used on the television version of Jeopardy!, and a group name to match. During the oft-contentious match, the Cranks narrowly beat out the Old Farts, Harmonicas, Shrieks, Kazoos, and Jingles.

     In the evening’s contests, Ann Graeff was Topic Master for the impromptu speech segment known as "Table Topics." Ann provided photos of odd-looking pieces of mechanical equipment, and each speaker had to fudge an explanation of what their piece of equipment is. Bill Moser won with his description of a device that he claimed is used to contact alien beings. (It is actually a device to ward off birds.) During the Speech Contest, Donna Giberti won with her polished and heart-rending talk, "How I’d Like to be Remembered." In the Speech Evaluation Contest, Walter Gross won with his evaluation of Yottey’s speech.

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At left, Jeff and Casey McGaw provided musical entertainment that was a delight to the ears. At right, two of the Club’s longtime members, Walter Gross (l) and John Jaminet, share a moment. Walter bade goodbye to the audience in announcing that his work responsibilities will take him south, to Asheville, North Carolina.

 

     Live music was provided by Jeff McGaw, brother-in-law of past club president Leeann Rhodes, and his daughter, Casey. Jeff, whose career includes working as a sports reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, revealed that he is formerly a Toastmasters member in California.

     Karen Davis dispensed door prizes throughout the evening, from dinner certificates to decorative ornaments to boxes of candy. From start to finish, the evening was a testament to the ability of Toastmasters, and especially the West Shore Club, to turn reluctant speakers into good ones…and good speakers into great ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A number of guests were in attendance on Charter Night. At left, Bill Moser brought his wife, Sue. Similarly, Leeann Rhoades (l) is shown with Marge Demaree, mother of longtime member Ellen (who was busy taking the photo).

 

Articles written by Rudy Yandrick and photos taken by Ellen Demaree