Division Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contests

The 2011 Northern Division Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contests were hosted by Tamworth Toastmasters Club on Saturday September 24.

Paul Kidcaff of Cessnock City Toastmasters (Area 55) took the daily double winning both competitions in two tough fields.

Andrew McFarlane from Tamworth Toastmasters (Area 18) was named runner-up in the Humorous Contest while John Taylor representing the new North West Speakers & Leaders club (Area 56) came second in the Table Topics.

Rob Philp, representing North West Speakers & Leaders, placed third in both competitions.

Our photo shows (from left): Richard Busby (Narrabri, Area 18), John Taylor, Nicole Craft (Cessnock City, Area 55), Rebecca Williams (Singleton, Area 55), David Fisher (District Public Relations Officer and Chief Judge on the day), Rob Philp, Paul Kidcaff, Michele Hartrick (Northern Division Governor), Sally Douglas (Tamworth, Area 18), Andrew McFarlane, Lucy Staughton (Gunnedah, Area 18) and Jan Vecchio (District Lt Governor Education & Training).

First contests for new Area 56

The newest Toastmasters club north of Newcastle - North West Speakers & Leaders - scooped the pool at the 2011 Area 56 Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests cm left)onducted in Tamworth on Sunday September 18.

Andrew McFarlane from Bendemeer won the Humorous Contest while John Taylor of Tamworth took out the Table Topics.

Tamworth's Rob Philp was runner-up in both contests and, with Andrew and John, will compete in the Northern Division finals on Saturday September 24.

"Although we always have to have winners, every single one of our Area 56 contestants did an excellent job," said Area Governor Bob Kirchner.

Our photos show (left, from left): John Taylor and Rob Philp with Bob Kirchner. And (right, from left) Northern Division Governor Michele Hartrick, Andrew, Rob and Bob.

Area 18 Humorous & Table Topic winners

The 2011 Area 18 Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests were held in Gunnedah on Saturday September 17.

Lucy Staughton from Gunnedah club won the Humorous Contest with Sally Douglas from Tamworth club in second place.

Andrew McFarlane from Tamworth won the Table Topics Contest with Richard Busby from Narrabri runner up.

Pictured below (left, from left) are Area Governor Angie Turner, Sally, Lucy and Northern Division Governor Michele Hartrick.

Right (from left): Angie, Richard, Andrew and Michele.

First contests for new Area 55

The 2011 Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests were the first to be held in the new Area 55 in a re-structured Northern Division for 2011/12 at Muswellbrook on Sunday August 28.

And Cessnock City Toastmasters took the daily double with veteran competitor Paul Kidcaff first in the Humorous Contest and Nicole Craft number one in Table Topics.

Singleton's Rebecca Williams was runner-up in the Humorous Contest while Paul Kidcaff was named second placegetter.

Paul, Nicole and Rebecca now compete in the Northern Division finals to be held in Tamworth on Saturday September 24.

Photo: the day's contestants, back (from left), Graham Turvey, Jennie Brown, Rebecca Williams, Denise Collins and Helen Simpson with contest winners Paul Kidcaff and Nicole Craft at front.

Michele and Justyn elected to head Northern and Oxley

Michele Hartrick and Justyn Phillips have been elected to head Northern Division and the new Oxley Division in District 70 in 2011-12.

The election took place at the District Council meeting at Bankstown on Saturday May 14, 2011, following the creation of two Divisions out of the current Northern Division structure.

Michele was elected as Northern Division Governor which now comprises three Areas... Area 18 – with clubs at Gunnedah, Narrabri and Tamworth; Area 56 – New England (Armidale), North West Speakers & Leaders (the new club) and New England; and Area 57 –Cessnock City, Maitland and Muswellbrook.

Justyn was elected as Governor of the new Oxley Division which now comprises Area 5 – Great Lakes, Port Macquarie and Taree; Area 29 – Bellingen, Coffs Harbour, Kempsey and Nambucca Valley; and Area 32 – Maitland, Port Stephens and Twin Rivers (Raymond Terrace).

The new structure will take effect from July 1, 2011.

A number of Area Governors have been confirmed for some of the now six Areas across the two Divisions and will be announced as confirmed.

Photo: Michele (on microphone) and Justyn (to Michele's left) being introduced at the "Meet the New Team" Breakfast during the May Conference pictured with other members of the incoming 2011-12 team, from left, Nick Rinaldi (Lachlan Division Governor), Joan Rinaldi (Lt Governor Marketing), Elizabeth Dowton (Monaro Division Governor), David Fisher (Public Relations Officer), Wendy White (District Secretary), Ian Lipski (District Treasurer) and Michael Said (Phillip Division Governor).

Eric and Michael excel at District

Northern Division contestants Eric Elsley and Michael Gallagher and represented the Division brilliantly at the District finals in Sydney at the 2011 Annual Conference.

Both competed in tough fields in their respective contests... Eric (from Tamworth in Area 18) in the Evaluation, Michae (from Coffs Harbour in Area 29)l in the International.

But despite their excellent performances, neither placed.

Our congratulations to both for their hard work and thanks for representing us.

Our photos here show Eric (left) receiving his certificate of participation in the Evaluation Contest from Contest Chairman Matt Pang and Michael chatting after the contest with Contest Chairman Iain Gorry.

Michael and Eric win Northern Division International and Evaluation

Michael Gallagher and Eric Elsley have taken the honours in the 2011 Northern Division International Speech and Evaluation Contests.

Michael, from Coffs Harbour club in Area 29, won against a strong field with a speech based on leadership.

Norman Priestley from Port Macquarie club in Area 5 was runner-up in the International.

Eric Elsley from Tamworth in Area 18 was judged winner of the Evaluation Contest.

James Dyson, also from Coffs Harbour, was placed second on this contest.

A large crowd of Toastmasters and guests attended the Northern Division Contests at Port Macquarie on Saturday April 9.

Northern Division Area Evaluation and International Speech Contests

All Northern Division Areas have now completed their Evaluation and International Speech contests in readiness for the Division finals on Saturday April 9.

Area 5 was first cab off the ranks on Saturday March 26 at Club Taree with Robert Weller from Taree taking first place and Norman Priestley, Port Macquarie, runner-up in the International.

Leo Bushell, also from Taree, won the Evaluation Contest while Graham Barnes from Great Lakes was runner-up.

Areas 29 and 32 staged their competitions at, respectively, Cavanbah Hall, Coffs Harbour and the East Maitland Bowling Club.

Michael Gallagher from Coffs took out the Area 29 International Speech Contest with James Dyson, also from Coffs, in second place.

James was also successful in the Evaluation Contest taking first place with Nambucca Valley's Jeff Carlson runner-up.

Helen Palmer from Cessnock was judged the International Contest winner in Area 32 while Port Stephens' Gary Hall took out second place.

Gary was also successful as winner of the Evaluation Contest with Twin Rivers' Kaye Newton judged runner-up.

Area 18 was the final contest to be held, at Quirindi on Saturday April 2.

Tamworth's Sally Douglas won the International section with Gunnedah's Angie Turner taking the runner-up position.

Tamworth was also successful in the Evaluation Contest with Eric Elsley judged the winner and New England's Michelle Lim in second place.

The winners and runners-up from Area level will compete in the Northern Division finals at Westport Club, Port Macquarie, on Saturday April 2. A flyer with details can be downloaded here.

Our photos show, from the top down (all from left)...

Northern Division Governor Bob Kirchner, Leo Bushell, Graham Barnes and Area 5 Governor Justyn Phillips.

Bob Kirchner, Norman Priestley, Robert Weller and Justyn Phillips.

Jeff Carlson, Area 29 Governor Janet Dyson, James Dyson and Bob Kirchner.

James Dyson, Janet Dyson, Michael Gallagher and Bob Kirchner.

Bob Kirchner, Angie Turner, Sally Douglas, Eric Elsley, Michelle Lim and Contest Chairman John Taylor.

Michael places third in 2010 District Humorous Speech Contest

Michael Gallagher from Coffs Harbour Club in Area 29 placed third in this year's District 70 Humorous Speech Contest at Wollongong on Saturday November 20.

Paul Kidcaff from Cessnock City Toastmasters in Area 32 did Northern Division proud in the Table Topics Contest but did not place.

Both the Humorous and Table Topics contests this year were generally of an extremely high standard.

In the Table Topics, the subject was "It's the journey that counts, not the destination" and virtually every single one of the eight contestants took a different tack in their answer.

Ian Small from Hornsby District Toastmasters (Area 16, Hawkesbury Division) won the Humorous contest with a "lay 'em in the aisles" speech about his possum problems at home.

Tarek Said from Australian Young Professionals Toastmasters (Area 46, Central Division) was runner up with an extremely funny speech based on queries about his accent (you had to be there!).

Michael's "Grandpa's Braces" speech went down very well with many pundits saying they were not able to pick a winner from a top number of speakers.

Ann Kay from PwC Toastmasters (Area 12, Central Division) took out the Table Topics Contest with Mauricio Tapia (Miranda Toastmasters, Area 42, Southern Division) runner up and Tom Wilde (Alpha Toastmasters, Area 23, Eastern Division) in third place.

Photos (from left): Ian Small, Tarek Said and Michael Gallagher (top); Paul Kidcaff receives his certificate of participation from Contest Toastmaster Greg Kennedy.Photos by District Photographer Barry Moore. Click here for more photos from this year's Semi-annual Conference.

Northern Division Humorous Speech and Table Topic Contests

A crowd in excess of 50 people turned out for one of the best ever Northern Division Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests at Cessnock on Saturday (September 25).

Michael Gallagher from Coffs Harbour Toastmaster and Paul Kidcaff from Cessnock City Toastmasters took the honours on the day.

Michael, representing Area 29, was named winner of the Humorous Speech Contest while Paul , representing Area 32, won the Table Topics Contest.

Paul also took runner-up honours in the Humorous Contest while Srinivasan (Kartik) Kartikeyan came second in the Table Topics Contest.

A full complement of speakers representing the Divisions Areas - 5, 18, 29 and 32 - competed on the day with many saying it was one of the best competition days they had seen.

Michael and Paul will now represent Northern Division at the District finals to be held as part of the 2010 Semi Annual Conference at Wollongong in November.

Our photos show - above left: District 70 Lt Governor Education & Training and Chief Judge Kaylene Ledgar, Michael Gallagher and Northern Division Governor & Contest Chairman Bob Kirchner; above right: Kaylene, Paul Kidcaff and Bob.

Area 32 Humorous Speech and Table Topic Contests

A good audience witnessed two fine competitions at the Area 32 Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests at East Maitland on Sunday (September 12).

Paul Kidcaff from Cessnock City Toastmasters won first place in both contests while Rebecca Williams from Singleton was runner-up in the Humorous Contest and Melissa Etheridge from Twin Rivers club was runner-up in the Table Topics.

Our photo shows (from left): Northern Division Governor Bob Kirchner, Melissa Ethridge, Paul Kidcaff, Rebecca Williams and Area 18 Governor Michele Hartrick.

Area 18 Humorous Speech and Table Topic Contests

Kartik Kartikeyan and Matt Patterson have taken the "daily double double" at the Area 18 Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests at Narrabri on Saturday (September 11).

Kartik, from New England Club, won the Humorous Speech Contest while Matt, from Tamworth, took out the Table Topics Contest.

Matt was runner-up in the Humorous and Kartik came second in the Table Topics Contest!

Our photo shows, from left: Area 18 Governor Stephen Beale, Matt Patterson, Kartik Kartikeyan and Northern Division Governor Bob Kirchner.

Area 5 Humorous Speech and Table Topic Contests

An enthusiastic audience witnessed the 2010 Area 5 Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests at Kendall on Sunday (August 29).

Taree's Robert Weller took out the Humorous Contest from second placegetter Dagmar Brenne from Port Macquarie.

Taree dominated the Table Topics Contest with Leo Bushell in first place and runner-up Michael Burgess.

Pictured (from left): Robert Weller, Leo Bushell, Area 5 Governor Justyn Phillips, Dagmar Brenne and Michael Burgess.

Area 29 Humorous Speech and Table Topic Contests

Coffs Harbour Toastmasters dominated the Area 29 Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests held at Kempsey on Saturday (August 28).

Michael Gallagher won both both contests while Barbara Stewart placed second in the Humorous Speech Contest and Marianne Gallagher was second in the Table Topics Contest.

Members from all clubs in the Area - Bellingen, Coffs, Kempsey and Nambucca Valley - attended.

Area Governor Janet Dyson congratulated all participants on two wonderful contests and members of Kempsey Toastmasters for a well-organised event.

Photo (top): Michael and Marianne Gallagher (centre) winner and runner-up in the Area 29 Table Topics Contest with Area 29 Governor Janet Dyson and Northern Division Governor Bob Kirchner.

Photo (bottom): Michael Gallagher and Barbara Stewart (left) winner and runner-up in the Area 29 Humorous Speech Contest with Janet Dyson and Bob Kirchner.

Northern Division at the 2010 Annual Conference

Highlights from this year's District 70 Annual Conference for Northern Division included the excellent performances by James Dyson (Area 29) in the International Speech Contest and Mike Burgess (Area 5) in the Evaluation Contests.

Though our two representatives did not place, they represented their fellow Toastmasters admirably (see photos below and on the photos page).

New England Toastmasters (Area 18) were announced winners of Best Public Relations Campaign and Best Article Published in the Media (see photo below, Area Governor Narelle accepting on behalf of Michelle Lim from District Lt Governor Marketing and Lt Governor Education & Training elect Kaylene Ledgar.

Northern Division Governor Bob also had the pleasure of presenting this year's Jazzer Smith Award to Colin Wright from Able Spirited Cadre club (see picture).

James Dyson (above right) congratulated on his speech by Toastmaster of the 2010 District 70 International Speech Contest, 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking Darren La Croix. Mike Burgess (right, right) receives his certificate of participation in the 2010 District International Speech Contest, from Contest Toastmaster Mark Hunter, 2009 World Champion of Public Speaking
	Area 18 Governor Narelle (left, right) receives the Public Relations Award on behalf of New England Toastmasters Michelle Lim from District 70 Lt Governor Marketing Kaylene Ledgar. Above, Northern Division Governor Bob Kirchner presents the 2010 District 70 Jazzer Smith Award to Able Spiritd Cadre's Colin Wright.

Northern Division International Speech & Evaluation Contest winners 2010

James Dyson (Area 29) and Mike Burgess (Area 5) have taken out the 2010 Northern Division International Speech and Evaluation contests, respectively.

The finals, held in Coffs Harbour on Saturday March 27, were attended by a good representation of clubs and Areas in the Division.

James (from Coffs Harbour) and Mike (from Taree) go on now to represent Northern Division in the District finals at the annual conference in May at the Bankstown Sports Club.

Runners-up were Robert Weller (Area 5) in the International and Michael Lloyd (Area 32) in Evaluation.

Our photos show, clockwise from top right: International contest winner James Dyson with Division Governor and Contest Chairman Bob Kirchner (left) and District Lieutenant Governor Education and Training and Chief Judge Philip Bendeich; Evaluation winner Mike Burgess; Evaluation runner-up Michael Lloyd and International runner-up Robert Weller.

Area 32 International Speech & Evaluation Contest winners 2010

Area 32 held its International Speech and Evaluation contests at East Maitland on Sunday, March 14.

Michael Lloyd from Port Stephens won the International Speech Contest while Anneke Redman from Maitland was successful in the Evaluation Contest.

Paul Kidcaff from Cessnock City was runner-up in the International Contest with Michael Lloyd second in the Evaluation Contest.

Anneke, Michael and Paul now proceed to the Division finals to be held at Coffs Harbour on Saturday March 27 (see Coming Events for details).

Pictured (from left): Paul Kidcaff, Michael Lloyd, Area 32 Governor Jim McNickle and Richard Harding from Maitland Club who accepted Anneke's trophy on her behalf.

Area 18 International Speech & Evaluation Contest winners 2010

Area 18 held its International Speech and Evaluation contests at Armidale on Saturday, March 13.

Rob Philp from Tamworth won the International Speech Contest while Lyn Gollan from Gunnedah took out the Evaluation Contest.

Kartik Kartikeyan was runner-up in the International Contest with Michelle Lim second in the Evaluation Contest. Both Kartik and Michelle are from the New England Club at Armidale.

All four now proceed to the Division finals to be held at Coffs Harbour on Saturday March 27 (see Coming Events for details).

Pictured (from left): Rob Philp, Lyn Gollan, Kartik Kartikeyan, Area 18 Governor Narelle Langfield, Michelle Lim and Northern Division Governor Bob Kirchner.

Also presented on the day was Area 18's Nancy Gray Award, to an Area Toastmaster for "continuous outstanding achievements in the promotion of the Toastmasters International Communication & Leadership Program within the community".

The presentation was made to long-standing Narrabi Toastmasters member and former Area Governor Anne Rae by Area Governor Narelle Langfield and President of Nancy's club at Quirindi.

Nancy, who died some years ago, made an extraordinary contribution to Toastmasters, especially in Quirindi and Area 18 where she was instrumental in helping to establish clubs at Quirindi, Gunnedah and Narrabri and put an enormous amount of work continuously into Toastmasters programs and specifically Youth Leadership.

Pictured at right (from left): Nancy Gray Award recipient Anne Rae, Quirindi Club President Sarah Reardon and Area 18 Governor Narelle Langfield.

Northern Division Humorous & Table Topic winners

Marcus Ludriks and Michael Gallagher will represent Northern Division in the 2009 District 70 Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contests at the Semi Annual Conference at Ettalong in November.

Marcus, from Port Macquarie in Area 5, took out the Humorous Contest with his speech about raising five children while Michael, from Coffs Harbour in Area 29, was successful in the Table Topics Contest.

Fran Kerkhoff, also from Coffs Harbour, was runner-up in the Humorous Contest with a delightful presentation about cruising, while Barbara Stewart, yet another contestant from Coffs, was runner-up in the Table Topics Contest.

Around 70 Toastmasters and guests from throughout the Northern Division attended the event hosted by Tamworth Toastmasters Club.

Our photos below show...

Below left: Humorous Contest winner Marcus Ludriks with Northern Division Governor Bob Kirchner (left) and District 70 Lieutenant Governor Education & Training Philip Bendeich; bottom left: Bob and Phil with Humorous Contest runner-up Fran Kerkhoff.

Below right: Bob and Phil with Table Topics winner Michael Gallagher; below right: Phil with Table Topics Contest runner-up Barbara Stewart.

Click on the thumbnail images for larger photos.

Area 5 Humorous & Table Topic winners

Area 5 held its Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests at Port Macquarie on Wednesday, October 7.

Port Macquarie dominated the Humorous contest with Dagmar Brenne taking first place and Markus Ludriks judged runner-up.

Leo Bushell from Taree RSL took out the Table Topics Contest while Beverley Izard from Port was runner-up.

Our photos below show...

Top left:  Leo Bushell, Table Topics winner, and Beverly Izard, runner-up.

Top right:  Humorous winner Dagmar Brenne and runner-up Marcus Ludriks.

Below left: Table Topic contestants (from left) – Ruth Blundell and Beverly Izard (Port Macquarie), Leo Bushell (Taree RSL), David Little and Rowena Francis (Great Lakes).

Below right:  Humorous contestants (from left) Marcus Ludriks and Dagmar Brenne (Port Macquarie), Leo Bushell (Taree RSL), Rowena Francis and David Little (Great Lakes).

Area 29 Humorous & Table Topic winners

Coffs Harbour scooped the pool at the Area 29 contests held at Coffs on Sunday September 27.

Michael Gallagher won both competitions while Fran Kerkhoff was runner up in the Humorous and Barbara Stewart came second in the Table Topics beating out stiff competition from Nambucca Valley's Jeff Carlson and Janet Dyson.

Photo (from left): Area 18 Governor Narelle Langfield (who stood in for Area 29Governor Ian Hindmarsh), Jeff Carlson,Fran Kerkhoff, James Dyson(who acted as Toastmaster for both competitions), Barbara Stewart, Michael Gallagher, Janet Dyson and Chief Judge (also Northern Division Governor) Bob Kirchner (click on the small photos for larger images).

Area 18 Humorous & Table Topic winners

Tamworth's Andrew McFarlane took out both the Humorous and Table Topics contests at the Area 18 final in Gunnedah on Saturday (Sept 19).

Andrew winning humorous speech centred on "an explosive instance". Sarah Reardon from Quirindi was runner-up in the Humorous contest with a speech about three men in her life and was also runner-up in the Table Topics contest.

An Area Council meeting preceded Saturday's contest events.

Photos... top right (from left): Northern Division Governor and Chief Judge Bob Kirchner with Andrew McFarlane, Sarah Reardon and Area 18 Goverernor Narelle Langfield; below right: Area 18 leaders pictured (from left) following the Area Council meeting: Om Jhorar (New England President), Doreen Vance (Immediate Past Narrabri President), Angie Turner (Gunnedah President), Narelle Langfield, Stewart Dowe (Tamworth President) and Sarah Reardon (Quirindi President).

Area 32 Humorous & Table Topic winners

An excellent turn-out was recorded on Sunday August 30 for the 2009 Area 32 Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests at Singleton.

Tony Rockley from Muswellbrook club won the Humorous contest with a delightfully funny take on modern-day communications. Kaye Newton from Twin Rivers was runner-up with her speech about helping a friend with their "crying child".

Nicole Craft, from Cessnock, won theTable Topic Contest, while Graham Turvey from Muswellbrook, was runner-up.

Photos... top right: Kaye Newton, Humorous Speech Contest runner-up, Northern Division Governor Bob Kirchner, Area 32 Governor Jim McNickle and contest winner Tony Rockley; above: Nicole Craft, winner of the Table Topic Contest, Bob Kirchner, Jim McNickle and Contest runner-up Graham Turvey.

New Division leaders

Northern Division leaders for the 2009-10 Toastmasters year were formally installed at the District 70 Changeover on Saturday, June 27.

Bob Kirchner is the new Division Governor while Justyn Phillips takes over as Area 5 Governor and Narelle Langfield is the new Area 18 Governor.

In Area 29, Ian Hindmarsh has stepped up to the plate again, as has Jim McNickle in Area 32.

Michael and Eric represent us well

In one of the toughest District finals ever, both Michael Gallagher and Eric Elsley, Northern Division International Speech Contest and Evaluation Contest winners, respectively, did not place at the District finals in May.

Both contestants acquitted themselves well and represented the Division brilliantly, according to Division Governor Judy Clark.

Pictured: below left - Michael receives his certificate of participation from Mark D'Silva, International Contest Toastmaster and last year's District winner; below right - Eric receives his certificate of participation from Contest Toastmaster Debbie Tibbles.

Narelle racks up 20 years

Former Northern Division and Area 18 Governor Narelle Langfield was presented with a special plaque recognising her 20 years of membership in Toastmasters.

A past President of Tamworth and City of Light Toastmasters clubs, Narelle was named District 70 Toastmaster of the Year in 2003.

Narelle is pictured here receiving her plaque from 2008-09 D70 Governor John Inglis.

In the 2009-10 Toastmasters year, Narelle has taken on the role of Area 18 Governor, the second time she has filled this tole.

Tamworth snares Travel Gavel again

Tamworth Toastmasters won the District 70 Travel Gavel from their attendance at the 2009 Annual Conference.

The Travel Gavel was presented to District 70 by the Tamworth club. The club has won the award on several occasions.

Photo below shows Toastmasters (from left) Ken McKenzie, Bob Kirchner, Carol Brodbeck, President Alice McKenzie, then Distict 70 Lt Governor Marketing & Training, and Lt Governor Education & Training and Eric Elsley.

Division International Speech & Evaluation Contests 2009

Michael Gallagher from Coffs Harbour won the Division International Speech Contest in April while Eric Elsley from Tamworth won the District Evaluation Contest.

Both Michael and Eric will now compete in the District 70 final at Bankstown in May.

Area Contest results coming in

Area 5's Table Topics and Humorous Speech Contests were held at Forster on Saturday August 16.

Andrew Hughes was first in Table Topics, Roz Baker second.

First in Humorous was Andrew Hughes, second Dagmar Brenne.

See photos here.

Area 29's Contests were held at Nambucca Heads on Sunday August 17.

First in Table Topics was Janet Dyson, second Angela Bischof-Joseph.

First in Humorous was Maurice Lane, second James Dyson.

District 70 achieves Distinguished District... Northern Division Select Distinguished!

International President Chris Ford has congratulated District 70 on becoming a Distinguished District for 2007/08.

Northern Division, meanwhile, has achieved Select Distinguished and all Areas in the Division have achieved Distinguished level.

"A great effort from a fantastic family of Toastmasters," says Immediate Past Northern Division Governor Jim McNickle. "My congratulations and thanks to everyone."

Northern Division's Michael Gallagher runner-up in District 70 International Speech Contest final

Northern Division's Michael Gallagher from Coffs Harbour has been judged runner-up in the District 70 International Speech Contest final.

The contest was won by Mark D'Silva.

In the Evaluation Contest, our contestant Rob Philp from Tamworth acquitted himself well but did not place. The contest was won by Nigel Bryan with Robert Bath in second place.

Congratulations to Michael for an excellent presentation," said ND Governor Jim McNickle. "We are proud of you as our representative.

"Congratulations also to Rob Philp - thanks for your fine contribution as our representative."

Tamworth wins District 70 Travel Gavel for 2008

Tamworth Toastmasters has claimed the Travel Gavel again in 2008.

The Gavel is awarded at the District 70 Annual Conference (on a complex but specific formula, basically to the Club with the most members/travelled biggest distance).

The Gavel was donated originally by Tamworth Toastmasters "way back" to help encourage distant clubs to attend the Annual Conference.

"The Tamworth team" this year was Carol Brodbeck, Eric Elsley, Narelle Langfield, Alice & Ken McKenzie, Rob & Julie Philp.

"Congratulations to the Tamworth Club for taking out the TRAVEL GAVEL for the most kilometres travelled per club member," said ND Governor Jim McNickle. "A just recognition for your committment and enthusiasm."

Area 18's newest DTM - Drinda Luckensmeyer

Area 18 Governor Anna van Netten reports she was very pleased to be able to present Drinda Luckensmeyer with her Distinguished Toastmaster Award in March (2008).

Drinda grew up in the USA, a cotton farmers daughter gaining a teaching degree and marrying a cotton farmer (Richard). The couple came to Australia for their honeymoon and ended up moving here, setting up on a farm in Wee Waa.

As part of her role on the farm, Drinda had to learn how to drive all the heavy machinery.

The couple have four children and are active in church life. They joined Narrabri Toastmasters in the early 1990s.

Both Drinda and Richard have served numerous roles within the Club, including President, and Drinda has served as Area 18 Governor. Drinda has co-ordinated Speechcraft and Youth Leadership courses for her local Club and recently travelled to Quirindi fortnightly for six months to mentor and try to help rebuild the club there.

"Drinda has been both enthusiastic in promoting the goals of Toastmasters and is dedicated in her participation and assistance to others," said a spokesman for Narrabri Toastmasters.

Drinda is the first person from the Narrabri Club to achieve DTM.

ND 2008 International Speech & Evaluation Contest

Congratulations to the contestants and my thanks to those who helped make the recent contest a successful event. A special thanks to those who travelled to support the contestants.

The contest was, as usual for the Northern Division, of a very high standard. Each contestant should be proud of their contribution.

Results.

International Speech...

Winner : Michael Gallagher  Coffs Harbour Toastmasters
2nd Place : Naisse Dermott  Singleton Toastmasters

Evaluation...

Winner : Rob Philp Tamworth Toastmasters
2nd Place : Anneke Redman Maitland Toastmasters

Michael and Rob will represent our Division at the District Contest on April 12th and 13th at Penrith Panthers Club. Come along and support them.

Details re the conference and contests on www.d70toastmasters.org

- Jim

Congratulations!

To Roz Baker (Great Lakes) and Fran Kerkoff (Coffs Harbour) on being worthy representatives of Northern Division at the Table Topics and Humorous Speech contests at District level at the weekend. We are proud of your excellent efforts. Roz placed third in the TableTopics contest.

The Humorous competition was won by Wikrom Tang from Parramatta Club, Area 13, Western Division, the Table Topics by Rhonda Hookham from Sydney Travel Club, Area 48, Phillip Division.

- Jim

Soapbox Derby

R E P O R T !!!

On Saturday 3rd November, Muswellbrook held their Spring Carnival. The annual street parade attracted about 30 floats  and was followed by the Town Fair on the Village Green.

Muswellbrook Toastmasters Soap Box Derby was a popular attraction on the village green with both Toastmaster members and residents encouraged to talk about issues they were passionate about for about 5 minutes.

This proved a successful publicity raising exercise for Toastmasters who had a table set up and, whilst speakers were holding the audience captive, handed out the Toastmasters bookmarks with the next meeting date marked on it.

The local paper took a photo of a local identity (a local councillor having her say) and we are hoping that we do get some publicity from that.

This was a new idea which hadn't been tried in the area before however we are all keen to be part of the Spring Carnival next year and we have some ideas on how we could make this even bigger and better..

• We could have a more organised time frame i.e. have a timetable of speakers so that we don't lose the audience whilst the next speaker is getting organised
• Because we are competing with the Town Band, buskers and announcers on a microphone, we need either a microphone or a megaphone ourselves (Toastmasters will need to have some training on these first)
• It would be a good idea to invite local people to have their say - give them some weeks to prepare, i.e. "register now to have your say or you may miss out due to time restrictions"
• Try and interview a Toastmaster on radio a week before
• Encourage the parade organiser to talk to the ABC radio announcer about it as this worked well this year
• Organise hecklers to add to the atmosphere
• Organise people to stand and become a rent-a-crowd as people standing around attract more people to find out what is happening
• We could start before the parade with teasers so people come back i.e. after the parade, find out what Joe Blow thinks about what? where? why/etc.

Your chance to hear a World Champion

Toastmasters are invited to see 2004 World Champion of Public Speaking Randy Harvey present a Public Speaking Seminar.

Randy is a highly educated speaker who, coupled with his vast life experiences, is able to bring together humour, tragedy, excitement and enthusiasm. He has the ability to tell a tale with a strong message in a way that entertains and inspires his audiences. (For more information on Randy, visit his web site at www.randyjharvey.com.

There are three sessions scheduled covering the majority of District 70, each starting at 6.00 for a 6.30pm start, finishing around 9.00pm...

• Thursday, 15th November, East Maitland Bowling Club Banks Street, East Maitland
• Monday 19th November, Yowani Country Club Northbourne Ave, Lyneham
• Tuesday 20th November, Bankstown Sports Club, Greenfield Parade, and Bankstown

The cost is $15 per person if booked in advance and paid by credit card, or $20 if  paying on the night. So get in early and register to secure your place and witness one of the finest speakers to come to District 70.

To register, click here.

Date set for Northen Division International Speech & Evaluation contests

The 2008 Northern Division International Speech & Evaluation contests will be held on Sunday March 30.

Venue and other details yet to be finalised.

Northen Division Humorous Speech & Table Topics contests 2007

Around 60 Toastmasters attended the Northern Division Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests held in Tamworth on Saturday, October 21.

Paul Kidcaff from from Cessnock City took out the Humorous Contest from runner-up Fran Kirkhoff from Coffs Harbour and contestants Tom Bartlett from Gunnedah, Angela Bischoff-Joseph from Kempsey, Nick Broadbent from Tamworth, Julie Garlick from Taree, David Little from Great Lakes and Helen Redwood from Twin Rivers.

Roz Baker from Great Lakes won the Table Topics Contest from runner-up Julie Garlick and fellow contestants Stephen Beale from Narrabri, Angela Bischoff-Joseph, Kevin Doolan from Quirindi, Michael Gallagher from Coffs Harbour, Paul Kidcaff and Jill Taylor from Twin Rivers.

Immediate Past District Governor Nick Rinaldi travelled from Brisbane with his wife and fellow Toastmaster Joan to act as Chief Judge.

Tamworth's Stewart Dowe was Toastmaster for the Humorous Contest, Anneke Redman from Maitland was Toastmaster for the Table Topics Contest.

The "topic" was "Mother knows best" which offered a challenge to contestants while being relatively easy to speal to.

Paul is unfortunately not able to go to District level so Fran will compete in his place. Fran and Roz will represent Northern Division at the District finals to be held at Homebush Bay on Saturday, November 17. Click here for more information aboyt the Conference.

Photo (from left): District 70 Lt Governor Education & Training John Inglis, Chief Judge Nick Rinaldi, Paul Kidcaff, Fran Kirkhoff and Northern Division Governor Jim McNickle. Click here for more pictures from the day, and previous Northern Division events (click on the picture for a larger image).