Following almost 18 months of discussion and planning the day had
actually arrived.
On the Friday morning 26th October, a group of volunteers
including; Marlowe, Philip, Paul, Glenn D and John along with assistance from
John’s wife Keiko, gathered at the RSL Club and started setting up the room.
Tables were arranged, dressed and set under the expert supervision of
Marlowe. Paul ensured the place settings were meticulously laid out and under
the tuition of Keiko, Glenn and John were even able to prepare 64 Opera House inspired napkins.
Saturday afternoon Bernie and Rosemary Fisher arrived to start setting up the Sound
System and Lyndal and Daniel were on deck to put the finishing touches to
lights and flowers.
The RSL Club dining room in which the Club regularly meets looked an absolute treat.
Guests arrived from 7:00pm to be offered Sparkling Wine and Beer along
with platters of fabulous finger food.
We were Called to Order at 7:30pm sharp and Paul Viviers officiated as Master of
Ceremonies expertly assisted by Kimberley Chapman.
Paul invited long-standing member Peter Crosby to introduce the Table Trivia Quiz that was on every table and encouraged guests to have a go at a
variety of general knowledge, local area and Toastmaster questions from the
past 50 years.
Club President Philip Bendeich was then invited to deliver the Welcome and in
doing so introduced the honoured Guests; Mr John Murphy MP Federal Member for Reid and
his wife Adriane, Mayor Angelo Tsirekas, Mayor of Canada Bay, District 70
Governor Jan Vecchio and a long list of Distinguished Toastmasters and former
District Governors, as well as the current Philip Division Governor Alex Thomas and his
wife Elizabeth and our very own Area 6 Governor Brett Sutcliffe and his partner Kristen.
John Murphy was then invited to address the gathering and as part of an
excellent impromptu speech stressed the importance and value of reading and its
impact on learning, communicating and speaking in public. Along the way we
learned about John’s time growing up in the country and his early passion to have
become a musician before entering law and becoming a politician.
Angelo Tsirekas was then introduced to make a very special presentation
to the Club on behalf of the City of Canada Bay and Club President Philip
gratefully accepted a plaque commemorating the achievement of the Club’s 50 years of
service to the local community. Negotiations have since been undertaken to have
this plaque hung permanently on display in a learning room at the Concord
Library. Angelo also paid tribute to one of the former members of Toastmasters
who was with us, a former Mayor of Concord and last year’s Citizen of
the Year for his tireless work with Meals on Wheels, Mr Alan Wright, who was a
member of the Club in the sixties.
District Governor Jan Vecchio then made another presentation to the Club
on behalf of Toastmasters International and District 70 and again the Club is
looking at ensuring that these plaques are displayed publicly.
Immediate Past President John Hughson was then called upon to deliver
the Toast for the evening. John reflected on his personal knowledge of Ron
Routley (a former Mayor of Concord before it merged to become the City of
Canada Bay) the man who chartered Concord West Club in 1962, and whom the
cricket oval just behind the RSL Club where we now meet is named – in a toast; “To those who went before”.
Dinner was served with a choice of either superbly cooked steak and
vegetables or a huge John Dory in what every recipient said was a magical
sauce. Washed down with bottles of red and white on every table.
As the tables were cleared our very own Club veteran Daniel Tucker
delivered a fabulously morphed speech combining his winning entry in the Club
and Area 6 International Speech Contests earlier this year with another classic
topic he has presented entitled: “If it wasn’t for Toastmasters”. A truly
inspirational demonstration of the essence of Toastmasters – and hugely
entertaining as well.
Dessert was then served with a mouth-watering choice of Chocolate
Brownie or Carrot Cake but presented in a manner worthy of Master Chef.
We then had a Special Guest presentation by Colin Emerson who had
travelled from Canberra just for the occasion. Colin was an Australian
Competitor in the International World Championships in the United States
earlier this year and was invited by Club President Philip to present a speech
at our 50th Celebration.
Colin paid tribute to the caliber of the Club’s representatives who have
spoken and presented thus far before delivering a stirring motivational speech
that covered a broad range of benefits and challenges that can be met by
Toastmasters. A very impassioned, and highly entertaining speech demonstrating exactly why Colin was a worthy representative in the US.
Peter Crosby was then welcomed back to the floor to put us all out of
our misery with the answers to the Table Trivia Questions. Special Certificate
presentations were awarded (in true Toastmaster tradition) to the First Place
and Runner Up Tables. The VIPs took out First Place while the Sixties Veterans, very
appropriately, took out the Runner Up position.
The evening was wrapped up with a highly emotive speech from Club
President Philip paying tribute to the broader organisation as well as the
Concord West Club membership and finally to the many members who had
contributed to the evening’s success.
The final endorsement of what an excellent evening it had been – could be
seen in how many people lingered to chat long afterwards. A memorable evening in the
history of Concord West Toastmasters.
Special thanks to;
John, Marlowe, Mark, Daniel, Peter, Glenn, Lyndal, Paul, Kimberley as well as Bernie and Rosemary Fisher for their
planning, assistance and contribution to the success of the evening. And to the management and staff of the Concord RSL.
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