Speakers share stories, seek members

Although it is a distinguished club, with 352,000 members worldwide, a Toastmaster is never far from a friend. Even when traveling abroad.

The Thompson Falls and Plains Toastmasters held a special presentation, Thursday, entitled "Tales of Far Off Places." A small group of interesting listeners joined the scheduled speakers at Thompson Falls Public Library to hear about what it means to give in to wanderlust as a Toastmaster.

Member Lynne Kersten opened the meeting with a few inspirational quotes. "Traveling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller," was the fitting quote from Ibn Battuta to kick off the evening.

If there's one thing Toastmasters love to do, it is talk. If there's another thing they love nearly as much, it is to travel. The Toastmaster's internationally syndicated magazine's issues are filled with members traveling around the globe, posing with their Toastmaster's zine in hand. That pose was not in short supply when looking through the slide show of pictures shared by Roni Mitch.

Mitch recently traveled to the holy land, and gave a presentation entitled, "Isreal, Yesterday and Today." Mitch shared the amazement she felt walking on centuries-old roadways that had been built upon numerous civilizations that had risen and fallen before. She presented pictures of the staircase Jesus likely ascended before receiving his crucifixion sentence from Pontius Pilate. Clever munitions barracks and factories were constructed underground in 1948, beneath what are now communal living communities, where everyone has assigned roles and are paid the same amount as their neighbors as contributors to the tiny township.

One site that hasn't changed much, if at all, since the time of Jesus is the Sea of Galilee where he famously recruited his disciples, saying he would make them "fishers of men." She concluded her presentation with a picture of her comfortably resting, floating near the surface of a body of water – with a copy of the Toastmaster's magazine. She revealed that the body of water in the picture was the Dead Sea, and the salt content had her bobbing on the surface sans floatation device with nearly five feet of water beneath her.

Also speaking that evening was Sandi Gubel, who shared a story about a cruise she took with her husband and mother in-law. "I'll try to channel the humorous delivery that was utilized by our dear friend and late member, Carol Styger, who was known for her wit and ability to keep people laughing as she spoke."

Gubel related a tale of "the cruise from heck," that took the party from the US mainland to Hawaii. While the destination was lovely, the journey was harrowing – especially for her husband, John, who suffered from sea sickness the entire trip. He was not the only one who succumbed to the swaying deck on choppy waters. "We had looked forward to the swing band that was the featured entertainment of the trip," Sandi explained, "but every time they were set to take the stage they never had a complete band, as the musicians took turns falling ill." She joked that although "swing" was set to be the genre for the trip, everyone ended up with "roooock and rooooll." The guard rails on the bunks gave the beds a crib-like appearance, but it didn't take long trying to sleep to see why the rails were there.

Since John was stuck in his quarters most of the time, Sandi and her mother in law took their meals in their assigned seats at the dining tables. She clarified the hilarity of the situation, "We were seated at the 'couples table.' And these were the days before same-sex unions. Needless to say we got a lot of looks and stares, and did plenty of explaining."

Sandi was excited that during the bingo event, she had just won a big haul of prize money. "But at that moment, the captain came over the loudspeaker with a stern warning that we all must stay seated." The advice was sound, as travelers held their beverages steady on tables that yearned to slide across the room with the momentum of the swaying vessel. Gubel remembered one guest bragging that he was in the military and he never gets seasick. When the braggart turned up missing for more than one scheduled activity, a few passengers went to check on him. "The man was in no shape to brag and wouldn't open his door more than a crack, as he was obviously getting to know his commode a little better," Gubel chuckled.

Thompson Falls Toastmaster president Gigi Comer shared with the audience the history of the local chapter. She related how the club's purpose gave her experiences and opportunities she never thought she would have, let alone enjoy. "It has become a big part of my life and how I communicate," Comer shared. She then declared the chapter's need for new members. The group is a few members shy of keeping their status with the international club, "If we can't find some new members before the end of March, we may have to start traveling to Plains and join their group," she explained, "but we don't want it to come to that." Comer extended an invote to the public and those in attendance to visit one of their meetings, held at noon the second and fourth Thursday of each month at Whitefish Credit Union's conference room (with the most comfortable chairs). For more information call Gigi Comer at (406) 788-6330.

The Plains Toastmasters meet in the Home Ec room at Plains High School every Thursday at 6 p.m. For more information call 546-0479.