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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 24 ,2 01 9 | 4 It's difficult to quietly go unnoticed at a Halton Hills Toastmasters meeting. I dropped in Monday eve- ning, relatively unan- nounced, hoping I could sneak in, get a spot some- where in the back and shoot some photos. Instead, as soon as I creaked the door open to en- ter the area in the back of St. Alban the Martyr Church, in Glen Williams, I was greeted by just about every- one in the room. Cheryl Bates, the vice- president of education, be- gan digging through a large bin and pulled out a blank name card and whiteboard marker, placing them both in front of me. Before I could even say thank you, Toast- master Brenda LaRose handed me a glass of water, then sat back down beside me. "You'll need this for the toast," she said. It was a night of inclem- ent weather, roads were icy, and the room that usually hosts about 24 people on Monday evenings held just about half that, with mem- bers filling in for the roles of those who could not attend. The club, which began in Halton Hills 35 years ago, is a branch of the non-profit educational organization Toastmasters Internation- al. It gives members the tools to improve their public speaking abilities, overall confidence and leadership skills, with weekly practice and support from fellow members. I sat down, and the meet- ing ensued, with a greeting, call to order, confirmation of the agenda and, of course, the toast. Then there is a portion on the agenda where new- comers to the group, myself included, are invited to say a little something about themselves. I introduced myself and specified the purpose for my visit: I'm a journalist. I work for the Independent and Free Press. I'm looking to write a story - the typical in- troduction. I thought I was done. But that wouldn't be the last time I would stand up and speak. After introducing the word of the week (this week's word was conviviali- ty), which the group is en- couraged to try to use in their speeches throughout the evening, they began an activity called Table Topics. Normally, during Table Topics, one person is given a word or phrase and has one minute to prepare a speech about it. They then have be- tween 30 seconds and one minute to deliver that speech to the group, while being timed by a person tak- ing on the role of the timer for the evening. This week, the group de- cided to shake things up and give everyone an opportuni- ty to speak for a minute (if they wanted to), including me. The word was "commit- ment." I rambled on about my cats (I promise it was rele- vant), before sitting down, thinking, "What the heck did I just say?" OPINION WHAT GOES ON AT HALTON HILLS TOASTMASTERS? I ATTENDED A MEETING TO FIND OUT IT'S DIFFICULT TO QUIETLY GO UNNOTICED AT A HALTON HILLS TOASTMASTERS MEETING, VERONICA APPIA WRITES Halton Hills Toastmasters from left to right: Dong Zhu, Rob Pillar, Corwin Wills, Brenda LaRose, Cheryl Bates, Qamar Khawaja, Everett Lukacs, Gabrielle Ching-Johnson and Michael Lockwood. Veronica Appia/Metroland See - page 5 VERONICA APPIA Column Jack Dylan Taylor April 2, 2018 Madison Jessica Jolly May 26, 2018 Khloe Mila Snow January 5, 2018 Braylyn Harley Marian Cowen November 14, 2018 Andrew Alexander Fraser January 25, 2018 Nicolas Cameron Estrada October 26, 2018 Brady Philip Hyland January 13, 2018 Ayva Elizabeth Barry & Audrey Rose Barry October 31, 2018 2018 BABY HONOUR ROLL