Rochester Chamber Toastmasters Talker |
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Guests welcome! In-person or online
Thursdays, 7-8 a.m., CT USA
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It's nice to finish up with time to spare. Despite Covid-19 and its fallout on our ability to meet in-person, Rochester Chamber Toastmasters will yet again be a President's Distinguished Club.
It is the highest honor Toastmasters International can bestow upon a club. It signifies the club's members have made an extraordinary commitment to meeting goals of training, recruitment, and educational achievement.
The club had until July to meet the award requirements. This is the first year all of the club's educational goals have been completed in the Pathways program. Club President Tim Amert is understandably proud of everyone and the recognition for a lot of hard work.
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Education achievement is a big factor in reaching President's Distinguished Club status.
Congratulations to Nhien Chau for completing level 2 of the Toastmasters Leadership Development Pathway.
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Congratulations are also in order for Julia Pinevich who is making her way through the Innovative Planning Pathway. She recently completed level 2. |
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Kudos to Ed Stites for finishing level 1 Team Collaboration in Toastmasters Pathways. |
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Mahathi Kandimalla proved her Presentation Mastery skills as she completed level 1 in Toastmasters Pathways. |
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He's going for the laughs and Tim Amert has completed the level 1 Pathway for Engaging Humor. |
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Annie Sun is proving distance is not a limitation. She recently moved back to Boston and has finished level 1 of the Pathways Dynamic Leadership. |
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Ashley is marking a milestone with her recent completion of level 1 Motivational Strategies Pathway. |
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Karpagam Maran is making great progress in the Presentation Mastery Pathway and has completed level 4. One more to go! |
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Rick Lien issued a challenge last month. He urged club members to put more members in the room than on Zoom.
It didn't hurt that he was offering free breakfast when 17 members showed up on a recent morning and another 9 more Zoomed in.
Our in-person attendance at Charlie's continues to grow as the pandemic begins to ease. If you missed out on the breakfast club fun, check out the video below for the highlights and join us in the room if you can.
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Back to the 'Room'
May Not Come Soon
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Will Rochester Chamber Toastmasters ever return to its favorite conference room at the Chamber of Commerce's downtown offices?
Not if Covid-19 continues to create social distancing limitations. Chamber representatives recently told us that while the conference room will re-open sometime this Summer, they will likely limit the number of people who can meet at one time to eight.
The club has a current membership of 28 and more than a dozen people show up in-person each week. We're grateful to Rick Lien and Charlie's for allowing us to hold our hybrid meetings in their space on Thursday mornings.
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'Hanna's Dream Ride'
Takes Shape
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The final edits have been made, the cover art is finished and an audio recording is being created to go along with club member Hanna Elshoff-Wahler's forthcoming book.
"Hanna’s Dream Ride" chronicles her journey across the United States in a solar-assisted bicycle.
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Fellow Toastmaster George Thompson offered this review of the collection of stories:
"Hanna has written a humorous, easy-to-read book of her adventures of riding her electric cycle and raising money for a very good cause. She is the most adventurous hardheaded German lady that I have ever met.
She shares that the two most important life lessons she has learned are honesty and integrity, in her travels and interactions with people. When Hannah said to me in April of 2015 that she was going to depart on a 2-year Bicycle ride I suggested that she shouldn’t.
She said she wanted to ride across the USA to show her appreciation for the American soldiers who liberated her family, and she was going to go. In her determined persistent way, she went on the ride, and in her persistent way, she wrote an excellent book that encompasses that ride. As a side note, she covers her family history as well.
It is a powerful example of the power of believing in oneself and the power of Toastmasters."
At last check, no publication date has been set for the book. Watch Hanna share some stories from her adventure in the video below.
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Jerome Lensing
I was born and raised in Wabasso, Minnesota on a family farm, which is about 30 miles east of Marshall.
I am the eldest of seven children: four sisters and two brothers. I am married to Jeri Lynn. On June 14th we will have been married 47-years. We are blessed with three children: Nick, Elizabeth, and Kathryn, who have blessed us with five grandkids: Nick – August; Elizabeth - Lindsay and Rachel; Kathryn - Kaitlynn, and Abrianna. We have lived in several towns, with Rochester being our final home since all our children and grandkids live in Rochester!
I enjoy volunteering with my church; I am also a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Optimist Club: I enjoy working on projects with them. You could say my real hobby is spending time with my kids and grandkids; and attending their many activities.
I was a member of a Toastmasters Club in Sioux Falls, South Dakota several years ago.
I found Rochester Chamber Toastmasters via Facebook. I attended several meetings via Zoom land and in-person. After a couple of in-person meetings, I felt I was always welcomed and decided it was time to join the club.
Among the many things you should know about me is I have a great smile, I enjoy life, I am willing to go the extra mile for people, I have a love of nature and the beauty it provides us, and I enjoy learning new skills and finding new opportunities.
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Kat Hussein
My name is Khadra, but I go by Kat. I am from Rochester, Minnesota, and currently, live here with my family.
I enjoy traveling and have been to various countries such as Jamaica, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Somalia, and Uganda. I plan on traveling to Honduras soon. I also enjoy reading, hiking, playing chess, and exercising both at the gym and outdoors.
I joined Toastmasters to work on my public speaking skills. All my years, I have been thinking public speaking is a natural talent; One either has it or doesn't. Two years ago, I shared my fear of public speaking with a mentor, and she suggested Toastmasters and credited her achievements to the club she belonged to.
At the time, I lived in St. Paul and had been unable to locate a club I wanted to join. I moved back to Rochester last year at the start of the pandemic. During the lockdown, I wanted to continue working on self-improvement and one area I still found myself needing to work on was my public speaking.
I began examining local clubs and was a bit disheartened due to the nature of the meetings being online. Nonetheless, I decided to no longer put this on hold, and through my research on Google, I found Rochester Chamber Toastmasters.
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Ruth Poule
I was born and raised in Southeast Michigan. That makes me a troll, and I can also show you the state map I always carry on the end of my right arm. I'll save the explanation of the previous sentence for a future speech.
I've been pretty much surrounded by men for my entire life. I had three brothers, no sisters. I took advanced math in grade school and majored in math for my bachelor’s degree and studied computer science for my master's from the University of Michigan (THE one and only U of M).
I worked at IBM for 13 years and have been working in the Special Purpose Processor Development Group at Mayo Clinic for the last 11-years.
I have three sons, no daughters; both our guinea pig and Moluccan Cockatoo are males. I treasure the rare occasions I can get together with other women!
My extra-curricular activities include woodworking, gardening, and Boy Scout activities with my sons.
I was a Toastmaster for about 20 years as a member of various clubs, including IBM, Mayo High Nooners, and Lunch Bunch. I let my membership lapse a couple of years ago, but Craig managed to cajole me into coming to Chamber Toastmasters.
I love the diversity of your group, and the time and location work out well. My goal is to continue to keep my communication skills sharp and develop mentoring and coaching skills to use in my activities with youth.
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Exercise Fun with Annie Sun |
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Good, creative fun is always welcome at Rochester Chamber Toastmasters meetings.
Annie Sun brought her aerobic exercise acumen to a recent gathering.
We're known more for our limber tongues than bodies, but leave it to Annie "Stretches" Sun to get us on our feet and to put our sedentary meeting habits on the run.
We might have to make this a regular thing. Check out the video above.
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More and more things are being read and found on smartphones than on regular computers these days.
Rochester Chamber Toastmasters is adapting to keep up with the times. We've optimized our web site for mobile phone users.
This means it will be easier for folks to not only find us on their smartphones, but to have a better experience using them to learn more about us.
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