• YA Publication Deadlines/Schedule
• New Fall '08 issue of the Yankee Activator is now available. Download the pdf file (1.6 Mbyte) today.
  -- Mary Rarogiewicz, Editor

Spring 2008 News Items

• At the Spring Conference held in Holyoke, MA on May 17th, the District 53 Council elected the top three District officers to serve from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. They are:

  Karin von Känel, ACB, ALS District Governor	Marsha Kiley, ACS Lt. Gov. Education & Training	Dave Wheeler, DTM Lt. Gov. Marketing

• The District 53 Council also elected five of the six Division Governors to serve from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. They are:

  Alison Easton, CC, CL Division A Governor	Judith Chambers, CC, CL Division B Governor	Jay Discount, ACB, CL Division C Governor

  Richard Peck, ACB Division D Governor	* Croix Sather, ACB, ALS Division E Governor	Jeff Sobel, ACB, ALB Division F Governor

• District 53 Tall Tales Speech Contest Results

  - 1st Place - Douglas Comstock Windsor Toastmasters Division B	- 2nd Place - William Miranda Yale Toastmasters Division D	- 3rd Place - Carmine Coco DeYoung West-Conn Toastmasters Division A
  Don Countermine Clifton Park Toastmasters Division F	Jim Kenny Air Line Trail Toastmasters Division C	John Meeks Last Word Toastmasters Division E
  Photos taken by Bill Watson, Mass Mutual Toastmasters

• District 53 International Speech Contest Results

  - 1st Place - Nana Danso Socially Speaking Division A	- 2nd Place - Jerry Wistrom Greater Hartford Division B	- 3rd Place - Marvin Cross Nutmeg Toastmasters Division D
  Glen Cope MassMutual Toastmasters Division E	Dhaval Thakkar GE Schenectady Speakers Division F	Liz Trendowski Air Line Trail Division C
  Photos taken by Bill Watson, MassMutual Toastmasters

• Former NASA Astronaut Receives C&L Award
  Daniel T. Barry, M.D., Ph.D, scientist, retired NASA astronaut, and reality TV contestant was selected as one of approximately 80 outstanding leaders throughout the world to receive the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership award. The C&L Award is presented to a non-Toastmaster who has demonstrated outstanding communication and leadership skills in the District 53 community as defined by over 130 Toastmaster Clubs in Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, and Eastern New York.
  Dr. Barry is currently President of Denbar Robotics of South Hadley, MA and spends his time creating robotic assistants for home and commercial use; concentrating on assistive devices for people with disabilities. Daniel Barry received his award at the Toastmasters District 53 Spring Conference on May 17, 2008 at The Delaney House, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
• Toastmasters and District 53 Recognize Corporate Sponsors and Supporters
  
  • Toastmasters International is now making a new award to corporations who a supportive of Toastmasters and who are deserving of recognition. On Monday, April 21, 2008, MassMutual Financial Group was so recognized. Val Albert, DTM, International Director and Will Ryan, DTM District 53 Governor presented the award to MassMutual. Accepting the award were Debra Palermino, Senior Vice President, Corporate Human Resources and Robert Phillips, Vice President, Enterprise Talent Development & Acquisition.
    
    
    L-R: Will Ryan, Distric 53 Governor; Debra Palermino, Senior Vice President; Corporate Human Resources; Robert Phillips, Vice President, Enterprise Talent Development & Acquisition; Val Albert, DTM, International Director for Region VII
  • On Tuesday, May 20, CIGNA was so recognized. Will Ryan, DTM District 53 Governor presented the award to CIGNA of Bloomfield, CT. Accepting the award was Michael Murphy from CIGNA University.
    
• Welcome - Club #1171536, Tech Valley Toastmasters, Troy, NY
  The Club meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursday at 12:00 noon at Pitney Bowes Software,
  One Global View, Troy, NY. Membership eligibility criteria required (R).
  The club was chartered on May 1st and is assigned to Area F3.
• Welcome - Club #1174476, UBS Stamford Toastmasters, Stamford, CT
  The Club meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursday at 12:00 noon at UBS, 400 Atlantic St, Stamford, CT. Membership eligibility criteria required (R). The club was chartered on May 1st and is assigned to Area D3. The club Mentor is Malcolm Dickinson, ACB. The club Sponsors are Richard J. Begley, CTM, CL and Thomas A. Dowd, CC.
  
• Welcome - Club #1135247, Nerac, Inc, Tolland, CT
  The Club meets once monthly on Tuesday at 11:00 am at Nerac, Inc, 1 Technology Dr, Tolland, CT. Membership eligibility criteria required (R). The club was chartered on March 31st and is assigned to Area C4. The club Mentor is Area C4 Governor Arnie Holmes, ACS. The club Sponsors are LGM Marsha Kiley, ACB, CL and Arnie Holmes, ACS.
• Welcome - Club #1148625, PUB Toastmasters, Bridgeport, CT
  The Club meets at 12:00 pm every 1st and 3rd Thursday and every 2nd and 4th Tuesday at Peoples United Bank, 850 Main St, Bridgeport Center, Bridgeport, CT. Open to all (O).
  The club was chartered on March 11th and is assigned to Area D5. The club Mentors are Fred Ferris and Ed Borsuk from UHC Toastmasters. The club Sponsor is Tom Fitch from Nutmeg (Division D Governor).

Winter 2008 News Items

• New Times article features District 53's own Dave Wheeler
• Welcome - Club #1114303, YCC Express, South Deerfield, MA
  The Club meets at 12:00 pm and 5:15 pm every 2nd and 4th Wednesday at YCO Building (First Floor), 16 Yankee Candle Way, South Deerfield, MA in the Computer Training Room. Membership eligibility criteria required (R). The club was chartered on January 16th and is assigned to Area E2. The club Mentors are Cathie McCoy, ATMB and Mike Finn, ACG, CL. The club Sponsor is Mike Finn, ACG, CL.

Fall 2007 News Items

IPDG John Lynch, DTM presents the 2006-07 "Of The Year"Awards

• 2006 - 2007 Hall of Fame Honorees

Frank Kane, DTM Toastmaster of The Year

Marvin Cross, ACS, ALS Division Governor of The Year

Michael Aron, ACS, CL Area Governor of The Year

• There's More ... about our outstanding "Of The Year" Toastmasters and recognition of the 2006-07 Distinguished, Select Distinguished, and President's Distinguished Area and Division Governors.

The host Division A Governor, Dave Wheeler, DTM, says "The speech contests were INCREDIBLE !" Congratulations to all speech contestants!

In the morning six speakers from our six Divisions competed in the Table Topics Speech Contest. The Contestmaster was Glenn Harrison (Uncle Sam #1138) and his challenging question was "You have written your personal autobiography of success. It is on the best sellers list. Tell us three themes that have impacted your success in life and explain why?" The speaker with the first place response was Marv Cross of UHC Toastmasters in Trumbull, CT (Division D). The first runner-up was Kathleen Zap of BI Toastmasters in Ridgefield, CT (Division A) and the second runner-up was Liz Trendowski of Air Line Trail Toastmasters in Colchester, CT (Division C).

After the evening banquet, the Toastmasters and their guests were treated to an outstanding display of humor and speaking talent in the District Humorous Speech contest. The Contestmaster, Bill Corbett (MassMutual #5716) introduced and interviewed each of our six Division speakers. At the end, the speaking results were announced: 1st Place Winner Brian Cavanaugh of Sikorsky-DCMA Toastmasters in Stratford, CT (Division D); 1st Runner-Up Nana Danso of BI Toastmasters in Ridgefield, CT (Division A); and 2nd Runner-Up Michael Wagner of Greater Hartford Toastmasters in Hartford, CT (Division B).

Other speech contestants were Steve Samalot (B), Thomas Southard (E), James Zhang (F), David Thackston (C), Jorge Mullen (E), and Norm Miller (F) Congratulations to all speech contestants!

At the end of the day we note that the top speakers in District 53 are from Division D, Area D5

• The District Table Topics Contest Winner:
  • Marv Cross of UHC Toastmasters in Trumbull, CT
• The District Humorous Speech Contest Winner:
  • Brian Cavanaugh of Sikorsky-DCMA Toastmasters in Stratford, CT

• NEW DTM Badges in District 53
  Toastmasters International is proud to announce that Dave Wheeler, DTM has joined the elite group of Distinguished Toastmasters (DTM). Dave recently completed all requirements for his Advanced Leader (ALS), Advanced Communicator Gold (ACG) awards and filed for his DTM recognition. He served as Area A4 Governor ('05-'06) and is currently serving as Division A Governor.
  
  Dave Wheeler, DTM received his DTM recognition on November 2, 2007. He is an active member of
  • West-Conn Toastmasters Club #599, an open community Club that meets in Area A4 at Wooster School Library in Danbury, CT
  • Socially Speaking Club #4720, an open community club that meets at the Congregational Church in Brookfield, CT
  • DiversityUSA Club #3401, an advanced club that meets at the Ridgefield Library in Ridgefield, CT
• Welcome - Club #1069071, Farmington Speaks, Farmington, CT
  The Club meets at 3:00 pm every Wednesday at Bank Of America, 70 Batterson Park Rd, Farmington, CT. Membership eligibility criteria required (R). The club was chartered on August 28th and is assigned to Area D4. The club Mentor is Margaret Goodrow, CTM. The club Sponsor is Aliena K. Ali.
• Welcome - Club #988118, Greater Bridgeport Toastmasters, Bridgeport, CT
  The Club meets at 12:00 pm every 1st and 3rd Wednesday at 350 Fairfield Ave 3rd Floor, Bridgeport, CT. Open to all. The club was chartered on October 10th and is assigned to Area D5. The club Mentors are Konrad Eldracher, CL and Brian Cavanaugh, ATMG. The club Sponsors are Raymond Durkin, ACB, ALB and John Bate, CTM, CL.

• D53 News - July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007
• D53 News - July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006
• D53 News - July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005