Page 21 - October 2019
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quite perplexed and so I’m told,
      a little pale—“ghostly white”
      myself. Fast forward a day

      or two when my mother
      was visiting with our 86-year
      old neighbor (also of Cornish
      heritage) and mentioned this to her,

      for  which she replied with a laugh, “Oh, so
      he saw him? That’s old man Peters. He sat in
      that window for years in his rocking chair until
      he died.” Confirmed, verified by another witness

      and now acceptance. Other things happened to
      family members, and while nothing was ever
      evil, violent, or scary (aka the horror movie)s,
      one tends to begin the process from skepticism

      to acceptance to belief.
          I have another belief that I want to share
      with you this month. And yes, it’s scary, spooky
      and can be considered harmful and evil. It’s our        district leader’s face pale as if they have seen

      Toastmasters Club’s membership.                         a ghost. But if that was all, this next fact could
          It’s October. The entire Toastmasters world         be called the scariest of all—27 clubs have low
      renewed their membership to begin the new               membership, i.e. do not have 8 or more members
      six-month registration cycle of October 1 through       to be considered a club in good standing. We

      March 31, 2020. How did your club (or clubs)            don’t need Stephen King or R.J. Stine to tell us
      fare? Did you retain 100% of your membership?           that something wicked comes this way!
      Did you hold an open house or participate in                Here’s a couple of suggestions for you and
      the Toastmaster’s Smedley Award membership              your club if you are struggling with membership

      campaign?                                               so far. No, you don’t need to consult the Witches
          Clearly, we are facing a challenge already in       of Endor. My first suggestion is to analyze your
      our new program year of 2019-2020. Nine clubs           membership losses in September. Why did they
      have not renewed, a fact guaranteed to turn any         leave your club and not renew their membership?




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