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?
VOICES! | OCTOBER 2019 21