Meeting 1187 - St Martin's Day

Remembrance, Reflection & a Little Mystery: Sandgate Toastmasters, 11 November 2025

Meeting 1187

2024 Execs — officially President’s Distinguished!

Our St Martin's Day/Remembrance Day meeting was one to remember — equal parts warmth, wit, and wonderful speeches. With six guests in attendance, the room was alive with energy as we honoured both Remembrance Day and St Martin’s Day, celebrating generosity and community in true Sandgate spirit.

Word Master - Carmy

President Helen and the executive team were congratulated for achieving the President’s Distinguished Award in 2024, and we proudly welcomed returning member Josh back to the club.

Our Toastmaster for the evening, Christiane, guided the night seamlessly. Jonathon’s toast—a touching tribute to his grandfather’s generosity—set the tone beautifully, proposing a heartfelt “toast to generosity.” The Word of the Evening, chosen by Carmy, was Memorial, reminding us of the significance of remembrance.

During the Round Robin, members reflected on whether Remembrance Day remains important today — and it was clear from the thoughtful responses that it truly does.

Prepared Speeches

1. Jillian opened with "The Art of Insights" (and how she became a gamer) — a witty, self-reflective piece exploring creativity and learning through play. (Evaluator: Arun)

2. Maddy followed with First Impressions, a fresh and relatable look at perception and authenticity. (Evaluator: Marlene)

3. Helen, joined by Peter and John, closed the session with the delightfully dramatic "The Mysterious Case of the Missing Easyspeak" — complete with theme music, quick wit, and a dose of 'it’s not a crime, it’s a strategy'. (Evaluator: Paul)

Marlene and Maddy

Helen, Peter and John T

Business & Table Topics

Carmy chaired the business meeting, keeping it short and sweet, Sandgate style, before Jonathon took the stage for a creative Table Topics session:

• When has someone’s kindness surprised you? — Josh

• Who or what do you want to remember with gratitude? — Scarlett

• In honour of Singles Day, how would you treat yourself? — TJ

• Have you ever been unexpectedly asked to lead? — Chris

• If you were to invent a patron saint of Sandgate, who would it be? — Peter

Returning member Josh evaluated the even table topics, while John T acted as General Evaluator, praising the team for their confident delivery and constructive feedback.

Awards & Highlights

Award Recipients: Helen, Chris (President), Peter, & Paul

🏆 Best Speech: Jillian and Helen (& Co.)
🌟 Most Improved: Jillian
💬 Best Table Topic: Peter
📝 Best Evaluator: Paul
🎉 Word of the Evening Winner: Christiane
🎟️ Raffle Winner: Carmy

Raffle Master - Chris

Special thanks to Eoin for keeping perfect time and to Chris for providing the raffle and closing the meeting with warmth and enthusiasm, as well as to all our guests for making the night extra special.

We’ll be back on 25 November for our next gathering — and if this meeting was any indication, it’s sure to be another night of laughter, learning, and community.

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Area 8 Conference 2025

 

Thanks to Area Director Gail and everyone else who contributed, the Area Conference was a great success.

Area 8 Director Gail

Conference MC Chris

Area 8 consists of four Toastmasters Clubs, North Lakes, Peninsula, Redcliffe and Sandgate.

Trophies

Sandgate Banner

10 members of our Sandgate Toastmasters club attended the conference. Paul, Christiane, Gail, John, Chris, Liz, Marlene, Helen as well as TJ and Eoin (not in photo.) It was good to have Liz back from the UK.

Sandgate TM members

Sandgate Toasmasters
Gail, Liz, John, Eoin, TJ, Marlene, Christiane, Chris,Paul, Helen.

After an Area Council meeting, the first contest was Evaluation. Test Speaker Kate presented a speech, then all the contestants were ushered out of the room and brought in one by one to deliver their evaluation of the speech.

Test Speaker Kate

Evaluation Contestants

The winner was Allan from Redcliffe Toastmasters with Helen second and Christiane third. (Both from Sandgate Toastmasters.)

Evaluation Place Getters
1st Allan, 2nd Helen, 3rd Christiane

Morning tea followed- a great opportunity to meet and greet old and new friends.

And to buy raffle tickets.

Raffle Prizes

There were 4 contestants in the Humorous Speech Contest, hosted by Chris. 

Humorous Speech Contestants

The winner was Christiane (Sandgate,) with Monica (Redcliffe) second and John (Sandgate) third.

Humorous Speech Place Getters
1st Christiane, 2nd Monica, 3rd John.

There were 8 participants in the Table Topics Contest. The topic was "If I could change one thing in my life."

Table Topics Contestants

The winner was Helen (Sandgate,) with Christiane (Sandgate) 2nd and Penny (Redcliffe) 3rd.

Table Topics Place Getters
1st Helen, 2nd Christiane, Penny 3rd.

The final contest was the International Speech Contest. Christiane came first, Di (from Redcliffe) 2nd and Helen 3rd.

International Speech Contestants

International Speech Place Getters (with Barbara & Gail)
1st Christiane, 2nd Di, 3rd Helen

Christiane 

Congratulations to all contestants. Thank you to Area Director Gail for organising a successful Conference, the Contest MCs, the judges especially Chief Judge Jenny and to the Timers, Sergeant at Arms, Ballot Counters, kitchen helpers and anyone else who should have been mentioned.

Chief Judge Jenny with Karla (Inside Edge TM)

Special mention to Emma Comer - Federal member for Petrie, Chris Whiting State member for Bancroft and Anika Wells Federal Member for Lilley for their generous donations.