The Gresham Toastmasters club will celebrate 60 years of having served east county residences with an opportunity to improve their public speaking, listening and thinking abilities in April. The club was charted as Club Number 783 on April 21, 1951. That means it was the 783 club charted by Toastmasters International which now boasts over 12,500 clubs with 260,000 members in 113 countries.

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization whose purpose is to develop in its member’s better listening, thinking and speaking abilities. Making a presentation before a group of people has been cited as the greatest fear or phobia individuals have. Gresham Toastmasters has helped hundreds of individuals overcome that fear, and worldwide over 4 million men and women have benefited from the training.

Another very important part of the Toastmaster program is leadership training. Through Toastmasters International a number of training modules can be purchased and then given by club members. They include a session on Parliamentary Procedure, How to Conduct Meetings, How to Make the Sale, to mention just a few.

Some notable east county business and civic leaders belonged to the group at one time. They have then used the leadership training in their various positions. Ross Morgan, Milt Erickson and Stan Swan, all deceased, belonged to the club for many years. Ross Morgan was a state legislature for several years. Stan Swan was a popular member of the Elks and served on the staffs of Congresswoman Edith Green and Robert Duncan. Milt Erickson was a well known real estate agent. Don Holtzheimer was a prominent local veterinarian and still belongs. Several doctors, lawyers, insurance agents, nursery owners as well as policemen and firefighters from the area have belonged.

Currently, Barb Jones, Fairview city councilor is serving as President. George Miller, retired meteorologist and local author is serving as Vice President of Membership. Several employees of Les Schwab have served as officers in the club and moved on to manager positions. Dianna Gould is an agent for Society for Human Resource Management. Other members include pharmaceutical representatives, accountants, marketing and tax consultants.

Through the years, the Gresham Toastmasters has assisted organizations by providing judges for local and area speech contests. They also have had a program where members bring canned goods to the meeting to be delivered to Sno-Cap.

Gresham Toastmasters is planning a no-host celebration to commemorate its 60 years of existence on Thursday, April 21, 7:00pm at Heidi’s Restaurant in Gresham. Prospective members, as well as former members of the club, are urged to attend and help in the celebration of the club’s 60^th anniversary.

The club holds weekly meetings every Wednesday at 6:30am at the Holiday Inn, 2752 NE Hogan Road. Guests are welcome. Contact Barb Jones 503-329-4666 or George Miller 503-666-9278 for additional information or visit the Toastmasters International website: www.toastmasters.org or local website.

For additional information: Barb Jones 503-329-4666 or George Miller 503-666-9278