few years ago caused a flurry of concerned phone calls afterward, but it turned out that they wanted what every other guests wanted:
to become better speakers. They joined and they did.
Members from diverse professions have joined over the years, from accountants, administrators, attorneys, realtors and financial planners
to a former Canadian hockey player, retired United Airlines pilot, Yugoslavian doctor, Chinese researcher, musician, radio DJ, toxicologist,
travel agent, hazardous waste engineer and many more, adding to the creativity and cultural richness of the speeches and table topics,
Lockhart said.
One woman honed her comedy improv and speaking skills, another honed her keynote speech skills, and a third practiced cooking demonstrations
to go on to paid gigs. One man became a leader in the Colorado state legislature and is running for office again. Members have practiced toasts
for weddings, eulogies for funerals and major speeches for professional conferences.
Speech topics have ranged from very personal to serious to seriously witty. Some very personal topics covered dating, marriage, divorce,
teenagers, traumatic childhoods, etc. More serious topics have included airline safety, radon gas, cigarette smoking, radio-active and medical
wastes, obituaries, benefits of failure and a simple explanation of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
One former member did an entire speech with homonym pairs (using a word with the same pronunciation, but different meanings). Another member
did a speech filled with malapropisms (mistakingly using a word in place of a familiar one.)
Club members’ demonstration speeches have covered bicycling, skiing the bumps, kayaking, sailing, judo, backpacking, gourmet cooking, acting
as a villain in a melodrama, using a condom (banana as prop), packing a parachute, serving tea Morroccan style and using Knox gelatin for hair
before synchronized swimming.
Members of the club have sponsored eight new clubs over the years, mostly in the Denver area, but also in Shanghai, China, and in Chicago.
Two members started the District 26 Toastmasters University in 1992, which was soon renamed Toastmasters Leadership Institute. The club also
has had two mother-daughter teams.
Lockhart said the club’s history is interesting, but the most important thing is how many people the club has helped in gaining speaking
and leadership skills useful in their careers, communities and personal lives. She said, "Members have literally bloomed like flowers in
front of our eyes–and we couldn’t be prouder."