Riverbend Toastmasters Henderson, KY

7/08/20

 

A secret find!  

Riverbend is one of those hidden jewels tucked away in a small  unassuming town like my own club.  But its quality rivals any club set in the metropolitan areas. 

Although Riverbend meets in the middle of the day, There was no rushed feel to the meeting and each member seemed excited to meet up at their lunch time. 

 I logged on 10 minutes before the start time and there were already seven people there.  They were talking and laughing and when they saw Steve and me, they just drew us into their little group and made us feel so welcome.  I don’t know if it is custom or if they  did it because we were there but one of the first actions of the club was to have each person introduce themselves and tell something they have celebrated this year.  Steve and I have had a lot to celebrate this year so we were happy to join in the introductions.

 

Toastmaster of the Day, Debbie, took the first part of the meeting to celebrate how the club “accidentally” became President's Distinguished this year.  She discussed losing members, then gaining members. She discussed members doubling up on roles and trying to figure out ways to build membership.  Each member put the pedal to the metal and began earning awards in Pathways.  Debbie named each person by name and listed their contributions to the year's success.  She ended with all of us raising a glass to toast the club.  

I love that they are taking the time to celebrate their successes.  They have 12 members (14 last year) and members have achieved 11 Pathways educational awards and 1 legacy award.  I would like to correct Debbie though...  They actually did not achieve Presidents Distinguished.  They did meet the criteria in number of awards; however, the club had to have a gain of 5 members or have 20 members and from my calculations they did not do that.  Debbie did say that at the first of the year she was despondent that they had lost so many members and she even thought they would have to close the club.  If that’s the case, the club really did a great rebound and though attendance wasn’t met they have a lot to be proud of.  

My home club was just like that.  For a few years we were “President's” in the number of awards but never could reach that membership.  My club kept going though, each year adding a few more members, never giving up.  And with the enthusiasm I saw at today’s meeting, I think Riverbend may just hit “President’s Distinguished” for real in the coming years.  

 

Riverbend Toastmasters is doing so many things that stand out in my opinion.  Their business meeting is at the END of the meeting.  I am so in favor of this.  That way, visitors are not held hostage at a business meeting that they really don’t want to be a part of, especially if it gets a little “heated” and I have seen them get that way. 

Their website site is fantastic.  They have a short role-playing video of someone actually dying of public speaking.  It is hilarious and so creative!  I was told that Lewis, the VPPR at the time made this video for a contest the district was having.  It is no wonder that this video actually won in their district.  This is something so creative that I recommend all Toastmasters take a gander at.  I don’t think Riverbend will care if you steal the idea and put it on your website.  I already told them that my club will be stealing the idea and they seemed OK with it. 

 

Another PR tool that they use successfully is Facebook.  I enjoyed going onto their Facebook page and seeing all the current  pictures. I noticed that the picture of today’s meeting was already there.  Someone is really on the ball!   Looking at all the pictures of the activities the club had this past year told the story of a fun, exciting group.  If I lived a little closer, this is definitely a club I would consider joining.

 

Other than my club, I have never seen a club recognize its members accomplishments as much as I saw today.  One award that I guess I took for granted was the Triple Crown award.  My district recognizes those who get three awards in a year and we each get a Triple Crown pin.  Apparently the district of Riverbend does not do this and it was announced that Nicole got a Triple Crown and the club will be buying her a triple crown pin.  I guess I need to appreciate my district more in recognizing our accomplishments.  I did not realize it is not something that all districts do.

 

Another plus for Riverbend is before the meeting they asked Steve and me to be grammarian and ah counter.  I loved that they just jumped in and asked since numbers were low.  Of course,  this made Steve and me feel even more a part of their family.  And that hits the nail on the head.  This club had a family feel.  You could tell from listening to them how much they appreciated each other and have become friends.   

 

One more thing that stood out was the speaker, Brian.  He had had a stroke and his speech was affected.  Giving speeches in Toastmasters has helped him enormously and he really did a great job.  There have been two others that I know about who were members of my club that Toastmasters helped them when they lost their ability to speak well.  Who knew Toastmasters can even help a person after they have had a stroke. 

 

This was definitely a great find and in my own home state!  There was high energy and enthusiasm.  Definitely a club people should visit to see how a midday club does it right!