D42 Recognizes President's Distinguished Clubs

In her email to Igniters, D42 Program Quality Director, Debbie Stearns, DTM wrote:  

"I am absolutely thrilled to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the following clubs for achieving President’s Distinguished status—our highest level of club excellence:

Bow Valley, Cranston Communicators, Wascana, Green Horizons, Fifth Avenue Place, Palliser, Connected Communicators, Fluor Communicators, Dynamically Speaking, Calgary Pacesetters, Igniters, Kepler Astrologers, and Bedstone Olympics.

This outstanding accomplishment reflects your dedication, teamwork, leadership, and unwavering commitment to helping your members succeed and thrive. You set a shining example for the entire district and demonstrate what is possible when we work together toward excellence.

 Attached is a virtual President’s Distinguished ribbon for you to proudly display on your club website—you’ve earned it!"  This is an achievement that all our members will be celebrating.

It is Time to Celebrate!

Come celebrate another outstanding year with your fellow Igniters at our year end party on June 24, 2025! Expect to enjoy:

• Fellowship
• Fun
• Food - potluck
• Awards
• Member Achievements
• Stories and more

More details to come soon.

Good News!

Exciting Elections for New Executive

At our May 27, 2025 meeting, we were delighted to see members step up quickly for positions on the new executive team for 2025-2026. It is a sign of a vibrant, enthusiastic club that in several positions more than one member volunteered. Marvin led us expertly through the nomination and election process. 

New Executive 2025-2026

President -                    Marvin

VP Education -             Ali

VP Membership -         Yvonne

VP Public Relations -    Nandini

Secretary -                     Emma

Treasurer -                     Trish

SAA -                             Elaine

Incoming President, Marvin, thanked the current executive for all their efforts on behalf of the club.

New member inducted

Igniters is delighted to welcome new member, Nora, to our club. Nandini led the induction at the previous meeting and the club stood and gave our newest member a round of applause.

Igniters is a President's Distinguished Club - again!

The club now has 32 members and stands at 4th highest membership in District 42.

The club has achieved 9 out of 10 Distinguished Club points and is on track for 10 before the end of June.

Member Achievements - Triple Crown

Congratulations to two of our members who have achieved triple crown status this year. A triple crown is awarded to members who complete at least three levels in one Toastmaster year.

Ali is working on the Strategic Relationships path and completed levels 2, 3 and 4.

Darlene is working on the Engaging Humour path and completed levels 1, 2 and 3.

Upcoming Events - watch for emails from Ali and Nandini for details.

* Club Officer trainings

* Year end celebration on June 24.

Sweet meeting

During the May 13 meeting, we found out just how sweet an Igniters meeting can be.

When Elaine started her speech, she put on a silver cape and talked about heroes without a cape. She shared heartfelt stories about her beloved mother. One of Elaine's mothers talents was to make the most delicious cinnamon buns and by the time Elaine was finished describing them, we were all hungry. Happily she passed down the recipe to Elaine. At the end of the speech, Elaine surprised us by bringing out some home-baked cinnamon buns for everyone to enjoy. Now that was a sweet prop!

Our Toastmaster, Glen, invited anyone with a speech "in their back pocket" to come forward. Trish quickly volunteered with a funny impromptu speech about her mother. 

New Member Induction:
Nandini formally welcomed new members Ann and Lisa with a spirited induction in which we heard that Ann is writing a book and Lisa is an active sports enthusiast. 

Members stood and gave them an enthusiastic welcome.

Tip of the Week:

When we are brave enough to tell a story, to try something new and risk failing, or simply to take on a role and fumble, we discover that our Toastmaster community will encourage and support us. When we try and fail, we learn. Learning, supporting and laughing together makes us all stronger.

Great News!

Member Achievements

Our club Igniters is once again a Presidents Distinguished Club. Members have been filling the speaking spots and working on leadership projects to complete their goals for this year. A big shout out to the fabulous mentoring team for encouraging and supporting members.

Pathways levels completed in April:

Marvin     - Level 1
Nandini     - Level 2
Darlene     - Level 2 and 3

D42 Conference News

Several members of Igniters were excited to attend the District 42 Toastmaster conference in Lethbridge on May 2-3 2025!

Elaine represented our club with a strong performance in the District Table Topics contest. Our big role was to be there cheering her on and helping out where we could. We all enjoyed the conference activities, speakers, and contests.

It was wonderful to see our friends and Toastmasters from southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta again!

Next years D42 conference will be in Calgary.

Contests, contests and more

District 42 Conference in Lethbridge

The annual district conference will be held on Friday May 2 and Saturday May 3 in Lethbridge. There will be speakers, education sessions, awards, networking, a banquet and dance, and contests. This year the contests will be: Table Topics and International Speech. Each of the district contestants has won contests at the club, area and division levels already.

We are proud to say that the district table topics contestant representing Division E and our club, Igniters, is Elaine. Members of our club will be cheering for her whether they are at the conference or at home. Congratulations, Elaine!!

District 42 Online Contest

This year District 42 offered an online speech contest led by two dynamic Toastmasters: District Online Contest Chair - Nandini, and District Online Chief Judge - Marvin. What a partnership! Igniters is proud of all your contributions to our club and to the District, Nandini and Marvin.

The contest ran smoothly under their direction, with the help of a host of seasoned volunteers - some of whom were from Igniters. See if you can find them. Justin, Mary, Christina, Ksenjia, Russ, Darlene, Lenore, Lina ... and of course the secret judges. 

Congratulations to all the winners!

First:     Olanari Okungbowa     - Division D
Second: Leia Marie                    - Division E
Third:    Iliana Ontiveros            - Division B

Tip of the Week

Elaine, a contestant in the upcoming D42 Table Topics contest in Lethbridge, shares some valuable advice she received at Circle of Gold.

1) Warm up your brain every day before the contest, by asking yourself rapid fire questions - 3 people you admire, 3 stories, 3 pieces of advice, and so on.

2) Ask your club to email you table topics that you can practice.

3) When you see the yellow light, wrap up your speech with a message, call to action or a take away that the audience will remember. 

 Results of the Division E in person contests

There were eight strong contestants in each of the Division E Table Topics and International Speech contests!

Huge congratulations to Elaine who came first in the Table Topics contest! Elaine will now move on to the District 42 contest in Lethbridge on May 3. Nandini said that she answered a difficult question "with confidence and passion".

Darlene represented our club well with her inspiring speech, "An Unexpected Gift". She engaged the audience with her energy and passion but didn't place.

Table Topics                                                 International Speech
1. Elaine (Igniters)                                          1. Michael Nunn (TTP)
2. Alexander Jamieson (CATS)                      2. Wendy Ireland (Literally Speaking)
3. Josh Dech (Crowfoot Communicators)                 3. Mary Schoendorfer (Literally Speaking)

Volunteers from Igniters were: SAA Ksenija, Timers Yvonne and Lenore, Ballot Counter Nandini. Also present were Marvin and Diane. They all made the contestants feel very special.

Congratulations to all who participated as contestants, volunteers and cheering section.

Celebrating members who have completed a level since Oct 1, 2024:

• Ali -          Level 3 and Level 4 in Strategic Relationships
• Chamila - Level 1 in Visionary Communications
• Diane -     Level 4 in Dynamic Leadership
• Nandini -  Level 1 in Engaging Humour
• Darlene -  Level 1 in Engaging Humour

Several more members are working on their final speech for a level. Way to go, Igniters!

Excitement is Building - Igniters is Amazing

Members are working on speech and leadership projects to fulfill their personal goals. When they do that they also make our Igniters club a vibrant and exciting place to be. 😊

Area E6 Speech Contests

What a great turn-out of audience, volunteers and contestants at the in-person Area E6 contests! Our Area E6 Director Fola and her team organized the contest and the delicious treats. Thank you.

International Speech Winners:

IS Contest Toastmaster: Nandini

First: Rick (Westhills)
Second: Darlene (Igniters)
Third: Emma (Igniters) 

Rick and Darlene will go to Division E in-person contest on April 8.

Table Topics Winners:

TT Contest Toastmaster: Ken

First: Elaine (Igniters)

Second: Anna 

Third: Sophia

Elaine and Anna will go on to Division E in-person contest on April 8.

Online Speech Contest Winners: 

Online Contest Toastmaster: Jeff

First: Jeremy (Igniters)

Second: Trish (Igniters)

Jeremy and Trish will compete in the Division E online speech contest on April 16.

Congratulations to all the contestants! We learned a lot from all of you.       

Division E In-Person Contest                Division E Online Speech Contest

Tuesday, April 8 from 6 pm to 9 pm         Wednesday, April 16 from 6 pm

St. David's United Church,                        Register online at d42tm.org

3303 Capitol Hill Cresc. NW                          on the Events Calendar

Tip of the Week:

This is a great spot to share a few words of wisdom or an achievement you are proud of. Please email your script to Darlene. About  50 - 100 words is great! 👍

Example: If we practice speaking using the speech timer lights (see Member Resources tab), we will know how long our speech really is. Result? We will be well prepared and more confident speakers.

Way To Go Igniters!

Club Contest Results

Congratulations to the winners and to all the contestants who participated in the contests!  When members compete in a contest, they stretch themselves to meet the challenge: to become the best speaker they can be, to become more confident. We all feel proud of what they have accomplished. The audience also learned from their speeches, their courage, and their passion for learning. 

Contest Chair Mona and Chief Judge Marvin kept us smiling and on track.

International Speech Contest (in-person)

Contest Toastmaster Diane

1. Darlene

2. Emma

3. Jeff

Table Topics Contest (in-person)

Contest Toastmaster Glen

1. Emma

2. Elaine

3. Ali

Online Speech Contest 

1. Trish

2. Jeremy

3. Ali

The top two contestants from each contest will move on to the Area E6 contests.

We are proud to say that many of these contestants were also working on personal goals and were evaluated silently to get credit for a Pathways speech.

More news:

• A very warm welcome to our new member, Nora, who joined us in February.
• Congratulations to Diane who completed her Level 4 in her path.
• Our club has achieved the 4th highest membership in District 42!

Check Out the Latest News

Three Club Contests coming soon

1) Online Speech Contest: February 25, 2025 

Contestants will deliver a 5-7 minute speech online. Winners will go on to the online Area contest, the online Division and District contests. Every member is eligible to participate. 

For more information about the online contest, contact Contest Chair, Yvonne; or to volunteer as a judge, contact Chief Judge, Marvin.

2) Two In-person Contests: March 4, 2025

Table Topics. Every member is eligible to participate. Contestants will deliver an impromptu answer to a question in 1-2 minutes. Winners will go on to the in-person contest up to and including District.

International Speech contest. Only members who have complete both Levels1 and 2 in Pathways, or have achieved a DTM may participate. This is the only contest which goes on past District to Regional, then World semi-finals and World finals.

For more information about the In-person contests, contact Contest Chair, Mona; or to volunteer as a judge contact Chief Judge, Marvin.

Four new members inducted

Nandini, our VP membership, led a creative new member induction at the last meeting with Igniters' new members: Luis, Slav, Marci and Olu. 

As she introduced each one, she told us a few facts about them to help us to get to know them. Our members gave them a heartfelt welcome with cheering and clapping and a pledge of encouragement and support.

Nandini, also announced that we now have 36 members in our enthusiastic and vibrant club. Way to go, Igniters!

Igniters is Vibrant and Growing

January 21, 2025 News

Igniters now has 33 vibrant, enthusiastic and fun members!

During the meeting, we found out just how important shoes are when Trish presented her Icebreaker speech. Who knew? Congratulations, Trish!

Nandini led a formal induction in which our members enthusiastically welcomed new member, Barbara.

Photos courtesy of Rebecca

With a big drumroll, Nandini also announced the winners of the Fall Open House contest for bringing guests and new members to the club. Luis generously donated a painting for the prize.

Winners:

First place - Marvin, Second place - Bentley and Third place - Darlene; honorary mention - Ksenija

Our Area Director, Fola and her family dropped in and enjoyed the energy in the meeting. We were delighted to welcome several other guests as well. What a fun meeting!

Laughing with the FunnyBones

On Saturday January 18 2025, three contestants were acclaimed winners of the BattleField of the FunnyBones. The audience laughed and clapped as ten contestants shared their funny stories on a wide range of topics, such as: the value of participating in a contest, solving problems, the dangers of going to a doctor and knowing when to Run!!!

After an afternoon of laughter, it was the audience's turn. They were asked to vote for their top three favourites on their smart phones using Menti.com. Marvin, Molly and our District Director, Daisy, guided the technologically impaired and finally the results were in!

The top warriors were:
1st:     Kuda S. with his speech "Run!!!"
2nd:    Jeff K. with his speech "Ignorance is Bliss"
3rd:     Dave D. with his speech "Problem Solved"

Daisy D42 Director, Dave D, Darlene COG, Kuda, Jeff                                        Jey

 

Photos courtesy of Marvin H. and David W.

Congratulations to all the contestants, including our own Jeff and Jey, and to the organizers of this highly entertaining event. 👏😊

While we waited for results, Nandini spoke about the Circle of Gold role in the upcoming contest season. She invited other members of the COG team, Laura and Darlene, to share their experience and a few of the contestants to speak about the value for them. We were excited to hear that most of the contestants and the audience members have been involved in COG in the past!