Igniters were out in force at the Division J contest Friday night, and brought home some new hardware in the Division Awards and the Humorous Speech Contest.
Igniters won Newsletter of the Year, for what, the third year in a row? Congratulations to the editor, Eden. She has really thrown down the gauntlet for whatever brave soul is supposed to follow that act.
And I won the division humorous speech contest. I really want to thank again everyone who helped me refine The Evilution of Rock over the last few weeks. Those little bits of paper you collect after a speech? They're actually full of insightful and useful advice! I never really sat down with them and studied them, for two reasons -- one, there haven't been many occasions on which I plan to do a speech more than once. And two, by habit, I've always been kind of solitary in the creative process. I thought I didn't like collaborating. But last night was the sixth time through that speech for me. I've had the time and the motivation to really think about peoples' suggestions, and incorporate a lot of them. When I look at the difference between round one and six, I can see how much I've learned from everyone at the club. Thanks, everyone!
There is just one more round to go: the District 42 Conference, at the Coastal Hotel and Convention Centre, Lethbridge, Nov. 4 - 6. If there are options for car-pooling, let's discuss them after the meeting on Tuesday.

- Dave Brown

Area Contest

Congratulations to Terri and Dave, winners of our club table topics and humorous speech contests. Come and cheer them on at the as they represent Igniters at the area contest, at the University of Calgary Student Council Chambers, MacEwan Student Centre. Thursday, Oct. 6, from 7 pm to 9 pm with registration at 6:30.

It's been a whirlwind summer for Igniters, and we've had some accomplishments that should be recognized:

• Glen Brown, one of the most experienced and supportive long-term Toastmasters around serves our club well in executive roles, and with his keen evaluations and hilarious style as toastmaster. And now Glen has turned his energy back to planned speeches and reached his long-sought Advanced Communicator Silver award. That's about 20 speeches and two presentations, and more work than even that sounds like. Congratulations Glen!






• Garrett Ulmer, last year's district Humorous Speech champion, continues at full speed, and reached Advanced Communicator Bronze with a side-splitting speech about an oblivious uncle versus a rambunctious dog. Congratulations Garrett!