South County Toastmasters Club 1957
Meeting Location: Sunset Hills Community Center
Call to Order: 6:30 p.m.
Guests: Brendan Flynn, Matt Reinholz, Matthew Jethro , Wa King He, Lisa Nelson, Herb Villaflores, Holly Robinson (7)
Minutes: Posted
Officer Reports:
President: Brent Stewart-No Report
VPE: Jim Salih-
- Youth Leadership for teens ages 12-17 will start on February 17th, 2025, for 8 weeks, every Tuesday, in the same room at the Sunset Hills Community Center, from 6.30 to 8.00 pm. It’s free. Please help recommend it or help spread the flyers.
- The club contest is coming on January 28th, 2026, for international and humorous speech contests. Please contact Jim for more details.
- Google form for February schedule will be sent next week
VPM: Vicky Kolaks -No Report
VPPR: Debbie Young-No Report
Treasurer: Nicholas Murphy-No Report
Sergeant-at-Arms: Brian Scarpace-No Report
Secretary: Sylvia Awondatu-No Report
Unfinished Business: None.
Committee Reports: None.
New Business:
- New members induction: Brendan Flynn. Rich Puskarich will be his mentor.
- A new slate of officers is installed with a slight change in the Sergeant of Arms. Driss Madjoub will be replaced by Amy Kelemen.
- President – Brent Stewart; Vice President Education – Jim Salih; Vice President Membership – Sylvia Awondatu; Vice President Public Relations – Debbie Young; Treasurer – Brian Scarpace; Secretary – Tom Braun; Sergeant at Arms – Amy Kelemen.
- Brent, as the current and former President, also mentioned that we, as a club, want to achieve the Smedley Distinguished Award, which is the highest. We have around 7/10 achieved. We need some pathways completed, 1 more member, and newly installed officers trained.
- Executive meetings are planned to be held on Feb 2nd (after all officers are trained), April 6 (to follow up with the Smedley award), and June 8 (after new officers for the next term are installed).
- Howard Brandt is the founder of South County Toastmasters (SCTM), where he has consistently emphasized maintaining high standards. In his honor, the Howard Brandt Quality Committee was established to ensure that SCTM’s quality remains consistently high. The club has been recognized as the best in District 8. During the upcoming business meeting, Brent will share educational content on various roles and detail the initiatives undertaken by the Howard Brandt Quality Committee over the years to uphold the club’s standards of excellence.
Correspondence and Announcements: None.
Business Meeting Adjourned: 6:50 pm.
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Meeting Theme: New Beginnings
Toastmaster: Brent Stewart
Table Topics Master: J.D. Perper
General Evaluator: Debbie Young
Grammarian: Rob VanWinkle
Timer: Brian Scarpace
Wizard of Ahs: Rich Puskarich
Vote Counter: Tom Braun
Invocator: Rob VanWinkle
Jokemaster: Andrew Held
Speaker 1: Jim Salih
Speaker 2: Jim Bubash
Speaker 3: –
Speaker 4: –
Evaluator 1: Ed Kovarik
Evaluator 2: Alan Kirby
Evaluator 3: –
Evaluator 4: –
Word of the Day: Extol (0)
Ah Counter Report: 33
Voting Awards:
Best Table Topics: Rich Puskarich
Best Speaker: Jim Salih
Best Evaluator: Alan Kirby
Most Improved: Ed Kovarik
GE Meeting Rating: 9.8
Attendance: Sylvia Awondatu, Jim Bubash, Tom Braun, Rebeca Castillo, Colin Fries, Andrew Held, Amy Kelemen, Alan Kirby, George Kiser, Vicky Kolaks, Ed Kovarik, Jake Mondschein, J.D. Perper, Rich Puskarich, Jim Salih, Brian Scarpace, Brent Stewart, Robert VanWinkle, Debbie Young (Members=19, Guests=7, Total=26)
Meeting Adjourned: 8:30
Attendance Streaks > 10 Meetings
J. D. Perper 146
Debbie Young 33
Brian Scarpace 29
Vicky Kolaks 20
southcountytoastmasters.org 