Report by: KEVIN WALSH
The journey of life is one of new beginnings. Fermoy Toastmasters Club got off their new season to a very fine and bright start at the Fermoy Youth Centre on the evening of Tuesday, September 5th in that great spirit of camaraderie and mutual goodwill that marks all of our gatherings and activities.
The club is a circle of very special friends who share an interest in improved communication skills, in enhanced powers of thought, in deeper understanding and an appreciation of the richness of good listening, in celebrating the power and the beauty of the spoken word, in the making of shared discoveries and constantly learning from each other and advancing on the never ending journey of ever greater improvement and personal growth. We love to meet up and be together, to enjoy the pleasure of each other’s company and to share in warm conviviality, good humour and heart-warming cheer. Through the season of regular meetings and togetherness, those bonds of friendship and good feeling are nurtured and strengthened.
The bonds of joyous friendship that animates all our meetings are ever further strengthen and enriched by the more guests and visitors who come in to listen and to take everything in, wanting to see and hear for themselves what Toastmasters is all about and to get to know us and everything we do as we open our hearts to them in warm and gladdening welcome. It is always such a pleasure to come to the lectern and glance across the room to see happy smiling familiar faces of dear friends and also new faces of people who have come full of the spirit of inquiry and the sense of adventure reaching out in a willingness to have a go something new and different and exciting. In the club holds the precious assets of so much wisdom, experience and insight together combined with so much kindness, goodwill and warmth of heart, that combines with the freshness and enthusiasm of new members and friends that adds an ever renewed vibrancy, zest and effervescence to all our meetings.
Our Club President for this year, Kevin O’Neill, is a brilliant new member who came in, liked what he saw and heard, embraced the challenge of Toastmasters and enjoys it hugely, setting and pursuing his goals and delighting in the pleasure and the geniality of the membership and of all our wonderful gatherings. From the very beginning he took on an active leadership role and with an inspirational eagerness of spirit offered to take on the role of meeting organiser a little over a year ago. From the very beginning Kevin was so hugely successful as time and again he brought together and presented to our fortnightly meetings programmes that were engaging, original, varied and stimulating, quietly but most effectively bringing out the best in all of us and moving things along with assuredness, calm precision and with ready affability and charm. Having mastered that greatest challenge in club leadership with that apparently effortless ease that is the result of immense commitment, effort and dedication, he has now assumed the Presidential chain of office which bears such powerful testimony to our club’s illustrious and distinguished history and traditions.
Every year a new bright and happy chapter is added to that wonderful record. And that is what Kevin most emphatically did at our first meeting as he led by the front and by example by also taking on the role of topicsmaster inviting impromptu responses from the members to topics, themes and recent events, which get everyone thinking, speaking and responding without any prior notice or preparation. A little hesitant at first to be sure after the summer break, but then as minds become concentrated and ideas begin to take shape, those responses quickly build up, becoming ever more immediate and bracing as everyone wanted to get involved. It is a splendid tonic to the mind and an admirable stimulus to everything that makes us tick and affirming of who we are as people.
This creative energy quickly builds up in the room and you get an atmosphere going and once that happens you are on a gentle but most joyful roller-coaster ride of fun, entertainment and pleasure, as new light is cast on some aspect of life you may never have thought of before or suddenly your long-held set views receive the delightful shock of a challenge, a new way of looking at things which makes you think and reflect and dig deeper inside yourself and you are often so surprised by how much there is to know about yourself because there is so much to learn and to see and share and enjoy in the talents, brightness, energy and creativity of others. It makes you come alive in a new and powerful way as shooting stars of fresh inspiration and new thinking flash across the sky of your mind. Time and again this is one of the best aspects of every Toastmasters meeting that gets everybody going and actively involved and it is incredibly uplifting and will leave you feeling expanded and elated. Suddenly life acquires a new depth of colour and everything is possessed of a new brilliance and excitement. You just can’t believe until you observe and see and take part in activities that are just so rewarding, interesting and entertaining.
The meeting was illuminated by two elegant and thoughtful presentations by Tim Fitzgerald and Eilish Ui Bhriain. Tim addressed the issue of never judging the book by the cover, of the need to see beyond the surface of how people look, to find the true identity and richness of the individual behind their outer appearance, image and style, to get to know our fellow human beings is a beautiful lifelong discovery. Eilish recounted the disappointment felt by many at the recent defeat of the Waterford hurling team in the All-Ireland Final while also celebrating the passionate love of the game and the cherished place that the games of the GAA has in our popular culture which goes far beyond the outcome of any one match. There is always another day.
With a very fine overall summary of the meeting by General Evaluator Jerry Hennessy, the meeting concluded filled with optimism and great hope as we look ahead to the season that lies ahead gathering increased momentum and energy as we advance together to the dream of meetings full of happy and smiling faces, of beautiful speeches that strike chord in every listening heart, to moments of genial laughter and warm rounds of appreciative applause given so readily when something that came from of the very best that a person has to offer is heard and shared, to times of bright togetherness and good cheer when we are all happy together sharing in a great journey to ever brighter better lives. We have a made a good start: a journey of great promise to many more memorably happy and enjoyable meetings stretches before us.
Already we look forward to welcoming you all to our next meeting on the evening of this coming Tuesday, September 19th, in the Fermoy Youth Centre at 8.15 pm. For further information, please contact Mary Whelan at 087 7971006 or Kevin Walsh at 058 60100 or log on to our mobile-friendly website toastmastersfermoy.com or find us on Twitter @ FermoyT.