Imagine if all of us had know about Toastmasters when we were 18, or even younger, and most importantly had a desire to get better at Public Speaking.
I for one, applaud their interest in coming back to our club. I heard Tommy say last night, of all the Toastmasters Clubs he has been in, its ours that gives him what he is looking for in a club. I too, feel fortunate to be in our club and my vote is to allow Aaron to join, under the criteria that Dirk has laid out below for us.
When I see the benefits it has brought to Rayna I cannot see how any young person who is wanting to improve, could not help to get better by being in our club.
Steve Dalbec- On Jan 7, 2011, at 3:17 PM, dirk@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Friends,Last night we had several guests. Two of those guests were a mother/son team. Linda and Aaron Strum first attended our club several years ago when we held our Speechcraft. Some of you were here then: Earl, Bob, Kathy, June, Ray, Bill, myself and Rayna. (Did I miss anyone?) Linda joined the club and the club voted unanimously to allow kids to participate in the Speechcraft. The Sturms attended three or four meetings and stepped aside. At the time Linda was fighting breast cancer and she got to a point with her illness where she simply could not attend anymore (it was very sad).So last night they came back (after missing several years). After the meeting I spoke with them. They desire to join next Thursday.Here's the problem: Aaron is 17 years old and cannot officially join our group quite yet. Linda would be a returning member of our group. The concept would be to allow Linda to rejoin our club and Aaron come as her side-kick until he turns 18. Linda and Aaron would be entered into our Club Scheduler to perform meeting roles. Aaron would participate like the rest of us and complete his CC like anyone else. After he turns 18 and officially joins, we can submit his then completed CC and/or CL manual for his and the club's credit. My guess is that he'll turn 18 before he completes his manuals.I don't have a problem with this situation as long as the membership does not either. We have similar situation with myself and Rayna, except that Rayna is only turning 15 at the end of January. Rayna's been attending since she was about 13 or so. Steve, Paul & Steven are similar as well, but everyone is of age in this relationship.The thing is that our membership comes first. Having underage personalities attending our meetings is not a problem as long as everyone in the membership is OK with this situation before we vote Linda in as a returning member. Aaron participated with Table Topics last night and is nearly an adult. He's the one that apparently is initiating the family desire to join the group, though Linda seems to be game as well.This membership vote will take place next Thursday. If you have concerns or comments, please reply to everyone so that we can make an appropriate decision as a club. We don't want pent up anxiety with this decision among any of the members.Thanks! Dirk
