Taryn Rainwater Wins 3rd Place at District Contest

Left to right:
Dana Lamon (1992 Toastmasters International
World Champion of Public Speaking,)
Taryn Rainwater of Lubbock - 3rd Place,
Byron Taylor of Amarillo - 1st Place,
Eric Tonningsen of Albuquerque - 2nd Place

Entering her first ever speech contest this spring, Taryn advanced to the highly competitive District 23 International Speech contest and returned to Lubbock with a 3rd Place finish.

Taryn is a member of a the Llano Estacado Toastmasters club. After winning her club's contest, she advanced to the Area 61 contest on March 29th and then to the Division F contest on April 12, winning both of them.

On May 3rd she competed in the District 23 International Speech contest in El Paso, Texas. Facing five other Division champions from all over New Mexico, Western Texas, and the Oklahoma Panhandle, Taryn presented a motivational and inspiration presentation with a core message of love, family, and the positive impact of blended families. Given in just seven minutes, the speech, titled "Stepping Into My New Life," chronicles her experiences with and personal definition of step-families.

Congratulations Taryn!

Division F Contest Winners for Spring 2014

Area 61 & 62 Governor Ernee Kozyreff and Lt. Governor Marketing Jef Conn hosted the International Speech and Table Topics contests for Division F today. Toastmasters from Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, Hobbs, Eunice, and Clovis came together for the event which determined which Toastmasters - only the first place finisher from each contest advances* - would go on to the District 23 contests in El Paso, Texas, on May 2-3, 2014.

International Speech Contest

Left to Right
2nd - Patti Douglass (South Plains Club - Lubbock)
1st - Taryn Rainwater (Llano Estacado Club - Lubbock)
3rd - Victoria Xiong (Articulate Club - Lubbock)

Table Topics Contest

Left to Right
1st - Layne Rouse
2nd - Ike Chukwura
3rd - Donald Beatty (Downtown Club - Lubbock)

All Contestants

Front:
Ike Chukwara (Enriched Speakers, Table Topics Contest)
Middle (left to right):
Mike Edgar (Pop-Up Toastmasters, International Speech Contest),
Taryn Rainwater (Llano Estacado, International Speech),
Victoria Xiong (Articulate Toastmasters, International Speech),
Patti Douglass (South Plains Toastmasters, International Speech)
Back (left to right):
Bobby Kimbro (EnergyPlex Toastmasters, International Speech),
Layne Rouse (Pop-Up Toastmasters, Table Topics),
Donald Beatty (Downtown Club, Table Topics),
John Boyden (EnergyPlex Toastmasters, Table Topics),
Sarah Asio (Lubbock Club, Table Topics)

Toastmasters Visit Rawls College of Business

Toastmasters members in Lubbock gathered together to present a demonstration meeting for the Managerial Communication students at the Texas Tech University Rawls College of Business on March 31, 2014.

Members of Eloquent Raiders (the Toastmasters club on Texas Tech campus) hosted the event along with some help from members of the Llano Estacado and South Plains clubs. District 23's Lt. Governor Marketing, Jef Conn, acted as the event's emcee before turning it over to Eloquent Raiders' VP Education, Ben Mercado, to run the meeting at the Toastmaster.

Approximately 177 students attended the event.

Managerial Communication Instructor
Grace Noyes

Managerial Communication Instructor
Dianne Anderson

District 23 Lt. Governor Marketing
Jef Conn

Jef Conn

Eloquent Raiders VP Education
Ben Mercado

Eloquent Raiders Secretary
Jimmy Morrison

Llano Estacado member Chase Barnhill and
South Plains member Dustin Wells

Eloquent Raiders member
Kyle Smith

Llano Estacado VP Membership
Kerry Mobley

Llano Estacado member
Taryn Rainwater

Eloquent Raiders President
Grace Preston

Chase Barnhill and Kerry Mobley

Front: Dustin Wells
Middle: Jimmy Morrison, Dianne Anderson, Grace Noyes,
Kerry Mobley, Taryn Rainwater, Amber Marsh, Grace Preston
Back: Kyle Smith, Chase Barnhill, Jef Conn, Ben Mercado

Area 61 & 62 Spring Contest Winners for 2014

Toastmasters from all over Lubbock came together for the Area 61 & 62 Spring contests on March 29th.

Our winners will move on to the Division contest which will take place on Saturday, April 12th, at Green Lawn Church of Christ in Lubbock, TX, from 1pm to 3pm. The winners of each Area will compete against the other Areas in Division F.  Area 63 covers the Midland/Odessa region while Area 64 covers south eastern New Mexico.

Area 61 & 62 Governor Ernee Kozyreff organized the event and tapped Jason Davis to be the Contest Toastmaster while Ernee oversaw the judging.

The first and second place contestants, listed below, will move on to the Division Contest on April 12th.

Area 61 International Speech

• 1st Place - Taryn Rainwater
• 2nd Place - Victoria Xiong

Area 62 International Speech

• 1st Place - Patti Douglass

Area 61 Table Topics

• 1st Place - Sarah Asio
• 2nd Place - Simon Bainbridge

Area 62 Table Topics

• 1st Place - Donald Beatty
• 2nd Place - Ben Mercado

Photos courtesy of Lynda Beatty

Donna Hunt and Ernee Kozyreff

Jason Davis

Jeremy Glasscock

Simon Bainbridge

Sarah Asio

Jason Davis

Donald Beatty

Ben Mercado

Val Cochran

Taryn Rainwater

Victoria Xiong

Patti Douglass

Patti & Jason

Jason & Taryn

Jason & Ben

Donald & Jason

Jason & Simon

Jason & Sarah

Spring 2014 Contests

Hello, Toastmasters!

The dates and place for the spring speech contests are set.

• Areas 61 and 62 Contests will be on March 29th.
• Division F Contests will be on April 12th. 

Both will take place at the Green Lawn Church of Christ (5701 19th Street, Lubbock, TX). Registration and briefings begin at 1 PM, and contests begins at 1:30 PM.

If you are not competing and can help, please let me know! We will need volunteers to serve as judges, timers, and sergeant at arms.

Also, bring friends! The events are open to non-toastmasters as well.

Best regards,

Ernee Kozyreff

Areas 61/62 Governor

District 23 Toastmasters