Bergen Toastmasters Club #2581

❄️ Bergen Toastmasters Meeting – January 14, 2026
Despite the winter weather, we had a fantastic meeting filled with laughter, reflection, and inspiration! Thank you to everyone who attended, took on roles, spoke, and participated—you truly made the evening special.

✨ Meeting Highlights
-Puneet opened us up with a meaningful invocation.
-Fred served as our Toastmaster of the Day, keeping the meeting flowing smoothly.
-Andrew, our Jokemaster, had us laughing with Winning with Lucky 7s—right up until coming in 7th in a horse race 🤣
-Ben introduced the Word of the Day: Nuance, while Sarah clearly explained the Timer role.

🎭 Tall Tales Fun
-Frank delivered a hilarious Tall Tales speech, “My 15 Minutes of Fame,” imagining Taylor Swift and Beyoncé going into a frenzy over him 😂
-Joel cleverly explored the number 67—its origins and the many surprising ways it shows up in our lives 😂
-Joe T shocked us all with an unbelievable moving story… only to reveal it was 100% true!

🎤 Table Topics & Reflections
James guided us through thoughtful questions reflecting on 2025 and looking ahead to 2026. We heard inspiring, funny, and heartfelt shares from many members, including goals, life lessons, personal growth, language learning, dancing adventures, retirement, reading more books, and overcoming fear.

👏 Words of Wisdom & Encouragement:
Members shared advice on growth, confidence, self-compassion, engaging the audience, and continuous speaking. We were also reminded how Toastmasters helps us show up during meaningful moments in life—including speaking at a friend’s memorial service.

🏆 Congratulations!
-Joe S. — Winner of Table Topics
-Frank — Winner of Tall Tales
Well done to both of our proud winners! 👏🎉

📣 What’s Next
Virginia shared updates on the upcoming speech contest, and everyone is invited to attend and cheer on our representative, Frank!

🎯 Area 13 Contest – Volunteers Needed!
📅 Saturday, February 7, 2026 | 11:00 AM
📍 Rutherford Public Library

We’re looking for volunteers and audience support—your presence truly makes a difference for our contestants. Light refreshments will be served!

👉 Register here: https://shorturl.at/aCWsg

It was a great turnout, and as always, it’s rewarding to listen, learn, and grow together. Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon! 👍

🎄 Bergen Toastmasters December Meeting Highlights 🎄
What a festive and fun-filled meeting! From warm welcomes and inspiring words to laughter, learning, and holiday cheer, our December meeting truly captured the spirit of the season.
We enjoyed creative Candy Cane Table Topics, thoughtful reflections on charity, leadership, and community, memorable holiday stories, and an energetic Christmas choir performance of The Twelve Days of Christmas 🎶 (with some impressive operatic talent!).
Congratulations to Frank for earning Best Speaker, Best Table Topics, and Best Singer — what a night! 👏�Special kudos to Tom for his Ice Breaker speech and to everyone who rocked their Christmas sweaters 🎅🧣
Thank you for the delicious holiday snacks and the wonderful fellowship. Another great reminder of why Bergen Toastmasters is such a special community.

Bergen Toastmasters Meeting Recap – November 12, 2025
Theme: Thanksgiving 🦃

We had an excellent turnout for our Thanksgiving-themed meeting! The evening was filled with gratitude, humor, and inspiring speeches.

🌟New Members Inducted:
President Virginia proudly inducted our newest members:
Teja, Steven, and Joe T.
Welcome to the Bergen Toastmasters family!

🎤Prepared Speeches
• Joe T. delivered a powerful Ice Breaker about his journey from an insecure childhood to becoming a confident football player—a heartfelt story of transformation.
• Mike shared a vivid and captivating account of his trip to Nikko, Japan, including an unforgettable reenactment of horseback archers.
• Steven delivered his Ice Breaker, reflecting on his career in finance, and his goal to improve at business presentations (and win family dinner table debates!).

🗣️ Table Topics – Special November Days
Our Dinner Table Topics Master Chris served up prompts inspired by lesser-known November celebrations.
• Fred gave a standout response about losing weight and reversing prediabetes by simply deleting the McDonald’s app—and won Best Table Topics!
• Others jumped in with thoughtful and entertaining answers.

😂 Humor & Roles of the Night
• Sarah, our festive Giblet Jokemaster, delighted us with a hilarious story about her father’s mashed-potato “experiments” and a sister who despised them.
• Joel brought charisma and wit as the Roastmaster of the Night.
• Fred, doubling up, also served as the Oven Timer, ensuring none of our speeches were “overcooked.”
• Andrew, our Wordmaster, introduced the word of the day: “Bevy.”
Frank, our Gobble Evaluator, led the evaluation team:
* Ben
* Puneet
* James
Each evaluator offered helpful, supportive feedback.

🏆 Award Winners
• Best Speaker: Joe T.
• Best Table Topics: Fred
Congratulations to all!

A heartfelt thank you to every member and guests who attended. The energy, enthusiasm, and camaraderie truly made it a meeting to remember. 🍁

Looking forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting!

🎃 Bergen Toastmasters Halloween Meeting Recap! 👻

What a fantastic Halloween-themed meeting we had! Many members came dressed in fun and creative costumes, bringing great energy and laughter to the room.

Our Table Topics session was especially lively — members had the option to tell a scary story, and several brave speakers took up the challenge! 😱🕯️

We also welcomed two special guests:
✨ Rich Holmes, our Area Director, and
✨ Steven Drapkin, District Public Relations Manager,
who stopped by to share encouraging words and motivate us to keep growing as a club.

We had a strong lineup of Prepared Speeches:
🗣️ Fred spoke about membership retention,
🔬 Joel shared insights on studying biology, and
☯️ Eugene explored the Yin and Yang of foods.

Congratulations to our award winners:
🏅 Ellen – Best Table Topics Speaker
🏆 Joel – Best Prepared Speech

Everyone enjoyed Halloween snacks, good company, and plenty of laughter. 🍬🎃
It was truly a night that showcased the spirit of Toastmasters — learning, sharing, and growing together! 💬✨

We had another excellent meeting on October 8, 2025. President Virginia opened with exciting news: Bergen Toastmasters has been named a Distinguished Club for 2024–2025—hooray, team! Melina returned from a long sabbatical to serve as Toastmaster and did a wonderful job, kicking off her journey toward Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM).

Joe led a lively Table Topics session featuring “mystery objects” from his basement—proof that impromptu speaking is even more fun when you can hold the topic in your hands.

We heard Icebreaker speeches from two new members, Sarah and Nick, and Saurabh delivered a well-organized prepared speech tracing the coffee bean’s journey to an aromatic, energy-boosting cup.

Awards highlight: Sarah scored a double win—Best Table Topics (on Wonder Woman) and Best Speaker of the night. We also welcomed guests Charity, Shalini, Ray, Teja, Joe, Steven, and Try, many of whom bravely jumped into the optional Table Topics and showed great promise.

It was another evening of engaging prepared speeches and sharp extemporaneous speaking. If you’re looking to build confidence and communication skills, Toastmasters is for you—this is where leaders and great speakers are born!

🎉 A Special Bergen Toastmasters Celebration! 🎉

At our most recent Bergen Toastmasters Club meeting, we not only enjoyed inspiring speeches and lively fellowship — we also celebrated the 92nd birthday of our long-time member, Joe Shuler!
Joe has been a dedicated Toastmaster since 1965, when he delivered his Icebreaker at Club #144 in Pittsburgh, inspired by his father, John Shuler. After moving to New Jersey in 1968, Joe became a pillar of our community, serving as a mentor, leader, and even a District Photographer, capturing champions and memories across decades of Toastmasters history.

Before diving into Table Topics, every member took a moment to pay tribute to Joe. Each of us shared heartfelt words about how he has been the glue that has held our club together, a trusted mentor, and a source of wisdom and encouragement. Joe’s thoughtful advice, kind spirit, and wonderful speaking skills have touched us all.

During the break, we sang Happy Birthday and celebrated with a rainbow cake. Fittingly, Joe went on to win Best Table Topics Speaker of the day, showing us once again the grace and excellence that make him such an inspiration.

Joe, thank you for nearly 60 years of dedication to Toastmasters and for being the heart of Bergen Toastmasters Club. Here’s to you — and to many more years of sharing your wisdom and warmth! 🎂🎤✨

📸✨ Toastmasters Meeting – August 27, 2025 ✨📸

What a fantastic meeting we had on August 27, 2025! 🙌
Our members came together to practice, grow, and shine in their communication and leadership skills.

🎤 Inspiring Speeches: We enjoyed thought-provoking and engaging speeches from our members, each bringing their unique stories, lessons, and energy to the stage.

🎭 Meeting Roles in Action: From Toastmaster of the Day to Timer, Evaluators, Table Topics Master, and more — our members took on their roles with confidence and professionalism, keeping the meeting lively and well-organized.

👏 Highlights:

Strong speeches filled with passion and creativity

Constructive feedback that helped every speaker grow

Laughter, learning, and support from the entire club

Toastmasters is where we celebrate progress, practice in a safe space, and cheer each other on every step of the way. 💯

🌟 Interested in building your confidence in public speaking and leadership? Come join us at our next meeting!

🌟 Bergen Toastmasters Meeting Highlights – August 13, 2025 🌟

We had another inspiring evening of growth and connection at our August 13th meeting! 🎤✨

💡 Our members delivered powerful speeches full of creativity, courage, and personal insight. Each speaker reminded us of the importance of communication and the value of supportive feedback.

👏 A big thank-you to all who participated—from speakers and evaluators to our Table Topics participants. Your energy and dedication make Bergen Toastmasters such a welcoming and motivating place to learn and grow.

📸 Here are some snapshots from the night, including our speakers in action and a group photo capturing the spirit of our club.

Want to become a confident speaker and leader? Join us at Bergen Toastmasters—you’ll find encouragement, skills, and a community that cheers you on every step of the way!

We had a great meeting on Wednesday. Congrats to Joel for winning best Table Topics and Joe for winning Best Speaker.