The 500th meeting with Club Contest on February 9, 2019

    Our Club Contest was held on February 9th, on our 500th meeting that also commemorated our 25th anniversary.
    We had three guests beside several former members of Shonan. Especially Area Director John Plets was among the guests.
    The meeting was called to order by President T. O. at 14:10 as usual.
   

    We held 2 contests – an English speech Contest followed by a Japanese Contest. 
    There were 5 contestants for the English Contest and 4 for the Japanese one.
    The interview and awarding for both English and Japanese Contests were conducted at a time after the two contests.
    The first and second place winners of the day will advance to the Area 55 Contest to be held on March 16th at Fujisawa Civic Hall.

14:25    Contest Chair announced the start of the Club Contest after Chief Judge’s
             verification.

<English Speech Contest>
    First contestant                 M.I.
   
Second contestant            A.M.
   
Third contestant                N.N.
   
Forth contestant                Y.W.
   
Fifth contestant                  L.C.
     Intermission                                        
                                                                        Contestants for E and J
<Japanese Speech Contest>
    First contestant                 L.C.
   
Second contestant           Y.W.
   
Third contestant               A.M.
   
Forth contestant               M.I.

16:05    <Contestants Interview>
    Interviewer K.T. gave contestants various questions on their speeches as well as on their daily lives based on contestant profile sheets submitted earlier by each contestant. It was a relaxing, entertaining session before the announcement of the awards.

<Award presentation>
     Prior to announcing results, Contest Chair reported on their time management.  
     There was one overtime for the Japanese Contest and none in the English Contest.
     The contestant who ran overtime was disqualified for an award.

English Speech Contest
    First Place:             M. I.
   
Second Place:        L. C.
   
Third Place:            Y. W.
                                                     
Japanese Speech Contest
    First Place:             M. I.
   
Second Place:        Y. W.
   
Third Place:            A. M.           
                                                       
    Area Director John Plets presented the awards to the winners of the
English Contest. As for the Japanese Contest, President T.O. played the role.

Contest Officials and Other Role Takers
    Contest Chair        M. H.
   
Chief Judge           E. M.
   
Timers                   Y. U. and Y. H.
   
Tally Counters       T. A., H.S. and  T. K.
   
Interviewer             K. T.
   
Stage SAA             T. U.

                                                          By M. H.

The 25th Anniversary Event

    Shonan Toastmasters Club was chartered on December 27th in 1993. Twenty-five years have passed since then.
    ECM discussed How to celebrate the 25th Anniversary and decided 2 things.
    One is to issue a commemorative booklet which is full of reminiscences written by old and present members.
    The other is to hold an event in which old and present members get together and enjoy remembering each occasion in the past 25 years.

   The event was held just on the day of the 500th Regular Meeting, February 9th.

    Six old members and nineteen present members attended the event. 
           
    The event started at 5 pm, after the contests; 500th regular meeting.
   
At first President T. Ono reported the course of the 25th Anniversary.
   
Next the main founder, TM Hide Kobayashi made a short speech about old chartered days.
             
   
Then TM T. Ishii introduced the main events in the past 25 years on the screen for 30 minutes, which he edited for this event.
  
They surely reminded all the members of their old days.

    After that the participants, one by one spoke his or her most unforgettable thing in old STMC days.
    And new members expressed their aspirations for the future.
   
All the 25 attendees had the opportunity to speak something in their mind.

    For two hours from 5 pm to 7 pm each member looked happy and enjoyable.
    The commemorative booklet of 24 pages including a few photos was distributed.
                             
                                               Asahi Newspaper
  
               Town News                                                      Regular Meeting
        
                         Summer Camp                                   Summer Camp

                                                                By T. O.