It’s come to the District’s attention that changes in the state sales tax law have gone into effect, and clubs in New York will have to be alert to these changes.
Digital products (new paths, banner files, etc) are currently exempt;
physical products from the Toastmasters store
It’s unclear to us at this point that new members or renewing members are required to pay sales tax on their memberships. There is a new Membership Application, and a sales tax calculator, and at the moment we recommend that New York Toastmasters clubs collect the sales tax from new members until we get better guidance. You can return the extra money to the member if it turns out not to be needed.
You can read more about this at the Toastmasters webpage on US tax compliance at the state level, and a Supreme Court case called South Dakota vs. Wayfair, Inc.: Toastmasters Legal and Tax Compliance in US states
At the moment, neither Connecticut nor Massachusetts have laws that extend sales tax to Toastmasters products or digital resources. We’ll let you know if that changes.
Join the members and guests of Capital Advanced Toastmasters for an Open House on July 18, 2022 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. Refreshments providedat an in-person event!
Cathy Kittle, winner of the 2022 District Table Topics Contest
Learn to be a better public speaker, evaluator, and leader in the Toastmasters world — grow your skills in an advanced club — build your skills in the context of a wider community!
District 53 is launching a new website page for District Officers, Division Directors, Area Directors, Contest Chairs, and other members of Toastmasters District 53 to post volunteer opportunities that help stretch your capacities beyond the club.
If you’d like to post a request to the volunteers page, contact Andrew Watt as webmaster or the officer you wish to assist.
Update: The results of this business meeting were approved by a vote of the clubs during the week following the business meeting — 106 YES, 0 NO, 1 ABSTAIN votes were recorded by the clubs. The minimum number of participating clubs was 96, so the results of this business meeting are RATIFIED.
These are “at a glance” informal results of the District Council business meeting held on May 7, 2022 from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm EDT. This report should not be considered binding or definitive, compared with the Minutes of The District Council Business meeting which will be issued as part of the meeting packet of the September 2022 meeting.
District Director Akihiro Ishii welcomed members at 3:00 pm, and introduced the meeting functionaries
Club Growth Director Patti Walter read the Toastmasters Mission, the District Mission, and the Toastmasters Promise.
Registration Chair Norm Thibodeau explained the procedures for online meetings and online balloting via SurveyMonkey.
Parliamentarian Sam Young reviewed the District’s Special Rules of Order. They were passed without objection.
District Director Akihiro Ishii moved on to the adoption of the Agenda and the Quorum Report at 3:20 PM.
Credentials Chair Paul Randolph read the results of the Quorum Vote at 3:25 PM:
The Business Meeting did not achieve quorum, with only 61 of 190 possible club votes available; 64 votes were needed to achieve quorum. An additional 20 votes from DEC members (Area Directors, Division Directors, and District leadership) were present, but do not count towards quorum.
The results of this meeting will have to be confirmed by a separate vote in the coming week, in which member clubs and District Executive Committee members will vote to ratify the results of this meeting.
The District 53 Year-End Audit Report 2020-21, reported by Rich Dirksen, chair of the Audit Committee, passed 76 Yes votes to 0 No votes and 5 abstentions.
The District 53 Mid-Year Audit Report 2021-22, reported by Rich Dirksen, chair of the Audit Committee, passed 74 Yes votes to 0 No votes and 7abstentions. (3:47 pm)
The District 53 District Council Business Meeting Minutes of September 2021, assembled by Steve Lanning, were presented for approval by District Director Ishii. The Minutes were approved by 72 Yes votes, 0 No votes, and 9 abstentions. (3:55 pm)
The District 53 Realignment Plan for 2022-2023 was presented by co-chairs Mohan Padamati and Amy Chiu. Amy Chiu led the discussion. In summary, the District will remain at five (5) divisions, but will reduce the number of Areas from 25 Areas to 24 Areas. The Realignment Plan was approved by 74 Yes votes, 1 No votes, and 6 abstentions. (4:07 pm)
The District Officer Elections for the 2022-2023 program year came next:
Immediate Past District Director Andrew B. Watt presented the advisory report of the District Leadership Committee.
Nominees presented as floor candidates prior to the April 30 deadline.
Unanimous Consent Ballots were cast for the following officers for the 2022-23 program year:
John J. Hogan for District Director
Patti Walter for Program Quality Director
Jacqueline Kessler for Division A Director
Chad Babcock for Division C Director
Paula Zajac for Division D Director
Beth Van Kempen for Division E Director
In the contested election for Club Growth Director, each candidate spoke for 1-2 minutes and then the vote was taken.
Mohan Padamati received 23 votes, and
Bettyann Peck received 42 votes,
with six abstentions.
Bettyann Peck elected as Club Growth Director
In the contested election for Division B Director, Scott Davis spoke for 1-2 minutes, and Norm Thibodeau read a statement on Paul Terman’s behalf since the candidate could not be present due to a prior commitment.
Scott R. Davis received 16 votes, and
Paul Terman received 49 votes,
with 16 abstentions.
Paul Terman elected as Division B Director.
All votes for District Officers for the 2022-23 program year were completed at 4:55 pm.
District Leadership Reports were presented next:
Public Relations Manager Bettyann Peck presented the Public Relations Report. No questions were advanced from the floor
Club Growth Director Patti Walter presented the Club Growth and Membership Report. No questions were advanced from the floor.
Program Quality Director John J. Hogan presented the Program Quality Report. No questions were advanced from the floor.
District Director Akihiro Ishii presented the District Report. No questions were advanced from the floor.
District 53 held its International Speech contest on the morning of May 7, 2022 from 9:30 am to 11:30 am.
Contest Winner Amrita Banerjee with the District Executive Leadership Team — Club Growth Director Patti Walter, Program Quality Director John J. Hogan, and District Director Akihiro Ishii, photographed on Zoom.
In the District International Speech contest, one contestant from each of our five Divisions in the District have a speaking period of five to seven minutes to deliver a speech on a topic of their choosing. Each contestant has advanced from a specific club in District 53, and arrives at the stage after competing at the Area level against 3-4 other clubs, and the Division level competing against contestants from four other Areas. The winner of the District International Speech contest then advances to the Region Quarterfinals, and possibly to the International Semifinals and the World Championship of Public Speaking (WCPS).
District 53 2021-22 International Speech Contest Winners: Third Place Kevin M. Finn, Second Place Brian David Crawford, and First Place Winner Amrita Bannerjee, photographed on Zoom
The winners of the contest were:
First Place: Amrita Banerjee
Second Place: Brian David Crawford
Third Place: Kevin M. Finn
In the interviews following the contest, both the winners and other contestants thanked the judges, audience members and others for the opportunities to grow and learn as speakers and presenters. They reminded the audience that new Toastmasters should take every opportunity that they can get to speak, and that, under the pressure of preparing to speak for an audience, practice brings improvement and gracefulness.
Many thanks to all the contestants, representing the five divisions of District 53:
Division B: Donna Peterson, representing New Dawn Toastmasters, with a speech titled “Lead With Your Heart.”
Division C: Kevin M. Finn, representing Cedar Hill Toastmasters, with a speech titled, “M-O-M.”
Division D:Brian David Crawford, representing Speechweavers, with a speech titled, “42.”
Division E: Amrita Banerjee, representing Bethlehem Club, with a speech titled, “The Choice.”
District 53 2021-22 International Speech Contest, Division Contest Winners: Division A Sandra Weiner, Division B Donna Peterson, Division C Kevin M. Finn, Division D Brian David Crawford, Division E Amrita Bannerjee, photographed on Zoom.
Our Thanks also go out to our senior functionaries, the Program Quality Director John J. Hogan, and the Contest Chair, Contest Master and Chief Judge, who together assembled the team of more than fourteen functionaries, judges, and back-up leaders who managed the contest behind the scenes.
Contest functionary team John J. Hogan, Jennifer Cimilluca, Dave Pelland, and Elizabeth Keeling, photographed on Zoom.
Program Quality Director John J. Hogan
Contest Chair Jennifer Cimilluca
Contest Master Dave Pelland
Chief Judge Elizabeth Keeling
and thanks again to all our contest functionaries, judges, and audience members.
District 53 held its Table Topics contest on the evening of May 5, 2022 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
In the District Table Topics contest, contestants from each Division in the District are given the same question with no advance preparation, and try to respond with a 1-2 minute speech that has a beginning, middle, and end and reaches a definite conclusion. Each contestant has advanced from a specific club in District 53, and arrives at the stage after competing at the Area level against 3-4 other clubs, and the Division level competing against contestants from four other Areas. The District Table Topics Contest is the highest level of competition in this speech contest type; Toastmasters International also has the International Speech Contest, which advances through three more levels beyond the District level (Regional Quarterfinals, International Semifinals, and the World Championship of Public Speaking).
District 53’s District Table Topics Contest winner 2021-22, Cathy Kittle of NYS Forum Toastmasters
The question was:
The theme of World Earth Day 2022 is ‘Invest In our Planet Earth’. What have you done, OR what will you plan to do in the future, to “Invest In Our Planet Earth”?
