Out One Door & In The Other

Judy & Gerard Willems

Today we said goodbye to a Toastmaster of out and long standing service to Sunrise. Then we welcomed him right back into the fold.

Since shifting to Halswell, Gerard Willems, member for 31 years had a few reasons for declining to renew his membership. Current members understood, but not wanting to wind up totally bereft of his company decided to inaugurate an Honorary Membership award of which Gerard would become the first recipient.

Terms were determined by the Executive this week.

Gerard will have no obligations to attend meetings but will be welcomed at all he visits. He will be able to fully take part if he wishes and all club correspondence will be sent his way.

Honorary membership may be passed on to other members who have similarly contributed fully over a long period with each instance rigorously examined by the executive.

Recognising Gerard’s Dutch background, many members added orange to their wardrobes this morning with Johanna achieving the best and Victor achieving the loudest examples of couture.

Because it was to be his last meeting Gerard invited his lovely wife Judy along.

Robyn added a selection of muffins to the morning tea-break and a range of subjects through poetry, adventure-travel and manatees kept us entertained.

Sunrise Toastmasters welcomes all who may be interested in public speaking and leadership with 4 free visits to get a feel of the club. Call Victor for more information.021 225 8217