Photo Album
Toastmasters of Nanaimo and the Upper Vancouver Island

The 1st Club in Nanaimo was the Malaspina Toastmasters Club 738 who meet on April 12th, 1949.  The original Area 3 was formed at the 1951 District 21 Annual General Meeting in Nanaimo. Herb Glover of Club 738 became the District Educational Chancellor;  and rose from Lieutenant Governor to District Governor by the 1953-1954 Toastmaster year.

Nanaimo was well represented on the District Executive in the early years of Area 3. N. Leslie Corfield (1955-1957), DG; Ralph D. MacColl (1957-1960), DG; and Tom C. Cosgrove (1959-1960), Secretary/Treasurer. The District Annual General Meeting was again held in Nanaimo on April 18, 1959.

Frank Ney [1918-1992] was the Speakers Contest Winner in 1962, his speech was "Sell the Sizzle not the Steak", this his speech at Region One. Frank went on to become Nanaimo's most famous Toastmaster; he was Club President 1958-1959. He becoming Mayor from 1968 to 1984, and 1987 to 1990, and a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Nanaimo from 1969 to 1972. He claimed that if it had not been for Toastmasters he would never have sold any Real Estate or become a politician. In 1968 Frank founded the world famous Nanaimo Bath Tub Race, in which tubs from all around the world came to compete.

In 1974 another well know Nanaimo Toastmaster started to service the District, Rudy LaBonte DTM became the Senior Lieutenant Governor at the May Annual General Meeting in Nanaimo. The following year he became the District Governor, the 4th one from Nanaimo. He was awarded the District 21 first Presidential's Citation in August 1983.

1984 was the 35th Anniversary of Malaspina Toastmasters Club, the celebration took place at the Tally-Ho Town & Country Inn on Saturday the 19th of May.  The Club President R. Harvey Drdul CTM presented the meeting with the Rudy LaBonte Memorial Award to the District, to be given by District 21 to the club that achieves the greatest gain in the Club Management Plan, compared to their previous year's points. Shirley LaBonte dedicated the trophy to District 21 Governor Bob Larmour ATM.

Harvey Drdul received the District 21 Outstanding Toastmaster award for the year 1980-81.  Twenty years later Lindy Edgett DTM received the same award for 2000-01. Other notable awards in 1994 Harvey Drdul was awarded the Clair Ferris Award.

1995 brought the Pacific Rim Toastmasters into being, a little history is contained in the following letter..

PACIFIC RIM TOASTMASTERS CLUB 2898  (Tofino – Ucluelet) October, 2007
Pacific Rim Toastmasters Club was born in 1995 and we chose the name of the former Club that had once been in operation in our communities.  We serve the communities surrounding Tofino and Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  We hold meetings in both towns and as dreadful as it may seem, we have to drive right by the famous and beautiful Long Beach, on our way through the Pacific Rim National Park to get to our meetings in the other town.  
 
Visitors say the “roller coaster” ride over Sutton Pass to get to our towns is daunting at night but the roads are constantly being updated and so the journey is comparatively smooth for those who drive with due care and caution.  We do ask visitors to drive the speed limit and kindly pull off to the side to let others pass, or to view wildlife.  Be patient, you will arrive in about 1.5 hours from Port Alberni and the trip will be well worth while.
 
We have a very ambient group of members and although we have a fairly small club, the meetings are fun and vibrant.  We always have a good laugh or two and usually go home feeling better than we did when we walked out of our busy schedules to attend our Toastmasters meeting.
 
We still have one active Charter member and boast being the home club of 3 past Area Governors; and one current Division G Governor. 
 
Submitted by, Maureen McKinnon, ATMS/CL, V.P. Education


All of Vancouver Island used to be in Division A, but in 1999 the Division was split in two, with Greater Victoria Area upto the Malhat remaining as Division A and the rest of the Island becoming Division G.  As of the end of September 2007 there are 22 clubs in Division G, from Duncan in the south to Port Hardy in the north.

Pictures at the left is the  2004- 2005 Executive of the Mid Island Advanced Toastmasters Club in Nanaimo;L-R is Shirley Maxwell (1991-1992 District Governor), Margaret Newman, Ernie Karjala, Marty Weideman (sitting in centre), Eileen Miller, Lindy Edgett (200-2001 District Public Relations Officer), and Jeannette Vadnais.

Francoise Baroux IPDG accepted the International Presidents Citation Award for Harvey Drdul DTM at the International Conference in Phoenix, Arizona in August 2007, whih  Harvey will receive at the Harrison Hot Springs Conference (Nov 2-4) from the 2007-2008 International President Chris Ford (a Canadian from Ottawa). One of the many reasons he was nominated to receive the Presidents Citation award, was that Harvey has been coaching,  mentoring and sponsoring toastmasters from Day One. 

The following people have contributed to the history: Harvey Drdul, Lindy Edgett and Maureen McKinnon (c) Copyrighted Material 2007.

Information on this DVD contains (c) Copyrighted  Material of Toastmasters International Inc. and it's Districts and Clubs; Brian Dodd; and 3001 by Zarcom System Inc., 2007-2008