Photo Album
Toastmasters of Vancouver and it Suburbs

The 1st Club in Vancouver was "Toastmasters Club of Vancouver", they received their charter on May 19th, 1936. Number 2 in Canada, just six months and 26 days after the first Canadian Club in Victoria.


The History of  Club 59 gives brief outline of the developement of the Toastmaster movement in Vancouver:
A Brief History of Club 59, Vancouver, BC, Canada
 On May 9th, 1936, Club 59 became the second club in Canada, and made Toastmasters an International Organization. The first club was #38, in Victoria BC in 1935. Actually, a small group of Canadian began to meet in New Westminster in 1932, but they were not an official club. Now toastmasters are located in over 130 countries).
 
Not a lot of historical information is known about Club 59 from 1936 to 1957. During the second world war, the club took a brief hiatus. From 1958 to 1968, the Club mainly met in the Stanley Park Pavilion. At that time, it was known as the Engineers’ Club. The mayor and other professionals also joined during that period.
 
From 1968 to 1971, the all male club met at the YWCA on Burrard Street. The membership wavered between 15 to 20 and the meetings were held around a boardroom table. The Club was forced to vacate and for a short time the Club met at the Christ Church Cathedral. Another move to the Johann Strauss Restaurant and our first Speech Craft was held. Doug Anderson had sent an invitation to the Life Insurance Underwriters and a Secretary asked if a group from the National Secretaries Assoc. could join the Speech Craft Course. On accepting 6-7 women for this course, the club immediately lost 5 full-time male members.
 
In 1972, the entire Toastmasters organization went through a major decline and Club 59 was no exception. One night, the Club declined to 2 members!! Bert Davies and Doug Anderson decided to continue with the club, and with the help of a few special ladies from the Speech Craft and the recovery of a few old TM, the rebuilding began. “Ladies were not officially allowed until 1973.”
 
In 1978, we received the Club’s first CTM by concentrating on the factors that make an accomplished Toastmaster. The development of a successful club began.
In 1978-79 the club received word that they had become one of the Top Ten Clubs in the World. They retained this distinction for the next 8 years.

The Club 59 was contributed by Doug Anderson. 




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