The May 20 runoff between Division Contest winners vying for a chance to capture Toastmasters International's World Championship of Public Speaking by FIRST winning the District 3 contest is shaping up. Four division level contests have been completed. Cholla and Gila Divisions completed their contests this past weekend.

Cholla Division: Winner: Barry Beckman, C-4. Alternate: Ron Sampson, C-1.
Gila Division: Winners: Luann Lee Brown, G-4. Alternate: Joel Konopken, G-1. Gila Division Governor, Lucille Houston, ATM-G, said, "This contest was an exceptional demonstration of the designed purpose for Area and Division Contests: 1) The Educational Purpose, 2) The opportunity for Toastmasters to gain additional experience in effective speaking, and 3) For Toastmasters and the general public to view excellent speakers."

Yavapai Division: Winner: Jeffery Gallen, Y-2. Alternate: William Price, Y-4. Division Governor Lee Ellis, DTM, wished to express his thanks to all Prescott club members who helped host the contest. Approximately 50 Toastmasters attended. 

Paiute Division: Winner: Elanna Donovan, Y-1. Alternate; Harry Huffman, Y-2. Paiute held its contest on April 1.

The next --- and last Division Contest will be held April 29 when Division Governor John Kretser, ATM, taps the gavel at 7pm to begin the Sonoran Division Contest at the VA Medical Center in Tucson.

Watergate's pulitzer prize winning reporters were guided in their search for information with the instruction "follow the money." d3tm e-news readers discover their information when they "follow the links" (words underlined and in blue) on this page. 

Candidates nominated for District Office at the May 15 Executive Committee Meeting were: District Governor, P.J. Glauz, DTM; Lt. Governor of Education and Training, Virginia Richtar, ATM-S; Lt. Governor Marketing, Mike Herskovits, DTM.

DIVISION GOVERNORS: Cholla: Don Griffith, ATM; Gila: Joseph Snyder, ATM; Paiute: Richard Chard, CTM; Sonoran: George Self, ATM-Silver/CL; Yavapia: Ellis Rackoff, ATM-S/CL. Biographical sketches are linked to each candidates name.

There is nothing worse than a cliché, except anything I can think of to replace it.* 

Newsletter editor J. Jae Russell is pleased to report that the next issue of The Roadrunner is at the printer and will arrive in your mail box soon. Click on this link to view the online version. 

Urgent note from the District Governor: ATTENTION CLUB PRESIDENTS! Toastmaster International proxies should have arrived on your doorstep. They look like two perforated post cards with a signature block on one side and the District Governor's address on the other. 

The address on the postcard is incorrect. Please put your proxy in an envelope and send to: Kelli McDoulett, DTM, D3 Governor, 4813 Woodruff Ave, Lakewood, CA 90713.

Please make your vote count. Send in your proxy today. If you have not received a proxy, please contact me immediately. If you plan on representing your club at either the Regional Conference in Galveston or the International Conference in Miami, your votes will be given back to you during the Conferences. Kelli McDoulett, DTM, D3 Governor, "Working Together; Making It Happen," kmcdoule@csc.com, 602.793.7635

An Icebreaker Poet's Poem (as reported in the April issue of Region One News & Tips edited by International Director, Susan Nevin, DTM) 
A couple of weeks ago, at the new Toastmasters Club I'm helping to start in Blaine WA (District 2) - Blaine Harbor Toastmasters - Toni Pellar gave a wonderful Icebreaker speech, sharing with us many of her life's adventures - including 5 trans-ocean sailing trips! Toni is a writer, and she included this great poem at the end of her Icebreaker. With her permission, I'm delighted to share it with you.

I've really joined Toastmasters?
Oh lord, what have I done?
How can I get up and talk
when my body has gone numb?
My brain has turned to mush
My legs have turned to jello ...
Wish I could stand up here
And appear to be calm and mellow.
I hope you will be very kind
And fight the urge to run -
Cause I've great news for you:
In a minute I'll be done!

Timely reminder: Smile High Toastmasters' free "Public Speaking Power" presentation featuring Susan Carter Jackson, MA, Executive Directory of the Prescott Fine Arts Association, Monday. April 24, at 7:00 pm, Prescott. Contact Mary Jane Gill at 520-445-7644 or at mjwgill@earthlink.net

If animals had the opportunity to say some "last words" would the the Bee say "No flowers, if you please," the Ant, "So much to do, so little done," the Pig, "I hope to save my bacon?" What would you purpose might be the possible last words of a Toastmaster? Or a Speaker? This item will remind many Toastmasters of Daybreakers' Peter Spaw, ATM, who won the District 3 and Region III humorous speech contest with just such a topic.

People around the world, including Toastmasters in Arizona, can get the answers to their parliamentary questions by visiting the web site of District 3 Parliamentarian Dwayne Roberts, ATM-B/CL. The list of questions Dwayne has been asked during the time the site has been up is impressive. An entry form allows visitors to submit questions which he then answers. The question and the answer remain on the site. If you have questions, Dwayne already has answers at: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/4894/question.html 

Spring Conference Progress report:  "We are very pleased to have one of the nation's leading public speakers, Joel Weldon, provide the Keynote address for the Spring 2000 Conference." P.J. Glauz, Lt. Governor Education & Training. 

Once upon a time I used to sometimes split infinities, to get words of out order, and to exaggerate hundreds of times a day.*

- Glenn | Next issue: May 1, 2000

* Willard R. Espy, Another Almanac of Words at Play