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Southern Lights Toastmasters Celebrating 45 Years! 1980-2025

charlenafong

Updated: Jan 24

Current members of Southern Lights Toastmasters Club and guests. January 22, 2025
Current members of Southern Lights Toastmasters Club and guests. January 22, 2025

The Southern Lights Toastmasters Club is celebrating their 45th Anniversary on January 23rd, 2025! It is a momentous occasion for the club and we want to share some of the club's incredible journey.


Congratulations to the club and may Southern Lights continue to inspire, encourage, and support members to grow, excel, lead, and serve fellow club and Toastmasters members on their journeys!


A HUGE Thank You to our current VP Education, Nigel Bowles, for providing the club's history and the photos!


Southern Lights members circa 1981
Southern Lights members circa 1981

A brief history


Southern Lights Toastmasters Club had its genesis in the Northern Lights Club. In the mid-1970s, Northern Lights was a struggling club with less than ten members. This was an era when women were not allowed to be members, but this changed in 1978 when the club was opened to women (the first club in Edmonton to do so). Within a few months, Northern Lights membership grew to over forty members, too many in fact to fit into the meeting room. In 1979 the members agreed to spin-off a new club, which was called Southern Lights. 

To facilitate the split, the club’s roster was listed alphabetically. The first person on the list stayed in Northern Lights, the second person was moved to Southern Lights, the next to Northern Lights and so on down the list and on January 23, 1980, Southern Lights Toastmasters Club was officially chartered.


Southern Lights members circa 1987
Southern Lights members circa 1987

Interesting facts about Southern Lights (SLTM)


  • January 23, 1980 - SLTM was officially chartered - along with two other clubs, Jubilee and Tower Power. Two of the Charter Members are still members of Southern Lights, Neil Wilkinson, DTM, and Nigel Bowles. 


  • Meetings were held in the basement of the Van Winkle Hotel (51 Ave and 103 Street) - now called the Best Western Cedar Park Inn.


  • During the 1980s there was a dress code for men. Ties and jackets were to be worn and if one did not wear a tie, the General Evaluator would note it!


  • For the first few years, SLTM was a ‘supper club’ and everyone ate dinner at the meeting. This was discontinued sometime in the early 1990s.


  • A lot of members have competed (and won) in the Area, Division and District Speech contests and one member competed in the International Speech Contest.


  • Southern Lights has achieved the ‘Distinguished Club’ designation annually for most of its 45-year history.


  • Prior to 2014, the club met in a number of different locations, and currently (2025) meets at the Providence Renewal Center, Edmonton.


  • In March 2020 SLTM weekly meetings were abruptly cancelled due to COVID. By mid-April, however, the club began weekly online meetings using Zoom - and that would last for two years. In April 2022 in-person and online (hybrid) meetings resumed. This format continued until September 2023 when the hybrid meetings were discontinued in favour of in-person meetings only.


  • Among the club’s current members, there are five Distinguished Toastmasters (DTM): Neil Wilkinson, Marlene Petruch, Wayne Sager, Juergen Abildt, and Okpapi Omoaka. One of those members, Neil Wilkinson has the distinction of being a Past International President (PIP), the highest position there is in Toastmasters International.




List of Presidents

1980/81        Theron Kasawski  

1981/82        Nigel Bowles  

1982/83        Amber Blakely 

1983/84        Valerie Knebel  

1984/85        Herb Ashley  

1985/86        Myrna Thomas  

1986/87        Doug Irvin 

1987/88        Jan Fraser  

1988/89        John Pye  

1989/90        Juergen Abildt  

1990/91        Sue Cullen  

1991/92        Anne Rabik  

1992/93        Mike Russnak  

1993/94         Marguerite Dinelle  

1994/95        Rick Charlton  

1995/96        Jayne Galanka  

1996/97        Kerby Yamamoto  

1997/98        Nigel Bowles  

1998/99        Sandra McLeay  

1999/00        Carol Peters  

2000/01        Leigh Mumford

2001/02        Wayne Sager  

2002/03        Karen Burgess

2003/04        David Smid 

2004/05        Darryl Hauge  

2005/06        Marlene Petruch    

2006/07        Mike Livingstone

2007/08        Dennis O’Brian  

2008/09        Karen Burgess

2009/10        Mabel Ong  

2010/11        Chris Atkey  

2011/12        Marlene Petruch  

2012/13        Wayne Sager  

2013/14        John Hallett

2014/15        John Hearn  

2015/16        Patricia Cunningham

2016/17        Rhonda Lagace

2017/18        Vishwadha Busawon

2018/19        Nigel Bowles

2019/20        Michelle St. Louis

2020/21        Diane Gunn

2021/22        Bob Wang

2022/23        Barb Turner

2023/24        Noel Blades

2024/25        Darryl Hauge




List of Charter Members


Leonard Addison

George Andrews

Nigel Bowles*

Myron Bulawaks

Don Carter

Phil Cotrell

Cathy DaSilva

Doug Densmore

John Haas

Theron Kasawski

Pat Kileen

Glen Kosak

Gisele Lapointe

Bill Lysak

Joan McCauley

Yanko Misik

Larry Monaghan

Jim Pennell

Sharon Petryk

Gerald Sack

Ian Taylor

Pauline Weller

Neil Wilkinson*


*Current members of Southern Lights


 











Southern Lights meeting over Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic
Southern Lights meeting over Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic
Marlene Petruch DTM, Neil Wilkinson DTM and Diane Gunn on October 2, 2024
Marlene Petruch DTM, Neil Wilkinson DTM and Diane Gunn on October 2, 2024
Current members of Southern Lights Toastmasters Club and guests. October 2, 2024.
Current members of Southern Lights Toastmasters Club and guests. October 2, 2024.

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© 2025 Southern Lights Toastmaster Club Number 3684

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