Toastmasters Doing More Than Talking

The dining room was hopping as servers passed out food, the twelve piece band played a melody of tunes as the residents of the Brementowne Manor dinned on Lasagna, Chicken Lemone, Sausage and Peppers, and Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo from local restaurants Papa Joe's Italian Restaurant and Barraco’s Pizza. Volunteers from the Orland Park Toastmasters, who meet at Brementowne Manor, acted as professional servers dressed in white shirts and black pants waited on residents of the Manor.

“Brementowne Manor is home for the Orland Park Toastmasters”, says Dale Obrochta, President of the Orland Park club. “We appreciate the residents allowing us to hold meetings on Monday nights and thought we would show our appreciation by serving the residents dinner”, states Obrochta.

The Toastmasters club worked with Brementowne Manor staff and together planned a fun evening of music and dinner on April 4, 2016.

New Toastmasters Martha and Carlos Salazar joined in the festivities and danced as cheers from the residents encouraged the couple to preform like they were on Dancing with the Stars. Twelve year old son Carlos Salazar watched his parents dance as he waited on tables. Martha Salazar joined the Orland Park Toastmasters in mid-March to improve her public speaking skills for work, while her husband Carlos joined her to support his wife, but quickly found the Toastmasters leadership program interesting and is seeking to build stronger leadership skills.

The Orland Park Toastmasters just didn’t dance, they showed they were there to work. If you were in the food staging area you would think you were in a professional restaurant as orders were being yelled out, dishes being scraped and cleaned all while good-humored joking happened behind the scenes.

Toastmaster Sue Castallo and Alisa Matushek orchestrated dish cleanup that would have impressed the pickiest mother-in-law after a Thanksgiving dinner. Husband and wife Tom and Amy Kens expedited food orders and when not working with the Brementowne kitchen staff you would find Tom running meals to residents rooms who could not make it to the formal dining room.

“I’m very proud of the Orland Park Toastmasters for doing this special dinner”, says Obrochta. “The club culture is very supportive and when the idea was suggested hands quickly raised to volunteer to honor the people who allow us to use their facility”, divulged Obrochta

The Orland Park Toastmasters meets every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at the Brementowne Manor at 7:00 PM. The public club has a growing membership of thirty plus members and has been supporting the community and local business since 1983. The mission of the Orland Park Toastmasters is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communications and leadership skills, which in turn fosters-confidence and personal growth. You can learn more about the Orland Park Toastmasters at www.OrlandParkToastmasters.com.