Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Meet our 2019-2020 Vice President of Membership

Brian Norris as he received his award for participating in a speech competition

Brian Norris

My name is Brian Norris, and I have been married to my best friend, Donna Norris, for over 35 years. I am a dad to four wonderful daughters, a grandfather of five, and am the Co-Owner and Manager of Bateman Funeral Home.


I attended a few meetings several years ago in Mexico with a friend when I was a manager at UPS. I wanted to work on my public speaking and I remembered the positive experiences I had in Mexico so I decided to check into Toastmasters in Newport.  I found out that Lee Ritzman was a member and he invited me to visit. I enjoyed the meeting so I joined. Since I have been a member of Yaquina Toastmaster, I have received wonderful advice and coaching from the club. Everyone in the club wants you to be successful, which is very encouraging.  All of the club members are willing to help; it's my favorite thing about the club is how wonderful they are.
This next year, I will continue to grow the club with more members and work on mentoring those members so we can participate in a fun, positive, safe place to practice public speaking. 
If you are debating on coming to our meetings, I know it can be a little scary to go somewhere new and “try to fit in”. I promise you that if you give us a try, you will be happy you did. We meet at Pig 'N Pancake in Newport, Oregon at 7 am on Tuesdays.

Meet our 2019-2020 President

My name is Dave Coffman, and for Yaquina Toastmasters, I am the President. During my time as a Toastmaster, I have competed in in speech contests, and finished many of the advanced manuals. I've found Toastmasters to be rewarding in so many ways, it's hard to decide the number one thing I've gotten out of Toastmasters. If I have to choose one thing, I suppose it's the self confidence I've achieved in my ability to speak in public. 
When I first joined Toastmasters I was a Youth Minister at my church which involved frequent speaking in front of many diverse groups of people. This is why I decided to join Toastmasters in the first place.
My advice to anyone considering joining Toastmasters is that there is no better place to develop public speaking skills in a supportive environment full of people whose one commonality is that they all want to help one another improve their speaking skills.Yaquina Toastmasters tends to be a little less formal than many other clubs and our meetings, at least to me, are a little more fun because of it.

Meet our 2019-2020 Sergeant At Arms

Lee presenting the Table Topics Award
Lee Ritzman

I am retired after a career in public works administration. I was born and raised in Utah, and graduated with a masters degree in civil engineering from the University of Utah. While at the UofU, I met and married Kathleen – we have 5 children and 13 grandchildren currently in three different states.
I had just started as Public Works Director/City Engineer in Newport when two colleagues invited me to attend Toastmasters with them. Kathleen and I both went – she enjoyed it because her public speaking skills were much better than mine – I went along. It was not long before I realized that improvement in my speaking ability could benefit my career. That was in 1994. Other than a 3-year gap, we have both been members of Toastmasters since then.
We have both accepted the opportunity to serve in various leadership positions, including club and district offices. We have also enjoyed District training sessions and conferences, and have participated in speech and evaluation contests. Best of all, we have met some great people.
My experience with Toastmasters has helped me tremendously with public presentations and the ability to think and respond quickly while on my feet. I have also learned that those skills help a lot, but are not a replacement for preparation.
I continue to enjoy the fun atmosphere in the Toastmasters meetings and watching others gain experience and skill as well.

Meet our 2019-2020 Treasurer




My name is Laurie Weitkamp, a member of Yaquina Toastmasters since 2006ish.  Professionally, I'm a fish biologist. Back in the mid 1990s I did a leadership program, which identified public speaking as a skill I needed to improve, so I joined a toastmasters club and the rest is history. Compared to any other commercial program that teaches public speaking, Toastmasters is a bargain.As a scientist, I have to give a lot of talks, such as at scientific meetings to my peers, and in a variety of venues to the public. I find attending toastmasters keeps my speaking skills sharp, so I'm effective in my presentations. It gives me the confidence to stand in front of a crowd and know "I can do this!". I've also also learned a lot about giving good evaluations, pointing out what was done well with how the speaker can improve. This skill is directly applicable to my work, since I often have to evaluate the work and writing students and my peers.
I've been a member of Toastmasters since 1996. I stay because it keeps my speaking skills sharp, but also because I enjoy getting to know my fellow toastmasters and we have a lot of fun at meetings.