Top Notch Toastmasters

Chuck is a lifelong resident of Fort Worth and loves living in the big state of Texas! He's married to fellow Toastmaster, Terry Mencke. They share their home with their "furry children", two cats, one dog, which Terry tolerates, and also one not so furry fish, named "Fish". Chuck is an avid reader and loves demonstrating the art of Dutch oven cooking. Chuck is a Senior IT Manager for a Taiwanese battery manufacturer and manages the company's Fort Worth Data Center. Chuck, along with his wife, are also avid RV'ers and love spending their "down-time" in the great outdoors. Chuck currently holds dual memberships in TNT and Plus Two and serves as the Newsletter Editor for District 25.

A freelance writer and speaker, Julie B Cosgrove has written hundreds of web content and articles with secular and Christian themes, led retreats, workshops  and Bible studies, and writes regularly for several Christian websites and publications. She has  authored three nonfiction works, P.R.A.Y.I.N.G.: Bringing Power and Purpose to Your Prayers, (2009), Song Notes: Devotionals from the Book of Psalms (2010) and What Can She Tell us? (2011), as well as Focused, a novel to be released by Lighthouse Christian Publishing in 2011. Watch for her next work, Crouching Between the Window and the Door coming soon. A member of the Christian Writers Fellowship International, Advanced Writers Speakers Assoc., Red River Romance Writers, DiAnn Mills' Ripplers Group and North Texas Christian Writers, Julie is a widow with one grown son. She lives in the Fort Worth, Texas area with her two cats.  She is currently serving as Club Secretary. You may contact her at www.juliebcosgrove.com.

Roberta "Robi" Ley, is our 2010-2011 Club President. She is writer and author of two books under the pen name R.W. Ley - a Christian faith based suspense novel called Hidden Lives and a testimony about an orphanage in India called Caste Aside. Once a radio deejay, she has also been a stage actress.  She is a professional speaker as well as Vice President of Keboep Communications. She has two grown sons and loves writing, reading and football- especially Notre Dame. She has been married to her husband Scott for twenty-six years. She has completed her CC and CL, is on the Speaker's Bureau and is soon to complete her AS Bronze and Silver in Toastmasters. You can reach her at www.rwley.com.

Ross McDaniel was born and raised in Central Texas. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in Psychology. He has a Masters degree in NLP (Neurolinguistic programming). Ross served two tours in Viet Nam and became a team leader in the Green Beret special forces.  He speaks English, German, French, Spanish and American Sign Language as well as muddling around six more.  He has extensive experience in nutraceuticals which are food supplements which support the body's natural defenses in its immunity and repair functions.  He is the father of two daughters and an assortment of stepchildren.

Chandler Crouch is a Real Estate Broker in the Fort Worth area as well as a business owner. He has been a speaker/trainer since 2002. He has his CC and AS Bronze.  He is our Club's VP of Publicity and served as Club President in 2009-2010. He is the proud father of a son name Stanton born in 2010 and has been married to his wife Megan since 2006. His hobbies are hunting, trying authentic Mexican dishes and reading books .He is active in his church. Contact him at broker@chandlerrealty.com.

Karen Powers is a career consultant with Texas Workforce Solutions in Cleburne, TX.  She has her CC and is focusing on her CL and ATM Bronze in Toastmasters.  Her hobbies include photographing nature and wildlife and long walks with her Siberian huskie.  Her hero is David Kelly. Karen is single and live in Alvarado with her son and grandchildren.  She has rejoined Toastmasters after a hiatus to gain confidence, meet new friends and sharpen her communication skills.

Anna Woods  has been with Charter Communications for over ten years.  Recently promoted to Customer Interactive Specialist, she lives with her husband Gary and a menagerie of four dogs and one cat.
 She has a grown son who is a fireman in Louisiana.  She enjoys fishing, reading crafting and cooking as well as spending time with her family. She is working to complete her CC by June, 2011.

Reynaldo "Rey" Sanabria is a personnel manager with a B.A. in Accounting. Originally from Mexico City, he lives in the Fort Worth area with his wife.  In their spare time, they vacation in Mexico to visit family and friends.  His main hobby is watching movies. Rey has joined Toastmasters to improve his English speaking and communication skills.

Willem De Vijlder is a self-employed pastry chef and real estate investor.  He is the single father of two wonderful children and speaks several languages.  His hobbies include traveling, water rafting, reading, cooking and biking. Always in search for an adventure, Willem has survived being stranded in the desert, climbing a volcano, parasailing and jumping off a 1500 foot cliff.  He is currently working on his CC in Toastmasters.

Chris Loney, is a long time Toastmaster member and also governor for Area 32. He enjoys traveling, which is good, because his current job takes him all over the world. He visits other Toastmaster meetings in the countries he travels whenever he can and always brings back good tips of how they do things. His dream is to retire in the Amazon, but, then again, he does have a family to think about.

Ron Fory is a DTM who has fumbled through many manuals and learned from a few of them. He usually gains the most insight from others, since his is usually OUTsight. He talks on any subject to anyone, regardless of their desire to hear it (he often speaks to busy signals for up to 30 minutes before determining there is no one on the other end of the line). Because he enjoys it more than anything else, he makes his living talking to people until they pay him to leave. Ask him about strategic planning or fraud sometime, and you’ll see how that works. He’s a geezer, but can occasionally come up with an entertaining line. Ask him about a Caboodle.

Lori Nigh  is originally from the Cayman Islands, which are located 480 miles directly South of Miami, Florida. She is a member of two Toastmaster clubs, Tip Top Toastmasters which she joined in Fall 2007 and Top Notch Toastmasters which she joined in June, 2010. She is currently working on her Advanced Communicator Bronze and her Advanced Leader Silver while serving as VP Education for Tip Top Toastmasters and Area 14 Governor. Lori graduated from Florida Southern College in May, 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Her happiest moment was probably receiving a public commendation from the Governor of the Cayman Islands for a speech she wrote for him on the occasion of the Young Caymanian Leadership Awards, 2002. Her second happiest moment was probably being nominated by the faculty of Florida Southern College to receive the coveted Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities, 1999. She is currently taking her A+, Network+ and Security+ exams and would like to simultaneously gain practical work experience and further her IT studies through industry certifications and a Masters degree.

Kenneth Cannizzo is a Competent Communicator in Toastmasters. A salesman at Home Depot, he is also a musician who plays hand drums. He has been with several bands. He's been married for eight years but has no children.

Torrence D. Burnett, MBA is a resident of Fort Worth, Texas.  He is the CEO/Director of Operations of PAMCO, a company dedicated to helping small-businesses build solid operating strategies and recognizable brands.  As an entrepreneur and small-business owner, Torrence believes that constant self-improvement and personal growth are necessary tools for success and fulfillment.

LaShonda Burnett MA is a resident of Fort Worth, Texas.  In her role as an Executive Administrator and Human Resources professional, LaShonda considers communication her primary resource.  When not working towards reaching her personal and professional goals,  LaShonda enjoys writing, photography and cooking.  

 

BJ is an analyst with an electricity trading company which keeps him very busy. He has his Electrical Engineering degree from TCU and Master's in Software Engineering from UT. He is married to his wonderful wife, Keri, his high school sweetheart.

Jody Helton is a DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster), and the owner of Julie's Fresh Kitchen on McCart where TNT meets.
He has been in Toastmasters a long time, and enthusiastically supports it and the club.
His wit and good humor, as well as his faith and giving heart, makes him a vital ingredient in our club's success. He is an insightful, encouraging and positive evaluator, and his Table Topics anecdotes are always entertaining.  Now if he could just learn some good jokes . . .

 

 

Meena Perumal was born in India and migrated to the U.S. to fulfill his dream of being an entrepreneur, something he says would be hard if not impossible in his native country.  He misses his family but loves being in America where "there is no caste system, so everyone has a chance, no matter where or how they were born, rich or  poor."
Meena is enthusiastic about Toastmasters and how it helps him not only speak publically, but speak better English.  With the help of fellow club members in TNT he is even learning how to speak better Texan!