President Michael Hollingworth said the club is particularly pleased because it expects 80 to 100 people to attend, including some of the very first members who founded the club in 1967.

One special guest will be the club’s original charter president, Frank Hooke, who will be accompanied by his wife Susan.

As a result of research by current Taree Toastmasters members, at least one other foundation member – and possibly two or three – will also attend the dinner.

Frank Hooke, now retired on a 450-acre farm near Gloucester, was born in the Manning Valley and had a long family association with Taree.

He began his career in Taree in the family law firm Murray Hooke and Summerville, founded by his grandfather John Hooke. After moving to a large city law firm in Sydney, he pursued a long and a distinguished corporate career. This included 15 years with the oil giant Esso in postings as far afield as Papua New Guinea and New York.

Franks says that throughout his career he valued the public speaking skills he learned from Toastmasters – particularly from ‘Table Topics’, the impromptu speaking session which is a feature of all Toastmasters meetings.

“Table Topics taught me to think quickly and creatively. I developed a reputation for being able to describe difficult problems clearly and understandably,” Frank says.

Other guests at the 50th anniversary dinner will include the distinguished Toastmaster David Fisher, based in Sydney, who is the Australian member of the International Toastmasters board of directors.

A major contributor to organising the 50th anniversary dinner has been Taree businessman Colin Steber, who is a previous president of Taree Toastmasters, and is now division director – responsible for 17 clubs between Forster and Mullumbimby.

Colin has extricated from the club’s files the names of all the individuals who have been members over the past 50 years. He says they add up to 330 people.

Taree is one of 33 Toastmasters clubs in Australia founded 50 or more years ago. The organisation, founded in the United States, came to Australia in 1957 when the first club was formed in Wollongong. There are now 750 Australian Toastmasters clubs, with 15,000 members.

Taree Toastmasters meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, at Club Taree at 7.30 pm. Visitors are welcome.

For more information contact president, Michael Hollingworth, on 0409 558 199, or division director Colin Steber, on 0427 220 888‬.