This page contains brief and optional speaker bios of club members. See current Club Officers under "Rogue Gallery."
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Bob Bosso, CTM
Bob Bosso is the longest serving member of the club, having started in Toastmasters Club 1803 in November 1966. Bob, a local attorney with the firm of Bosso Williams, has used his Toastmaster training not only as a trial attorney, but also in public speaking engagements in his roles as the attorney for several local water districts, while serving on the local school board, and in a variety of other occasions. He credits Toastmasters with keeping his oratory skills sharp and after 45 years, still attends meetings regularly where he is a strong advocate of meaningful evaluations to improve each speaker’s skills. |
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Wally Dale, ACB
Wally Dale has been a member of Downtown Toastmasters since 1977. Wally is retired from the Thomas J. Lipton Company where he was the Plant Manager of the Santa Cruz Plant. Wally credits Toastmasters as the organization that helped him to maintain his speaking skills for his management function at Lipton, as a former President of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce and for the various Non-Profit Boards on which he has served. Wally is an eleven year member of SCORE, an SBA sponsored volunteer organization that provides free business counseling to Small Business. He currently serves as the District Director of the San Francisco District of SCORE. |
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Pat Garcia, DTM
My Toastmaster journey began with a haircut, a high school senior and finding myself wanting to fill some free time. That is an unusual situation! Now, 22 years later, I still enjoy spending my time being involved and listening and learning from my many TM friends and mentors. This has been my college education. The hundreds of fascinating and talented people I have encountered in TM have been my professors. My degrees are the CC, CCB, CCS, and DTM. My family and my hobbies - boating, kayaking, hiking, reading - enrich my life as do all my TM friends. I appreciate and am so grateful for all they have taught me. The TM experience continues to be fun and exciting! I also have over twenty years as a Look Good, Feel Good facilitator for the American Cancer Society. Life is Good! |
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Sandy Mason, ATM
I have been a member of Downtown Toastmaster since 1985. I appreciate the diversity of the group, the mental stimulation of the weekly researched and contemplated topics, the members’ commitment to growth, the wonderful friends I have made here and the inspiration as I see members improve their speaking and leadership skills. Underneath, I am an introvert who needs to continually practice my extrovert skills. Toastmasters has made a big impact on my professional and personal life.
I am the Broker and co-owner of Santa Cruz Properties and have practiced real estate in the county since 1979. I love the mountains and enjoy showing rural property. I love nature and spend my time off canoeing, river rafting, hiking, wilderness camping, watching birds, smelling flowers and watching the sunset/moonrise. |
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Carole Rucker McPherson, ATMB, Retired Teacher
Carole has been a former club president and member of Downtown Toastmasters since 1994. She was an elementary and junior high school teacher specializing in the field of Health Education. She has served on the boards of a number of community organizations, including Friends of Santa Cruz Public Libraries, UCSC Friends of the Library, and Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. She is a published author, and enjoys creative writing, journaling, and traveling to exotic places, meeting people and talking to them.
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Jack Western, CTM
I joined Downtown Toastmasters about 15 years ago. I vividly remember my fear as I delivered my
“Icebreaker,” the first speech given after becoming a new member. All I remember was describing a harrowing,
potentially disastrous fall from my horse in Henry Cowell Redwoods. I tumbled down a steep hillside, managing to
miss a large number of rocks and trees. I've given many speeches since that first one, but it sticks in my mind
because of what might have happened.
Becoming a Toastmaster has changed the way I listen to a speech, and
made me a much better speaker. It can so
the same for you.
In my
other life I’ve been a real estate broker for 29 years and it’s been good to
me. I’ve made a lot of friends and
helped a lot of people. My wife Polly
and I have been married for 56 years.
We’ve been trail buddies for about 30 years and shared a lot of miles
with our horses, Danny Boy and Makana (Makie).
We’re also semi-avid skiers. Close
family ties are a big thing for us. We have
4 children, and 9 grandchildren, all living in Santa Cruz County. |
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Ray Charland, CTM
I’ve been a member of S.C. Downtown Toastmasters for many years and find our club meetings both great fun and a wonderful learning opportunity. The speaking and leadership skills I’ve developed and enhanced have been of great use professionally, in my previous work as a counseling psychologist at U.C. Santa Cruz, and as an academic and career counselor and faculty member at Mission College in Santa Clara. Now retired from my college career, I empower clients in my Life Coaching practice who are eager to define and achieve their goals. I live with my wife and 2 cats in Santa Cruz, love the natural beauty of our area, and enjoy outdoor adventures. |
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John Axel Hansen, CTM
John has been a member of Santa Cruz Downtown Toastmaster since 1990! He is a Career Counselor, Job & Career Transition Coach! John empowers people to find the passion in their lives to discover what they want to do for a living! He also teaches Job Search, Salary Negotiations, Does Interview Coaching and Critiques Resumes! He has an undergrad degree from UC Berkeley and a Master in Counselor Education from San Jose State University! John loves learning, helping and being in front of an audience! John and his wife Judy are working on 38 years of marriage! Their daughter Britt is Assistant Director of Archeology for Arizona's North Kaibab Forest, the forest on the way to the Grand Canyon North Rim! Britt and her husband Matt who does GIS for Zion National Park have twin girls, Cassidy and Meredith born, September 10, 2006! Why not pull up John's website at www.havealife.com and see his smiling face? "Another Day in Paradise! Somebody's gotta do it and it might as well be us! Have a life . . . your way!!!" |
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Derrick Clark, CTM
Derrick has been a member of Downtown Toastmasters for over 15 years. He finds it to be the most supportive organization in which he has ever participated. It is truly a joy to watch people grow through the Toastmasters program. As a humanistic psychologist, his life's work is to help people grow and Downtown Toastmasters shares the same ideal. With encouragement from Toastmasters, Derrick is the author of a little, wee book with a big title, "How to Live: A Handbook on How to Care for the Self." |
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Curtis Reliford, CC
My name is Curtis Reliford. I am a simple man who wants to do something meaningful with my life. I come to Toastmasters to learn and practice speaking in front of large crowds. I want to tell the story of how I follow my heart. The thoughts in my mind tell me to serve. By helping others, it helps my soul to rest in peace. I feel a sense of joy, a sense of lightness, clarity and oneness that connects me to the receiver. My goal is to get the Nobel Peace Prize for being a great giver! |
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Lisa Seace, ACB
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Bill Fitler, DTM, Personal Computing Coach
Bill is a retired software engineering manager who worked on PC and internet applications, security and infrastructure. He is a disaster relief volunteer with the Santa Cruz Chapter of the American Red Cross and is the webmaster and a member of the board of FAIR (Families Adopting In Response), a Northern California adoptive families support group. His avocations include disc golfing, bicycle touring and brewing beer. Bill has been a member of Toastmaster clubs throughout the Monterey Bay Area for almost two decades. |
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Vickie Assunto, CTM
Vickie is a marriage and family therapist with a private practice in Capitola, and a small business owner of an exciting opportunity. Excited by life, living and everything in it, Vickie is a spiritual person having a human experience. |
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Jake Eschen, ACB
Jake is an attorney here in Santa Cruz (www.jameseschen.com). He joined Toastmasters in 2004 to help him speak in front of judges and juries.
He got more than he expected.
Preparing for speeches lets him research and think about many other things, from grizzly bears to Mexican folk tales. He gets to write stories and to memorize poems to recite. In Toastmasters, he can call on some creativity that practicing law doesn’t allow. |
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Dennis Grady, CC, Building Design
Dennis began his career in the iron ore mines of northern Minnesota and moved to California in the 1970’s. Following twenty years of work as a General Building Contractor, Dennis transitioned to building design and land development. For the past fifteen years he has been sole proprietor of Residential Drafting and Design in Soquel. He joined Downtown Toastmasters of Santa Cruz in 2006 and found the club and the organization to be transformational in nearly all aspects of his life. He considers his life focus to be a search for knowledge, self-awareness and a confrontation with ignorance, both the world’s and his own. His main interests are literature, psychology, political science and writing. For pleasure he practices yoga, dances, hikes, enjoys the companionship of family and like-minded souls, and conversely, at times seeks places of solitude where the influences and sounds of man are absent. |
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Anne Mitchell, Certified Public Accountant
Anne was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in Dallas, TX. She received a BA in Political Economics from the University of Dallas and a MS in economics from Oklahoma State University, specializing in international trade, money, and banking. She spent 6 years in St. Louis, MO, first as a VISTA volunteer and then in radio, as director of KBDY, a non commercial radio station. She moved to CA to work with KFAT radio in Gilroy.
She settled in Santa Cruz, CA and decided to pursue a career as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She studied accounting at Golden Gate University in San Francisco and interned locally to become licensed. In 1985 Anne established the firm AMMSCPA at Branciforte Plaza with her associate, Marshall Forrester, a finance specialist, and her mother, Marge Mitchell, who had retired from White Cap as office manager in Dallas, TX.
One of the keys to Anne’s professional abilities has been her commitment to continuing education and ongoing involvement with business organizations. She serves on the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and its Finance Committee. |
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Charles Flowers, ACB
Charles Flowers has been a member of Toastmasters for 20 years. He's a retired award-winning Nordstrom employee and a tour guide in San Diego, now residing in Watsonville, CA with his wife, Karen O'Connor. For Charles, Toastmasters is a way for men and women to find out who they are and what they're really all about.
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Laura Kasa
I joined Toastmasters at the request of my Board of Directors because I have the opportunity to speak many times throughout the year about Save Our Shores. I make presentations about ocean health to schools, rotary and other groups. I also create and deliver a speech every year at our Toast to the Coast fundraiser to an audience of at least 300 people. Prior to this position, I had not had much of an opportunity to do public speaking. |
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Tom Ginsburg, CC
Tom keeps the computers, phones, and network humming along in his role as a Sr. Systems Technician at the Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 dispatch center. In past lives, Tom worked in broadcast radio, hoofed the streets of Watsonville as a letter carrier, and owned a specialty beverage business. Tom joined Toastmasters not only to get more comfortable speaking to groups, but to also lose his bashfulness in one-on-one interactions. One of Tom's goals is to use his wide vocal range to gain some voice-over work. Ultimately, he would like to become confident enough to hone his love of parody and making people laugh to do some stand-up comedy.
Tom enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, as well as hiking, biking and skiing. |
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Greg Pepping
Greg joined Santa Cruz Downtown Toastmasters in the Fall of
2010. Initially his interest was simply polishing his communication skills,
with the main goal of improving the presentations he often gives for work. As
the Executive Director of the Coastal Watershed Council, Greg often speaks to
local groups about how they can preserve and protect coastal watersheds. He
continues to use his TM speeches to improve how he shares that message, and
also hopes to become a more vibrant, energetic and motivating speaker on a
variety of topics. Greg strives to speak from his heart and keep his messages
simple. He's most passionate when speaking about social justice, environmental
respect, spirituality, baseball and food. |
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Chris Yonge
I started Studio Cruz in 2001 following three years as designer for Santa Cruz Industries and then a further two as technical animator for Sun Microsystems. Qualified in the UK as an architect, a professional furniture designer/maker, and also as a product designer in the US, I bring a wide range of experience to projects as well as an enthusiasm for technology and design. |
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Nickalaos Conrad
Nickalaos was born in Seattle and grew up during the 90s
thinking that Nirvana and Pearl Jam were the most important gifts to the world
and his teenage adolescence. After
that plane crashed, Nick moved to California and studied History at UC Berkeley. He then lived in San Diego, London, Los
Angeles, and Seattle, looking for money from various corporations
as a child might look under rocks for live animals. After returning to school to earn his MA in
History at Washington State University, he transferred to UC Santa
Cruz to complete his PhD studying modern European history. He specializes in the history of European
secularization and likes to talk about it.
Recently married, he lives with his wife and two pet rats, Chester and
Delilah, in Santa Cruz and spends his time reading books and dreamily looking
at redwood trees and the Pacific Ocean. |
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Jay Mosley, CC
Jay Mosley joined Santa Cruz Downtown Toastmasters in 2010. He is a local General Contractor and
serves as a member of the board of directors for the Scotts Valley Water
District. Since joining Toastmasters Jay
has experienced the benefits Toastmaster’s provide in public speaking as well as leadership
skills. Jay now uses these skills in all aspects of his community and public
service, as well as his business relations. |
| Colin Mackenzie Colin was born in London in 1931. After spending the war dodging German bombs, at 17 he joined the RAF as an aircraft apprentice studying engines. He left in 1951. After a brief spell assembling aircraft engines in Toronto, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained as a navigator in Winnipeg. He then joined an anti-sub squadron in Nova Scotia. There, he met future wife Thelma and they married in 1956. After nearly 6 years in the RCAF and the Korean War ended, his services were no longer needed. By then, daughter Heather was present as Thelma worked to send Colin to pre‐med and then med school. After graduating from Nova Scotia's Dalhousie University in 1965 and completing an internship in New Brunswick, the family (now 2 girls and one boy) drove to Oroville, CA, where he became a resident physician. In late 1966, the family moved to Scotts Valley where he joined Drs.Seapy and Catlin to establish Scotts Valley Medical Clinic. In 1990, he retired, taking up woodturning five years ago, using much of his spare time. |
 | Bill Duran |
 | Emily Nahnsen
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| Fani Nicheva, Web Designer, CC
Fani Nicheva is a branding specialist who co-owns Bigfish Smallpond Design, a Santa Cruz based graphic design studio, with her husband and partner Bob von Elgg.
Fani grew up in communist Bulgaria and arrived to America to attend Emmanuel College in Boston on a full tuition scholarship for the arts. Before cofounding Bigfish Smallpond Design she worked in the corporate and advertising industry with most recent position as an art director for Euro RSCG Sofia. Fani prefers to work her branding and design magic with small local business owners such as commercial artists, musicians, authors, speakers and coaches.
Her special talent for print typography is rooted in the love of language and writing. And her passion for brand identity is based on a very pragmatic, but heart-and-soul vision of today’s business. After a hiatus, Fani has rejoined Downtown Toastmasters in March 2012. |
| Lauren Dockendorf
Lauren is a member of the staff of Save Our Shores, an ocean
conservation non-profit organization here in Santa Cruz. She studied Marine Biology at UC Santa Cruz
with an emphasis on marine mammals and conservation. She is a lifetime soccer player, an avid
scuba diver and an ocean enthusiast.
Lauren joined Toastmasters to improve her speaking skills in order to
effectively speak to the public about ocean conservation and how they can be
the solution to ocean pollution! |
 | Cynthia Hahm |
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