History

>> printer-friendly version

The Talk of the Towers was chartered on April 26, 1990 with 20 members from the Port Authority of NY & NJ.

The club was a closed Port Authority club until Spring of 1995, when it was opened to all and brought a larger, more diverse membership. Our membership grew from primarily engineers and architects to an eclectic mix of individuals. Since 1995 our membership has consistently numbered in the low to mid 30's.

Until the tragedy of September 11, 2001 we met every Thursday at noon in 1 World Trade Center, on the 72nd floor. The attack forced our members to disperse into various office locations away from lower Manhattan, and left us devastated by the loss of our endearing member, Peter Feidelberg, from Aon on the 104th floor of 2 WTC.

Undaunted, our members and officers have committed to continuing our goal of self-improvement in communication and preserving our club name as "The Talk of The Towers". Two weeks after the tragedy and turmoil, our club re-established its presence in midtown Manhattan at JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.  On March 3rd 2009 we moved to our current location at the Port Authority of NY & NY at 225 Park Avenue South (near Union Square - between 18th & 19th Sts).  Our meeting schedule is the First, Third and Fifth (if applicable) Tuesday evenings of every month. Our splendid club website was quickly put together and launched on 11/24/01 by our webmasters Ji Qin and Zechariah Agyeno. It has been an instant success. Our website, together with our enthusiasm and sincerity, has attracted record numbers of guests and new members.

In 2004, under the leadership of Ji Qin, Talk of the Towers achieved President's Distinguished Club status for the fourth consecutive year. We also became one of only 14 clubs in District 46 (out of 230 clubs) to achieve all 10 goals in Toastmasters' Distinguished Club Program. Moreover, we are one of only 8 clubs out of 230 ones to achieve all 10 goals for two consecutive years. Since then we have continued the tradition of annual achievement in the President’s Distinguished Club.

We thank all club presidents and their teams of officers for their efforts to help build The Talk of the Towers Toastmasters Club:
1990 - 1992 Victor Chaker (Charter President)
1992 - 1993 Alvin Smith
1993 - 1994 Maria DelBianco
1994 - 1995 Phyllis Walker
1995 - 1996 Robert Daniels
1996 - 1997 James Pellechia
1997 - 1998 Audrey Smith (now Audrey Dagnachew)
1998 - 1999 Vijay Chopra
1999 - 2000 Timur Zakutskiy
2000 - 2001 Robert Share
2001 - 2002 AnnMarie Perciballi
2002 - 2003 Marquesa Pettway
2003 - 2004 Ji Qin
2004 - 2005 Michelle Martin
2005 - 2006 Ken Oehlkers
2006 - 2007 Ilan Smith
2007 - 2008 Audrey Dagnachew
2008 - 2009 Winnie Mou
2009 - 2010 James Decker
2010 - 2011 Ann G. Neumann