The year was 1972, and things were a little different then.

I-95 was almost brand-new, having been completed just a couple of years previously. The areas west of the new Interstate were just starting to grow, but there was almost no development west of University Drive. Broward Mall was a cow pasture, and Sawgrass Mills was swampland.

What is now I-595 was then State Road 84, a 4-lane highway frequently interrupted with traffic lights. The westernmost motel was a Holiday Inn near the intersection of I-95 and SR 84, and most businesses outside of Fort Lauderdale stretched along US 441.

At that time, there was a businessman named Michael Shayne (not to be confused with a current member of our club whose name is spelled differently but pronounced the same). Michael Shayne ran a real estate agency in Plantation, and when he wasn’t doing that, he was involved with Toastmasters.

And by involved, I mean really involved. In 1972, Michael Shayne was only the 14^th person in the world to earn his Distinguished Toastmaster designation. (By comparison, over 20,000 members have earned their DTM status today.) And in 1972, Michael was finishing his term as District Governor of District 47 (which at that time included the entire state of Florida as well as the Bahamas).

Although there were several Toastmasters clubs in South Florida at that time, Michael was disappointed that there were no Toastmasters clubs in Broward County west of I-95.

He decided that a Toastmasters club was needed to serve people in the westernmost, largely-rural parts of Broward County, and since Michael was proud to be a resident of the 19-year-old City of Plantation (he was elected to the Plantation City Council the following year), he formed the club in Plantation and naturally called it “Plantation Toastmasters”. He served as the club’s first president.

Plantation Toastmasters was officially chartered as club #2582 on April 3^rd, 1972 with the requisite 20 members. (It was initially an all-male club since Toastmasters International did not allow female members to join until the following year.) The first meetings were held Tuesday nights at a Sizzler restaurant on 441 about a mile south of Broward Blvd., and they continued to meet there for over a decade.

Since its founding, Plantation Toastmasters has produced one International Director (DTM Steve Bard), three District Governors / Directors (DTM Michael Shayne, DTM Steve Bard, and DTM Lynda Hammond), and scores of Division and Area Governors / Directors.

Plantation Toastmasters has produced eight Distinguished Toastmasters: Michael Shayne, Steve Bard, Robbie Young, Peggy Miller, Val Jennings, Lynda Hammond, Shantelle Moxie, and Michael Schoen. Plantation Toastmasters has also produced numerous contest winners over the years, with Eric Jacobson easily earning the most trophies, and Shantelle Moxie and Jim Barber both advancing to the Regional Competition (as the Semifinals were called then) in the International Speech Contest.

Over the years, Plantation Toastmasters has conducted a number of Speechcrafts and Youth Leadership programs. It has been a President Distinguished Club almost every year since the Distinguished Club Program was established. (Under the program which preceded the Distinguished Club Program, Plantation Toastmasters was once ranked the #1 club in the world!) It has received numerous ribbons and awards from both District 47 and Toastmasters International.

It’s been an exciting 45 years. The next 45 years promise to be even better!

Plantation Toastmasters meets Tuesday nights, 6:30 – 8:30pm at the Jim Ward Community Center in Plantation Florida. Guests are always welcome at no charge! For more information, visit https://plantationtoastmasters.com/ to find out more!