VENTURA : Club Marks 50 Years but Future Is Dim

Fifty years of dinner meetings and impromptu speeches were celebrated Saturday on the golden anniversary of Ventura’s International Training in Communication club, formerly known as the International Toastmistress Club.

Despite the happy memories generated as past members gathered, the event was sad, too, because of a drastic drop in membership, said Pauline Romero, a 26-year member. In the past, the group had close to 100 members; it now is down to 12.

The club changed its name in 1985 to make it clear that it is, and always has been, open to men and women, although the Ventura club’s membership has been primarily women.

Romero said competition from International Toastmasters, which now accepts woman members, has made inroads into her group’s membership.

“But we’ve held on . . . for 50 years,” she said.

Among the anecdotes Romero related was an incident years ago when the charter president of the organization, the late Guidotta Lowe, forgot a news clipping at her home in Oxnard. She left the meeting as the entree was being served, rushed home, and returned to the Ventura restaurant in time for dessert.

“From then on we called her the ‘go-gotta girl’ because she got back in time to give the topic for the evening,” Romero said.