As Educational Director of the Bloomington YMCA, Ralph Smedley recognized that the young men in his community needed to learn how to talk, to conduct meetings, to plan programs, and how to work on committees.  To meet this need he devised the idea of a social club, meeting weekly, with programs devoted to practice short speeches, debates, and some work in chairmanship.  Thus was born the very first Toastmaster Club in Bloomington, Illinois, on March 24, 1905.

In 1906, Dr. Smedley was transferred to the Freeport YMCA.  At the time, the idea of adult education was beginning to gain recognition, and it was just one year later in 1907 that he organized the first Toastmaster Club for adult men in the city of Freeport.  Shortly thereafter he was transferred to Rock Island and a third club was organized there.

Unfortunately, however, his successors did not share his enthusiasm for the Toastmaster program and all three clubs died shortly after their founder had moved on.  The idea, however, did not die but was put on the back burner for a short while.  In 1922, Dr. Smedley was again transferred, this time to Santa Ana, California; and it was here in 1924 that what is now known as “Founder’s Club” was organized – the “official” beginning of our great organization.

Some 12 years after the founding of Toastmasters, the first Toastmasters Club in the state of Illinois received its charter in March 1936.  That was the Lincoln-Douglas Club #51 in Springfield.  At that time, the area comprising all of Illinois and the eastern half of the state of Missouri was known as District 8.  Nearly two years later the first club located in what is now known as “Chicagoland District 30” received its charter as Central Club #96.

Central #96 enjoyed a long life for over 40 years before finally succumbing to membership problems.  The second oldest club chartered in Chicagoland was Club #169.  Chartered in June of 1940, the Wilson Ave. Club was the home club for many men whose names are well known as leaders among Toastmasters.  Over the years its name and meeting location have changed a couple of times, but the same Club #169 is still going strong and is currently known as Kemper-Countryside Club #169, meeting in Long Grove.

For quite a few years, District 8 chose its officers alternately from the Chicago and St. Louis metropolitan areas.  Then, in 1949, Russell V. Puzey of the Wilson Ave. Club was elected Governor of District 8.  Russ was a man of great vision and plans.  It was he who dared to initiate the expansion of the District hierarchy to include two Lieutenant Governors – which was hitherto unknown in Toastmasters International.  Emmit Holmes of Chicago was one of the first Lt. Governors; Bill Buekema of St. Louis was the other.

Russ and Emmit worked on a plan for establishing a new District in Illinois, bounded on the south by an east-west line across the state just below Danville in Vermilion County and extending westward just north of Decatur, Springfield, and Quincy, but including Champaign and Urbana.  In 1950 their efforts were rewarded and District 30 was “born”  -- not the District 30 that we know today, but one which covered the entire northern half of the state of Illinois.  Emmit Holmes was elected as our first District Governor.

Both Russ Puzey and Emmit Holmes went on to serve on the International Board of Directors in later years.  And Russ was elected International President at the Denver Convention in 1953.

The first District 30 Spring Conference was held just prior to our first birthday.  At that time there were just 25 clubs in the district and two more were about to receive their charters.  Both Russ and Emmit were true believers in Dr. Smedley’s “movement”, and it was no doubt the influence of their evangelistic philosophy that District 30 grew from 25 clubs in 1951 to 75 in 1956.

Almost two thirds of those 75 clubs were located in the four counties of Cook, Lake, McHenry, and DuPage.  Members from Danville, Peoria, and Galesburg had long distances to travel in order to attend District 30 meetings – which almost always were held in Cook County.  But… they came!

Conscious of the hardship, District Governor John Franczak and Lt. Governor Bob Foley decided in 1956 to do something to alleviate the problem.  Lt. Governor Foley began a series of visits, over a period of seven months, to the outlying clubs of District 30 – those clubs outside of the four county metropolitan area.  Twenty-seven clubs were persuaded to petition for formation of a new district.  And, at the 1956 International Convention in Detroit, the Board of Directors voted favorably and District 54 was formed.

District 30 retained the four county area of Cook, Lake, McHenry, and DuPage while the balance of what used to be District 30 (the northern half of Illinois) was transferred to the new District 54.  Bob Foley was elected as the first District Governor of District 54 (and later became District Governor of D-30 in 1960-61).  The first District Governor of the new Chicagoland District was George Van Zevern.

Since our beginning back in 1950, District 30 has had many fine leaders and success stories – all too numerous to mention here.  But… in the years to come we look forward to even greater success.  Will you help us?

Written by Dick Storer, ATM (District Governor, 1971-72; International Director, 1975-77)