Past_Mtgs_2006

PAST MEETINGS JULY 2006 - CURRENT

The February 25, 2010 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Success and Failure!" theme meeting was a gigantic success! Sgt. at Arms Barbara Cusack, CC, CL called the meeting to order and Christopher Berns led the club in an inspiring success-themed Invocation. Acting President John Hines set the tone for the meeting by telling us about the book "The Game Plan for Life" by the legendary Basketball coach John Wooden and his "7 point Creed of Success". Ken Walley ACG, CL was introduced as the Toastmaster and throughout the evening Ken gave inspiring "proverbs of success" along with a number of famous examples of people who have overcome failure to achieve greatness including Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney and Michael Jordan. Using quotes from the book by Coach Wooden, John Hines returned to the lectern as the Table Topics Master and asked Wilner Luders to comment upon the phrase "Being True to Yourself". Christopher Berns was asked to explain what it means to "Never flinch under failure". Chris told about what that meant to him after serving in the military. Sashimi Robertson one of our guests for the evening, was asked what her definition of success was. She replied that it is finding the ability to "push harder to overcome the stumbling blocks of life." Ken Blake ACG, CL was given the opportunity to speak on the subject of Enthusiasm, a thing that Ken is rarely ever short on. The club was not short on simply fantastic speeches tonight either. The first speech was a very special presentation by Deborah Ryan, ACG, CL who's speech titled "28 is More Than Just a Number" was a truly interesting and exciting history of Club #28! Tracing the club's history from 1933 to the present. She told of the founders of the club including famous Orlando Mayor William Beardall and the founder of Toastmasters International Ralph Smedley, DTM coming to together to organize the club. She told stories of the 40's and 50's when the club was named after a local developer and war hero Howard Rybolt, DTM, stories about when the club met in a bowling alley and many other great stories about the club! Our second speaker was John Hines who also gave a riveting speech titled "Speech Vis Aids As A Metaphor For Life". John used visual aids such as a painting by his daughter and books that have inspired him to help explain the important lessons that he has learned in life. It was one of John's most dramatic and powerful speeches. Serving as the General Evaluator was Monica Walley who re-introduced her father Ken Walley ACG, CL to give the evaluation of Debbe's speech. Ken had very high praise for the speech and hoped to hear more from our new "club historian". Ken Blake, ACG, CL also gave a review of the John Hines speech which was again packed with uplifting acclaim. Monica mentioned the excellent Table Topics, Speeches and Evaluations in her "meeting assessment" and she even somehow got the meeting back on time after being quite a bit behind schedule! Wilner Luders and Steve Wood gave exceptional reports as the Grammarian and AH Counters. Barbara Cusack, CC, CL served as the Timer and Vote Counter. All of our guests had very high praise for the meeting including Sashimi Robertson who said when would definitely return as well as father and son visitors Spencer and Barry Pigot. Spencer said that they planed to look at a number of clubs but "that might not be necessary now!" One of the "success proverbs" Toastmaster Walley used was "Nothing Succeeds like Success", that was certainly true with this meeting.

Doing a decent Woody Woodpecker to start the February 11th, 2010 meeting, Ken Walley, ACG, CL, filling in as the Sgt. at Arms opened the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Favorite Cartoon Characters" theme meeting. He also led the club in the invocation and pledge and then introduced the Club President and this night's Toastmaster, Deepti Dhiman, CC, CL. Deepti came prepared with a ton of facts and stories about the great cartoon characters of the past and present. She mentioned some of Disney's beloved cartoons including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto, The Little Mermaid as well as others such as Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny and many others. Ken Blake ACG, CL our Table Topics Master, was not allowed to watch cartoons as a child, we learned and so he led one of the strangest Table topics session ever. Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked to describe his Disney "character" named "Mr. Howdy" that he "played" while working at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue dinner show. Deepti Dhiman CC, CL had the unfortunate assignment of explaining Daffy Duck while talking like Daffy Duck. Steve Wood was asked to do the Toastmaster Mission Statement talking like Elmer Fudd but he told an off-color joke instead. John Hines did a very passable Count Duckula but no one remembers just what he actually said. Jamie Waters, CC told how he was a "Dennis the Menace" to his parents. Christopher Berns mercifully ended the Table Topics session with an explanation of how he was "Grinch-like." We had two excellent speeches however from two of the club's better speakers. John Hines gave his 7th speech titled "Working on a Dream" which followed the history of the legal cases used to fight discrimination and open the doors to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. John brought history to life while both educating and entertaining us. Speaking second was Ken Walley ACG, CL who gave a speech titled "Our Future" about the choices that we have to make leading into this decade. Looking into a crystal ball, he saw both the very good and the very bad that might await us. Ken Blake ACG, CL also acted as our General Evaluator and introduced Wilner Luders who was excellent with his review of John's speech as well as was Jamie Waters, CC who gave the evaluation of Ken's speech. Deborah Ryan ACG, CL returned this week to be our Grammarian, Steve Wood served as the Timer, Ken Walley ACG, CL doubled as an AH Counter and Christopher Berns awarded the ribbons as our Vote Counter. Our only guest, Eric Jones had some wonderful things to say about the meeting and he pledged to return. All and all, this was a lot like a Looney Tunes cartoon, a whole lot of fun... TTTTHHAAAT'S ALLL FOLKS!

Love was in the air for the February 11th, 2010 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Love" theme meeting with Valentines Day right around the corner. The Club's own "Guru of Love" Barbara Cusack, CC, CL led the meeting and gave us words of wisdom, advice and warmth on the subject of Love. Also in the spirit of Love was our Table Topics Master Jamie Waters. CC who shot some of cupid's arrows, in the form of questions, to our members. Our returning guest Ron Silva was the first to receive a question. He answered Jamie's request to "describe a lovely day for yourself." Wilner Luders got an open ended question "What do you love that is good for us?" Christopher Berns was asked a more personal question "Do you have a special someone?" Steve Wood answered Jamie's question of "How do you see love effecting society?" Steve said that it is not "Love that make the world go 'round" but "centripetal gravitational forces that do that, but, love is a powerful emotion." When asked when love has the most influence on her life, Barbara Cusack, CC, CL answered "When love is shown to me, not told to me." Club #28 had what all Toastmasters Clubs love to have: three excellent speeches! Monica Walley, giving her 7th speech towards her Competent Communicator Award went first with a speech titled "Keep It Simple". Her speech was on ways to make your life easier by simplifying. She gave us some great ideas such as using only one credit card and always telling the truth. It was an interesting and helpful speech. Speaking next was Ken Walley ACG, CL who gave a speech titled "The Self Control Remote Control" in which Ken told us that "all you need to know in life is on your remote." Ken reminded us to "Play" "Pause" and go "Forward" in life with the help of our "self control remote control" Speaking third, was Ken Blake ACG, CL who told us about an Olympic sport, the Skeleton, in a speech titled "It's Not Always About the Money". He noticed the license plate of a car he was working on and found out it stood for the Skeleton gold medal winner Jim Shea from the 2002 Olympics! Ken told us the dangers involved with the sport which became prophetic when only a day later a 2010 Olympic Luge competitor was killed while practicing for the event. John Hines stepped in as the General Evaluator and created a stellar example for future General Evaluators with his skillful introductions and spot-on meeting evaluation. His evaluators for this evening were Ken Blake, ACG, CL, Wilner Luders and returning Past Club #28 President Debbe Ryan, ACG, CL! All of the evaluations were excellent as well. The support group was one that you just had to love: Grammarian Wilner Luders, Timer Steve Wood, AH Counter Christorpher Berns and Vote Counter Ken Walley ACG, CL. We had three visitors Ron Silva, Debbe Ryan, ACG, CL and Diana Walley ACG, CL who had come to hear both her husband and her daughter speak. After the meeting, Ron and Debbe joined the club! What is there not to love about a meeting like this?

A very special Toastmasters meeting took place on the campus of the University of Central Florida on February 9th 2010. A "mock" Toastmaster Meeting was sponsored by the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) and produced by Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 and the Castaways Toastmasters Club #618581. This meeting was the brainchild of SMPS and Orlando Club #28 member Justin Gay who selected the theme "Success & People Skills". This meeting was a great example of people skills and a huge success! With a very good turnout of UCF students willing to take part in their first Toastmaster meeting. Justin Gay opened the meeting and introduced Scott Hoehn, DTM the Lt. Governor of Education for District 84. Scott Introduced the attending Toastmasters including Club #28's Sgt. at Arms Barbara Cusack, CC, CL who brought along all of Club #28's equipment for the mock meeting. Scott told about the Toastmasters program and explained the importance of getting involved and then introduced the Toastmaster for the evening, Ken Walley ACG, CL. Showing his usual enthusiasm, Ken explained how he got involved with Toastmasters crediting his wife for "literally dragging me to my first meeting." As the meeting progressed, Ken explained more about the program and the different parts of a Toastmasters meeting. All of the functionary positions were covered by SMPS members who were expertly coached by Barbara. The Table Topics Master for this evening was Nancy Humberson, CC the current President of the Castaways Club. Nancy challenged the SMPS members with some brilliant questions and even a "charades project" that required only hand gestures! Nancy asked one member to give a "Marketing Analysis" of the question "How much wood could a woodchuck, chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Another student was asked to explain, without hand gestures how to tie a tie! Still another SMPS student was asked to do a commercial for "Wet Ones Baby Wipes". All of the answers were very well done and even remarkable considering this was their first time answering Table Topics questions. Three speeches were presented, all of them by SMPS students starting with a speech by Justin Gay titled "How to Give A Great Speech!" Justin gave some excellent advice for both the UCF students and the Toastmasters that were present alike. Speaking second was SMPS student Nick Lanza who spoke about "Life After College". Although he said he was unprepared to give a speech, he delivered a very polished speech on what it was like to face an uncertain future. The third speaker wanted only be known as "J.R." and he also came up with a fantastic speech titled "Buying your Next Car". Instead, J.R. told us of his dream "muscle car" and how to find it. All three speeches were simply superb. Ken Walley ACG, CL was also the General Evaluator and he introduced three very highly qualified evaluators. Speaking first and evaluating Justin's speech was past Orlando Club #28 President Barbara Cusack, CC, CL. She had a number of positive and upbeat comments on Justin's speech. Also impressed with the speech that she had to evaluate was Daisy Arus the VP of Education for the Castaways club. She was impressed with the confidence that Nick showed while giving his speech. Evaluating J.R.'s speech was Scott Hoehn, DTM who gave an insightful and very helpful review of J.R.'s speech. Ken also gave a brief evaluation of the meeting stating how impressed he was with the talent of the SMPS students as well as how happy he was to see this mock meeting take place. The functionaries gave expert Grammarian and AH Counter reports as if they had been in Toastmasters for years. Ken thanked the SMPS group for inviting Toastmasters and urged them to explore Toastmasters in the future. Justin Gay was re-introduced and thanked the Orlando Club #28 and the Castaway Club #618581 for helping to make this mock meeting such a great success. He present each of the Toastmasters with a Certificate of Appreciation. Justin then adjourned the meeting. This special meeting was a wonderful way to bring Toastmasters to other groups and it was a really fun way to spend the evening as well!

Even if the theme for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 February 4th, 2010 meeting was "Peace" I do not think that you could describe it as "peaceful". Maybe you could say it was exciting and fun or enjoyable and wonderful... Sgt. at Arms Barbara Cusack, CC, CL called the meeting to order and introduced Christopher Berns to give the Invocation and Pledge. He read a stirring quotation regarding peace and solitude. Toastmaster and Club #28 President Deepti Dhiman, CC, CL welcomed our visiting guests including club member John Hines's daughter, Jenna Hines and Johnny Nuygen. Being the Toastmaster for his first time tonight was Wilner Luders. Wilner had many great insights as to peace both as a world goal and as an inner feeling. He likened peace to a man in a moving ocean or a man in the forest. He also reminded us of winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Our Table Topics Master tonight was Monica Walley. Monica wanted to know if John Hines ever thought there would be world peace. Despite John's optimism in the world, he didn't feel there would ever be world peace. Christopher Berns was asked what "peace" meant to him. Christopher talked about building connections with people. Returning member Justin Gay was given the question "did you ever have to be a peace keeper?" Justin said that he tries to defuse a bad situation before it gets out of hand. Barbara Cusack, CC, CL was asked how to bring about peace. Barbara thought that getting together at the table and eating salsa would help us out of the toughest disputes. Ken Blake, ACG, CL; was asked what good comes out of war. Ken thought that war helped out the economy and could possibly help our image if entered into properly. The night's first speaker was Deepti Dhiman, CC, CL. Her speech was titled "Degrees of Separation" Deepti showed us how the world was all connected through "six degrees of separation." She told some amazing stories about just how small our world really is. Our second speaker was Ken Walley ACG, CL. Ken gave a hip pocket speech about how to deliver a great speech titled "How to Prepare a Speech". He received a standing ovation! Our first evaluator was Barbara Cusack, CC, CL who evaluated Deepti's speech. Barbara loved Deepti's stories and use of vocal inflection. Ken Blake, ACG, CL was the second evaluator. Ken felt that this unprepared speech was well polished and very well detail. He said that Ken actually had been preparing it for ten years while in toastmasters! Our functionaries were Grammarian Justin Gay, Timer Jamie Waters, CC, AH Counter John Hines and Vote Counter Jenna Hines. This meeting besides being very entertaining was full of some very deep insight.

The room was like a rainbow of colorful phrases and word pictures as the theme for the January 28th, 2010 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "Colors!". Sgt. at Arms Barbara Cusack CC, CL called the meeting to order. A moving quote from Judy Garland was read for the Invocation and Pledge by Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL. Toastmaster Club #28 President, Deepti Dhiman, CC welcomed our visiting guests Melissa Leecock, Lee Chavous and Will Cooper. Tonight's Toastmaster was Jamie Waters, CC who spoke about how colors often effect emotion and how colors have meaning. Our Table Topics Master for tonight was Ken Walley, ACG, CL. Ken, a Florida State University graduate, wanted to know what John Hines's favorite colors were. We found out that John's favorite colors were Orange and Blue... and that he was a true "gator". Ed Dimayuga, CC, CL was shown a very colorful art painting and he was asked to describe it. Ed told us a shorthand art trick that anyone can use to appear like they are "art knowledgeable". Ed sounded like an art expert! Our guest Will Cooper, was asked what it means to show your "true colors". Will felt that showing your true colors was about showing loyalty to those closest to you and pouring yourself into your purpose. Monica Walley was asked what was the most colorful thing that she has ever seen. Monica remembered seeing the Osborne Family Christmas Lights with her family every year at Walt Disney World. She said it was a colorful and memorable experience. Nest the Table Topics master wanted Wilner Luders to describe himself using colors. Wilner liked a certain shade of green because it reminded him of hope, and light blue because it conveys calmness as well as aggressiveness. Toastmaster Jamie Waters, CC also introduced Wilner Luders who gave his sixth speech titled "Stewardship." Wilner taught how time, talent and treasure affect our lives. Barbara Cusack, CC, CL was our next speaker. Her speech was called "The Echo." The morale of this story that she weaved was that whatever you send out comes back to you like an echo. Our final speaker Elon Horsham, CC, CL who gave a toast to Club #28! Elon praised this year's accomplishments. Changing hats to become the General Evaluator was Jamie Waters, CC who introduced Deepti Dhiman, CC, who had high praise for our first speaker Wilner. Our second evaluator was John Hines. John loved Barbara's voice inflection and expert timing. The final evaluator of the night was Ken Walley, ACG, CL. Ken was honored to hear Elon's toast and enjoyed how he tailored it to his audience. His evaluation ended with a toast of his own to Elon! Our functionaries for the night were Grammarian Monica Walley, Timer Ed Dimayuga, CC, CL; AH Counter Steve Wood and Vote Counter Christopher Berns. For a meeting with the theme of "Colors" this meeting lived up to it's name but the most colorful thing about the meeting was the members themselves.

The theme for the January 20th 2010 special Wednesday edition Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "Living Life Without Limits" and it truly was a meeting that had no limits on talent and inspiration! Sgt. at Arms Barbara Cusack CC, CL called the meeting to order. A touching Invocation and Pledge was given by toastmaster Deepti Dhiman, CC who was then introduced as Club #28 President Deepti Dhiman, CC. Deepti first greeted our guests Ron Silvar and Felix Coven and then returned to the lectern to Barbara Cusack, CC, CL as the Toastmaster for the night's meeting. Barbara invited us to "redesign, redeem, restore our vision, revive our passion for living and reclaim what is stored inside of us if we did not like the way that things are going in our lives." The Table Table Topics Master for this evening was Ruble Nedumkunnel, CC; who had recently earned his Competent Communicator Award. Ruble wanted to know about "going beyond what you are, if the sky was the limit" from Christopher Berns. Christopher talked about his own goals to serve others and the steps in education he is taking to achieve those goals. Steve Wood received the next question from the Table Topics Master: "If you had an unlimited amount of money, how much would you spend each day and what would you spend it on?" Steve said he does not have a lot of extra time, so it would be difficult for him to spend a high amount of money. Steve did say however that he wanted an airplane for a quarter of a million dollars. Next, Ronald Silvar was asked how he would spend his time if he had everything he needed in life. Ronald said that helping others, supporting his family and improving himself would take center stage. Jamie Waters, CC was asked what his greatest mission as a speaker would be. Jamie spoke about his transition in Toastmasters and how much being a part of this club has helped him to accomplished his goal of becoming a good speaker. Barbara Cusack, CC, CL took back the lectern to introduce the first of three speakers, Elon Horsham. Elon's speech was called "A Leader as a Coach" from the Toastmasters International "Leadership Excellence" Series. He started his speech by saying "As a leader you are not recognized for what you do, but for the results of your team." Elon spoke about getting the best out of your team, because it is from their success that you are going to be recognized. He talked about setting high standards but keeping the goals achievable. Elon went on to talk about support, acknowledgement and engaging team members on their level. Out second speaker was Wilner Luders. Wilner's speech was entitled "Fight your Fear" He explained that both hope and fear share uncertainty. The difference, he explained, is the outcome. Wilner also spoke about the importance of not yielding, even in the face of adversity. He told us how his friend, a taxi driver, overcame a robber pointing a gun at his head in his cab! Later we would find out that this "friend" was actually Wilner himself. Wilner's story showed us how hope can win out over fear. Our final speaker was John Hines, his speech was called "A Still, Small Voice" He spoke about a noble purpose and a calling. John wanted to make an impact in an under-served area. He recognized the author Alfred Lord Tennyson, who said, "To life, you can only respond by being responsible." John's desire to be responsible has led him into a role as a teacher and a cross-country coach. Now taking on the position of General Evaluator, Barbara Cusack, CC, CL introduced the first evaluator Ken Blake, ACG, CL, who loved Elon's introduction and use of many examples in his speech. The next Evaluator was Jamie Waters, CC, who reviewed Wilner's speech. Jamie recognized how his talk gave many inspirational phrases and that the delivery was exceptional. Our final evaluation as given by Deepti Dhiman, CC who complemented John Hines's use of body language, eye contact and use of motivating books. Our Functionaries for the night were Grammarian Jamie Waters, CC, Timer Ken Walley ACG, CL, AH Counter Christopher Berns and Vote Counter Steve Wood. Visiting guests Ronald Silvar and Felix Coven gave highly positive reviews of their first Toastmasters meeting experience! With a meeting this good, I only wish that we had had no limits on Time. This turned out to be an excellent meeting!

The theme for the January 14th 2010 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was: "Hot and Cold". This meeting was HOT! Sgt. at Arms Barbara Cusack, CC, CL called the meeting to order. An inspiring Invocation and Pledge given by Monica Walley was the very appropriate to the theme, reading of Robert Frost's famous poem "Fire and Ice". Deepti Dhiman, CC Toastmasters Club #28's President, greeted returning members Justin Gay, Diana Walley ACG, CL and Susan Deichen, CC. It was good to see them back again! Deepti Dhiman, CC also asked our visiting guests to introduce themselves. Their names were Kate Rose, Sarah Flower, Derya Dursun and Murat Balci. It was nice to see so many new faces as well. Ken Walley ACG, CL took the lectern as our Toastmaster for the evening's meeting. Ken Illustrated what hot and cold can mean. He gave an examples such as proximity to an object, attractiveness, personality and most important, temperature. Ken next gave control of the lectern to Table Topics Master Ken Blake ACG, CL. This evening Table Topics session was very exciting. Ken first wanted to know from his fellow toastmaster Steve Wood if he believed in global warming. Steve did, but he believed that the real question among scientists is more about what is going to happen when the planet does warm up, not if it would. Barbara Cusack, CC, CL was asked if she would prefer a car with a really cold AC or a warm heater. Barbara said that she loves the heat, but she can't stand the cold. She said that even if she does not have an AC, she can always roll down the windows. Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked about a type of hot sauce. Ken compared this type of hot sauce to others and spoke about the finding right sauce to bring out the flavor in food. John Hines was given a question about the ethical use of pepper spray by the police. John talked about the effect of pepper spray on the neurotransmitter level and the importance for officers to use what was needed to subdue those resisting arrest. Our guest, Murat Balci, was asked if either he or his wife liked their food "hot and spicy". Murat said it was all based on perception. Kate Rose was asked if she would prefer a bright red Mustang or a car that would be less likely to get a ticket. Kate said that her lead foot gets her into trouble sometimes, and that she would rather have the car with good features even if it were less sporty. Ken Walley ACG, CL took back the lectern and entertained us about the hottest and coldest temperatures in the world. Ken introduced the first speaker Ruble Nedumkunnel. Ruble gave his ninth speech in only two and a half months, which is really amazing! His speech was called "Can Black Balloons Go Up?" Ruble's inspiring speech recognized that it was not the color of the balloon that decided if it would go up or not, but it was what was inside the balloon that mattered. He was he said more interested in what was inside of us and what was preventing the group from "going up" or advancing in our lives. He had returning member, Justin Gay talk about his desires in life and ways that he could change his state of mind in order to put those desires in a priority worth achieving. Our next speaker was Wilner Luders who gave his fourth speech "Why Give Back?" Wilner spoke about how we are encouraged to give back through taxes, schools and in business. He showed us how we could all help each other out through giving back. Wilner emphasized how faith has been an anchor for him in the time of adversity. Deepti Dhiman, CC gave our finial speech for the evening called "Vikram and Bhital" Based on an Indian Folktale, it told about a brave king who ruled a prosperous kingdom in India. His bravery was tested when he was asked to bring back a possessed corpse. This corpse told the king about a woman who accidentally had a spirit put on the wrong head of her husband's body! After her story, it was time for evaluations. General Evaluator Jamie Waters, CC introduced himself as the first evaluator. Jamie talked about Ruble's passion and use of examples. Our next evaluator was Susan Deichen, CC. She talked about Wilner Luders use of body language and his ability to interact with the audience. John Hines evaluated the final speech. He talked about how we knew many things about our President Deepti Dhiman, CC CL; but we did not know until that night that she was a great folklore storyteller! John noticed Deepti's use of voice, body language and her use of props. Our technical table for the night were Timer Steve Wood, AH Counter Monica Walley, Grammarian Barbara Cusack, CC, CL and Vote Counter Christopher Berns. Although time was limited at the end of the meeting, we got some extremely upbeat comments on the meetings from some of our guests and returning members. This was a hot night for club #28, you could say it was really "cool".

The theme for the January 7th 2010 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "New Beginnings." It truly was a fantastic new beginning for the club! New Sgt. at Arms Barbara Cusack, CC, CL called the meeting to order. An inspirational Invocation and Pledge was given by toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL. Deepti Dhiman, CC, speaking from the lectern for the first time as Toastmasters Club #28 President she welcomed guest Michael Finn, DTM from Massachusetts who served as our Grammarian, utilizing his 18 years of experience as a toastmaster. Deepti Dhiman, CC began by saying "Every ending has a new beginning." She was excited to begin the first meeting of the year 2010. Table Topics Master Ken Walley ACG, CL was also interested in looking for the potential in the New Year. Wilner Luders was asked about a new beginning in his life. Wilner spoke about the intellectual, spiritual, physical and financial fitness that he wanted to achieve in this New year. Ed Dimayuga, CC, CL was asked what he though a resolution for the entire world should be. Ed wanted the world to "go slower" He spoke about computers, smart phones and the economy frustrations as well as the benefits of respecting others, physical fitness, and even the benefits of eating dark chocolate! Sue Park was asked what resolution has had the most effect on her life. Sue said coming to America in 1973 was a life-changing idea that has impacted her life. Deepti Dhiman, CC, was asked what a new year's celebration was like in India. Deepti spoke about spending time with family, making New year's resolutions and listening to the top twenty songs of the past year. Michael Finn DTM got the next question. He was asked about the best and worst of 2009. Michael spoke about retiring from work as a letter carrier during the past year. Christopher Berns received the last question for Table Topics. "Why should we be hopeful about the future?" Christopher spoke about spending time with friends and beginning new relationships. Deepti Dhiman, CC took the floor again and spoke about new beginnings, inventions and the tremendous impact of things we "can't live without". Our first two speeches of the year were given by toastmasters Steve Wood and Ruble Nedumkunnel. Steve's speech was called "Be Rich and Famous" He explained how one could become a YouTube celebrity and get paid for advertisements. This was Steve's fourth speech. Ruble Nedumkunnel gave his eight speech, which is incredible because he has only been a Toastmaster for a little more than two months! he titled his speech "State of Mind is the Key". Using a coconut and a little red ball he told about the "ball of concern" and the "ball of influence". "We must live in the sphere of which we can influence, that which concerns us is often beyond our ability to change." said Ruble. Master Evaluator John Hines introduced evaluators Jamie Waters, ACB and Ken Blake ACG, CL whose evaluations would give us an opportunity to grow as communicators. Jamie and Ken praised the speeches and spoke highly about each speaker's progress. Grammarian Michael Finn, DTM was exceptionally impressed with the well spoken group and use of descriptive words. Functionaries for the night's meeting were Timer Barbara Cusack, CC, CL; AH Counter Ed Dimayuga, CC, CL and Vote Counter Christopher Berns. Our Grammarian was our distinguished guest Michael Finn, DTM. Ken W. announced that the meeting for the week after next week's meeting would be held on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 instead of on our usual Thursday night. A special reminder that officer training will be held on January 16th 2010 at the Roth Jewish Community Center 815 North Maitland Ave, Maitland, Fl. 32751. As for a new beginning this club could not have had a better one!

The library halls were festooned with holiday gayety and joy as stockings and garlands, even a tree decorated the Herndon Branch Library meeting room for the December 17th, 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 Holiday Party and Installation of Officers. Starting off the festivities was Sgt. at Arms Steve Wood who called the meeting to order and introduced Monica Walley to give the Invocation and lead the club in the Pledge to the Flag. Club President Ed Dimayuga, CC, CL welcomed a full room of toastmasters, guests and dignitaries. Visiting the club was Area Governor Mario Blaise who brought his brother Gary Blaise, our own Area 32 Governor Luvenia Hart, ACG, CL and our Division C Governor Kenneth Peplow, DTM. We also had a returning guest, Genio Lauresten as well! Ed introduced the Master of Ceremonies for the third year in a row, Kenneth H.Walley ACG, CL. Ken started off the meeting with a hearty Santa-like "Ho! Ho! Ho!" while wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and promising some Table Topics questions. He asked Jamie Waters, ACB what the best present that he ever received was and Jamie replied that it was Toastmasters! "I learned a lot and made some wonderful friendships as well as memories that will last a lifetime." said Jamie. Division C Governor Kenneth Peplow, DTM was asked "Why do we call this the most wonderful time of the year?" Which Ken reminded us of a joy in the air and a feeling of hope that abounds during this time of year. Ken Walley, ACG, CL next introduced our two featured speakers starting with Christopher Berns who was giving his Ice Breaker Speech titled simply, "Christopher Berns" . Chris told of growing up on a farm and being influenced by his sister and father, among others to find his way into the military, being a student, working with electronics, customer care and Toastmasters. His courage was apparent and his first speech was excellent! Speaking next was Wilner Luders who's speech, titled "What is the Gift in this Season for You?' which had a religious theme but was not a "religious speech". Wilner asked us to "see within" and find how we can work to improve the lives of others. He used The Bible as guide for wisdom and this season as an inspiration. Next on the agenda were the evaluations which produced two brilliant evaluations starting with Ruble Nedumkunnel. Ruble gave his first ever speech evaluation for Chris's Ice Breaker speech! John Hines also gave some solid advice and encouragement for Wilner's speech. The second part of the meeting was about the "changing of the guard" for Club #28's leadership team starting with the "Farewell Speech" for Outgoing President Ed Dimayuga, CC, CL. Ed recalled having to take over as President only a month into the new term while having to deal with changing the meeting place of Club #28 (where the club had been for over a decade), as well as the passing of Club #28 icon Dennis Gola, ACG, CL. Throughout these challenges however the club stayed strong and even grew, while earning the President's Distinguished Award, the highest award a Toastmaster Club can earn! He praised his officers who helped in the club's success during his term and also praised the incoming officers for their courage to lead. Area 32 Governor Luvenia Hart, ACG, CL was introduced to perform the "Passing of the Gavel" ceremony to install our new officers. Treasurer Kenneth Walley ACG, CL; Secretary Christopher Berns, Vice President of Public Relations Ruble Nedumkunnel, Vice President of Membership Wilner Luders, Vice President of Education John Hines and President Deepti Dhiman, CC, CL were on hand to accept the gavel (incoming Sgt. at Arms Barbara Cusack, CC, CL was unable to be at the ceremony) and be inducted as the January-June 2010 Club #28 officers. Gov. Hart presented Deepti Dhiman, CC to the lectern to give her "Inaugural Address" which turned out to be inspiring and uplifting to the Club and everyone in the room as well. Deepti reminded everyone that she was not "superwoman" but she was committed using all of her skills to make a success for the club. She wanted to focus on attaining President's Distinguished, building Membership and using creativity to produce even better meetings! She used humor and heart to create a great Inaugural Address. After her speech, Ed, Deepti and Chris Berns (for giving his Ice Breaker speech) were all given standing ovations! Master of Ceremonies Ken Walley, ACG, CL asked for comments from the forum and received many generous, positive and uplifting comments from all of our guests and dignitaries. As the meeting adjourned, Ken wished everyone a Very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!" Club #28 cannot wait for 2010.

The theme for the December 10th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 was "Whatever Comes to Mind". What came to the mind of Elon Horsham, CC, CL who served as the Toastmaster for the evening was, well, ... a truly excellent Toastmasters meeting! Elon used this theme to remind us that in other parts of the world saying "whatever" is thought of as rude. He also sang his version of "Que Sara, Sara [Whatever Will Be Will Be]" as well as reminding us that taking risks often pays off better than doing nothing. He did a beautiful job at his first time behind the lectern as the Toastmaster! The Table Topics Master called in sick with the flu at the last moment but the Club President Ed Dimayuga CC, CL was up to the challenge. Thinking of what was on his mind, Ed asked some wonderfully interesting questions, some probably never asked at a toastmaster's meeting before. He asked Ken Walley ACG, CL "What about the weather?" to which Ken quoted the Beatles song "Rain" that the weather is "just a state of mind" . Christopher Berns was asked what he thought was the most entertaining thing on TV. Chris admitted to watching the show "Mantracker" . Wilner Luders was asked what his favorite thing about December was. Ken Blake, ACG, CL finally got to answer the question: "Is it better to work on a car or drive one." Ken said he preferred to drive, because every once in a while you have to tell a customer that their car is dead! Visiting Toastmaster Natasha Stefaif, CL was asked what to get her significant other, she replied that women would "love to see a man do the dishes for Christmas." She said that "giving the gift of time" is truly the most prized. Our other guest, Genio Lauresten answered the question of what was the best sport? Steve Wood got the last question "How could this club be better?" Among other things, Steve suggested aliens and spaceships. It was a Table Topics session that included a whole lot of fun. The speeches tonight were also on a contest level. Starting with John Hines's 5th speech titled "Fitness Evangelist!", the club was treated to a power session of how to improve your life through exercise. It included a running, jumping, push-up making, squat producing and pull up machine that had us all out of breath from just watching him! He also gave us some great tips on the benefits of staying fit. Having the unenviable task of following John's speech was Ruble Nedumkunnel. Ruble rose to the task with an inspirational speech titled "What Are Your Rules?". Ruble said that he was going to give us "10 Minutes to change your life!" He reminded us that the goal of being happy does not have to be tied to becoming successful. He spoke with a style and an enthusiasm that would have pleased Zig Zigler. Club #28 President Ed Dimayuga, CC, CL returned to the lectern to serve as the General Evaluator. He had the pleasure of introducing our visiting Toastmaster from the Court Muse Club, Natasha Stefaif, CL to give the evaluation of John Hines's speech. Noting John's speech title, she called herself an "Evaluation Evangelist!" and highly praised his speech. Ken Blake, CC, CL had the tough task of giving Ruble's evaluation but he did his usual brilliant work by mixing astute observations with a healthy dose of encouragement. The functionaries who supported such a highly successful meeting on this night were: Grammarian Wilner Luders, Timer Ken Walley, ACG, CL; Ah Counter, Chris Bern and the Vote Counter Steve Wood, all of which gave super efforts as well. Both our our guests, Natasha and Genio, vowed to return to us and also gave us high praise. At the end of the meeting, for all of whom attended, "whatever came to their minds" was "now THAT was a really fantastic meeting!"

The December 3rd 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 was a very special meeting with the theme of "Remembering Dennis Gola". Over the Thanksgiving holidays, former Club #28 Distinguished President and stalwart supporter Dennis Gola, ACG, CL passed away at the age of 56 from complications following open heart surgery. This night's meeting was a tribute to his leadership and friendship over the years. The meeting started off with a heartfelt Invocation and Pledge by the Rev. William Watson, CC. Longtime club member and a close friend of Dennis's, Ken Blake ACG, CL served as the Toastmaster for tonight's meeting. The first part of the meeting included two brilliant speeches by Wilner Luders and Ruble Nedumkunnel who had signed up to speak before the holiday break. Wilner's speech was titled "Faith: An Anchor to Life in Adverse Times" which although not planned, was a very appropriate for the evening. Wilner gave personal stories about how he had faced troubles and challenges but was able to get through them with the help of turning to faith in God and in himself. The second speaker was Ruble Nedumkunnel who's speech titled "Paradigm Shift" spoke of how when we change directions in life, we also change as individuals. We are the sum of our actions and beliefs but sometimes there are other situations beyond what we see or understand that change us. Both speeches were excellent examples of well crafted presentations. The second part of the meeting was dedicated to the memory of Dennis Gola, ACG, CL. Toastmaster Ken Blake ACG, CL spoke of some memories of Dennis and remembered his dedication to helping others. Ken then introduced Club #28 President Ed Dimayuga, CC, CL who delivered the Eulogy for Dennis Gola. Ed spoke about how much Dennis had meant to the club and his passion for Toastmasters as well as how he touched the lives of those around him. It was by all accounts a wonderful testimony to a man that will be very missed at Club #28. An open forum was then hosted by Ken Blake, ACG, CL. Speaking of their memories and thoughts of Dennis were John Hines, Ken Walley ACG, CL; Bob Blaydes, CC; Jamie Waters, ACB; Steve Wood, Michael Deichen, CC, CL; Susan Deichen, CC; William Watson, CC and Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL. All had great stories and warm memories to share about Dennis. The meeting adjourned after announcement and some closing comments by our President Also attending tonight was Chris Berns who served as the evaluation assistant and five students from the University of Central Florida. All of our visiting students were impressed with this special meeting. This was a meeting that paid tribute to a great Toastmaster in a way that a great Toastmaster club should.

There is a lot for Club #28 to be thankful for and one of them is the meeting that took place on November 18th 2009 with the theme of "Thanksgiving." This editor was not there so I will tell you what I have been able to find out. By all accounts it was an excellent meeting guided by the talents of Toastmaster Barbara Cusack, CC and Jamie Waters, ACB who served as the Table Topics Master. We had three speakers including an Ice Breaker by Wilner Luders with the title "My Life as a Bank Account", a fourth speech by John Hines and Ed Dimayuga's CC graduation speech titled "Be a Club #28 Officer!" I know that Deepti Dhiman was there as the Grammarian and Sue Park as the AH Counter, and quite a few others. As I find out more about this meeting I will add to this recap. But I do want to say Congratulations to Wilner and Ed!

What's in a name? If the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 name is any indication, greatness, talent and high quality meetings like the "What's in a Name?" theme meeting that took place at the Herndon Library on November 4th, 2009, is the answer! Ken Walley ACG, CL started off the meeting with the Invocation and Pledge using a insightful Native-American quote. Club #28 President Ed Dimayuga introduced our Toastmaster for the night, Deepti Dhiman, CC who had just earned her Competent Communicator award last week. Deepti gave some truly fabulous stories about how children are named in her native India as well as researching most of the names of the club members in the room. For example, the name "Christopher" is from the Greek and stands for "bearing Christ within" as Deepti told Chris Berns when she introduced him for his first time as our Table Topics Master. Chris had some excellent questions about names. Clothing names and torn jeans was the subject of his first question to John Hines. John professed his love for his jeans and flip-flops. Ken Walley, ACG, CL was asked what he thought of when he heard the name "Orlando". Sue Park was asked how she came to have her name. Wilner Luders was asked what one person at work would he give a name to and what would it be? Wilner was nice. Steve Wood was asked what a name was worth and Ken Blake ACG, CL was asked about the difference between name brands and generic brands. Everyone seemed to have great answers to all of the questions. Toastmaster Deepti could not come up with a meaning for the name of our first speaker, Ruble Nedumkunnel except that "Ruble" was the term for the Russian dollar! Ruble however was worth a million bucks with his Ice Breaker speech titled "Me, My Life and My Decisions". He told about not wanting to come to America but once he arrived he did not want to go back to India. Ruble earned his engineering degree and later got a job working in the health care industry. His true passion is public speaking and he wants to become a professional speaker some day with the help of Toastmasters. Speaking next was no stranger to the lectern, Jamie Waters, ACB. Jamie, who's name means "one who plants" gave a strong presentation titled "Kick the Can" which told how a simple beverage container law with a 5 to 10 Percent mandatory deposit requirement could more than double the recycling efforts in Florida and produce a litter free state like the success stories of states that have adopted the legislation. Jamie made a very good case. Barbara Cusack, CC, CL returned to the position as General Evaluator and introduced John Hines to give the evaluation for Ruble's Ice breaker speech. It was john's 1st evaluation and he did an impressive job... even if he had given a thousand evaluations! Evaluation pro Kenneth Blake ACG, CL ("Kenneth" by the way, means "handsome") also gave an excellent evaluation of Jamie's speech. Barbara in her meeting review noted that this was a brilliant meeting by any name. Another handsome Kenneth, Ken Walley ACG, CL served as the timer tonight and headed a strong cast of functionaries, with Sue Park as the AH Counter, Wilner Luders as Grammarian and the Vote Counter being Steve Wood. Club President Ed Dimayuga noted that this meeting had a number of members serving for the first time in meeting roles. "Rubel gave his Ice Breaker tonight," said Ed, "Sue Park as our AH Counter, Chris Bern as Table Topics Master and John Hines giving his first evaluation just shows that our new member are brave enough to go outside of their comfort zones. They are to be commended!" The truth is that the entire club should be commended for creating such a high quality meeting such as this. "Excellent" would be a good name for it.

The only thing truly scary about the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 October 29th 2009 "Halloween" theme meeting was just how good it turned out to be! Dennis Gola ACG, CL started out the meeting with the invocation and pledge and acting President Deepti Dhiman, CC introduced the Toastmaster of the evening, Ken Walley, ACG, CL. Instead of telling about the history of Halloween, Ken told a ghost story (complete with night gown, cap & candle) about a haunted restaurant! Also adding to the Halloween spirit, or spirits... was first time Table Topics Master Wilner Luders who did a fantastic job of spooking the members with some frightening questions. "What is the most interesting costume that you have ever seen?" was asked of John Hines. Next, Herman Chahal was given the question of what was the scariest thing that he had ever seen at Halloween. Herman remembered going to Universal Studios and being attacked by a "man with a chainsaw"! He thought it was real at first! Steve Wood was asked if he had ever seen a movie that really scared him. The last question was asked of Chris Bern to describe a Haunted House... which he did with great fearsome detail. Tonight was a very special night because we had an Ice Breaker speech as well as a Competent Communicator Graduation speech among the three speakers. Speaking first was Sue Parks who titled her 1st speech "Why I Came to Toastmasters" she told of a time not long ago when she had to speak before a crowd of 50 people... and it did not go well. She said that she is determined to learn how to speak from the heart and never have to worry about not being ready to talk in front of an audience again! It was a wonderful Ice Breaker! Speaking next was Ken Blake ACG, CL who told us the folktale of "Stingy Jack" as a project from the Storytelling Advanced Manual. Stingy Jack was so bad that even the devil wouldn't take him and he became the legend of the Jack O' Lantern that we know of today! A perfect story for Halloween. Deepti Dhiman, CC earned her CC Award with an inspiring speech titled "Fear No More!" It was a moving message that "the power to control fear is within all of us" and we have to recognize that we have that power. "Once we acknowledge our fear" said Deepti "We can kill the fear!" Both Deepti and Sue received standing ovations for their efforts! Ken Walley ACG, CL also served as the General Evaluator having the pleasure to introduce Jamie Waters and Elon Horsham, CC, CL to give the evaluations of Sue and Ken B.'s speeches. Ken W. himself gave the evaluation for Deepti's speech. Again, all three evaluations were excellent! Many people helped to make this meeting a downright scary success including the functionaries: Timer Steve Wood, Grammarian John Hines, Vote Counter Jamie Waters, ACB and AH Counter Herman Chahal. We had two guests Listiani Oencie (sp?) and returning guest Ruble C. Nedumkunnel who had many positive things to say about the meeting. Ruble even became our newest member! This not- so- scary Halloween meeting turned out to be one of our best ever! No BOOs here!

[Editor's Note: I was unable to attend the October 22nd 2009 meeting and I sincerely thank Monica Walley and Deepti Dhiman for providing me with the following information.]

No one was asleep when the October 22nd, 2009 "Sleep" theme meeting took place at the Herndon Library! It turned out to be a fantastic meeting which included the return of Dennis Gola ACG, CL this time to give our invocation, not from a hospital bed, but (thankfully) live and in person! Acting President and Toastmaster Ed Dimayuga kept everyone awake with some very interesting information about subject of sleeping such as: "Babies sleep for 18 hours a day! As you grow older most people require 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. Other people can make due with only a few hours, 3 or 4 hours of sleep every night" said Ed. Deepti Dhiman rang the alarm for everyone to keep on their toes with some great Table Topics question "How many hours do you sleep a night and is it enough?" was asked of Chris Berns. Ed Dimayuga was asked why he thought that sleep was important. Deepti came up with a fantastic question to ask of Steve Wood: "What was the longest time that you have gone without sleep and what was the effect on you?" Monica Walley was asked had she had any experience with someone keeping you awake when you were trying to sleep. Dennis Gola ACG, CL was asked what makes it hard for him to sleep and what his "sleep requirements" were. Our guest Elisa Ellison was asked if there was any "weird activity" that she did while sleeping. Our other guest, Rubal Nedumkunnel was asked about his latest dream. All of the answers were excellent! The speeches were also worth staying up for. John Hines gave another inspirational speech, this one titled "Run Free!" that got the entire room revved up to win a championship! John spoke to the club as if they were a cross country running team motivating them to win a big race! Speaking next was Elon Horsham CC, CL who did a speech, titled "Drinking and Driving" on the dangers of drunk driving. This speech was filled with valuable information about the devastating effects of drunk driving. It would be hard to follow those speeches on any night but Club #28 had Monica Walley serving as the Master Evaluator and she had two excellent evaluator in two veteran Toastmasters, Ken Blake ACG, CL and Demetrice Vasser, CC. Besides being helpful to both the speakers and all those attending, this evaluation session was a very entertaining one as well. The meeting was supported by a great cast of functionaries: Grammarian Wilner Luders, Timer Monica Walley, AH Counter Chris Berns and Vote Counter Steve Wood. This would be a meeting to emulate if you wanted to wake up a group of Toastmasters for sure!

The October 14th 2009 "Indian Summer" theme Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was as hot as the 95 degree mid-October weather we have been having lately! Hosted by Toastmaster Ken Blake ACG, CL the club was able to put together some fantastic Table Topics as well as two excellent speeches. Club Treasurer Ken Walley ACG, CL was the acting President this week because the President, Vice President of Education, Vice President of Public Relations, Vice President of Membership and the Secretary could not attend. "I'm glad I was here," said Ken, "because the Sgt. at Arms is missing as well!" Ken Blake ACG, CL told us a number of fun facts about Indian Summer, like the fact that there are no love bugs during an Indian Summer because it is to hot for them and that in the South a late, hot summer are often known to as "Dog Days". What was not like "the dog days of summer" was a very lively Table Topics session held by John Hines. John asked some great questions including asking Steve Wood his thoughts about Global Warming and Climate Change. Steve said we might see Santa come on a floating houseboat this Christmas! Newest member Chris Berns was asked if he would miss the changing seasons. Chris who is from Iowa, remembered jumping into big piles of brightly colored leaves as a kid. Barbara Cusack CC, CL was asked what was her favorite fall memory. She remembered a great Halloween story. Our guest Balaji Ramamurthy was asked what his favorite outdoor activity was. He loves skiing the mountains. Guest Sue Park answered the question about shopping on the busiest shopping day of the year: "Black Friday", the day after Thanksgiving. She told us a story from a 1990 visit to Disney World where the parks were empty because everyone else was out in the stores. "Where would you like to have a 2nd home?" was asked of Wilner Luders who choose the State of Maine because of that state's natural beauty. This night featured two excellent speakers starting with Barbara Cusack, CC, CL who gave an off-the-cuff speech about the Division C Humorous Speech and Evaluations contests held last week. Titled "I Go For the Cookies" she described a contest that had some surprise twists, not all of them good. It was a great review with more humor that some of the speeches that were at the contest. Jamie Waters, ACB gave a highly technical speech titled "Support GIS" in which he talked about Global Information Systems which used such things as "Identifiable tone" and DM Systems to look underneath the ground. Jamie somehow managed to make all of this interesting. Ken Walley ACG, CL stepped up to serve as the General Evaluator as well as evaluating Barbara Cusack's speech. Barbara herself was the evaluator for Jamie's speech. Both gave helpful and well thought out evaluations. The technical table consisted of two brave toastmasters who were serving their roles for the first time: Wilner Luders as the Grammarian and Chris Berns as the AH Counter. They both did superb work for their first times at their positions. Rounding out the functionaries were Steve Wood as Timer and Ken Walley ACG, CL as the Vote Counter. We had very good comments from our guests Balaji Ramamurthy and Sue Park. After the meeting Sue joined our club! Welcome Sue! Like an Indian Summer heat wave, the great meetings just keep going on and on at Club #28!

The October 8th 2009 meeting ushered in a new era at Club #28 and we started off with a yummy subject for the theme of the meeting: Fast Food. Our first meeting at our new home at the Herndon Library Branch was a great success mostly due to the efforts of the Toastmaster, Monica Walley. Monica brought with her a number of facts about the best and the worst of fast food. We also found out she has a great love for Tacos! Also adding to the feast was the Table Topics Master Ken Walley ACG, CL. Ken's first question was served up to Jamie Waters ACB who was asked what his favorite fast food was. Ed Dimayuga was asked "What has caused fast food to have such a bad nutritional reputation?" Michael Machata was given the question of why is that fast food is so popular in America. Our returning visitor, Wilner Luders was asked what could the major fast food chains do to make their choices healthier? Our newest Club #28 member, Chris Berns was asked "If you had a restaurant what would be on the menu?" The last question was given to another guest, Sue Park asking her opinion if fast food should be served in schools. The main course of the evening were two delicious speeches given by John Hines and Elon Horsham. John gave only his second speech, titled "Defiant Street" but it was a powerful and inspiring speech that spoke about the courage it takes to face adversity. John spoke about not accepting what others might believe in order to overcome daunt challenges. A very different speech, an award winning humorous speech was given by Elon Horsham to prepare for the upcoming Division C Contest next week. Titled "Men, They Just Don't Get It" it was his version of a humorous speech that Barbara Cusack, ACB had given at our club contest about the Five Love Languages. Elon told about how he had started dating again ... and things he had to re-learn. It was a really funny speech! Ken Blake ACG, CL was the Master Evaluator and he introduced two excellent evaluators Michael Machata and Barbara Cusack, CC, CL. Both of them gave two of the best evaluations that they have ever delivered. Everyone in the room learned from their advice to the speakers. The technical table consisted of Ken Blake ACG, CL as the Timer, Steve Wood as the AH Counter, Chris Berns as the Vote Counter and Jamie Waters, ACB who did a brilliant job as the Grammarian. Ed Dimayuga who has been our acting President for the past month said that this meeting had everything and more expected of a great Toastmasters meeting. I think it was like a really good meal... even if it was "fast food"!

The first meeting of October was also the end of an era for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28. The October "Imagine If" themed get together was the last meeting at the Downtown Orlando Public Library where the club has met since 1999. The meeting started out with the Invocation and Pledge being delivered by speaker phone from Dennis Gola, ACG, CL who calling from his hospital bed at ORMC. Dennis read a quote from the author Richard Bach. Dennis was scheduled to have open heart surgery the next day. Ken Walley ACG, CL was the Toastmaster for the meeting and he used the theme to come up with some interesting ideas and even a look back at the great thinkers that used imagination to make fantasy become reality. Also using some some imagination was our Table Topics Master Ed Dimayuga who came up with some excellent question on the theme. Asked of Jason Davis, ACB was the question "Imagine that you were a kid, what did you think that life would be like as an adult?" Jason thought it would be eating potato chips, staying up late and watching TV. Deepti Dhiman was asked to imagine a world with no war or poverty. visiting Toastmaster Elon Horsham, CC, CL was asked where he would be 20 years from now. Toastmaster Ken Blake, ACG, CL was asked what he daydreams about. Steve Wood was given the question what he would change about the world if he could. His answer was that he would like to "make pigs fly". Said Steve, "just stand at your doorway with a shotgun and you'll have breakfast in no time!" In a fluke of conflicts, illness and accidents all four of the scheduled speakers cancelled out leaving two very brave Toastmasters to give "hip pocket" speeches! Going first was Toastmaster Jamie Waters, ACB who titled his speech "Imagine If". Jamie somehow came up with enough material to fill six minutes on the subject of drivers remembering to use their turn signals! The speech had humor and pointed out how much more efficient and safe our highways would be if people simply took advantage of their turn signals. It was an amazing attempt to show that an interesting and witty speech does not have to be about a complex subject. Ken Walley ACG, CL also gave a speech titled "Imagine If" in which he spoke about the power of the human imagination. "The Earth is in a constant state of change. This evolution is due to the power of our thoughts. All that is around us has been created by our minds. Imagination is the most powerful and unstoppable force on the planet." said Ken. Ken touched on the genius of Walt Disney, George Gershwin, Salvador Dali and Thomas Edison to show that imagination can change any path of life or accepted view. Ken also stayed on to serve as the Master Evaluator introducing the winner of the Area 33 Evaluation Contest last week, Ken Blake, ACG, CL who gave the evaluation of Jamie's speech. The next evaluator, Elon Horsham CC, CL who gave a very well done evaluation for Ken's speech, came in second at the Area 32 Evaluation contest last week! The technical table for this finial meeting at the downtown library was composed of Grammarian Deepti Dhiman, Timer Steve Wood, Ah Counter Jason Davis, ACB and Vote Counter Herman Chahal. Also attending this historic meeting was Monica Walley. Besides Elon we also has two other guests, Wilner Luders and Chris Berns who both had great things to say about the meeting. Both said they look forward to joining the club! One can only Imagine If all of our meeting were this great.

The October 24th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was not held at the Orlando Public Library but instead was moved to the Florida Hospital Creation Conference Room so that our members could cheer on our winners of the club Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests in the Area 32 & 33 Contests! Club #28 had a lot to cheer about. In the Area 32 Evaluation Contest Club #28 was represented by Ed Dimayuga and Monica Walley who both did exceptional well but were beaten out in a very strong field by 1st place winner Jessica Guthrie and 2nd place finisher Elon Horsham. In the Area 32 Humorous Speech Contest Club #28's very own Barbara Cusack took the 2nd place trophy! She had everyone howling with laughter with her speech "The 5 Love Languages" Mitesh Smart came in first place with his speech "King of the Mall" and will represent our Area at the Division contest. Even though they were representing the Let's Talk Toastmasters Club in the Area 33 Contest, two Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 members ended up winning both the Area 33 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests!! Jamie Waters took 1st place with his "Golfatorium" speech and Ken Blake dedicated his winning the Evaluation to Dennis Gola, ACG, CL who is in the hospital and who he had substituted for. Club #28 had a wonderful turn out of members including Ken Walley, Deepti Dhiman, Herman Chahal, John Hines and Steve Wood. It was a wonderful evening of fun and a grand success for all of the clubs who participated and both Areas 32 and 33!

The September 17th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 Themed "Languages of Love!!!" meeting had everything a toastmaster could love including excellent Table Topics, great speeches and two brilliant evaluations. Starting off the meeting was Steve Wood who was covering for Sgt. at Arms Jason Davis. Steve got the meeting off to a good start as did Herman Chahal who gave the Invocation and Pledge for his first time as well. Ed Dimayuga who has done a masterful job filling in for our President Jose Lopez, CC the past month also brought the meeting off to a good footing with the introduction of the many guests: Samuel Lee, Reggie Reeves, and Mariana Prater all returned from last week as guests and Elizabeth Katen and Danielle Christian were visiting the club for their first time. The best part of Ed being our Acting President was to introduce the Toastmaster Barbara Cusack, CC, CL! Barbara reintroduced us to the five "Love Languages" which was the subject of her recent humorous speech from two weeks ago. The Love Languages of Acts of Service, Encouragement, Giving of Gifts, Touch and Quality Time were all explored by Barbara along with some great examples and her usual sense of fun and wit. Also helping to make this a love-filled meeting was Ed Dimayuga as our Table Topics Master. Ed's first question to Steve Wood was "Have you ever performed an act of service that you were especially proud of?" Hard pressed to come up with an answer, Steve remembered having his car washed by bikini-clad women for a charity! Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked to speak on words of Encouragement. Jamie Waters, ACB, was asked to speak on his favorite quality time that he spends with another person. Jamie mentioned his quality time on the golf course. Guest Aaron Pierre was given the the chance to choose between chocolate and flowers while speaking about the "giving of gifts". Jennifer Barrett spoke about if schools should regulate the hugging and touching of the students. Ken Blake, ACG, CL was asked the question of "What fills up your Love tank?" All of the answers were excellent and it was a truly "lovely" table topics session. We had two speakers who both gave brilliant examples of speechmaking. First to speak with his Ice Breaker titled "Connections" was John Hines. John gave a jaw-dropping first speech that held everyone mesmerized from the start to the finish. He told of a career in real estate, traveling the United States and settling down with his two kids and two dogs in Florida. He told how he has spent his life trying to live up to the title of "overachiever" and how he wants to take the chances that make up an exciting and meaningful life. It was an awe-inspiring and very motivational Ice Breaker! Not to be out done, Ken Walley ACG, CL gave a speech (titled "A Near Death Experience") that could be called more of a "word painting" describing a Near Death Experience. In vivid detail, he told of a horrible accident, following a great light into a "garden as big as an ocean" and meeting a very mysterious man. It was quite a trip! The evaluation section of the meeting was equally excellent. Ken Blake ACG, CL played the role of General Evaluator and did tremendous work introducing the two evaluators, (Ken Walley, ACG, CL for John's speech and Ed Dimayuga for Ken W.'s speech) as well as giving a very good "meeting review" of this wonderful toastmaster evening. The functionaries included Steve Wood as Timer, Herman Chahal as the AH Counter (also for his 1st time at that position) Jamie Waters, ACB as our Grammarian and our guest, Samuel Lee doing a very good job as the Vote Counter. The entire meeting was given very positive feedback by our guests and why not? With a meeting like this one...What is there not to Love?

[Editor Note: I was not at the 9/10/09 Meeting but Monica Walley was kind enough to take notes for me. Here are her notes.]

Date: September 10, 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 Theme: "Join the Club". Toastmaster, Ken Blake, ACG, CL. Table Topics Master: Deepti Dhiman! #1 Question was to Monica Walley "Why did you join and have you achieved your goal?" #2 Question to John Hines was "What are the benefits of joining Toastmasters?" #3 was "What is your most embarrassing Toastmasters moment?" was answered by Barbara Cusack, CC, CL. Question #4 "What was your best speech at Toastmasters?" was answered by Jason Davis ACB. Speeches: Paul Noor gave the first speech titled "Few at the Mountain Top" (10-12 minutes). In this speech, Paul used a clever tennis analogy to describe the changing economy. Speaker number two was Ed Dimayuga who gave a five to seven minute speech titled "How to Evaluate". (5 -7 minutes) Ed gave us some great ideas on how to give a great speech evaluation. Evaluations: Ken Blake ACG, CL evaluated Paul's speech and Monica Walley evaluated Paul's speech. We had three guests. The meeting started very late and ended very late as well but it was still a great meeting.

On September 3rd 2009 the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 achieved a masterful success with the brilliant performance of it's 2009 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contestants! This was an evening enjoyed by all who attended and superbly highlighted the talents, dedication and creativity of the entire club. The Contest Master was a man who had been in this role many times before, Ken Walley ACG, CL. Ken led the proceedings with a quick wit and also at a very fast pace to get everything accomplished on time! The first contest of the night was the Evaluation Contest. The contestants, as well as the overflow crowd in the Magnolia Room (extra chairs had to be brought in just to seat everyone!) were in for an oratorical treat! Giving the "test speech" for the contestants to evaluate was Demetrice Vasser from the Kississimee Night Talkers Club #6045. Demetrice presented a speech titled "Famous Faces Out of the Blue!" which was about celebrities that she had met while growing up in Memphis. She mentioned MC Hammer and Little Richard among a host of other well-knowns. The speech painted little portraits of each famous face and what it was like to meet them in real life. It was an interesting and fascinating performance. While the contestants were preparing their evaluations, the Contest Master took the opportunity to ask Michael Machata, Bob Blaydes, CC and Deepti Dhiman some Table Topics questions. They did so well answering them, Ken said that they were "showing off" for our guests! Faced with the tough task of evaluating such an excellent speech were the contestants Ken Blake, ACS, CL; Edward Dimayuga, Dennis Gola ACG, CL and Monica Walley. The Evaluation Contest Sgt. at Arms, Steve Wood helped to make sure that the contest went smoothly as each contestant gave their evaluation. All four evaluations would have won most club, area or division contests. That such high quality work could be found at only the club level made it particularity hard for the judges to pick a winner. Coming in second place in the contest was Ed Dimayuga and taking the first place trophy was Dennis Gola, ACG, CL. Dennis defended his crown successfully from last year. Last year's Humorous Speech Contest was hailed as one of the best ever in the 75+ year history of Club #28. Even so, 2009's contest may have exceeded that lofty level. Hilarious speeches were delivered by all four contestants. Going first, was Jamie Waters, CC who gave a revamped speech that he gave last year now titled "Golfatorium". Jamie's speech was given with an exquisite deadpan delivery while he proposed that we should combine graveyards and golf courses! It also showed how visiting a relative's grave while playing a round of golf might lead to inner peace and improve your swing! Going next was Jason Davis ACB who came up with a great speech about the perfect girl and where to take her for a "dream date". Titled "My Dream Girl" he found himself (and his future wife) at a McDonalds! Speaking third was Ken Blake ACG, CL who gave a speech titled "My Favorite Worker" about an employee who could outwork anyone in the shop and never complained. Even being struck by lighting could not stop her! It turned out that Ken's employee "Bertha" was an industrial compressor machine! Following Ken was Barbara Cusack, CC, CL who had everyone holding their sides with laughter with her speech titled "The Five Love Languages" in which she lampooned the well known best seller, not to mention showing off her singing voice! Those were four very funny speeches and each of them had the entire room laughing. These speeches were lauded by many as some of the funniest that they had heard at any Humorous Speech contest! This time Jason Davis, ACB came in 2nd place and once the judges votes were counted, the winner for Orlando Toastmaster Club #28's 2009 Humorous Speech Contest was... drum-roll please....Jamie Waters, CC!!! Another highlight was the 50/50 Raffle by the Raffle Master Kami Shahid who was able to award a sizable amount to raffle winner Barbara Cusack, CC. Barbara generously gave the money back to the club! A number of dignitaries were on hand for the contests including Helen and Michael Joseph (both DTMs) from the Let's Talk Toastmasters Club #4413, Gloria Grehl, DTM another well known Distinguished Toastmaster, was visiting us from the Vista Club #7250, the President of the Let's Talk Club, Linda Ramey was also present. Elon Horsham was also visiting us from the Turnpike Toastmasters Club as well as popular radio director and on-air personality Steve Biddle. Another guest who joined us for this special evening was Jim Edwards. The best news of the evening was that returning guest, John Hines became our newest member! Welcome John! The contest would not have succeeded without the help of our club members who also stood in as functionaries and participants, beside those mentioned above were our timers Justin Gay and Patrice Hatcher as well as our vote counters Robert Streeter and Jennifer Barrett and a special thank you to our Chief Judge Linda Ramey and the other judges as well as our Area Governor Luvenia Hart ACS, CL! Thanks to everyone for making this such a very special evening and a great success!

The August 27th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Football Season!" theme scored a TOUCHDOWN with some Table Topics, Speeches and Evaluations worthy of a Speaker's Super Bowl! Kicking off the meeting was the evening's quarterback, Ed Dimayuga who scored with a number of pigskin facts, history as well as a great overview of the High School, College and Pro seasons. Monica Walley also came out as a winner with the Table Topics session as the Topics Master. Every time Monica asked a question she tossed a small football to the person she wanted to have answer it. Sure-handed Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked to describe the game of football... in two minutes. Not an easy task! Ed Dimayuga was asked to explain the popularity of the game. Barbara Cusack, CC, CL received the football and the question "Should there be a woman's football league?" Barbara did not like the idea very much. Rob Streeter was asked to tell us "Football story". Dr. Ross Thomson, ACB, CL was asked who his favorite team or player was. Coming from Canada he picked an "entire team made up of people not good enough for the NFL." The last question was asked of our visitor Aaron Pierre of who he thought would win the Super Bowl? Aaron, smartly, did not want to venture a guess. One of the favorite speeches of any Toastmaster meeting is an Ice Breaker speech and tonight we heard a wonderful one from Kami Shahid titled "Rouge Citizen". Kami impressed everyone with a story of her travels through America and even overseas to India where she collected languages like some people collect butterflies. It was an impressive speech, both in contest and in presentation, which promised some great speaking adventures from Kami in the future! Another brilliant speech was by Dennis Gola ACG, CL who inspired the club to take action against recent library policy changes. His speech "Blessings for a Common My-Greater" put forth a brilliant message for us to find our voice as a club. The evaluations were as they say in football "right through the middle of the uprights" Ken Blake, ACS, CL was the Master Evaluator and he had the honor of introducing two of Club #28's wisest coaches: Barbara Cusack, CC, CL and Jamie Waters ACB. Both had profound lessons for our speakers wrapped up in the hard helmets and shoulder pads of high praise. The "Refs" of tonight's meeting had very few "flags" to toss: Ken Walley, ACG, CL was the AH Counter, Jason Davis ACB, CL was the Timer, the Grammarian was Patrice Hatcher and our Vote Counter Rob Streeter. Our guest tonight, Aaron Pierre, echoed the feelings that this was like a great football game that you wanted to go into overtime (well, we did a little) and never end. If greatness was the gridiron than Club #28 were Champions on this night.

The August 20th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Happy Habits" themed meeting was one of the happiest events that Club #28 has put together in recent memory. This evening's Toastmaster Barbara Cusack, CC, CL showed us that there are many ways to improve our lives without entering expensive programs, therapy or seminars. "Developing simple habits that make for a more positive outlook is one thing that everyone can do." said Barbara. Habits such as doing something good for someone else everyday, redirecting negative thoughts into positive ideas and saying 'thank you' with a true sincerity are just some of the healthy routines that she brought up during the meeting. Table Topics Master Dennis Gola, ACG, CL examined the world of good and bad habits with a brilliant question and answer session ."What is a 'habit'?" was asked of Ken Blake, ACG, CL. Steve Wood was asked what his favorite "happy" habit would be. He mentioned teeth flossing. Jason Davis, ACB was given the opportunity to explain the difference between "something that just keeps us busy" and a "true habit." Visitor and past Toastmaster John Hines was asked "Do we have more good habits or bad habits?" Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked to pluck from his Disney experience and convince someone to develop happy habits. Ken reminded everyone that each day is a blessing and to have a magical day!. Ed Dimayuga gave us an explanation of how long it takes to develop a habit. The club developed a happy habit of giving good speeches at this meeting starting with Patrice Hatcher's Ice Breaker speech titled "Our Life is Molded by Our Experiences". Patrice told of growing up as a military kid, becoming a neo-natal nurse for 17 years, teaching her 15 year old to drive and also some about her beloved Labrador dog! It was an excellent 1st speech. Giving a much more technical type of speech, titled simply "GIS" was Jamie Waters ACB who explained Global Information Systems from cell phones to Global Positioning Systems. Jamie enlightened us all about how these wonders of technology work. Speaking third and also giving his Ice Breaker (titled "Ice Breaker: The Sequel") was 10 year Club veteran Ken Blake ACG, CL who was starting through the basic manual for a second time. Ken gave us an overview of his life as refrigerator repairman, auto mechanic, dog lover and husband. Ken B. told us about his duties while working for FEMA in disaster and hurricane relief. It was another very impressive Ice Breaker! Ken Walley ACG, CL served triple duty on this night and one his roles was that of the General Evaluator. He had a lot of help from three truly excellent evaluators. Ed Dimayuga reviewed Patrice's speech, Jason Davis, ACB evaluated Jamie's speech and Monica Walley had the tough task of giving Ken's evaluation. All of the evaluators had exceptional insight and advice for the speakers. Besides serving as the General Evaluator, Ken Walley ACG, CL also gave the Invocation & Pledge and was the Grammarian for this meeting. The other members of the technical table were Kami Shahid who was the AH Counter for her very first time, Vote Counter Steve Wood and Timer Monica Walley. Acting President Ed Dimayuga had a lot of very positive comments from our guests who included a past Toastmaster John Hines, Mark Batchelor and visiting a Toastmaster Ahmad Durant-Bey. John even pledged to join the club and hopefully give an Ice Breaker speech at the next meeting! I think that if all Toastmasters meetings were like this one, being at the Orlando Public Library at 7:00 every Thursday night would be a "happy habit" for everyone!

The August 13th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting took a trip to China with it's tour guide, club President Jose Lopez, CC during it's "China" themed meeting. Jose told about his recent trip there, showed us photos and gave us some incredible stories about the culture, food and remarkable beauty of this amazing country. He made it feel as if we were standing with him at the gates of the Forbidden City or standing on the Great Wall. Also bringing a touch of China to the meeting was the Table Topics Master Monica Walley. Monica had some wonderful research to go along with her questions. Her first question was asked of Deepti Dhiman: "What would you like to see first if you visited China." Deepti mentioned a number of places to go but chose the Great Wall of China. Because Ice Cream was a Chinese invention, Monica asked Ken Blake CG, CL what his favorite ice cream flavor was. "How did you adjust to the time difference?" was asked of Jose Lopez, CC. New club member Rob Streeter was asked if his "year" fit his personality. Rob was born in the "Year of the Rat"! Steve Wood was asked if he had a lucky color or charm? He noted a horseshoe that brought him luck even though he did not really believe in luck. All of the answers were almost worthy of Confucius! Our three speeches tonight were worthy of high praise! Deepti Dhiman started off with a brilliant speech on Global Warming titled "Good News / Bad News". The bad news is we are going to experience infectious diseases, horrible weather, flooding, food shortages and disaster! Said Deepti, "the good news is that that is in the future!" The second speech was by Steve Wood who gave his best speech yet titled "The Monty Hall Problem" which was about how our mind can be tricked by probability situations like going for Door #3 or switching to Door #2 for 2000 dollars?... it was an interesting speech that made probability and statistics easy to understand and even fun. Speaker #3 was William Watson, CC who earned his Competent Communicator Award with his 10th speech titled "The Beholder". William told us how you could see the different personality types of people person by looking in their eyes. Congratulations William! He received a standing ovation for his speech and his accomplishment. Ken Walley ACG, CL played a number of different roles during this meeting. He gave the Invocation and Pledge, was the timer for most of the meeting, gave the evaluation for Steve's speech and served as the Master Evaluator! Ken had some help however with the evaluations from Ken Blake ACG, CL and Jason Davis ACB. All of the evaluations were excellent. Besides Ken W. as the timer, the others serving as functionaries were Grammarian Jamie Waters, ACB and first timers AH Counter Rob Streeter and Vote Counter Kami Shahid. A great country like China deserved a great Toastmasters meeting like the one Club #28 held on this evening.

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 August 6th, 2009 meeting had a very interesting, and useful theme: "Apologizing With Sincerity". Also very interesting was Demetrice Vassar, the hostess for the evening. Demetrice, a guest from the Kissisimee Night Talkers Club #6045 was trying her hand for her first time as a Toastmaster and she did a fantastic job! She told us about the many aspects of apologizing including how to ask for forgiveness, make restitution, and express remorse. She even told a personal story in which she had accused someone wrongly without realizing that she was the one in error. Adding his own insight to the meeting was the Table Topics Master Jason Davis, ACB, who had some great questions prepared. The first question, "Do people really mean it when they say "I'm sorry" for a small slight or accident?" was asked of Deepti Dhiman. Next, Ken Blake, ACG, CL was asked of a time that he made a bad mistake. He remembered opening the wrong can while making a tuna salad, using cat food instead! Visiting Area 32 Governor Luvenia Hart, ACB, was asked about cell phones and Toastmaster meetings. Club President Jose Lopez, CC, just back from a trip to China was asked to "sing a song" to his wife to impress her. Ed Dimayuga was asked what he would do if he accidentally stepped on his favorite actresses shoes! Returning toastmaster Dr. Ross Thomson, ACB, CL was asked how he would apologize to his wife if he forgot their anniversary. The last question went to our newest member Rob Streeter which was how he would explain to a professor how he forget to write a term paper! This meeting featured three excellent speeches! Speaking first was Justin Gay who had been away from the club for awhile and who had re-joined just last week. Justin told us about a program at the University of Central Florida that prepares students for business careers. It was titled "Professional Selling" and it tended good advice on how to "sell yourself." The Rev. William Watson giving his 8th speech in only six months of being a Toastmaster. He spoke on the subject of inspiration in a speech titled "How to Inspire an Audience!" William gave many of the newer toastmasters some good advice as he closes in on his Competent Communicator Award. The third and finial speech of the evening was a very funny and heartwarming speech by Barbara Cusack, CC, CL, who gave a humorous speech titled "The Five Love Languages"! This speech could win the upcoming Club #28 humorous speech contest! The Master Evaluator Deepti Dhiman was able to call upon three experienced evaluators: Ed Dimayuga, Jose Lopez, CC and Monica Walley. Each of the evaluators gave helpful and significant advice. During her meeting review, Deepti also praised the meeting highly! The last order of business was the Grammarian report by Ken Blake, ACG, CL and the AH Counter report by Jamie Waters ACB. It should be noted that both were two of the best in recent memory. The other member of the functionary table was the Vote Counter Robert Streeter. Besides Robert, Kami Shahid also joined the club! Jennifer Barrett returned as a guest and Sonja Moraraity attended for her first time. Congratulations to Robert and Kami! No one had to apologize for the meeting that Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 had on this night!

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 July 30th 2009 meeting had a very interesting theme: "Shipwrecks" it also had a very interesting Toastmaster: Jamie Waters ACB who had some great tales of the ocean deep and the bravely of men in the face of disaster. Jamie kept the meeting afloat with some great examples of how the unthinkable could happen at sea such as what had happened the HMS Titanic. Also adding to the lore of shipwrecks was our Table Topics Master Ed Dimayuga who asked some questions that got us all thinking about life on the high seas. "Tell us about a boat trip that you once took?" was asked of seaman 1st Class William Watson. "If you find a sunken treasure who should keep the bounty?" was asked of Paul Hagge, CC. Paul said "finders keepers". Revisiting Toastmaster Demetrice Vassar from the Kissimmee Night Talkers Club 6045 was asked "What would you hate to lose in a Shipwreck?" Her answer was a very true: "human life." Steve Wood was asked to explain the Bermuda Triangle. Another Visiting Toastmaster Elon Horshan from the Court Muse Club was asked about the creation of artificial coral reefs. Ken Blake ACG, CL was asked what his favorite water disaster movie was. He feared most the movie "Jaws". One thing that did not sink to the bottom were the prepared speeches. Even though two of our three scheduled speakers were unable to be at the meeting, Club #28 still had two brilliant performances. Speaking first was Jason Davis ACB who gave a presentation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s most famous speech, the "I Have a Dream" speech of August 28th 1963. Jason did an inspiring performance of this powerful and historic speech. Ken Walley ACG, CL gave a speech to persuade the club to get ready for the upcoming Humorous Speech contest in September titled "How to Give A Winning Humorous Speech!" Ken told what the judges would be looking for and drew on his past contest experience. Ken Walley ACG, CL also returned to the lectern to captain the Evaluations section of the meeting as the Master Evaluator. His evaluation crew included two of the best that Club #28 has to offer: Ken Blake ACG, CL (for Jason) and Paul Hagge, CC (giving Ken W.'s evaluation). Both evaluations were upbeat and helpful with insightful advice and strong encouragement. The functionaries for this meeting steered the Club past many verbal icebergs to a successful landing, they were Grammarian Barbara Cusack, CC, CL; Timer Steve Wood, Vote Counter Rev. William Watson and bravely returning AH Counter Demetrice Vassar. Demetrice even volunteered to return next week to be our Toastmaster! We had very positive feedback from our guests Elon, Demetrice and Jennifer Barrett. It was also announced that Justin Gay was coming back to the club and would speak next week! Welcome back Justin! Aye maties! No Davy Jones's locker here, this meeting was smooth sailing.

The Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 July 23rd, 2009 had the theme " Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millenials" and was hosted by Baby Boomer Ken Walley ACG, CL who led the club through a walk down memory lane and a peek into the future for Generations yet to come! Ken gave many examples of the achievements of each generation and reminded everyone that all three generations are still creating the future for "Generation Z". Asking questions about our past and future was Jamie Waters, ACB as the Table Topics Master. Jamie asked Steve Wood to tell a little about his generation. He said he was a Baby Boomer and he believed that the defining moment of his generation was the first manned landing on the moon. Monica Walley was asked to explain her generation's (the Millenials or Generation Y) love for high tech. Deepti Dhiman explained the difference between family generations and cultural generations. Dennis Gola ACG, CL talked about aging issues among Baby Boomers. The answers showed that the generation gap of today is not as wide as it has been in the past. We had three excellent speeches starting with Dennis Gola ACG, CL who told us in a speech simply titled "$425." how to avoid foreclosure issues and lower interest rates in a very tough economy. Deepti Dhiman gave a wonderful speech on the beautiful classical fashions of her homeland India tiled "Culture Through Clothing" She showed us some very attractive clothes of the Sari, Salwar Kameez and Lehnga styles of the traditional Indian culture. Rajiv Bhatia giving his third speech, spoke on a more complex subject of how the median family income is being effected by recent economic trends in a speech titled " Higher Risks, Lower Rewards and the Shrinking Safety Net" . He did not paint a very bright picture of the upcoming "adjustment market". A very bright picture was however painted by our General Evaluator Ed Dimayuga of this meeting and the future looked pretty good for our club speakers when we heard from evaluators Monica Walley, Barbara Cusack, CC, CL and Jason Davis ACB. All of the evaluators had good things to say about the speeches as well as some excellent advice. Ed Dimayuga, who was also filling in as club President this week, gave a very good meeting review in his role a General Evaluator. Helping to create such a high quality meeting were the functionaries who performed flawlessly: Grammarian Patrice Hatcher (her first time at that position), AH Counter and visiting Toastmaster from the Kissimmee Night Talkers Club, Demetrice Vasser, Vote Counter Paul Hagge and Timer Steve Wood. All of our guests, Demetrice Vasser, Jacquine Chase and Kami Shahid had uplifting a positive comments. No matter what generation you were from, if you were 18 or 80 this was a delightful, interesting and fun meeting. Toastmasters is a great way to bring generations together!

Daaadum...daaaduuummmdaaduuuumd... DUMDAAMDUDUMDUM...!!! The theme of the July 16th 2009 Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 meeting was "SHARKS!" and it really had quite a bite to it. Monica Walley did a fantastic job as the Toastmaster giving everyone a lot to think about before they go back into the water. She told us many facts about one of the most misunderstood creatures of the deep. Also jumping in feet first was Dennis Gola ACG, CL who at the last moment took over as Table Topics Master. Dennis had some great bait to catch a few Toastmasters off guard with his questions. "If the Saturday Night Live Show 'Land Shark' came to your door, what would you do?" was asked of Barbara Cusack, CC, CL. Barbara did not remember the classic SNL skit, but she still managed to make her time limit! "Would you go down in a shark cage and what do you think would be going through your mind?" was asked of Jose Lopez, CC. Jose was up to the challenge. Clint Levert our guest, was asked what he would name a new type of shark. "Lion Shark" sounded good to him. Ed Dimayuga was asked to compare the roach to the shark and which would survive best in a global cataclysm. Jamie Waters was asked to speak on the idea of putting sharks in the water hazards at golf courses. Finally, Ken Walley ACG, CL was challenged to remember the song "Mac the Knife" which had something to do with sharks. He said he dreamed of being as cool as Bobby Darin when he was younger. We had two very different speeches with two speakers who achieved oratory excellence like a Great White going after a bleeding surfer. First we had, Steve Wood giving his second speech titled "Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation" which captivated and educated his audience with a description of the "Big Bang". He told how we can look backward into time toward the creation of the universe. Speaking second with a completely different type of presentation, was Jason Davis, ACB who played both parts from a Neil Simon play titled "Why Are You Doing This To Me?" He played both the frustrated father and the fearful daughter who had locked herself inside a bathroom and was refusing to come out on her wedding day. Jason did a very good performance while being challenged with a very hard advanced manual project. Monica Walley also covered the position of Master Evaluator and was rewarded with two of Club #28's best evaluators, Barbara Cusack, CC, CL and Jose Lopez, CC to assist her. Jose and Barbara came through with expert advice and some great ideas for everyone in the room, not just for our speakers. The functionaries this night were also very strong: Ed Dimayuga as the Grammarian, Jamie Waters as the Timer, Ken Walley ACG, CL as the Ah Counter and Jose Lopez, CC as the Vote Counter all gave excellent reports and preformed their duties perfectly. Ken W. as the Ah Counter also noted that Patrice Hatcher had not had a chance to speak so he gave her a few minutes to sum up her feelings on sharks. She said that she might be more fearful of sharks now... than public speaking but that the meeting tonight was wonderful. President Lopez said that it was a very happy surprise to have Dennis Gola ACG, CL return back so soon. Dennis later voiced that because of the outpouring of support and encouragement from Club #28 he had decided to postpone his "sabbatical" from Toastmasters for the time being. This meeting was far, far better than watching all of the Jaws movies in a row and a lot less scary!

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 July 9th 2009 "So you think you know July?" themed meeting was perfect for a July evening and for accomplished Toastmaster Dennis Gola, ACG, CL to bring out a myriad of fabulous facts about one of the hottest months of the year! We learned that July was Sugar Cookie Month as well as National Ice Cream Month. We learned about famous people born in July such as President Calvin Coolidge as well as two Presidents who died on the same Fourth of July (1826): Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Dennis gave us many other facts about the month and really did a tremendous job of keeping the meeting interesting, informative and fun! Ken Walley ACG, CL also taught us a few things about July with a Table Topics session that was more like a trivia quiz. His first question to Rajiv Bhatia was about how to beat the heat. "How did people stay cool before air conditioning?" Rajiv came up with some very good ideas. The second question "What does July the 4th mean to you?" was given to Steve Wood. Noting that Idaho and Wyoming were the only two states admitted to the union during July, Ken Blake ACG, CL was asked to expound about what life is like in those two states. July 20, 1969 was the date of Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon. Michael Vance was asked what the significance of that event was now looking back 40 years. Returning Toastmaster Dr. Ross Thomson ACB, CL spoke about how we should observe National Rock n' Roll Day (July 9th). Our guest Shay Audrey spoke about what she liked best and worst about the month of July. All of our members and guests gave excellent answers. Our two speeches were also of superior quality. Michael Machata's 9th speech titled "Are You Ready for Retirement?" brought out that 47% of Americans have no retirement plan! He gave us ideas on how to start investing, even if it is late for the future. "Do your research for a plan that is right for you and save, save, save!" said Michael. Also giving wise advice was the Rev. William Watson who gave a speech titled "Time for a Change" . He noted that change can be small in life but it is often the small changes that we make in our lives that can have major consequences. Said William, "Small changes can be often more effective, and helpful than any large or earth shattering transformations." Monica Walley served as our General Evaluator and had the pleasure of introducing two of the most effective evaluators that have ever stood behind the lectern: Jose Lopez, CC and Dr. Ross Thomson, ACB, CL. It should be noted that both of the speech reviews were helpful, purposeful and encouraging. They were two of the best examples of quality evaluations in recent memory as was Monica's meeting evaluation. We had two very good functionary reports by Grammarian Jamie Waters and AH Counter Steve Wood. Filling out the roles of our functionaries were timer Ken Blake ACG, CL and Vote Counter Michael Vance. Comments by our guests Patrice Hatcher, Shay Audrey, Krysten Childs, Linda Childs, Rob Streeter and Shawn Knibhe all were very upbeat and positive. Joining our club on this evening was Patrice Hatcher! Welcome Patrice! Dennis Gola ACG, CL announced that due to health reasons he would be taking a "sabbatical" from Toastmasters for the foreseeable future but he hoped that he would be returning to us as soon as possible. He will be greatly missed. Dennis was given a standing ovation. Thanks to this "So you think you know July?" meeting, July and the new Toastmasters term is off to a very positive start!

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 June 25th 2009 Summer Celebration and Installation of Officers proved to be delightful fun, interesting, humorous, and much more, covering a wide range of inspirational and joyful emotions as we said farewell to the past Toastmasters term and welcomed in a fantastic future! Starting off this special evening was Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL who gave an invocation that reminded us to encourage others by example. Tseganesh then introduced our club President Barbara Cusack, CC CL who welcomed our guest, Patrice Hatcher and two distinguished dignitaries, Let's Talk Club #4413 President Helen Joseph, DTM and Area 32 Governor Richard Arden, ACG, CL. She also introduced our Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Paul Hagge, CC. Paul was at his best on this night! he paid tribute to the Summer with stories and personal memories and he even asked a few Table Topics questions along the way. Paul also paid tribute to two icons of the 1970's and 80's who past away earlier in the day: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. He also called upon Dennis Gola, ACG, CL and Deborah Ryan ACG, CL to also say a few words about these entertainment legends. The evening had two featured speakers who both came with excellent speeches. Speaking first was Deepti Dhiman who gave a s speech on the history of the city of Orlando titled "Magical Cowtown" She took us through the entire history of the city from the Seminole War to Walt Disney World. Deepti told of a time when cows grazed next to the city streets and when most of those streets were paved with bricks. Which, incredibly, was still within the lifetime of a few of the Toastmasters sitting in the room! (I won't name any names!). Deepti brought to life the history of our now, very modern, city. Speaking next was Monica Walley who asked the question "Are Ghosts Real?" Monica pondered the question of spirits among us and even told a very spooky tale that had everyone a little more afraid to turn off the lights. Next giving evaluations of our two speakers were Ken Walley ACG, CL and Ed Dimayuga who both gave insightful and helpful advice. The next part of this special evening was the "changing of the guard" for Club #28 starting with the Farewell Address of Club #28 President Barbara Cusack, CC, CL. Barbara's speech was full of her trademark humor and had plenty of praise for the club as well. She noted the work that was done by her officers, the increase in membership, the excellent international Speech Contest, and the Club winning the President's Distinguished Award. She drew loud applause throughout the speech. She was given as standing ovation for her service at the end of the speech. Called next to the lectern was Area 32 Governor Richard Arden, ACG, CL who was on hand to perform the induction ceremony for our new officers. Taking the gavel for the "Passing of the Gavel Ceremony" were (in order) Sergeant of Arms Jason Davis, ACB; Treasurer Ken Walley ACG, CL; Secretary Amber Gudenkauf, Vice President of Public Relations Rev. William Watson, Vice President of Membership Deepti Dhiman, Vice President of Education Ed Dimayuga and incoming Club #28 President Jose Lopez, CC. Congratulations to all of our newest leaders! Upon accepting the gavel, President Jose Lopez, CC gave his "Inaugural Address" in which he pledged to try to meet the needs of the members, to reach not only club goals but to focus on individual goals and to uphold the excellence that is the foundation of Club #28. He praised his fellow officers for having the courage to take leadership roles and said he was inspired by both the established toastmasters and the new toastmasters as well. He even congratulated Steve Wood, who was attending tonight for recently giving his Ice breaker speech.The speech was uplifting, encouraging and full of hope for the future of Orlando Toastmasters Club #28! After Jose's speech Paul called for announcements from the floor and also received some very upbeat and positive remarks from our guest Patrice and from Helen Joseph, DTM as well. Helen invited Club #28 to attend her club's Officer induction next week. Once the gave fell everyone who left the room did so with a great feeling of anticipation towards a brilliant future for Club #28.

The June 18th, 2009 "Father's Day!" theme made it a very special meeting to all who attended because of the hard work and effort provided by the evening's Toastmaster Susan Deichen, CC who gave some heartwarming and uplifting stories and anecdotes about Fathers. It was a very memorable performance as Toastmaster. Our Table Topics Master, Debbe Ryan ACG, CL changed the subject a little for Table Topics asking some questions about Toastmasters. She asked Deepti Dhiman "What speech have you heard, or given that has meant the most to you since you've joined Toastmasters?" Deepti remembered a classic speech that she gave a few months ago titled "Culture Shock". Michael Machata was asked "What historical event do you wish that you could have had experienced?" Michael would have loved to have met George Washington and heard him speak. A good choice. Jose Lopez, CC was asked to give some speaking advice to President Barack Obama. He gave some very good suggestions including for the President to watch his "Ums and Ah's". Susan Deichen, CC was asked to explain why she joined Toastmasters and how it had helped her. Barbara Cusack, CC, CL was asked why Toastmasters was important to her life. The last question returned to the theme of the meeting and was asked of one of our newest Toastmasters, Erin Hoalgen: "What makes for a good father?" One of the things she mentioned was that a good dad was someone who "Made you feel loved and special" Our three speeches tonight were all special and the audience also loved them. Speaking first was Steve Wood who gave his Ice Breaker Speech titled "Addicted to Learning". Steve's speech told about how he came to love the quest for information which led him into a path towards being an Aerospace Engineer and a full time student at University of Central Florida! Congratulations Steve on your 1st speech! Rajiv Bhatia gave his own Ice Breaker only a few weeks ago and tonight showed a great improvement with his second speech titled "A Perfect Mess!" he featured a natural gift for humor while giving a dissertation on how being messy can be a good thing! Speaking third was Michael Machatta who gave a very technical speech titled "E.T.F." The address was a financial treste on "Exchange Traded Funds". We learned more in 7 minutes on this subject than most Financial Advisors learn in a lifetime! In order to put these speeches in perspective we called upon our General Evaluator Deepti Dhiman who came through with an excellent evaluation of Michael's speech and also introducing Jamie Waters, ACB and Ken Walley ACG, CL who gave the evaluations of Steve and Rajiv. Even though this meeting ran a bit overtime, we still had plenty of space for two excellent reports from the Grammarian Jose Lopez, CC and the AH Counter Barbara Cusack, CC, CL Our timer was Ed Dimayuga and Erin Hoalgen did a very good job as our Vote Counter. Jillian Galdieri was the only guest tonight and she said she was impressed with the camaraderie of the club. We hope she returns soon and becomes part of our Club #28 family. There was only one father present at the meeting: Ken Walley, ACG, CL who was very happy to find out that his daughter Monica Walley and her good friend and fellow Club #28 member, Amber Gudenkauft were unharmed in a "fender bender" on their way to the meeting. Monica and Amber still showed up for the meeting in time to catch some of the speeches...now that is dedication to Toastmasters! It would make a father proud.

It was "Root, root, root for the home team" at the June 11th 2009 "Magic Mania" themed Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting. Toastmaster Jamie Waters, ACB brought a lot of team spirit with him for the evening . Jamie reminded everyone that Orlando has gone "Magic crazy" since it's pro basketball team was in the NBA finials. Jamie had "the crowd" shouting "Let's Go Magic!" and "Beat LA!" throughout the night! Also adding championship flavor to the meeting was the Dwight Howard-like effort by our Table Topics Master Monica Walley. Her first question was to Jose Lopez, CC: "Are professional sports good for the city of Orlando?" Jose answered with a resounding "Yes!" Debbe Ryan ACG, CL was asked why it was better to live in Orlando than in Los Angles. Michael Machata was asked what the best and the worst professional sports were. His favorite was soccer and his choice for the worst pro sport was baseball, even though Club #28 has a large number of diehard baseball fans! Monica the "passed the ball" off to Susan Deichen, CC asking her for her prediction of the series. Susan said that if the Magic did not win on this night that they would lose in 5 or 6 games, but, if they won, they might go all of the way! Amber Gudenkauf was asked what sport that she enjoyed watching the most. Amber said that she like watching all kinds of different sports and could not pick out a real favorite. Our two speakers tonight, using basketball jargon, "hit nothing but the net"! The Rev. William Watson spoke first, giving his 6th speech titled "The Power of Truth" This was William's second speech in two weeks and another example of his power to hold and inspire an audience. He set forth the idea that the act of positive thinking was far more than wishful thinking. He said that living a positive life and thinking positively is a way of coming the condition of human frailness. Ken Walley ACG, CL gave a completely different presentation in which he spoke of his love for the ocean in a speech called "Ode to the Beach". Ken not only professed his love for being at the beach but he also taught the rest of the club how to surf! Cowabunga dude! Our Master Evaluator on this night was Dennis Gola ACS, CL who had the great pleasure of introducing two excellent evaluators: Club guru Ken Blake ACS, CL and Jason Davis ACB. Both Ken and Jason gave 1st class evaluations. Dennis, noting that the club was far ahead of schedule ("Maybe because of a basketball game coming on at 9:00" he said) gave a very detailed meeting evaluation which itself could have won the "best speaker" ribbon! Our Technical Table consisted of Grammarian Paul Hagge, CC; Timer Ed Dimayuga, AH Counter Erin Hoaglen and Vote Counter Steve Wood all performed wonderfully and also added to a night that was a "slam-dunk" of a meeting! [Editor note: Susan's prediction was right! The Orlando Magic basketball team lost this night and went on to lose to LA in 5 games. This meeting, however will always be a winner.]

One of the most inventive meetings ever held of the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 was the June 4th 2009 "Invention" themed meeting. Toastmaster Barbara Cusack, CC, CL came up with some wonderful trivia, stories and even new ideas about brilliant inventors and inventions. She even told us of an invention of her own that might make her rich and famous someday. Ed Dimayuga showed an inventive streak of his own by coming up with some very imaginative questions for our Table Topics session. He started by asking visiting Toastmaster Frank Ricchi from the Lake Nona Toastmasters Club #695848: "What invention has helped mankind the most?" Frank noted that the airplane has made the world a smaller, and more friendly place. Our newest member Steve Wood, answered the question of what invention he would like to take credit for. Amber Gundenfauf came up with an answer for the worst invention of all time (the gun). Ken Walley, ACG, CL had to ponder the question of "How would you re-invent yourself?" Another one of our guests, Diane Bartolone was given the question "Is it easier to be an inventor or an editor of other people's inventions?" Toastmaster Michael Machata used last week's speech by Dennis Gola ACG, CL as an example of how to invent your way out of a tough situation. Our other guest, Michael Haldavnekar also visiting from the Lake Nona Toastmasters Club, was given an opportunity to answer the question of how do we come up with smarter innovations for the future? Lastly, Monica Walley asked to speak on musical inventions of which she praised highly the electric guitar. It was another remarkable Club #28 Table Topics session. Thomas Edison would have been proud. Our first speech of the night was by Rev. William Watson who is coming close to his Competent Communicator Award at lightening speed. William's speech titled "Teaching Customer Service" used a very interesting approach to custom service: applying the Golden Rule. This novel idea made a great deal of sense to anyone in the services or professional fields. Jason Davis, ACB electrified the meeting with his rendition of "Barrack Ocala's Election Night Victory Speech". Jason brought all of the inspiration and engery of this powerful speech to life. Ken Blake, ACS, CL was the General Evaluator and did his usual highly excellent work but he had help from two very good evaluators in Michael Machata and Jamie Waters, ACB. The functionaries as well preformed with much skill and ability, they were: Grammarian Ken Walley ACG, CL, Timer Monica Walley, 1st time AH Counter Steve Wood and our Vote Counter Amber Gudenkauf. Our guest had nothing but high praise for our meeting Michael Haldavnekar, Frank Ricchi, Diane Bartolone, Dawn Smith and Robert Hill were very generous with their praise. I wish we could invent a club that gives ingenious and creative meetings like this one every week. Wait! We have! It's Club #28!

The May 28th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Adapting" themed meeting showed that Club #28 sure knows how to adapt and create a great meeting! Deepti Dhiman was at the helm as our Toastmaster and she gave some wonderful examples of how mankind changes often for the better in the face of tribulation and challenge. She also used examples from nature and philosophy to weave and interesting and enlightening experience. Monica Walley as the Table Topics master followed Deepti's lead with a series of very probing questions that brought out some of Club #28's best Table Topics answers on record. Toastmaster Dennis Gola, ACS, CL was given the question of what was the biggest change he ever had had to endure. Dennis remembered adjusting to the "real world" after being a baseball umpire for years. "I just couldn't tell my boss that he was "'Yer Outta Here!!' and throw him out of the building whenever I wanted." The next question was asked of Alison Briggs who had announced earlier that she was moving to North Carolina next month, what she would have to adapt to there. She admitted that she is not looking forward to the colder weather. Ed Dimayuga told about how hard it was to change his mind. Michael Machata told about a situation in which he had to adapt in order to save his life. He remembered a bomb going off while in the Marries serving in Iraq in which quick thinking might have saved the life of a friend who was badly injured. Returning Toastmaster Dr. Michael Deichen, CC, CL was asked about how he adapted to returning to College after over 20 years. This was a truly first class table topics session, every answer being interesting and thought provoking!! The Speeches as well were brilliant. We had three speakers tonight who gave very different but equally masterful presentations. Speaking first was Ed Dimayuga giving his 8th speech and entertaining us with tales of travel in a speech titled "Travel Tips for Traveling Light". We learned a lot on the subject of going places with the least amount of hassle. After the speech, everybody wanted to take a trip somewhere! Speaking second was Dennis Gola ACS, CL who once again made a speech out of "Words and Topics" by asking for one of each from everyone in the room. This speech went almost everywhere but it was still funny, interesting and fun as only Toastmaster Dennis can do it! Speaking third was Susan Deichen, CC who delivered her Competent Communicator graduation speech titled "You've Got the Power!" Susan had the power to totally inspire us to believe that we can face our doubts and prove others wrong if we are willing to try. She used real life examples like Dana Torrez and Susan Boyle and had us all chanting "I've Got the POWER!" at the end of her speech! Susan was given a standing ovation for achieving her CC award. Congratulations! Ken Walley ACG, CL was the General Evaluator and also the first evaluator for Ed's speech. Ken was able to introduce two other very good evaluators Michael Machata and Barbara Cusack, CC, CL while also giving a very positive criqutie of the meeting itself. Indeed, the evaluations were excellent, the speeches were tremendous, the Table Topics session superb and the Toastmaster was excellent. Even our functionaries for the evening: Timer Steve Wood (who joined the club on this evening), Grammarian Alison Briggs, AH Counter Rajiv Bhatia and Vote Counter Dr Michael Deichen, CC, CL performed admirably. At the end of the meeting, because there was a quorum present, Club #28 accepted unanimously the new officer slate for 2009: President Jose Lopez, CC; VPE Ed Dimayuga, VPM Deepti Dhiman, VPPR Rev. William Watson, Secretary Amber Gudenkauf, Treasurer Ken Walley ACG, CL and SAA Jason Davis! Congratulations to our new officers as well, The club adjusted to every little twist and turn tonight and still came up with a flawless meeting filled with some great memories!

The May 21st 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting started with a "Big Bang" as meeting Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL introduced the theme of "Explosions!". Ken spoke about some of the biggest explosions known to man including: "The Big Bang", "The giant meteorite that hit the earth", "Krakatoa" and "The great Gamma Ray Burst" among others. Also making a big impact was our Table Topics Master Dennis Gola, ACS, CL. His first question was to Ken W.: "What are the fun and positive things about explosions?" Ken remembered enjoying fireworks with his family in his youth. Ken Blake ACS, CL was asked about "something that had blown up unexpectedly" around him. Not unexpectedly, he told about a car that had some major troubles. Ed Dimayuga was asked about chemistry class experiments gone wrong. Our guest Michael Feury spoke about the biggest effect on our country due to the 9-11 attacks. Rajiv Bhatia was asked about President Truman's decision to drop the atomic bombs. The last question was directed towards returning member Jamie Waters. He was asked to give a plea to all of the countries of the world to disarm their Nuclear weapons! We had two excellent speeches from Amber Gudenkauf and Jason Davis. Amber gave her Ice Breaker Speech titled "My Story" She revealed that she was graduating from Boone High School and would be attending Valencia Community College in the fall, that she was a vegetarian, listens to Bob Marley and loves going to Disney and the beach. It was a great first speech! Congratulations Amber! Jason Davis, CC presented a project from the Advance manual "Speaking on Television" titled "Exceptional Speaker." He gave us a number of great ideas to improve public speaking skills. Acting as the General Evaluator was Deepti Dhiman who released a lot of energy with a highly explosive evaluation session. The two speaker evaluators, Ken Blake ACS, CL and Jamie Waters certainly did not "bomb"! They gave very good advice for our speakers. It should also be noted that Deepti gave a brilliant meeting evaluation as well. Lighting up the "Toastmaster sky" were tonight's functionaries: Timer Ed Dimayuga, AH Counter Monica Walley, Grammarian Rajva Bhatia and Vote Counter and returning guest Steve Wood. This meeting was interesting, fun and everything a Toastmasters meeting should have been! In short: it was a blast!

In what was one of the most unusual and fun meetings in the past few years, the May 14th 2009 "Time" themed meeting had the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 going backwards! Club President Barbara Cusack, CC started the meeting by Adjourning the meeting! After the VP of Education Deepti Dhiman announced next week's schedule, we heard from our guests Hajol Kaur, Steve Wood and Stacey Forget some comments on what they had thought of our meeting! (They all loved it!) Ribbons were handed out to our winners from the Vote Counter Jose Lopez, CC and we heard the concluding remarks from our President... even before we first saw our Toastmaster for the evening Ed Dimayuga! In this topsy-turvy evening, Ken Walley, ACG, CL gave the Grammarian report proudly announcing that everyone had used the Word of the Day and the AH Counter report was delivered by Jim Stitt even before we had heard the first "Ah". Evaluator reports by Jose Lopez, CC, Michael Machata and Ed Carmona, ACB, CL were delivered on what the evaluators hoped to hear from the speakers! General Evaluator Jason Davis, CC gave a very good meeting evaluation which was also based on what he hoped would take place! Amid the zaniness there were three excellent speeches starting with Speaker #3 Brian Wheeler, ACB, CL who returned to the club after being away for well over a year! Welcome back Brian! He gave a superb speech titled "Fountain of Youth" which told how as he faced the upcoming 40 year-old mark, he found his "fountain": a dark green Ford Bronco! One just felt younger simply by hearing his speech! Next, Speaker #2, Barbara Cusack, CC gave a speech that was titled "Armed and Dangerous" which was about HIV education and prevention. Even though the message was a serious and important one, Barbara used humor and personal stories to make it effective and meaningful. Speaker #1 was Rajiv Bhatia who gave his "Ice Breaker" speech titled "My Wanderings" which gave Rahiv a chance to express his love/hate relationship with Math and for us to get to know a funny and interesting new member of the club. After each speech Toastmaster Ed Dimayuga introduced the speaker who had just spoke. Also doing a backwards spin on things was Table Topics Master Deepti Dhiman who asked club members to speak about the theme of time and then she formed a question to fit the answer! Bravest of all was our guest Stacey Forget who spoke about how you change as you seek your own independence while experiencing life. Deepti then asked the question: "How do you change as you seek your independence while growing and developing in life?" Jose Lopez, CC gave an answer of how he prioritizes events and duties in his life. Brian Wheeler, ACB, CL spoke on how time means different things to different people. Barbara Cusack, CC spoke on how to cope with changing times and friends. Ken Walley ACG, CL spoke on being abducted by aliens and brought back in time150 years. Before the Table Topics session, but really after it, Toastmaster Ed Dimayuga introduced Deepti! He then went on to introduce our Vote Counter Jose Lopez, CC, AH Counter Jim Stitt, Timer Monica Walley and Grammarian Ken Walley ACG, CL. Soon Barbara was back as President to introduce Ed as the Toastmaster and welcome our guests. Michael Machata introduced Barbara and then lead us in the Pledge to the Flag before he delivering the Invocation. So that everyone would have their agendas correct, Michael read the changes to the agenda and then Called the meeting to order! Even backwards, this is a meeting to remember for a long time!

The truth is that the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 May 7th 2009 "Truth" themed meeting was a great way to spend a Thursday night! With the President and VP of Education unable to attend, Vice President of Education Ed Dimayuga did a super job as acting club president to get the meeting going He had his work cut out for him as he had to introduce no less than 9 visitors and guests! Our Toastmaster for tonight Dennis Gola, ACS, CL got to the heart of the truth with a vast array of interesting quotes, history (he told just what "The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" actually meant) and dilemmas that face us all to weave together a fascinating meeting. Also examining the truth was Paul Hagge, CC our Table Topics Master who put together some ver interesting questions on the topic of Truth. Deborah Ryan ACG, CL was asked "Should we tell a lie to avoid hurting someone else's feelings?" She answered "No" because it becomes a "slippery slope of lies" to follow. Jose Lopez, CC was asked if it was easier to lie or to tell the truth. Jason Davis, CC gave an example of telling the truth only to find out that it was really not the truth later on. Ken Blake, CS, CL was asked if he could "tell when people are lying to him." Paul asked our guest Matt Giles if he thought that telling lies had become more acceptable in today's society. Allison Briggs was ready for the question when asked if the truth could be manipulated to get what you want. She said it could, but it is often better to build trust by the way of the truth. The Table Topics session was brilliant with both questions and answers on this evening and the same can be said about the speeches. Monica Walley gave the first speech titled "Just Do It!" about the art and sport of skateboarding. We learned about how to "drop in" (to a cement swimming pool without water) how to wear protective gear, how to do an "ollie", a heel-flip and a kick-flip. We also learned about the regular and goofy stances on the board and much more! Let's Ride! Michael Machata gave a speech on a completely different subject titled "Stress Test" which was about the financial market's recently released reports on the "health" of our major banks. Michael managed to take a very complex speech with a lot of data and make it very interesting! Deborah Ryan ACG, CL was our General Evaluator and she was given the task of introducing the "two kens": Ken Walley ACG, CL and Ken Blake ACS, CL. Ken W. had a great time of giving his daughter's evaluation as well as Ken B.'s excellent evaluation of Michael's speech. From the evaluations, everyone in the room learned something. The truth is that the meeting was also a success because of the functionaries who also made our speaker look so good, they were Grammarian Alison Briggs, Timer Ed Dimayuga, AH Counter Jose Lopez, CC and Vote Counter and our newest member, Rajiv Bhatia. All did excellent work! We got great comments from our guests including Stephanie Thompson who is a past President of Club #8503! Matt Giles, Joan Hacker, Steve Woods, Erin Hoaglen, Andrea Arcos, Gloria Morales and Shirley Roman all had very good things to say about the meeting! To tell the truth is easy about this night, it was a wonderful meeting!

If you wanted to know what a successful Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting looks like, you have only to have been at the April 30th, 2009 "Success" themed meeting! The meeting was guided by a very successful Toastmaster, Jason Davis, CC who gave us great ideas on how to become successful as well as some interesting examples to follow! Jason did a remarkable job leading the meeting. He also had some help with a very auspicious Table Topics session directed by Ken Walley ACG, CL. Ken came up with a few very enlightening questions, starting with the one given to Debbe Ryan ACG, CL: "How do you define success and what does it mean to you?" Also challenged with a tough question was Michael Machata, who had to answer the question: "Was there an opportunity in your life that you wish you had acted on but didn't?" Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL was given the question "Who do you think is a great example of Success?" Visiting Toastmaster Ed Pisani from the Volusia Toastmasters Club answered the question "When have you succeeded beyond your wildest dreams?" Getting the last question of the Table Topics session was Ed Dimayuga. He gave a "mini-seminar" answering the question 'What are the 'stepping stones' to great success?" Also giving a highly successful presentation tonight was Paul Hagge, CC who gave a completely entertaining and riveting speech titled "Buyer Beware!" He told of a trip to Aruba which involved his wife, para-sailing and a tequila-drinking boat crew doing backflips into the water. The speech had more thrills in it than an Evel Knievel show on water! Also giving a winning presentation was Ken Blake, ACS, CL who showed the club a Toastmasters International produced DVD that promoted Toastmasters for groups and businesses. Both the film, and Ken, had great ideas for presenting Toastmasters in a positive light as well as some motifs on how to have more effective meetings. The General Evaluator was Ed Dimayuga who had the pleasure of introducing two very good evaluations given by Monica Walley and Dennis Gola, ACS, CL. Ed himself gave a top shelf evaluation of the meeting. No meeting is a success unless the functionaries who support it do their work and this was a testimony to excellence at the technical table. Kudos go to Timer Deepti Dhiman, Grammarian Tseganish Gudeta, ACB, CL; AH Counter Paul Hagge, CC and visiting Vote Counter Toastmaster Ed Pisani who gave out our ribbons with a flourish! Also attending tonight was B.F. "Biff" Godfrey who said a number of very positive things about our meeting. If success for a Toastmasters meeting could be bottled up than this would be a good place to find the recipe.

The April 23rd 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Physical Fitness / General Wellness" themed meeting was a healthy workout Toastmasters that lasted an entire evening. Amber Gundenkauf started off the evening with our Invocation and Pledge. Our Toastmaster for this evening was Jose Lopez, CC who gave us insight into the "7 areas of General Wellness and Physical Health" which included cardiovascular strength, muscular strength and mental alertness. Jose also gave a baseball example of a child who was able to deal with stress by changing his outlook from that of being a batter to a pitcher. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL stepped up to the plate as out Table Topics Master and gave us a brain workout with some great questions. "What does personal fitness mean to you?" was asked of Paul Hagge, CC. Next, Monica Walley was asked "What would you tell President Barack Obama to help him to quit smoking?" Part of what Monica said to our 44th President was "Stop that! That's really bad for you!" Tseganish Gudeta, ACB, CL was asked how she would help herself get into shape during "National Physical Fitness Month in May". T. G. made a pledge to go to the Gym twice a week. "What Physical attribute would you like to improve was asked of Susan Deichen. She said that she would like to be stronger so she could move furniture around her living room easier. Ken Walley ACG, CL spoke as to why being eccentric adds years to your life.We had three amazing speeches on this night. The Rev. William Watson, already giving his 4th speech, imparted some deep insights from his Grandmother in a speech titled "Grandma's Hand". The speech told what he had learned from his Grandmother's wealth of homespun wisdom including respecting others and the meaning of true love. Our second speaker was Ed Dimayuga who is fast approaching his CC award with his 7th speech, and so far his best yet titled "Guardian Ad Litem". Ed told of a program to give representation to children in family crisis situations. This extremely important program was supported by Ed with a strong call to action for our members to help save the Guardian Ad Litem program from proposed budget cuts at a time when this program is need the most. A humorous speech ("Dejavu all Over Again") was given by Dennis Gola, ACS, CL which told how he 1.) faced a bullwhip with a straw in his hand. 2.) Hid in a garbage dump by moonlight and 3.) was an K-9 attack-dog's chewtoy. Trust me, it was a very interesting speech! Also pulling their weight tonight was the evaluation team headed by General Evaluator Jason Davis, CC. Jason introduced three excellent evaluators including Michael Vance who was giving his first evaluation ever. Michael did a superb job as did our other "Michael", Michael Machata and Ken Walley ACG, CL.The Technical Table also excelled this evening with great reports and precision measurements they were: Grammarian Deepti Dhiman, Timer Paul Hagge, CC, AH Counter Monica Walley and Vote Counter Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL. We had two guests tonight Loly Patino and Mantra Ruw who both expressed some truly positive comments about the meeting! Whew! I am tired just from reading this re-cap! This was a great meeting!

We had a very strong turnout even though we were meeting at the Herndon Branch Library for the April 16th, 2009 "Orlando" themed meeting! We also learned a lot about the namesake of Orlando Toastmasters Club #28. Club President Barbara Cusack, CC had an amazing array of facts and trivia about "The City Beautiful" and led us through the meeting while keeping us completely entertained! Susan Deichen also had many interesting facts (Did you know that Orlando was not originally named Orlando!) and a whole lot of superb questions for our members and guests. Jose Lopez, CC was asked about how he got his name. Deepti Dhiman was asked what kind of contest she would hold for the City of Orlando. She suggested a "Most Walk-able Neighborhood Contest". Visiting Toastmaster Jim Ellis, DTM was asked to come up with a personal slogan. Ken Blake, ACS, CL was asked what kind of resort he would build in Orlando. We had some truly brilliant answers this week! The speeches were brilliant as well. All three speakers came prepared with strong presentations starting with an excellent speech by Michael Vance titled "Just Add Ice!" which he told us how to put together a "dinner" for 6000 people! "You do it just like you would have someone over to your house. All you need is food, beverages and some ambience." Although when he got into the details, it seemed just a bit more complicated. Jason Davis, CC gave a high energy interview of fellow toastmaster Rev. William Watson as part of "The JD Show!". With such an interesting guest as Rev. Watson, this project from the Advanced Manual "Communicating on Television", brought out the best in both the interviewee and host. Rev. William Watson gave a speech after completing his interview but still had plenty of stamina left to completely impress us! His speech titled "Changing Lives and Changing Seasons" delved into the subject of how to make change productive. "One must be optimistic to change using the ability to uplift others!" said William. The message was both inspiring and powerful. Doing a perfect job as General Evaluator was Jose Lopez, CC on this evening. Jose was helped out by three of the best evaluators that Club #28 has to offer: Michael Machata, Ed Dimayuga and Dennis Gola, ACS, CL. The three evaluations tonight, as well as Jose's meeting evaluation, made for one of the best evaluation session in memory. Ken Walley ACG, CL, Deepti Dhiman, and Alison Briggs served as the AH Counter, Timer and Grammarian respectively along with guest My Scott, ACS who did a very good job as Vote Counter to round out the functionary roles. We had three guests including Jim Ellis, DTM and My Scott, ACS who were visiting from the Casselberry Orators Club #8945 as well as Cameron Saulsby. All of them had very positive things to say about the meeting. Even though it might have took some time to get everyone together this night at the Herndon Branch Library, once this meeting got started, Club #28 did the City of Orlando proud!

As hard working as an ant and as big in surprises as an elephant, the April 9, 2009 "Ants and Elephants" themed meeting was one of the most fun and enjoyable meetings that Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 has ever had! The main reason for that was the stories, facts and really funny jokes that meeting Toastmaster Deepti Dhiman told throughout the evening! Also adding to the fun was Table Topics Master Dennis Gola, ACS, CL who really came through with some fabulous questions on the big and small of things. His first question which had almost nothing to do with either ants or elephants went to Alison Briggs was "Who is the sexiest man on Earth? Alison choose Brad Pitt. Although I think that she is married. Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked to "speak like an elephant." He spoke very good elephant! Jose Lopez, CC when asked what "physical attribute" that he wished he that could acquire, chose "telekinesis"! Dennis, bravely, asked Rev. William Watson to comment on Aunt Jemmina of maple syrup fame! "What is the worst thing that you ever had to do over a long period of time?" was asked of Jason Davis. Using the "Elephant Ear" as an example, Dennis asked Barbara Cusack, CC what her favorite pastry was. Like many in the room funnel cake with powered sugar topped the list. We had some truly wonderful answers from this Table Topics session. In terms of talent, it was more "elephant" than "ants" for our speeches. Our first speaker was Justin Gay who was giving his second speech with an appropriate meeting theme and title of "Leaf Cutter Ants". Justin told us about a visit to Costa Rica where he saw the ants marching in incredible numbers. He told us about he why the ants cut foliage as well as Costra Rica surfing and spring break cruising. Our second speaker was Susan Deichen who gave her 9th speech titled "Don't Jump!" which told us why Global Climate change might not be as bad as we think. She made a very persuasive argument. One more speech for Susan and she earns her CC award! Michael Machata told us about another inspiring Machata, his brother in a speech titled "My Brother" in which he told of an overly inquisitive child who grew up, like Michael, to join the Marines and later took on the responsibility for helping a family member who was in need. It was an inspiring speech. Ken Walley ACG, CL took the lead as our General Evaluator and was delighted with the high level of expertiese delivered by his fellow evaluators Ed Dimayuga, Ken Blake, ACS, CL and the Rev. William Watson. William did a remarkable evaluation for his first time ever as an evaluator! Filling out the positions at this meeting were Grammarian Monica Walley, Timer Jose Lopez, CC , AH Counter Alison Briggs and Vote Counter Jason Davis, CC. Also Amber Gundenkauf fought off a case of laryngitis to give our Invocation and Pledge! William Watson brought his wife Anita and his daughter as guests, as well as Rajiv Bhatia who joined us for our meeting tonight.All had very positive comments about the meeting. You will not need an elephant's memory to remember this meeting, it was truly a great experience.

"What's Up Doc?" Was the question to ask at the April 2, 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Cartoon" theme meeting. The answer would be "A fantastic Meeting!" Ken Walley, ACG, CL was our Toastmaster for a jam-packed evening of Cartoon nostalgia in which some classics like Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck and Tom & Jerry were remembered along with the newer "adult" 'toons such as "Family Guy" and "South Park". Many, many more of our beloved animated friends were mentioned. Serving as the Table Topics Master for this evening was quite a character himself, Dennis Gola, ACS, CL.Faster than a Roadrunner, Dennis offered some great questions for our members and quests. Barbara Cusack, CC was asked what her favorite cartoon character was. Barbara said that Scooby Doo came to mind. Good choice! Bob Blaydes, CC was asked if he knew of a real-life ACME company like the one preferred by Wiley Coyote. Bob nominated E-Bay. Also a good choice. Ed Carmona, ACB, CL was asked how we should punish "bad" cartoons. Our guest, Anriana Izquierdo was asked if she was ever inspired by a cartoon. She said she was inspired by the Power Puff Girls when she was young. Lastly, Ken Walley, ACG, CL was asked to do a Mickey Mouse imitation and tell everyone why they should go to Disney. Ken sounded so much like the mouse that could be Mickey's twin! We had four speeches tonight! The first was the most important because it was Alison Briggs's Ice Breaker speech. Titled "Finding My Way", Alison told how she attended Art & Design College in Savannah, Ga. before coming to Orlando to work for an Architectural firm. Alison did a great job on her first speech and it sounds like we have quite a few great stories to hear in the future!. Speaking next was Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL who was giving her first speech to Club #28 in over three yeas! She gave a "2nd Ice Breaker" speech that simply captivated the room as she told of coming to America from Ethiopia, overcoming cultural shock, raising a daughter in America and serving the Community as a social worker Speaking third was Jason Davis, CC who gave a humorous speech titled "I Need A Roommate" which covered all of the positives and, well dangers of a roommate and how one can change from a good roommate to a bad one in no time at all! He had everyone laughing with a great speech! The fourth speech of the night was an inspiring speech by the Rev. William Watson who just gave his Ice Breaker last week Titled "The Power of the Tongue" William told why words are important and how words ignite action and galvanize cooperation towards achieving goals. Another excellent speech by William! Pressed for time, Ken Blake, ACS, CL had to lead the fastest evaluation segment in Club #28 history. He introduced, quickly, Barbara Cusack, CC; Susan Deichen, Michael Machata and Ed Carmona, ACB, CL all of whom gave brilliant evaluations. Even though the evaluation session was rushed a bit, it was still one of the best the club has had in recent memory. We had time for two exceptional reports by our Grammarian Debbe Ryan ACG, CL and our AH Counter Ed Carmona, ACB, CL. It should be noted as well that our timer was Deepti Dhiman and our Vote Counter was our newest member, Herman Chahal. Our three guests, Ney Norwood, Adriana Izquierdo and Ying Hong all enjoyed the meeting as well. We adjourned the meeting in a flourish but we will remember an evening of fun, entertainment and great speeches... Thaaat's Alll Folks!

The March 26th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was as beautiful as Spring itself! With the the theme of "Spring" Susan Deichen was at her best as our Toastmaster with a garden full of fantastic stories, facts and anecdotes that warmed the Magnolia Room and our hearts! Our Table Topics Master Deepti Dhiman picked some "flowers" of curiosity for our guests and members. "What is your favorite season?" was her question asked of Jason Davis. He preferred Winter over Spring! Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL was asked about what the "bad" things were when it came to Spring. Monica Walley was given the query of "Where would you go in Spring if you could go anywhere?" She choose the beach... in California! Ken Blake ACS, CL was asked what Veggies he would grow if he had a garden. Andrew Ridge, our guest bravely answered a question about outdoor sports and the last question was saved for Melissa Vingian, "give an example of renewal in your life?" She told s story about how a new puppy made her see things in a different light. We had three speeches, all of them as good as a glorious Spring morning. Michael Vance and the Rev. William Watson started off the with two of the best Ice Breakers in memory! Michael's speech, titled "Love What You Do" told of his life travels through different jobs such as a youth minister, 911 dispatcher and being a professional college student until he found his calling as the Executive Director of the Central Florida Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Coalition. His 1st speech was a stunning beginning for a Toastmaster!. Another impressive Ice Breaker, titled "One on One Noise" was given by Rev. William Watson who grew up in Ft. Myers Beach but stayed so busy he never learned how to swim! He told of a life as a Baptist Minister and 30 years as a professional nurse. Wow! Club #28 has some great new speakers! Not to be outdone, Michael Machata gave his 5th speech which had everyone paying attention. Titled "U.S.M.C." told us what it was like to try to survive boot camp and even let us hear what his drill instructor sounded like! It was a truly eye-opening experience. Serving as General Evaluator was Monica Walley who did a great job of keeping the meeting on track while introducing three brilliant evaluators, Ken Walley ACG, CL, Ken Blake, ACS, CL and Ed Dimayuga. Every evaluation was worthy of a great evaluation itself! Praise should also go to the functionaries as well for this meeting: Dennis Gola, ACS, CL served as Grammarian, Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL as Timer, Jason Davis, CC filled in the AH Counter position and Amber Gudenkauf once more coved the Vote Counter position. We also had wonderful comments from our guests: Tinisa Parris, Andrew and Oksana Ridge, Herman Chahal, Melissa Vingian and Christa Boolukos. This was a "blooming" great meeting!

Ah! The luck o' the Irish was with Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 for the March 19th 2009 "St. Patrick's Day" themed meeting. Our Toastmaster Monica Walley told us may a tale of Leprechauns & pot o' gold, Green Beer, St. Patty himself and Corned Beef & Cabbage... among much others of St. Patrick's day fame! As luck would have it, Barbara Cusack, CC was on hand to be our Table Topics Master. She asked one of our more Irish members, for today anyway, Jose Lopez, CC about what tricks he would play as a leprechaun to protect his treasure. Rev. William Watson got even a tougher question when asked to speak on Corned Beef and Cabbage. George Johnson, one of our guests was invited to speak on the tradition of pinching someone who is not wearing green. Ed Dimayuga spoke on the subject of "lucky charms" and Susan Deichen was asked about what she would do on vacation to the Emerald Isle. Two of our three speakers cancelled at the last moment and it looked as if the third one would as well but Jason Davis, CC came in at the last moment and responded to a challenge to give an "Ice Breaker" speech to introduce himself to our club. His speech titled "My Life" told about growing up in Florida and being a single dad with a four year old daughter as well as his goal to give 100 speeches in a year in Toastmasters while belonging to three different clubs! We hope he gives the majority of them at Club #28! Also challenged with giving a last minute speech was Ken Walley ACG, CL who presented a speech titled "What Toastmasters Means to Me". He told how he had first come to Toastmasters, almost against his will, and how glad now that he had because the program had become such a force of discovery and empowerment in his life. Susan Deichen covered two positions, General Evaluator and the evaluator of Ken's speech. She did excellent in both roles. Ed Dimayuga gave the evaluation of Jason's speech and came through with good advice for anyone who wants to be a successful speaker. Two of the technical Table members were a bit "green" but they did a wonderful job William Watson as Timer and Amber Gudenkauf as our Vote Counter. Club veterans Jose Lopez, CC as Grammarian and Ed Dimayuga as AH Counter rounded out the functionaries and gave very good reports. We had excellent guest comments from our five guests: Kathleen and George Johnson, Tahir _______, Ahdela _______ and Moharia _______ who also gave our speakers some excellent advice as well. The Irish came out in everyone tonight, it was indeed, a lucky night for Club #28!

Everyone was happy with the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Happiness!" theme meeting of March 12th 2009. Ken Walley ACG, CL came up with a "list " of ways to make yourself happy that he had put together which included "See the Best in others", "Smile & Laugh every chance you get" and "Pet the dog"... among many others. Also making a list was Deepti Dhiman who had a list of great questions for our members. Jim Stitt was asked "What make you happy?"Jim said some of the things that he saw at his company brought a smile to his face like respect, working together and having fun. Deepti noticed that Susan Deichen had brought her two daughters, Megan Deichen and Katie Deichen to the meeting. Deepti asked Susan what she did to make her daughters happy. "Anything that I can think of." was just a small part of her wonderful answer. Amber Gudenkauf had the question of "What was your happiest moment?" Amber remembered the day she got her first car. Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL was given the philosophical question of "Why do the sad moments seem to last longer than happy moments?" Tseganesh mentioned that her daughter is at Harvard and how things seemed to move so fast at times. Jesse Baker was given the question "Why are so many people unhappy?". Returning Toastmaster Michael Vance was asked what music made him happy ("They shouldn't put radios in cars, sometimes I get so into the music I forget that I am driving.") and the last question went to Ed Dimayuga: "If you had to come up with a bumper sticker for your car about happiness, what would it say? Ed, inspired by Jim Stitt, said "Happiness is a Bigger Burrito!". One thing is for sure that Happiness is two great speakers and Club #28 had that on this evening. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL gave a speech with the title: "Bstan-'dzin-rgya-mtsho" which mean "Oceans of Wisdom" also the name of the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dennis told of the history of the Dalai Lama from the 1st Dalai Lama up to the current day. He told of how the present Dalai Lama was found, escaped persecution, became a champion for the cause of Tibet and earned a Nobel Peace prize. It was an inspiring and fascinating speech. Speaking next was new club member Jason Davis taking the lectern for the first time at Club #28 with a speech titled "My Dream Girl" which told of how a friend played a practical joke on him with a blind date. Needless to say his "dream girl" was not what he expected! Ed Carmona, ACB, CL was happy to be the General Evaluator and put on a great show for all who attended. Ed really did a wonderful job introducing the evaluators as well as presenting a meeting evaluation with a lot of flair. Ken Blake ACS, CL gave the evaluation for Dennis's speech and Tseganesh Gudeta ACB, CL showed that she still had great skill as an evaluator herself with her review of Jason's speech. The Functionaries for tonight were: Grammarian Susan Deichen, Timer Jose Lopez, CC, AH Counter Jim Stitt and Vote Counter Michael Vance. Everyone not only did a good job at their positions but they also brought a lot of joy to the meeting as well. Toastmaster Dionne Aiken gave the last word of the night when asked about what made her happy, she summed up things up well: she said that having a new baby brought her the most happiness yet in life and also "If you want to be happy, come to a meeting like this one." I could not have said it better myself!

When Vice president of Education Deepti Dhiman announced the date for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 International Speech and Table Topics Contest for Thursday March 5th 2009 she could not have had any idea that that date would go down in club history as one of the most successful and entertaining evenings in its 76 year history! Club #28 was able to showcase some of its well-known speakers and introduce to the Central Florida scene some upcoming orator super talent. The magnolia Room at the Downtown Orlando Public library was packed with club members, guests and dignitaries. Some of the most recognizable local Toastmaster elite graced the room including Area 32 Governor Richard Arden, ACS, CL; Central Florida Toastmaster legend Helen Joseph, DTM, Area 33 Governor Gloria Esteban, DTM and long time Club #28 supporter and Orange County Club #129's VP of Education Luvenia Hart, ACS. No one, from the first time visitor to the Distinguished Toastmaster, would be disappointed by the performances of this evening. Ken Walley ACG, CL started off the evening with an Invocation and Pledge that focused appropriately on "talent and discipline". Our hostess for this evening was Contest Master and Club #28 president Barbara Cusack, CC. Barbara not only kept the contest (including four speeches and five Table Topics speakers) on task and on time, she also greatly enhanced the evening with her charm and her well known sense of humor. The Table Topics contest was a highly impressive display of extemporaneous speech. Contest Sgt. at Arms Ed Carmona, ACB, CL led all of the contestants out of the room except for the first speaker, Dennis Gola ACG, CL who was the first to answer the question: "What makes a perfect day?" Dennis spoke about not having to worry about getting from one place to another and for things to simply "fall into place". Ed brought in Jamie Waters as the next speaker who spoke with a perspective of one who was looking for employment. His optimistic view was that until he gets hired, "everyday is the weekend". Michael Machata spoke of spending time with his wife and surfing at the beach. Ken Blake ACS, CL spoke about getting away from the responsibilities of his job and "running barefoot through the wet grass." Susan Deichen, a last minute entry in the contest, spoke about walking up to the alarm clock and finding out that you still had hours to sleep and then, later as a teacher, making a difference in the life of a child. They were all excellent answers. The answers were at times, funny, witty, thoughtful and even moving. Dennis added to his already impressive hoard of trophies by coming in 2nd place and Ken Blake, ACS, CL, another Club #28 icon, took the first place prize with his table Topics answer. The International Speech Contest included past winner Ken Blake and three contest newcomers: Deepti Dhiman, Ed Dimayuga and Jose Lopez, CC. Ken's speech titled "I Can't Breath!" was a speech that he had given before to the club a number of times but it always captures the imagination of the audience. he told of the time that he was left in charge of two divers during a deep sea dive and when the boat got back to shore, those divers were not on board! Jose's speech was about the boxing champion Muhammad Ali titled "The Greatest of All Time!" Jose even reenacted some of Ali's boxing matches as part of the speech! Ed Dimayuga's speech was about the types of personalities that can "kill a meeting". Titled "Bad Apples" these included "The Jerk", "The Pessimist" and the "guy who argues with everything." Deepti Dhiman's highly upbeat speech "How to Develop Enthusiasm", gave us advice such as "Speak in a strong voice" and "Give yourself a pep talk!" Everyone was enthusiastic with all of the speeches! Coming in second place was Deepti and Jose Lopez took the 1st place trophy in his first ever International Speech Contest! Congratulations to Jose, Ken, Dennis and Deepti! All of them will now go to the Area 32 Contest March 29th at the Mayflower Retirement resort in Winter park. I hope that Club #28 can send as big crowd to represent us at Area and cheer on our winners. At the end of the evening, Club #28 received some truly positive comments from our guests Brian McCormick, Amber Gudenkauf, Jade Kimmeth and Cynthia DeJesus. Everyone who took part in this contest was a winner! There was as much talent behind the scenes as there was at the lectern. A special thanks to the judges who hailed from different clubs, Sgt. at Arms Michael Machata, Contest Sgt. at Arms Ed Carmona, ACB, CL; Timer Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL; Vote Counters Ken Walley, ACG, CL; and Justin Gay, Chief Judge Gloria Esteban and of course, our Contest Master Barbara Cusack, CC. Everyone did a great job! Again congratulations to our winners and to Club #28!

The theme of the February 26th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was about the newest frontier: Cyberspace. The "Cyberspace: Our New Expanding Universe!" meeting was hosted by one of our technical gurus Louis Cianfrogna. Louis took us on a cyber tour of the many changing landscapes of the internet such as facebook, myspace, linkedin, youtube, blogging and others. He provided many very interesting stories and facts and everyone learned something on this night. Also encouraging us to face the future was Deepti Dhiman who provided some tough questions as our Table Topics Master. Dionne Aiken was the recipient of Deepti's first question: "How much time to you spend on the Internet and what is you favorite website?" We found out that Dionne builds websites for a living and right now her favorite site is Babycenter.com because when is expecting a baby in a few months! Ken Blake, ACS, CL was asked "What do you use the internet for?" Toastmaster Ed Carmonia, ACB, CL spoke on the interesting question "Is the Internet driving people away or bring them closer together?" On line shopping was the subject of our guest Amy Mierzwinski who said that it could be a very big temptation. Bori Um who announced earlier that he had to leave Club #28 because he had been informed last week that he had been accepted into the Air Force, was given the question "If an attack by UFO's had wiped out the internet, could we survive?" Bori thought we would not be able to defend ourselves very well! We will sure miss you Bori and we wish you the best of luck! Two awesome speeches were in store starting with Barbara Cusack's excellent speech titled "Gentle Giant" which coved the subject of protecting Florida's Manatees. Barbara gave a very informative speech about this very important subject, especially here in Florida. Our second speaker Dennis Gola, ACS,CL gave another brilliant speech titled "Weight Until You Hear This" that told about how elephants are trained by being tied to a steak as a baby elephant. He pointed out that Toastmasters need to "pull up the 5 lbs. steaks in their lives" and use our knowledge that we learn at Toastmasters and use it in the everyday world. Dennis hit a very profound chord. Ken Blake ACS, CL took the role of General Evaluator and was rewarded by two excellent evaluations from the Walley family. Monica Walley gave a very good evaluation of Barbara's speech but her father, Ken Walley ACG, CL had a hard time find any fault with Dennis's speech. Ed Carmonia ACB, CL served as the Grammarian along with Timer Dionne Aiken (1st time) and AH Counter Bori Um along with his girlfriend Rebecca King who he had brought to the meeting, served as our Vote Counter and rounded out our functionaries. William Watson got a chance to speak at the end of the meeting as well and gave some final thoughts on cyberspace. While you are reading this on the internet, it simply will not be as wonderful as an experience than had you actually been in the room this night at the Orlando Public Library. Hope to see you soon!

Before the meeting on February 19th 2009, Ed Dimayuga delivered a very well crafted speech titled "Places That I have Lived" that was both a brilliant travelogue and also a window into experience of the joys of exploration. Ed covered living in places as diverse as China to Daytona Beach, giving insights from places all over the world. Ken Walley ACG, CL gave Ed's evaluation. Thus with the speech that he would give later in the evening, Ed would have given his 6th speech, which qualifies him for the March 5th 2009 International Speech Contest.

The Founding Fathers of our Country would have been proud to have seen the "Founding Fathers" themed February 19th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club Meeting. From the encouraging Invocation and Pledge by Dennis Gola ACS, CL which started the meeting to the final gavel. The meeting was defined by the determination of our leader Paul Hagge, CC to bring to life those who crafted both our liberties and our government. Franklin, Washington, Jefferson and the others would have been pleased with the Questions posed from our Table Topics Master Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL. She first asked Ken Walley ACG, CL "What President comes to mind as the most important in our nation's history?" Ken said that Abraham Lincoln should be remembered first for keeping the union together and second for having to overcome extreme personal challenges during his time in office. Noteing the time in office of President William Henry Harrison, Tseganish asked Louis Cianfrogna, "What what you do as President if you only had 31 days?". Barbara Cusack, CC was given the question of what the country should do in the case of the death of a president. Speaking on the two party system was Dennis Gola ACS, CL. Dennis noted that it is a shame that the president often loses touch with the people because the office itself often isolates him. We had three speech that would have been worthy of the founding fathers themselves. Speaking first was Louis Cainfrogna Who gave a very helpful, informative and interesting speech titled "How To Buy A New Car From a Dealership". Louis stressed Budget, Research and Negotiations, or, the "art of walking away". Justin Gay spoke second and gave the club its second Ice Breaker in two weeks! Justin's speech which was titled "Brick Walls" told of growing up in Orlando, surfing at the beaches, attending UCF and working for Disney. He showed a lot of great potential as a speaker! Congratulations Justin! Our third speaker was Ed Dimayua who gave a speech titled "Over-Cross Section" an informative speech about the federal government system. He asked at the start of the speech that without knowing what it was, would you sign the Constitution? It was Ed's second speech of the night and both of them were excellent! The General Evaluator tonight was Monica Walley who had the pleasure of introducing her father, Ken Walley ACG, CL as the evaluator for Justin Gay's Ice breaker speech. Ken Blake ACS, CL was on hand to give the evaluation for for Ed's speech and Deepti Dhiman gave an impressive evaluation of Louis Cianfrogna's speech. Monica was quick to point out that Table Topics, Evaluations and all of our Speeches for tonight's meeting were exceptional as was the work of our Toastmaster Paul Hagge, CC. Included in that list could have been our functionaries. Monica brought a guest who served as our AH Counter, Amber Gudenkauf and our newest member, Alison Brooke Briggs served for the first time as our AH Counter with veteran toastmasters Dennis Gola ACS, CL and Susan Deichen serving as Grammarian and Timer, respectively. Club #28 had reason to celebrate as it added three more members to the membership roll: Alison Brooke Briggs and Jason Davis joined along with past Club #28 President Edward Carmona, ACB, CL! Welcome and welcome back! This was a great great meeting worthy of our founding fathers indeed.

The theme for the February 12th 2009 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "Man's Best Friend" and like a loyal and gallant pet dog, this meeting fiercely protected the string of wonderful meeting this club has had over the past few decades. Giving us a stirring and inspiring Invocation & Pledge was Tseganesh Gudeta, ACB, CL who got the meeting off to a great start. The room was packed and one of the delights was to have two members of a Toastmasters Club visiting from Germany, Evelyn Rzymelza and Leif Busse who told us about their meetings overseas, including that they have a meeting in English every third week! Providing many a tail, er, tale (pardon the pun) on the subject of dogs was our Toastmaster Jose Lopez, CC who gave us tremendous facts and heartwarming anecdotes about our four-footed friends. Jose produced a memorable job as our meeting leader. Also excelling was our Table Topics Master, Louis Cianfrogna who asked some great questions to our full house: "Tell us about your favorite Dog?" was asked of Ed Dimayuka. "Is there a special bond between dogs and humans?" was presented to Susan Deichen. "What is the best breed of dog?" was aimed at Dionne Aiken. She answered: "The one who wins at a dog show!" Dennis Gola ACG, CL was asked "If you were a dog what kind of dog would you be?" Dennis went with "A mutt!" "What talent would you like to teach a dog?" was asked Michael Machata. Lastly, Paul Hagge was asked what kind of breeds would he like to create if he could mix two breeds of dogs. He thought that a mix of a herding dog like a Blue Healer and a high-strung Mexican Chihuahua would make for a very interesting type of breed! We had two great speeches tonight, both of which had everyone truly impressed with the presenters and the riveting contents of the speeches. Speaking first was Deepti Dhiman who gave a brilliant speech on the topic attaining one's hopes and dreams. Titled "Making Dreams Come True" her speech provided a plan for accomplishing life goals. "Define your dreams, find out what the cost is to make it come true and then put together a strategy to achieve it." Said Deepti, "Waiting to make a dream come true is often what will defeat one's best intentions". Bori Um came to the lectern to give his first speech, titled "Goals and Obsessions" and proceeded to astound his audience with his Ice Breaker. Just some of the highlights included that he was he was born while his parents were attempting to escape the Cambodian horror of the Pol Pot regime. He taught himself to play guitar and toured with rock bands before becoming a jazz musician. He learned how to repair cars and soon joined in Auto Cross racing. His goal now is earning an engineering degree. Bori's obsessions have become reaching his goals and his 1st Toastmaster goal, his Ice Breaker Speech has already been reached! Congratulations Bori! We had two excellent evaluations of our speeches by Ken Blake, ACS, CL and Monica Walley both of which were insightful and helpful to the speakers and everyone else who heard them. In his "meeting evaluation" General Evaluator Ken Walley ACG, CL praised the meeting as brilliant in "every area that a Toastmasters meeting should be." That would include the effort done by the functionaries who did perfect work and gave 1st class reports. They were: Grammarian Dennis Gola ACS, CL; Timer Susan Deichen, AH Counter Dionne Aiken and Vote Counter Barbara Cusack. We had three other guests besides our visitors from Germany. Steve, Allison and Marci all praised the meeting highly. This meeting was no "dog" but if it was, it would have been wagging it's tail.

It was very correct for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 to select the topic of "Black History" as the theme for the February 5th 2009 meeting as this month is "Black History Month". Starting our the meeting was a profound Invocation by Ken Blake, ACS, CL who told a story of a "man who could sleep through the storm"... because he prepared ahead of time. Toastmaster Dennis Gola ACS, CL really prepared well for the meeting. All who attended were treated to a superb lesson into the chronicles of the African-American's struggles and triumphs in America. Throughout the night he made Black History come alive. Ken Walley ACG, CL as the Table Topics Master also tried to put the African American experience into perspective with some very thought provoking questions on the subject as well. "Is Black History Month still relevant in light of recent events?" was his first question directed to Michael Machata. "What African American has inspired you?" was asked of Jim Stitt. Jim noted that the great actor Morgan Freeman was a man who came to mind. Louis Cianfrogna was given the question "If you had to pick a historical turning point of race relations in America, what would it be?" Returning past Club #28 member Tseganish Gudeta ACB, CL answered the question "Is it possible to achieve a world in which racism is a thing of the past?" Our guests were also asked some questions. Jason Davis was asked "What makes you proud to be black?" and another guest, Dionne Aiken was asked to describe the significance to the black community of the election of President Barack Obama. We had two brilliant speeches this evening. The first being the second speech of a two part series by Jesse Baker on making America smarter titled "Smart Infrastructure". Jesse addressed the opportunities in the fields of Health, Broadband and the creation of an intelligent grid using "only" 30 billion dollars to create jobs and improve the quality of life. Our second speaker, Jose Lopez, CC earned his Competent Communicator Award giving a remarkable 10th speech titled "My Story". Moving and powerful he told of how he earned the purple heart in Iraq, lost and eye and found happiness through surviving a car bomb. It was s speech so compellingly given that anyone who heard it will remember for a long time. Jose received a standing ovation for earning his CC award. Congratulations Jose! Monica Walley served as our General Evaluator and did a great job of getting our meeting back on track time-wise with the help of two excellent evaluators: Louis Cianfrogna and Michael Machata. Louis and Michael both excelled with sage advice and hearty encouragement for our speakers. As mentioned the club was delighted at the return of Club #28 legend Tseganish Gudeta, ACB, CL who had bee away from the club for a number of years. Tseganish also served as our Vote Counter. Welcome Back T.G.! Rounding out the functionaries were Deepti Dhiman who besides serving as acting club president was also the AH Counter, Jim Stitt as our timer and Grammarian Ken Blake ACS, CL who performed bravely despite a horrendous cold. We had a number of guests including returning guests Dionne Aiken, Bori Um, Marcie Gerena and Jason Davis. All of them expressed a desire to join club #28! Welcome aboard! This important meeting was not only informative but enlightening as well.

If only Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 were the example that America could set abroad, then our global stature would be pristine... well if the January 29th 2009 "America Abroad!" themed meeting was any indication anyway. Club President Barbara Cusack, CC did a splendid of leading the assembly with sharp insights as to the good America creates in easing worldwide suffering. It was a vivid contrast to the bad publicity that America has received over the past few years. Also looking at the role of America abroad was Table Topics Master Dennis Gola ACS, CL. Dennis used American foreign policy as the basis of his questions. "If money was no object what country would you procure for the United States?" was asked of Ken Walley ACG, CL Ken said China would be a good addition to the United States. "Describe your foreign policy?" was asked of Jose Lopez. Barbara Cusack, CC used Moses to explain Teddy Roosevelt's statement "Speak softly but carry a big stick." Deepti Dhiman was asked to choose between Economics & trade or Human Rights with foreign strategy." Michael Machata was asked to comment on the War Powers Resolution. Our guest Dionne Aiken was given the task speaking on Isolationism or Involvement polices. Justin Gay was asked about what America's policy on Cuba should be. Lastly, Dennis asked Ed Dimayuga what should be the goals for the Obama Administration to create a better worldview of America. When the Table Topics session was over we all felt as if we had been at a White House briefing. Again Club #28 was blessed with two excellent speeches The first, by Monica Walley was titled "Change Your World" was about simple, easy ways to make the world a better place. "Change your attitude and you change the world." said Monica. Ed Dimayuga speech titled "Bad Apple" told of a sociological experiment on group behavior to see what the effect of a single person could be. The "bad apple", i.e. one who disrupts or is extremely pessimistic, had a great effect upon the rest of the group. It was a speech full of fascinating insight. Jose Lopez held the duel role of General Evaluator and evaluator for Monica's speech. This was the first time that Jose took on the role of General Evaluator and he did an excellent job. Michael Machata gave his first evaluation as well of Ed's speech. Michael's evaluation was as polished as if he had been doing them for years. Our functionaries tonight consisted of Ken Walley ACG, CL covering both the Grammarian and AH Counter positions, Deepti Dhiman as our Timer and Justin Gay serving as the vote counter. Both of our guests, Dionne Aiken and Jason Davis were impressed with the meeting and hoped that they could return soon. Indeed this was another excellent night for Club #28... and Americans abroad everywhere.

"In the future, if I could travel to the past, I would travel to the present to relive this meeting" said Orlando Club #28 General Evaluator Ken Walley ACG, CL. about the January 22nd 2009 "Time Travel" themed meeting. Louis Cianfrogna led the club through a myriad of different scenarios of the past, present and future. He captured the imagination as well as the attention of the club throughout the evening. Also wandering the outer bonds of time travel was Table Topics Master Dennis Gola, ACS, CL who had some very interesting questions for those brave enough to encounter them. "Would you rather go forward or backward in time?" was asked of Ed Dimayuga who prefers going forwards. "What was you favorite time traveler?" was asked of Ken Walley ACG, CL. "Where in the future and what would you like to see would you go if you could?" was put forth to Jim Stitt. "Take us on a journey to the beginning of time" was the task put before Barbara Cusack, CC. Ken Blake, ACS, CL was asked to tell us about the legendary Deloren sports cars as seen in the movie "Back to the Future". Our guest, Nicole Evans was asked about what kind of watch she would wear. Jose Lopez gave an amazing answer to the question of: "How do you tell time without a watch?" The last question was asked of Dasha Chatrna, "Where is your favorite clock?" Dasha remembered a giant clock in Prague from the 12th Century. You didn't need a clock to know that it was time for some great speeches. We had two of them tonight! First a speech titled "Pronayam" was presented by Deepti Dhiman which covered the basics on the "Art of Breathing". She gave demonstrations of how to increase strength and endurance through breathing exercises. Speaking second was Jesse Baker who was giving his third speech titled "A Smarter Planet" which was an eye-opening speech about how we should put together a global plan to limit the damage of the problems that are facing our planet. Ken Walley ACG, CL acted as our General Evaluator and was able to introduce two excellent evaluators: Jose Lopez and Ed Dimayuga both of whom delivered helpful and informative evaluations of our speakers. The expert "meeting efficiency panel" consisted of Timer Barbara Cusack, CC, AH Counter Ken Blake, ACS, CL and Grammarian Jim Stitt. Also helping out as our Vote Counter was Dasha Chatrna. This meeting was everything that a Toastmaster meeting should be: in bygone times, in the period at hand or in the imminent time to come. Club #28 will be traveling there for sure.

It took a lot of teamwork to create an experience as good as the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28's January 15th 2009 "Teamwork" themed meeting. Ken Walley, ACG, CL a toastmasters who knows a few things about teamwork, led the meeting and covered the "9 components to Successful Teamwork". The nine teamwork goals he mentioned were: Listening, Dialogue, Inquiring, Persuading, Appreciating other viewpoints, Facilitating, Sharing, Activism and Communicating. Also creating the teamwork necessary to produce a superior meeting was the Table Topics Master Jose Lopez. Jose asked some very probing questions on the subjects such as "What sport best defines teamwork?" which was asked of Ken Blake ACS, CL. The question of "How is leadership and teamwork important to your job?" was answered by Ebony Langston. "Give an example of an exciting experience you had as a team member? prompted club president Barbara Cusack, CC to remember being on a track team. "If you knew that you could not fail, what issues would you use teamwork to solve?" was given to new club member Jim Stitt. Do you work better on a team or by yourself?" was given to Michael Machata. The final question was asked of our guest, Justin Alexander Gay "How can teamwork improve your life?" The answers were all very illumining on the subject. We had two very different speeches both of them excellent efforts by any standards. Deepti Dhiman started with a speech titled "Sling Shot Ride!" that had everyone on the edge of their seats. It described the experience of being shot 400 ft. into the air on thrill ride. Deepti painted such a vivid picture that there are now only a very few people who heard her speech that would have the courage to attempt that ride! Also doing a remarkable speech this evening was Dennis Gola ACS, CL who used words and phrases from the audience to craft a speech titled "The Inauguration On the Run!" His impressive skill at speaking "off the cuff" was on full display. Having the daunting task of evaluating those speakers fell to Louis Cianfronga and Barbara Cusack, CC. Louis gave a brilliant evaluation of Deepti's speech which was even more impressive as it was his first ever evaluation. Barbara also gave a solid and helpful evaluation of Dennis's speech. Ken Blake, ACS, CL served as our General Evaluator praising the evening highly in a voluminous meeting critique. The teamwork of the functionaries should also be noted: Grammarian Ebony Langston, AH Counter Jim Stitt, Timer Michael Machata and our guest, Ying Hong all worked impressively together to make this meeting possible! Club #28 added three new members on this evening, Jim Stitt rejoined the club as well as William Watson and Justin Gay! It just goes to show what a great Toastmasters Club can accomplish through teamwork.

If the first meeting of 2009 is any indication the new year is going to be a great one for Orlando Toastmaster Club #28! The theme for the January 8th, 2009 meeting was "New Beginnings!" and we had the start of something special with Ed Dimayuga serving for his first time as the Toastmaster. Ed did a wonderful job throughout the evening keeping the meeting interesting and insightful with facts and trivia (The New Year is not celebrated on the same date or time everywhere), anecdotes and few personal predictions. Ed did a truly great job. Also starting off the year with a superb effort was our new President Barbara Cusack, CC who asked some great questions for our first 2009 Table Topics session. The first question of the new year went to Deepti Dhiman who was asked "Is setting goals for you a realistic or an idealistic choice?" Ken Walley, ACG, CL was asked "What changes would I like to see from the upcoming Barack Obama Administration?" Ken W. mentioned that he would like to see war simply "go away". "What would you cut back on in the year 2009?" was asked of toastmaster Ken Blake, ACS, CL . Ken B. said "Driving, in order to save gas and time." Barbara asked one of our guests, Tonia Craig, "What is your first resolution of the new year?" Her answer was staying in shape and losing weight, like many people who are making resolutions at the start of a new year. The last question also went to returning past member Jim Stitt: "Have you ever wagered on a resolution?" As a matter of fact Jim just happened to have a current bet with a co-worker to be the first to lose 15 pounds. Our speeches also set this club off in the right direction. Michael Machata, giving his 4th speech since joining the club in November told a story of a remarkable American hero from the Viet Nam war. His speech titled "Roy Benavidez" told the story of the late Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez who was awarded the Medal of Honor from President Ronald Reagan for bravery almost beyond comprehension. It made for an exciting speech. We were honored by a visit from our Area 32 Governor Richard Arden, ACG, CL who presented a project from the Toastmasters International Successful Club Series titled "How to be a Distinguished Club" . Richard gave Club #28 some clear goals to focus on and made the "educational alphabet soup" (CC's, AC's, CL's DTM's etc.), much easier to understand. Ken Walley ACG, CL served as our General Evaluator as well as giving the evaluation of Area Gov. Arden's speech and Deepti Dhiman gave a very good evaluation of Michael Machata's speech. Ken W. also wore the hat of our Timer, Jim Stitt served as our AH Counter and Ken Blake, ACS, CL gave an impressive report as our Grammarian. Rounding out our esteemed functionaries panel was Barbara Cusack, CC who served as our Vote Counter. We had more guests in the room on this night than members! Beri Um, Pablo More, Tonia Craig, Ying Hung, Suibion Lin, Elsie Moran, Thierry Ngoie and Jim Stitt all visited Club #28 and helped make this meeting successful. I hope they all return... and join us! This "New Beginning" was a wonderful start and 2009 looks like a great year for Club #28

The room looked beautiful for the December 18th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 Holiday Party and Installation of Officers Celebration. The meeting was made festive with Christmas Trees, Christmas Music, lights... even a snowman! Thanks to Bob Blaydes, CC; Ken Walley ACG, CL; Joe Lopez and Monica Walley for bringing in the decorations. Jose called the meeting to order and Bob gave the Invocation and Pledge which included a warm holiday greeting and a wish for joy and peace to all. Our Master of Ceremonies for this special night was Ken Walley ACG, CL who also asked some Table Topics questions to keep everyone in the holiday spirit as we went through the evening. Bob Blaydes, CC was asked for example to give us a "verbal Christmas Card". "A Christmas Memory" was the task asked of Jesus Serrano. Deepti Dhiman gave us a picture of what winter is like where she is from in India. Ed Dimayuga told us the best gift that he ever received. Ken also got to introduce two featured speakers for the evening, both of whom brought excellent speeches. We started with Jose Lopez who's speech was titled "SPQB"; a title taken from the Ancient Roman Republic. His speech was an non-partisan speech calling for more transparency in government to avoid scandals like the ones that have rocked today's headlines. It was a very well crafted and reasoned speech. Our second speaker was Michael Machata who gave a more practical speech titled "How to Save" which gave helpful advice in using 401Ks and IRA accounts. Michael's speech took a very complicated subject and made it easy to follow. Our speakers were also given excellent evaluations by Ken Blake ACS, CL and Jesus Serrano. It was noted that Jesus came from Miami to attend this special meeting tonight. Jesus has just taken on a new job in South Florida and he will be very missed at #28. The second part of our meeting focused on the "changing of the guard" and the induction of our new officers starting with the Farewell Speech by Outgoing President Dennis Gola, ACS, CL. Dennis gave one of the longest Farewell Speeches in Club #28's history but it was also one of the most interesting and uplifting speeches by any outgoing president. Dennis praised the resilience of the club in handling challenges and was proud of this club's commitment to diversity and dedication to improving the lives of each other. Area 32 Governor Richard Arden was unable to attend so Ken Walley ACG, CL presided over the "Passing of the Gavel" Ceremony to induct our new officers for the January-June 2009 Toastmaster Term. Sergeant at Arms Michael Machata, Treasurer Jose Lopez, Secretary Monica Walley, Vice President of Membership Ed Dimayuga, Vice President of Education Deepti Dhiman and President Barbara Cusack, CC were all present to be inducted. Vice President of Public Relations Ebony Langston was unable to attend but was also sworn in "inabsentia" by Ken. Even though time was running short, time was made to hear Barbara Cusack's complete Inaugural Address. Her speech was a powerful and inspiring message of hope for the future of those who have joined this club. It was a very important message that everyone was glad they were able to hear. This club is off to a great start for 2009. This was also one of the very best Holiday Parties that this club has ever had. A great way to top off a very successful year.

Everyone who was at the December 11th 2008 "Winners and Losers" themed Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was a winner! This meeting brilliant performances throughout the entire evening. Winner #1 was our Toastmaster for the night, Ken Blake ACS, CL. Ken use some great examples of winners such as the indomitable coach Vince Lombardi and even Club #28's past International Speech Champion, James Webb, AC as examples of how to overcome great odds ands succeed. Ken Walley ACG, CL filled in as the Table Topics Master and asked questions that also explored the theme of winning and losing. "Who would you say was the biggest winner of 2008?" was offered to Debbe Ryan ACG, CL. She gave that honor to President-elect Barrack Obama. On the other hand, when asked who was "The biggest loser of 2008?" Michael Machata gave a very appropriate answer of some past CEO's of some of the well known financial management firms who have forced out during the recent Wall Street financial crisis. Ken Blake ACS, CL was asked to comment on the statement "Winning or losing is not important, it's how you play the game." Jose Lopez was asked to give an example of winning a competition and how it made him feel. Jesus Serrano was asked to give an example of losing a competition and how it make him feel. Jesus told of losing a job opening only to find a better job opportunity later on. Ed Dimayuga was asked "What was the best comeback that you have ever seen?" Our guest and soon to be new member William Watson was asked "What makes one a winner in life?" William answered "never quitting" and he gave some example of challenges he faced in his career as a nurse. Both of our speakers were also winners: Ken Walley ACG, CL and Ebony Langston each gave outstanding presentations. Ken W.'s speech titled "My Old Age" was a speech directed toward the "younger Toastmasters" about what it was like to be getting older in life. The speech was filled with wisdom and humor. Another remarkable speech was by Ebony Langston titled "Patience is a Virtue" about an ill-fated visit to her boyfriend's house where she had to endure four flat tires at at different times within two weeks! While the speech was humorous, it also told an impressive story of ingenuity and survival. Dennis Gola ACS, CL took over as our General Evaluator. Dennis was able to introduce two of Club #28 members with wildly different evaluation experience. Debbe Ryan, ACG, CL who evaluated Ken W.'s speech gave a very helpful and encouraging evaluation. Jesus Serrano, the second evaluator for Ebony's speech was giving his first evaluation ever. Jesus also succeed with an excellent assessment, one worthy of a seasoned toastmaster! Our technical table tonight consisted of Jesus Serrano as Grammarian, Jose Lopez at the timer position, Ed Dimayuga as the AH Counter and Michael Machata as the Vote counter. Our guest, William Watson pledged to join the club and had some very nice things to say about the meeting. William is a winner as was this meeting!

Extraordinary meetings like the December 4th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting, call for Extraordinary themes. Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL chose the theme of "Extraordinary Lives!" Ken used many, and very different, personalities as examples of the extraordinary. American President Abe Lincoln, poet Emily Dickinson, baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and sports hero Henry Aaron, were just some of the lives examined during the evening. Ken also acted as the Table Topics Master due to a last-minute cancellation. With only a short time to prepare, Ken came up with some very worthy questions. His first question "What make for an 'extraordinary life?" was asked of returning member Debbe Ryan, ACG, CL. Debbe used the example of Polish union leader and later Poland's President Lech Walesa. "Do you know of someone Personally who has had an extraordinary life?" was asked of Jamie Waters who mentioned his Grandfather. Deepti Dhiman was given the question "What is something amazing, unseal or completely unexpected that has happened to you?" Ken asked one of our guests, James Williams, "If you could trade your life with someone from history, who would it be?" James choose Michael Jordan. Another guest, Audra Marlow was asked who her heroes were. She sighted her parents who truly seemed like some very wonderful people by her answer. We definitely had some wonderful speakers tonight. We were entertained by yet another interesting life, that of Michael Machata. Michael's 2nd speech, simply titled "Me", told a little bit more about himself, due to popular demand after his fantastic Ice Breaker speech that he gave a couple of weeks ago. Even better was that he brought his wife, Jullian Machata to hear it! Jose Lopez superbly helped anyone that could have been looking to improve their speaking skills with a brilliant speech on... How to deliver a great speech. He titled his speech "Speak It!" and he really showed us how! Ken Blake, ACS, CL did double duty as our General Evaluator as well as giving the evaluation of Jose's speech. One of the highlights of the meeting was Monica Walley's first ever evaluation. She did a very competent undertaking of Michael's speech evaluation. Congratulations Monica. Monica also served as our Vote Counter a task made a little harder because we ran out of ballots! Rounding out our functionaries were Debbe Ryan as Grammarian, Deepti Dhiman as our Timer and Jamie Waters as our AH Counter. We had three guests: Audra Marlow, James Williams and Jullian Machata all of whom expressed interest in joining our club! That would be extraordinary indeed! What a great meeting!

Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 has many things to be thankful for. One of those things is that the club was able to have meetings like the November 20th 2008 "Thanksgiving" themed meeting. As we move towards the holiday season, Club #28 remembered those things that are truly important to us. Leading us this night was Toastmaster Susan Deichen who set before us a feast of Thanksgiving tradition, stories and lore. We were all thankful to have her back with us again. Joining in the celebration was Table Topics Master Ken Blake, ACS, CL who had a banquet of delicious table topic questions. The first request was asked of Ken Walley, ACG, CL who had to describe a delectable Thanksgiving meal. Ken's mouth-watering description made everyone hungry. Next, Ken's daughter Monica Walley, was asked about after Thanksgiving Day shopping . "What is something that you have backed away from or 'chickened out' of?" was asked of new Toastmaster Michael Machata. Dennis Gola, ACG, CL was given the question of what was his favorite sport. To no one's surprise Dennis answered "Baseball". Susan Deichen was asked if she could raise an animal to eat. She said "no" but once went rabbit hunting. Our guest, Rev. William Watson was given the question "Should a convicted felon be given a Thanksgiving feast while in prison?" He though so believing that some good might come of it for both the provider and prisoner. We could be thankful for two exceptional speeches on this evening. Speaking first was Paul Hagge, CC who was doing his first Advanced Project from the "Storytelling" manual. Paul chose the classic story "The Emperors New Clothes" Paul kept everyone entranced with his telling of the story! Next, Monica Walley gave her 3rd speech, this one with "a call to action".. She spoke with passion about stopping the abuse of live animals in food processing plants. Her speech, titled "Kentucky Fried Cruelty" called for an end to the horrible treatment of animals by giant food manufactures. It was an eye-opening and very powerful speech. Jose Lopez gave his first ever evaluation. His review of Monica's speech was excellent, even for Toastmaster who had had many years of giving speech advice. Ken Walley ACG, CL acted as both the General Evaluator and the evaluator of Paul Hagge's speech. While Ken was the General Evaluator Jesus Serrano covered his place as our Timer. Also rounding out the functionaries for this evening were: Dennis Gola, ACS, CL as the Grammarian, Jose Lopez as the AH Counter and Michael Machata filling in as Vote Counter, for his first time at the position. We had a number of guests including Carolyn Paul-Werty, Jose Betancourt, Rev. William Watson, and Harry and Christe Malamatos. All of them had wonderful things to say about the meeting. Most of them asked how they could join our club. Now that is something to be thankful for!

The November 13th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Family Reunion" meeting was a giant success except for one one small detail. The club had hoped that a number of it's past members would attend but that was not to be. None of our hoped for "past family" was able to attend but... On the other hand, Club #28 had plenty of its current members present and was able to produce an exceptional meeting which included Dennis Gola ACS, CL as the Toastmaster. Dennis regaled us with past stories of family reunions and also some Club #28 Toastmasters lore. Helping the cause was our Table Topics Master Ed Dimayuga who came up with wonderful questions about Family Reunions. Ken Blake, ACS, CC answered the question of "How has Toastmasters effected your life?" Ken remembered Club member Sam Ryan who had passed away two weeks before. Ken was asked to speak at his memorial service and was able to do so on the spur of the moment thank to Toastmasters. Deepti Dhiman was asked to tell us about her family. It turns out that Deepti's large family is planning a reunion of their own soon. Our guest, Carol Paul-Werty spoke on the "most interesting person in her family". Barbara Cusack, CC was given the task of answering what she had left behind in her life that she would like to re-discover. Her answer was "Tennis!" Paul Hagge when asked what music group should re-unite surprisingly said that the Rick Springfield Band should have a reunion tour. For the first time in a while we had three speakers! All of them came through with three excellent speeches. The highlight of the night was was Michael Machata's Ice Breaker speech, "A Life Untitled" . His speech was in three parts that covered his family, his experience in the Marines and meeting his wife. His speech hinted at more very interesting speeches to come. Jose Lopez, well on his way to his CC, introduced us to the marshal arts of Jiu Jitsu in a speech titled "The Art of Softness". Jesus was our third speaker for the evening and he made a eloquent impact by delivering a further one of his highly polished speeches, this gem titled "A Right Earned". Three brilliant speeches called for three excellent Evaluations. Dennis Gola, ACS, CC doubled as our General Evaluator and introduced Paul Hagge, CC; Deepti Dhiman and Ken Walley ACG, CL who all gave very expert evaluations. Dennis commented that Deepti's 1st evaluation ever, was even "contest worthy". Ken Blake, ACS, CL was the Grammarian, Ken Walley ACG, CL was the Timer and Barbara Cusack, CC held both jobs as AH Counter and Vote Counter to complete our panel of facilitators. Although we did not have any past members show up tonight, both of our guests, Devin Lessne and Carol Paul-Werty agreed that the Club was "like family" and said that we put on a great meeting. They both looked forward to returning next week.

The results are in! The November 6th 2008 Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 "U.S. Presidential Elections" themed meeting was a big winner! Jesus Serrano manned the lectern for the first time as a meeting Toastmaster and he scored a landslide victory. Jesus gave us some very impressive information on how the great campaigns of the past were won and lost. He also delivered a lot of truly fun trivia facts about presidential politics and he kept the meeting as fascinating and inspiring as a Barack Obama speech. Also doing a great job was Table Topics Master Paul Hagge, CC who came at the ready with some very vote-worthy questions such as "What is great about America?" which was handled by Barbara Cusack, CC. Another club "insider", Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked how the recent presidential election compared to others that he had witnessed in his life. Ken said the 2008 election was by far the most historic and dramatic. When asked what issues she would use to start a political party Deepti Dhiman answered "environmental issues" and she suggested naming it the "Green Party". She was pleased to find out that there already is such a political party! Michael Vance, one of the two new members who joined Club #28 on this very evening, was asked about the long lines at the polls. "When you are in a long line, what do you do to pass the time?" He usually brings a book to read. Monica Walley was asked about what celebrity endorsements might sway her vote. She said she pays attention to the issues more than the personalities. Our other newest club member, Michael Machata, was asked to tell us about a promise that he couldn't keep. Our two speakers tonight gave speeches worthy of any great politician, even the likes of William Jennings Bryant or Daniel Webster! Speaking first was Ed Dimayuga who kept his audience entranced with a remarkable speech titled "There Ought to be a Law!" about the need to purge the books of some of the over 4000 federal criminal laws. Ed told us of some really crazy laws still on the books and how they came to be. This was a insightful speech that made the law exciting, which even for a lawyer is something very hard to do! Jose Lopez gave a speech titled "Can He Do It?" that was a warning about the upcoming Obama administration. Using the words of President-elect Obama himself, Jose painted a picture of what could happen if the worst fears of the new presidential order came to pass. It was a well presented political speech. Ken Blake, ACS, CL served as our General Evaluator and challenged his evaluators, Dennis Gola ACS, CL and Ken Walley ACG, CL to "give a little something extra" in their evaluations for our speakers. Both gave excellent evaluations but Ken's "a little extra" put him over the time limit! The Grammarian and AH Counter reports were both exceptional on this night. They were given, respectively, by Jamie Waters and Deepti Dhiman. The other functionaries were Barbara Cusack, CC as the timer and Monica Walley as the Vote Counter. The club was awarded the Smedly Award for Club Membership by Toastmasters International and Ken Walley ACG, CL presented the ribbon to be added to the club banner. Noting the many ribbons, Ken quipped that "Our banner is starting to look like a Wooly Mammoth.". This was another meeting worthy of a landslide election for a great Toastmasters meeting!

The only thing scary about the special Wednesday October 29th 2009 edition of the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Halloween!" themed meeting was just how good that the meeting was! Starting off the meeting and giving the Invocation and Pledge as well as acting as President was our acting Vice President of Education, Ken Walley, ACG, CL. Ken had the pleasure of introducing the Toastmaster for this spooky night, Paul Hagge, CC. Paul had our hair standing on edge with a "true" story about of Natalie Russ, a librarian, who although long since having past away... still haunts parts of the library. Paul added facts on the history of Halloween, memories of personal Halloweens past and a look at what this festival has become today! Paul did a great job of making this meeting interesting, fun and a little frightening as well! Barbara Cusack, CC although a Toastmaster for over two years had never tried the role of Table Topics Master until this night. Barbara did her usual excellent job with some tricks and treats for her fellow Toastmasters. Her first question was about Halloween costumes to Jamie Waters. "Did you ever dress up as a famous TV Character?" Favorite candy was the subject of her question to Ebony Langston. Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked about collecting for UNICEF when trick or treating. Ed Dimayuga remembered making costumes by himself but thought the store made one were a lot better. The final question brought a chilling answer from Paul Hagge, CC about an experience at a haunted house! The Table Topics session was like finding a favorite piece of candy in the treat bag! Another "Treat" for our Toastmasters was the speeches given on this night. Deepti Dhiman gave a very memorable speech (titled "It's Festival Time!") about another kind of festival, "Dhivally" or 'The Festival of Lights" held in India at this time of year. The celebration heralded the triumph of good over evil from within and whole villages were festooned in lights. Deepti's descriptions brought the festival to life. Our next speaker, Barbara Cusack, CC wanted to prepare for a testimony to be given at another Toastmasters Club based upon a speech she gave at our club's International Speech Contest titled "Positively Beautiful". The speech is a powerful call to action to help AIDS awareness in our community. Paul Hagge, CC served as our General Evaluator as well as being our Toastmaster and introducing both Jamie Waters and Ken Walley ACG, CL who both departed some valuable wisdom to our speakers. filling the functionary positions were Ed Dimayuga as our Grammarian and Vote Counter, Ebony Langston working as our Timer and Ken Walley, ACG, CL ringing the bell as the AH Counter. Even though it was only a small turnout for this Wednesday meeting the Halloween meeting this year turned out to be all treat and no tricks.

There was a lot of trivial things about the October 23rd 2008 "Trivial Pursuit" themed meeting but Club #28 Toastmasters being sharp with some excellent speeches, evaluations and table topics answers were certainly not any of them. Ed Dimayuga started off the meeting with a meaningful Invocation and Pledge and returned the lectern to Ken Walley ACG, CL who serving as the acting President and Toastmaster due to a last minute cancellation by Dennis Gola ACS, CL. Ken managed to come up with a number of unimportant facts and meaningless information throughout the meeting (Oldest housecat, Name the Seven dwarfs, etc...) that kept meeting, to quote a 60's comedian "Ve-e-e-ry Interesting" (answer: Artie Johnson). Also joining the fun was Table Topics Master Deepti Dhiman who was trying the Table Topics role for her first time. She had some great questions for our members such as the first one she asked of Monica Walley: "What is you favorite board game?" Monica said the "Game of Life because "it mirrors real life in a lot of ways." Ken Blake ACS, CL was given the next question: tell us something trivial, but interesting you would like to share. His answer had to do with a 1998 Toyota Maxium he saw in the parking garage. Ken Walley, ACG,.CL was asked to tell us about some Club #28 trivia. Louis Cainfrogna when asked about his favorite holiday named St. Patrick's Day because it also falls on his birthday. Ed Dimayuga was asked what was the oldest city that he had ever visited.. He's been to a few but Beijing was probably the oldest. Ebony Langston brought her husband Laman Langston as a guest on this evening and she could not have picked a better night to do so because she presented to the club an exceptional speech. Titled "Stress and Your Health" Ebony told us about the implications of stress in our lives and how to make it manageable. Ebony's speech was informative as well as meaningful. Following Ebony's speech was speaker Jesus Serrano who gave a very memorable speech about a very memorable night. His speech titled "A Super Bowl Night Like No Other" was really not about the Super Bowl but about the night that his daughter was born. It has many colorful word pictures that included the comparing of parts of a football game to that of becoming a new father! It was brilliant! We had two very good evaluations which were introduced by General Evaluator Monica Walley. Monica introduced Jamie Waters and Barbara Cusack, CC who both gave insightful and helpful advice. Monica praised the meeting highly in her meeting critique. Our Technical table included Ken Blake ACS, CL as the Grammarian, Ed Dimayuga as the Timer, Louis Cianfrogna as the AH Counter as well as being our Vote Counter.The club was honored to have past member Dr. Princess Anita visit the club tonight. She was delighted to have been able to have joined us on this evening! Even with the "curve balls" that were thrown at the club tonight everything went well and there was nothing trivial about this excellent meeting!

A very important subject was selected as the theme for the October 16th 2008 "Protecting Yourself from Cancer and Other Diseases!" themed Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting. The Toastmaster for the evening, Louis Cianfrogina covered a massive amount of information including histories, common sense prevention, new scientific breakthroughs and technologies that could help to protect us from a number of major health threats. Louis did a fantastic job covering this very important subject. Opening up the forum to our fellow Club #28 members was our Table Topics Master, Ken Blake, ACS, CL who asked some very appropriate and timely questions. The first question was asked of Ken Walley ACG, CL : "What habit or habits would you break to make your lifestyle a more healthy one?" Ken told about how he was able to quit smoking after 25 years. "What is your least favorite vegetable that you would eat anyway?" was asked of Jesus Serrano who was not very fond of asparagus. Visiting Area 32 Governor Richard Arden, ACS, CL was asked what simple things could everyone do to protect us from illness? Louis Cianfrogina was asked about Skin Cancer prevention. Louis pointed out that skin cancer was the #1 most prevalent cancer in the United States. Deepti Dhiman spoke on alterative forms of treatment, including was is known in India as "Rikki" also known as Faith Healing in the United States and Acupuncture. Visiting us on this night was a group of 10 students, including some who are going into the health profession from Southern Technological College who brought to the meeting by Professor Jules Jacobs. Prof. Jacobs was asked to comment on the Ben Franklin quote of "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." The last question was also asked of a guest to Caroline DeLeon, about if preventive medicine was a good idea. She agreed that some preventive medicine could help stop disease before they have an ability to develop. We had two excellent speeches on this evening. Starting with Ebony Langston who was delivering her 2nd speech which fit in with the theme of the meeting very well. Her speech was titled "The Mysteries of Medicare". Ebony did a wonderful job of unraveling the intricate rules and regulations surrounding Medicare and making it easy to understand as well as making the subject informative and interesting. Our second speaker was club President Dennis Gola, ACS, CL who gave a speech from the "Speaking to Inform" Advanced Manual. Dennis's speech titled "Mind Your Own Business" covered techniques in meditation and breathing that helps us to not only revitalize, beat stress but also helps to prevent illness! As usual, Dennis gave a 1st rate performance. The General Evaluator for the night was Jamie Waters who introduced two of Club #28 's premiere evaluators, Ken Walley ACS, CL and Barbara Cusack, CC. Both of them excelled with remarkable reviews of the speeches. Jamie also gave a very astute and highly positive evaluation of the meeting. The technical table was composed of Grammarian Deepti Dhiman, Timer Monica Walley, AH Counter Jesus Serrano and our Vote Counter was none other than Area Gov. Arden! Even though time was running short, all of our guests gave warm praise for the meeting. Steve Nichols from Brevard Community College, Prof. Jules Jacobs and a few of his students as well as Caroline DeLeon all had very positive feedback. We hope they all return soon!! This meeting showed that Club #28 has the ability to lead the community in important and relevant subjects and all who took part in this program are to be congratulated.

An award for the Best Toastmasters Meeting on a Thursday Night Anywhere should be given to Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 for the October 9th 2008 "Awards, Medals and Prizes!" themed meeting. Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL announced the winners of almost every kind of award imaginable, and some that many members had never heard of. There was an award for everything from the Nobel Prizes to the Best Bed & Breakfasts in the USA. There were awards from websites to campsites. Taking the blue ribbon for the best Table Topics Master was a very welcomed returning toastmaster Louis Cianfronga who really had some excellent questions for our members. Louis asked Jose Lopez the first question "What award do you hold most dear?" Jose told how he earned the purple heart in Iraq. Another returning toastmaster Ebony Langston, remembered a time that she did not win an award that she should have won. It was when she just missed being her class valedictorian by a single grade. Our guest, Mike Machata was asked "What is an award that you would like to have won?" His answer was the Medal of Honor! Returning from over a month in India and Italy was Paul Hagge, CC. Louis asked him "What is the worst prize that you have ever won?" Jesus Serrano was given the question of "If you had the task of awarding yourself a medal what would it be for?" Jesus had the courage to leave a job to try something different. We had two speeches tonight and the first one really was an award winning speech! Barbara Cusack, CC gave her Competent Communicator graduation speech! Her speech was titled "A Loving Memory" and it was an inspiring and heartrending speech about donating organs after death. Congratulations Barbara! Jesse Baker presented his 2nd speech titled "IBM: A History of Change!" Jesse's speech told the amazing story of the IBM Corp. from it's start in 1896 to its current place as a technological giant. Jesse cover over 100 years of history in 7 minutes! Monica Walley who seems to be trying a new role almost every week, was our General Evaluator for her 1st time. She got to introduce two excellent evaluators: Ken Blake, ACS, CL and Paul Hagge, CC. Both evaluations were rich in advice and enthusiastic support. Monica's own meeting evaluation was one of the most upbeat that any club could receive! "This was incredible!' said Monica "I loved every minute of this meeting!" Rounding out command performaces as our functionaries tonight were: Dennis Gola, ACS, CL as the Grammarian, Jesus Serrano as our Timer, Jose Lopez as AH Counter and Ebony Langston as the Vote Counter. Ebony had the best job as she got to give out the ribbons for our winner. Tonight however... everyone who came to this meeting was a winner.

"Right On!" and "Groovy" were the perfectly acceptable expressions for the October 2nd, 2008 "The 1970's" themed Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting. Monica Walley served as our tour guide of the strange world of the 70's, a time long before she was born. For the second week in a row we had a 1st time Toastmaster. Monica did a smashing job remembering disco, pet rocks, mood rings, Watergate and many of the other things that have endeared us to a very wild decade. Also trying a position for the first time was Ed Dimayuga who was our Table Topics Master. Ed asked some questions that brought back the glow of the black light and the smell of incense. (What did you think I was going to say?) Of Deepti Dhiman, Ed asked "What Blockbuster Movie from the 70's era do you remember best?" Deepti remembered the classic Jaws (1975) and Speilberg's ET (1982). "What self-help book has had an effect on your life?" was asked of Ken Blake, ACS, CL. "How did women's roles evolve in the 1970's?" was asked of Ken Walley ACG, CL. "What was your favorite music of the 1970's?" was asked of returning guest Michael Vance. His surprising answer was the oft-maligned disco music of the time! Monica Walley was asked about fashion in the 70's. She did not care for the incredibly loud polyester suits that men were forced to wear! We had two remarkable speeches on this evening. Our first speech was a jaw-dropping Ice Breaker titled "The Nurturing of a Serrano" from Jesus Serrano who told a passionate and a compassionate tale about his young life. Raised by his parents, 4 sisters and a brother, his siblings averaging 20 years older than him, he had no lack of guidance, wisdom or advice. Overcoming obstacles and developing a love of the sea, he now sees himself coming full circle with his own family. It was a powerful and entertaining speech. The speech by Jose Lopez was a knockout! Jose put on a true performance, a contest caliber speech titled "Muhammad Ali" that literally brought the boxing ring to the lectern. With body movement, hand gestures and vocal variety, Jose jabbed, bobbed and ducked his way to an exciting and entertaining success! "I AM THE GREATEST!" could have been said of Jose tonight as well as Muhammad Ali. Ken Walley ACG, CL was our General Evaluator and he was honored to be able to introduce a visiting Toastmaster, Kevin Adams, CC who had bravely volunteered to evaluate Jesus's Ice Breaker Speech. Jesus was rewarded with an evaluation that was worthy of his excellent speech. Ken Blake, ACS, CL also shined as the evaluator for Jose's speech. The functionaries for tonight were: Deepti Dhiman as the Grammarian and she is fast becoming one of this club's best at that position by the way. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL in a limited vocal role, due to a bad throat, was the AH Counter, Ken and Monica Walley traded off and on as timers and our guest Ritesh Rahate, served well as our Vote Counter. Amy Reed, Kevin Adams, CC; Michael Vance, James Lee and Ritesh Rahate all had very positive things to say about the meeting. Like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd... this 70's show really rocked.

The "Going Green" themed September 25th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was like a breath of fresh air underneath clear, blue skies. Deepti Dhiman was our Toastmaster for this evening. Deepti was a bit "green" herself, this being her first time at the job but Deepti handled the position with the skill of a pro, as if she had done it many times before. She gave us great ideas for not only saving our planet but also saving our money as well! She entertained us and educated us all the way through the meeting. Spending a lot of time behind the lectern tonight was Ken Walley, ACG, CL who had to cover for some Toastmasters who were unable to attend at the last moment. His first role was as acting President because of a car breakdown on the way to the meeting held up both Dennis Gola, ACS, CL and Ken Blake, ACS, CL. Ken also was our Table Topics Master and he got into the "green of things" with some excellent questions. His first question was to Toastmaster Bob Blaydes, CC, CL, "If you were President, what would you think would be the most pressing issues environmentally?" The next question was asked of Deepti Dhiman: "What are some of the things that everyone could do to help the environment?" Jesus Serrano was asked "Is it too late to solve the problems facing us?" One of our guests took up the challenge of answering a table topics question. Lisa March answered the question "What are you looking for in a candidate who is running for office in regards to environmental issues?" Many of tonight's answers brought great ideas and good solutions to a number of pressing problems. Also dealing the the theme of "Going Green" were both of our speeches tonight. Giving his second speech in two weeks, Ed Dimayuga, who gave his Ice Breaker speech last week, gave a speech titled "Good Choices" which used the country of China as a powerful warning of what is to come if we do not halt pollution and the destruction to our natural habitats. Ken Walley, ACG, CL gave a speech titled "Going Green!" about the "little things" we can all do to make our world a better place to live in. He mentioned among many other things: changing light bulbs, using canvas bags when shopping and rediscovering the library. Ken B. and Dennis took a bus from where the car had broke down to arrive at the meeting just in time to hear the speeches and in time for Ken Blake ACS, CL to be the General Evaluator! Ken had the pleasure to introduce two evaluators who have been away for a few weeks: Bob Blaydes, CC and Susan Diechen! Welcome Back! Both delivered with excellent evaluations of our speeches. Susan also filled in as Grammarian and led a strong group of functionaries tonight: Dennis Gola, ACS, CL as the AH Counter, Jesus Serrano as the Timer and also as our Vote Counter. At one time our guests, Merlinda Eugene, Lisa March, Lisa Huynh and Michael Vance, almost outnumbered our members, we still produced a very exciting, interesting and fun meeting! It turned out to be a great evening!

Someday when they write the book of great Orlando Toastmasters Club#28 meetings, the "Books and Reading" themed meeting of September 18, 2008 will be a bright chapter. Jose Lopez served as our Toastmaster and again transcended the role of Toastmaster and delivered a sterling performance that was laced with humor, wit, interesting facts and drama. Like in a great novel, Jose brought to life the wisdom, fun and enjoyment of books and reading. Also bringing the written word to life was our Table Topics Master Ken Blake, ACS, CL who was able to read his audience like a book when asking them the questions we all wanted to hear, such as : (Asked of Barbara Cusack) "What is your favorite place to read?"; "What is your favorite character from a novel?" (To Dennis Gola, ACS, CL , who answered CIA crackerjack agent Jack Ryan from Tom Clancy's fiction series); "What book, banned from your High School library, did you enjoy the most?" (Ken Walley ACG, CL recommended "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote.); "What book was better than the movie" (Guest Ken Holder said the Harry Potter book series was far better than the movies!); "What fiction book do you wish was truly real?" (Asked of Jose Lopez, he noted a book titled "Behold the Pale White Horse" that he wished parts of were not real); the last question asked by Ken B. was of our guest Sid Sivasilam which was "Who is your favorite author?" Sid enjoys reading the tangled mysteries of Dan Brown such as his book "Angels and Demons". The speeches tonight could have been the basis of a couple of "best seller list" books starting with our first speech Ed Dimayuga's Ice Breaker Speech titled "Why and How". Ed took us on a journey of his life that showed an incredible ability to adapt to many challenges. Ed also displayed remarkable talent as a dynamic speaker! Congratulations Ed! Giving her second speech tonight was Deepti Dhiman who gave a speech titled "Culture Shock" about the differences of the American culture and her native India. Like her Ice Breaker speech, this presentation was rich in astute observations and warm humor. She won over her audience at the very start and never let go of our attention. With two excellent speeches, two worthy evaluators were needed to do them justice. Ken Walley ACG, CL who was also acting as the General Evaluator, was up to the task of reviewing Ed's Ice Breaker speech. Barbara Cusack also proved to be just as proficient giving the evaluation of Deepti's speech. Because the speeches were so good, they provided a real challenge for these two learned toastmasters. Excellent support for the meeting was provided by our guest Sid Sivasilam who served as the Vote Counter, Timer Jamie Waters, AH Counter Jesus Serrano and Grammarian Dennis Gola ACS, CL This meeting was like a true classic, from the first words to the last, like a great book it was entertaining all the way through!

If you were smart you would have taken a train, plane or automobile (most likely) to the September 11th 2008 "Trains, Planes and Automobiles" themed meeting because it was yet another brilliant Club #28 meeting. The meeting started out with a poignant Invocation and Pledge by Toastmaster Jose Lopez who remembered our troops on this day that many Americans devote to patriotism. Dennis Gola ACS, CL was our Toastmaster and he brought plenty of interesting facts about Planes (A Boeing 747 has six million parts!), Trains (The first commercial train traveled at 8 mph!) and Automobiles (Henry Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line!) Dennis used imagination and skill to create a fascinating evening. Also coming through was Stephen Bentley our Table Topics Master who had some excellent questions for our members. Club #28's newest member, Jesus Serrano was asked the first question: "What was the most memorable road trip you have ever taken?" Of the three choices of transportation, Deepti Dhiman chose to travel by train when asked her preference by Stephen. Ed Dimayuga got the question of what places he would like to see on a trip from Florida to Alaska. Barbara Cusack was asked where she would like to g with her own private jet. Part of her answer included California, China, France and Key West, Florida! Dennis Gola ACS, CL was asked to sell us on the "Bullet Train". Our guest, Peggy Fliess answered the question of what she would do if given an army personnel carrier. We were blessed with two Ice Breaker speeches on this night! The first was a remarkable speech titled "The Artist Formerly Known as " given by Ebony Langston. Ebony traced her history through many impressive challenges including earning a degree in Psychology from Duke, working as a child protective officer and as an insurance adjuster. Just to name a few things that she has done. We really look forward to hearing more about Ebony! Equally impressive was the first speech of Jesse Baker who titled his speech "I'm Glad to Be Here!" . Jesse told of how he worked his way through college and earned his MBA from Georgia Tech. He now has a family in Orlando as he is working for the IBM Corp. Both the Ice Breakers were exceptionally well delivered for 1st speeches and both speakers have a wealth of talents to explore as they go through the Toastmasters program. Monica Walley was our third speaker giving a speech she titled "Where I Was and Where I Am" about the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. What was different about Monica's speech was it was an account of a 12 year old girl at a Middle School in Orlando and how that day's events effected her life then and how that day in September of 2001 applies to her life now. It was a remarkable speech. Three exciting speeches deserved three good evaluations and General Evaluator Ken Walley ACG, CL had the pleasure of introducing Barbara Cusack, Jamie Waters and Ken Blake, ACS, CL, all tremendous evaluators. They did not disappoint. All three gave riveting and helpful reviews of the speeches. Other highlights of this meeting including skilled job by first time AH Counter Jesus Serrano, in addition to which Stephen Bentley excelled with a tremendous Grammarian report and very adept work as our Timer by Deepti Dhiman. Another guest, Chris Markee served as our Vote Counter and handed out the ribbon with a dynamic flair. This was a meeting that brought out the best of Orlando Toastmaster's Club #28... A Rolls Royce of a meeting so to speak.

On September 4th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 achieved success with the brilliant performances of it's 2008 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests. Ebony Langston started off the evening with with a moving and inspirational invocation and pledge to the flag. "Starring as the Contest master for his first time was veteran Club #28 member Bob Blaydes, CC. Bob shined throughout the evening leading the proceedings with sharp insight, a quick wit and some very funny humor. The first contest of the night was the Evaluation Contest. In order to have an evaluation contest a speech must be given for the contestants to evaluate. Our "Test" speaker tonight was Luvenia Hart from the Orange County Toastmasters Club #129. Luvenia came through with an impressive speech titled "Open Minded". The speech was an autobiographical portrait of herself as she learned from encountering different cultures. These included people she met as she grew up in Louisiana, served in our Armed Forces and as she visited far away countries such as Thailand. It was an electric and an entrancing performance. Faced with the task of evaluating such an excellent speech were the contestants Stephen Bentley, Dennis Gola, ACS, CL and Ken Walley ACG, CL. The evaluations Sgt. at Arms Monica Walley helped make sure that the contest went smoothly as each contestant gave their evaluation. All of the evaluations were worthy efforts of the highest praise. Coming in second place was Ken Walley, ACG, CL and taking the first place trophy was Dennis Gola, ACS, CL. Last year's Humorous Speech Contest was hailed as one of the best ever in the 75 year history of Club #28. This year's contest may have exceeded that lofty level. Hilarious speeches were delivered by all four contestants. Going first was Barbara Cusack who had everyone holding their sides with laughter with her speech titled "Queen of Clean!" Barbara told about her career cleaning houses and reflecting on her own family's lack of, shall we say... organizational skills? Her speech was a hit! Dennis Gola ACS, CL went next with a speech titled "Like A Rock!" This speech dealt with Dennis on a quest to control his temper and how he found serenity... in a most unlikely place. Speaking third was Jamie Waters who had the entire room in hysterical laughter with a speech titled "The Two Biggest Waste of Land!" Jamie's speech, given with exquisite deadpan, proposed that we should combine graveyards and golf courses! Following Jamie's speech was Ken Walley ACG, CL who's speech titled "Runs Great!" told his story about teaching his daughter to drive and buying a used car with limited funds. No matter what flaws a used car had, including one that had the engine being held together with duct tape, the salesperson always said that the car "Runs Great!" Four very funny speeches and each one of them had the entire room laughing. The judges had a tough time deciding but again awarded Ken Walley, ACG, CL second place and presenting 1st place to Barbara Cusack! A number of dignitaries were on hand for the contest including Distinguished Toastmasters and past Orlando Club #28 Presidents, Helen and Michael Joseph (both DTMs). One of our guests tonight, Jesus Serrano was so impressed that he joined Club #28 on the spot! Welcome Jesus! The contest could not have been possible without the help of our club members who stood in as functionaries and participants. Here are those people beside the one listed above who made this evening such a great success: Contest Organizer: Ken Walley ACG, CL; Sgt. at Arms: Jose Lopez; Vote Counters: Deepti Dhiman and Ed Dimayuga and our Chief Judge Helen Joseph, DTM. Thank you to all!

The August 27th 2008 "Back to School!" themed meeting turned out to both a remarkable and informative meeting that was unafraid to examine the accomplishments and the flaws of the American educational system. Stephen Bentley, the Toastmaster for this night's discussion, led an astounding dialog that was both inspiring and revealing. Also adding weight to the subject was first time Table Topic Master Ebony Langston. She did a remarkable job of asking preterit questions that brought out exceptional answers covering a wide range of subjects about today's school systems. For example, her first question to Jose Lopez was "How important is it for a parent to take a role in their child's education?" Another question, asked of Ken Walley ACG, CL was "How can we level the community playing field so that all children receive a quality education?" Visiting Orange County Club #129 member Luvenia Hart, CC, was given the question "How has education effected your life?" Luvenia explained that both of her parents were educators and that her education has helped to define almost every career decision she would make later. The last question was asked of Ken Blake ACS, CL "How fair is it to ask an 18 year old to pick a major that might effect them for the rest of their life?" Ken made the point that it is one thing to pick a major at eighteen but where you end up in life maybe someplace completely different. Also on this evening, Club #28 celebrated a very special event. The first address tonight was an Ice Breaker speech from one of the club's newest members: Deepti Dhiman! Deepti's speech aptly titled "Across 7 Oceans", told of a life that started in India and set out to conquer the world architectural design in America. The real power of this speech came from Deepti's uncompromising will to succeed, in life and behind the lectern. It was simply an excellent first speech. Deepti received a standing ovation for her effort. With the Humorous Speech contest coming up next week, Toastmaster Barbara Cusack wisely practiced her speech titled "Queen of Clean". She gave a hilarious comical performance that had everyone laughing as she told about the "different stages" of chaotic disorganization. Barbara's speech has a good chance of winning next week! Ken Blake CS, CL led the evaluation element of the assembly as the General Evaluator. He introduced two evaluators, Ken Walley ACG, CL and Luvenia Hart, CC who both responded with meaningful and insightful evaluations. Ken B. as well gave a superlative evaluation of the meeting. A meeting this first-rate would not have been possible if it was not for the supporting functionaries: Timer Jamie Waters, Grammarian Jose Lopez, AH Counter Ken Blake ACS, CL and Vote Counter Ken Walley, ACG, CL. Indeed on this evening Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 put on a class on how to deliver a splendid Toastmasters meeting!

The August 20th 2008 "The Olympics!" themed Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting should win a gold metal among Toastmasters meetings! Our Toastmaster Jose Lopez trained hard and brought his very best game to the Toastmaster role. He succeed like Michael Phelps did at the 2008 Beijing games. Jose entertained and delighted all of those present at the meeting with a dazzling array of Olympics stories, facts and up-close- and- personal profiles of the game's sports heroes of past and present. Table Topics Master Ken Walley ACG, CL also came through with a number of challenging questions that had even the most competitive Table Topics athlete sweating hard! Jesse Baker responded to the question: "What do you consider your 'Gold Medal' moment in your life?" Jesse referred to the recent birth of his son. Deepti Dhiman answered a question about how to deal with disappointment when given the recent example of China's most popular Track and Field star, Liu Xiang who was forced to withdraw from his races because of injury. Ken Blake ACS, CL answered the question of how some players, like the USA Beach Volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh dominate their sport. Ken said simply that it was "heart and desire". Jose Lopez answered a question of what the limits will be on the world records. New member Ebony Langston gave a world record answer to the question of : "Can we solve our nation's problems through sports competition instead of through mass destruction?" Our two speeches tonight were also of Olympic quality. Our first speaker, Stephen Bentley gave his best speech yet titled "What is PODETR?" Stephen, using humor, enthusiasm and visual props, explained about changes in the way temporary tags are printed, and traced, to protect the public. His speech was informative but remarkably entertaining as well. Our second speaker Dennis Gola ACS, CL was simply at the top of his game with a speech titled "You Write The Speech" .Dennis weaved a coherent speech from 7 different subjects and using 7 random words, eight if you count the Word of the Day, provided to him by the club members only a minute before he started the speech. Some of the topics were: "If I had the Time"; "Goal Setting", "Football", "Tropical Storm Fay", "Terrorism", "Inflation" and the "Secret to Happiness". It was an impressive effort and a lot of fun to watch. Ken Walley ACG, CL also doubled as the General Evaluator and evaluator for Dennis. Also evaluating was Ken Blake, ACS, CL who had some brilliant insight to Stephen's speech. Ken W. in his "meeting review" pointed out that his meeting was a tremendous success partly because of our newer members Jesse Baker, Ebony Langston and Deepti Dhiman willingness to become involved. Deepti did a very competent job as our Grammarian, Ebony served as Vote Counter and Jesse was a very good AH Counter. It was the first time for all three of them at those positions. The club longest standing club veteran, Ken Blake, ACS, CL was the Timer . The entire meeting was like a world record winning relay race. Each club member passing the baton to the next, never a drop, not a falter in footstep with blazing speed and intense purpose... all the way to the finish line. This meeting was pure gold.

The August 14th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Leadership" themed meeting was unlike any meeting of the past. Club #28 invited our Division 'C' Governor Bruce Gould DTM and our Area 32 Governor Richard Arden, ACB, CL to present a special presentation on officer training which fulfilled the club's requirement for the President's Distinguished Award goal. This meeting was exceptional not only because of the large amount of information presented, but also because of the sharpening of our club's focus on leadership. The meeting started as Sgt. at Arms Jose Lopez called the meeting to order and led the club in the Invocation and Pledge. Club President Dennis Gola ACS, CL covered the club business which included the announcement that Club #28 would try to stay at the Orlando Public Library and that the cost of the meeting room would be defrayed by a $2.00 fee from those who attend. Ken Walley ACG, CL acted as our Toastmaster for the evening and introduced the theme of Leadership. He only had to introduce one functionary tonight as there was no AH Counter or Grammarian positions tonight.. The lone functionary was Monica Walley who did her usual superb job as the evening's Timer. We were very fortunate to have a featured speaker tonight, Jose Lopez who gave a speech that directly related to the theme of the evening. Titled "Lead from the Front" the speech borrowed from the principles of leadership that Jose had acquired from serving in the Army and applied to everyday life. This was a compelling and inspiring speech that motivated everyone who heard it even had they not served in the military. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL was introduced next as our General Evaluator. He introduced Susan Deichen as our evaluator for Jose's speech. Susan gave a evaluation worthy of an evaluation contest. She gave examples of Jose's strong speaking points, insightful opportunities for improvement and highly supportive encouragement. Area 32 Governor Richard Arden, ACB, CL and Division 'C' Governor Bruce Gould, DTM gave a 45 minute special Presentation titled "Leadership Roles and Officer Training" that gave a strong overview of the Toastmaster Club officer positions and what was involved in managing a successful Toastmasters Club. Bruce noted that it was good that we had young members and new members here to listen to the presentation because maybe they would be inspired to be future club leaders. Dennis Gola ACS, CL returned to the lectern as the General Evaluator to give a very positive and upbeat review of the meeting. He also returned as the club president to close the meeting. Before the gavel went down he called upon the Vice President of Education Dr. Mike Deichen CC, CL to report on the next week's schedule (we are meeting on Wednesday next week!) and also to congratulate Deepti Dhiman on becoming our newest member of the club. She joined right before the meeting started! It was also noted that the Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests sign up sheet was being passed around for the September the 4th contest date. When the gavel went down everyone was in agreement that this was a truly remarkable and productive meeting! That is, after all, what leadership is all about!

Everyone at the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 got blown away with the August 7th 2008 "Hurricanes: Don't get Blown Away!" themed meeting because our Toastmaster Dr. Michael Deichen, CC CL did such a Category 5 job. Dr. Mike was on top of things with enough facts and stories about the most dangerous storms on earth to inspire anyone to prepare for when the next one might visit. Let's hope that's not for another 50 years. Adding to the discussion on hurricanes was a thorough effort by our Table Topics Master Stephen Bentley Stephen started with an interesting question of our club President Dennis Gola ACS, CL, he asked "Why do people try to stay at home during a hurricane when it would be safer to evacuate?' Dennis brought out some very good points. One of our two newest member Jesse Baker, who joined on this night, was asked what he would name all hurricanes if they all could only have one name. Jessie choose "Bob" to make them sound a little less dangerous. Toastmaster Ken Blake, ACS, CL remembered working for FEMA when asked about a time in his life when he had to rebuild. Jamie Waters spoke about being surrounded by Chaos and staying calm. One of our guests, Ebony Langston, took on the question of what would have to be biggest challenge taking on a Hurricane, a Gator, a Knight or a Seminole! Our speeches were a force to be reckoned with as well! Ken Walley ACG, CL started as our first prepared speaker with a speech titled "Who We Are and Why You Should Join Us!" This was a speech that Ken would give if he had to tell about Club #28 to an organization that was interested in Toastmasters. It was a perfect speech to give on a night that we had 6 guests! Ken told about what we do at our meetings and how Toastmasters has helped him in his job and everyday life. Speaking next for the second week in a row was Susan Deichen. Susan did a tremendous presentation about handwriting analysis titled "The Real You Revealed!" This speech combined education with a lot of Susan's trademark sharp wit and humor. Both of these speeches were excellent. Ken Walley ACG, CL also covered as our General Evaluator and had the pleasure of introducing two polished evaluators. Dennis Gola ACS, CL who gave Ken's evaluation and returning Club #28 Toastmaster Joe Cannazzaro who gave a sparking review of Susan's speech. The functionaries tonight were Monica Walley who served as our Timer, Jamie Waters who gave a very good report as our Grammarian and Ken Blake ACS, CL who also excelled as our AH Counter. Ed Dimayuga, who also joined tonight was our Vote Counter. Unfourtunely, with time running out we did not get to hear comments from our guest tonight who were Deepti Dhimond, Teresa . Macleod, Herman Chahal, Tai Cocchia, Ebony Langston and Cheryle Robinson-Hayes. Many of our guests however approached our Treasurer Ken Walley after the meeting and said they looked forward to joining the club! I guess you could say Club #28 took them by storm!

The Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 returned to its regular meeting room for the July 31st 2008 "Opposites: Apples and Oranges!" themed meeting. Again filling in for our President was VPE Dr. Michael Deichen, CC, CL; who got the meeting going with a professional flair. He was delighted to see so many guests attending. They were in luck because this would turn out to be a fantastic meeting and one of the major reasons was the incredible performance by the Toastmaster for the evening, Stephen Bentley! It was amazing that this brilliant job was Stephen's first time in the Toastmaster role. Throughout the evening Stephen gave examples of opposite including the introductions of the functionaries and speakers. For example he introduced "the opposite of tongue-tied is our Table Topics Master the articulate Ken Walley, ACG, CL!" Ken came ready with some of the most challenging questions ever put before any toastmaster club. He asked Dr. Deichen to "define the words 'good' and 'bad'" Toastmaster Paul Hagge, CC was asked to describe eating an Apple and an Orange and telling us the difference between the two. Jose Lopez had the task of picking an historic figure that he was the opposite of. Ken Blake, ACS, CL was given the choice between a Rolls Royce and and gas saving Toyota Prius. Visiting Toastmaster from England, David Sherwood was asked what makes for a good marriage. Our second time visitor Ed Dimyauga had an excellent answer for the question "What has been the hottest you have ever been and the coldest?" Ed said getting in a car on a summer afternoon in Florida was the hottest that he has ever been! The opposite of boring was our speeches on this night. Our first speaker, Monica Walley delivered her Ice Breaker speech titled "In My Life" and impressed her audience with a well written speech that was ably presented and thought of as beyond the ability of her experience and years. Monica stated that she was not sure of what she really wanted to do with her life just yet but that the amount effort she put into her future would define its success. Congratulations Monica! Speaking next was the opposite of oratory failure: Susan Deichen! Every time Susan has given a speech she has been a complete success and tonight was no different. "Go fish: Omega 3 for You and Me" was the title of her speech and she told us how to stay healthy and improve our eating habits through seafood. She gave us great nutritional ideas as well as some yummy recipes. Ken Blake ACS, CL was unable to speak at our last meeting but made up of it at this meeting as our General Evaluator. Ken introduced our two evaluators, Jamie Waters (for Monica) and Ken Walley, ACG, CL (for Susan) giving Ken one of the most memorable introductions ever. Both of the evaluations were truly helpful and well accomplished. Ken B. also gave a highly detailed meeting evaluation that could have counted as a speech had he delivered it for credit. Credit should also be given to a great technical table which was served by Jose Lopez as our Timer, Dr. Mike Deichen, CC, CL as our Grammarian, Paul Hagge, CC who did a wonderful job as AH Counter and visitor Dionne Sherwood who served as our Vote Counter. We had brilliant comments from our guests about the meeting. Dionne and David from "across the pond" said they were delighted by the meeting as well as great comments by Deepti Dhiman, Ed Dimayuga and Herman Chahal. Best yet is that Deepti and Ed both have made plans to join our club! With meeting like this the opposite of not joining would be taking advantage of a great opportunity.

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 July 24th 2008 meeting theme of "That's Entertainment!" was the perfect theme for this evening. Double booked in our regular conference room, the library moved our meeting to the 1st floor library main stage area! Club #28 was lucky to have a Toastmaster this evening who was comfortable on a stage, Ken Walley ACG, CL. Ken did his best to entertain the club and any library patrons who wandered into the meeting as well. Ken covered entertainment in the movies, music, and of course, on the stage with facts and lists about current and past legendary films, records and hit Broadway shows. Ken had some help from toastmaster Monica Walley as well who appeared as the Table Topics Master. Monica asked some great questions about what keeps us amused. Jose Lopez was asked what his favorite form of entertainment was. John Bonowitz-Coffey was asked who his favorite comedienne was. Dr. Mike Deichen, CC, CL was asked what music group most influenced him while growing up. Ken Walley ACG, CC was asked what his most beloved and most despised TV shows were. Monica also inquired of Susan Deichen what was her all-time favorite movie. It was also a favorite of millions around the world: Mary Poppins! Our speeches stole the show tonight starting with Paul Hagge's 10th speech, earning his Competent Communicator Award. Titled "The Finish Line!" The speech reviewed his Toastmasters journey and inspired us to never give up on reaching our goals. Congratulations Paul! Our next speaker, Stephen Bentley gave his 2nd speech titled "A Coin Flip" which was an overview of controversial concerns about Globalization. Stephen's speech was very well thought out and informative. Thanks to the quick work of auto mechanic Ken Blake, ACS, CL who got a broken car started just in time to get our General Evaluator Dennis Gola ACS, CL to the meeting, we had another excellent evaluations session! Dennis introduced two very good evaluators, Barbara Cusack and Dr. Michael Deichen, CC, CL. Both of them were up to the task and delivered some remarkable insight to the speeches this evening. Dennis commented in his meeting review that he had been trying to get the library to let us have a meeting on the main stage for some time and he hopes now that they will be able to let us do this again! Jamie Waters did an enthusiastic job as our Vote Counter, Susan Deichen had a brilliant Grammarian report, Jose Lopez was the club AH Counter (it was nice to hear that bell ring again!) and doing fine work as our timer was John Bonowitz-Coffey. All three of our guests, Adam Bewter, Ed Dimayuga and Bryan Akins all gave raving reviews of our "show"! For sheer entertainment, this was the place to be Thursday night!

The July 17th 2008 "Vacations" themed Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was like being on a wonderful holiday. Great entertainment, no worries and some exotic food, well food for thought anyway. Susan Deichen outdid herself with a brilliant offering as our Toastmaster this evening. She told us many things about vacations that this club had never known before. For example, Orlando is the #1 tourist destination in the world and that most people stay at the home of a relative while on vacation. Also did you know that the #1 favorite activity while on vacation is shopping? Susan kept us entertained throughout the meeting. So did our Table Topics Master Stephen Bentley. It was Stephen's first time as Table Topics Master and he made the best of it. Here are some of the excellent questions he asked during the session: 1.) (To Jose Lopez) What is the most memorable meal that you have ever eaten on vacation? 2.) (To Ken Walley ACG, CL) When you are on vacation, are you an adventurer or a person who relaxes? Ken likes to relax.3.) (To Dr. Michael Deichen, CC, CL) Tell us about an exciting vacation? 4.) (To Susan Deichen) How would you spend a vacation in Las Vegas? 5.) (To Monica Walley) What is your fondest vacation memory? All of the answers were extraordinary and they took us to many places around the globe. You did not have to go far however to find some great speeches! We had two amazing efforts on this night starting with Barbara Cusack's 9th basic manual speech titled "10/10/80". It was a speech about how to plan for your future by tithing, savings and investments. Barbara's speech had some deep wisdom that was especially helpful during today's rocky economic times. The second speech of the evening was just as dynamic. Jose Lopez gave his third speech to the club titled "A Life Distilled" Jose was right on point when he inspired us to follow the formula of "Thoughts to Actions to Results" and then use your results to create more thoughts. "Results are our feedback!" said Jose. Dr. Michael Deichen, CC, CL; was a very busy man this meeting. Not only did he fill in for our President on this evening, but he also served as our General Evaluator and the Evaluator for Barbara's speech. It must be noted that he led a skilled mission in all of the roles. Barbara Cusack also juggled positions giving Dr. Diechen's wife, Susan her evaluation. Both Mike and Barbara proffered highly successful reviews of the speeches. It was not a large turnout even though most Toastmaster clubs would have given away their best gavel for such a great meeting. Everyone had to pitch in to make it work. Monica Walley handled two functionary roles that of AH Counter (her first time) and also as Vote Counter. Her father, Ken Walley ACG, CL was the Timer and serving well as our Grammarian was Stephen Bentley. Like a good vacation, everyone left wanting more. Thank goodness that there is another Club #28 meeting next week!

The theme for the July 10th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "Getting Your House in Order!" and Club #28 certainly did that by coming up with one of its best meetings in recent history! There was an excellent turnout but that was to be expected because our Toastmaster for the evening was Barbara Cusack. Barbara, who knows a few things about cleaning, being in the housekeeping business for over 20 years, went beyond just the helpful tips and domestic science to share many insightful perceptions about having a life in order and in balance. Appearing for the first time as an official Toastmaster, young Monica Walley did a remarkable job as the Table Topics Master. Her first question was asked of Barbara "What was the biggest mess that you have ever had to clean up?" Barbara told of some harrowing tasks left to her by some of her clients. Dr. Michael Deichen, CC, CL, was asked how the chores were divided up at his house. Ken Blake, ACS, CL was asked "If you owned a maid service, what would you call it and how much would you pay the maids?" Monica's father, Ken Walley, ACG, CL was asked "What was the biggest mess made by one of your kids?" Ken took Monica off the hook and told about how her brother and former Club #28 Toastmaster, Robin Knight, CC, was in a different league from her when making a disaster area out of their bedrooms. Dennis Gola ACS, CL also got a great question being asked "What do you like and what do you hate, about housework?" Dennis liked "doing as little as possible." We were blessed with two wonderful speakers and two truly auspicious presentations tonight. Going first was a delightful speech (titled "Lemons") delivered by Paul Hagge that was on the surface about a summons to jury duty but in reality about viewing the world in a positive perspective. He brought a new viewpoint to the old adage "When given lemons, make lemonade." His speech was more like expensive champagne however than lemonade. Our next speech was one of the most ingenious and inventive speeches ever performed before our club. Susan Deichen's speech titled "CPR for Club #28: Breathing New Life into an Old Club" used props from the kindergarten class that she teaches in order to give us ideas on how to increase club membership. Some of her ideas were simply brilliant. If we had speeches like this speech every meeting, the only membership problem we would have is not being able to find enough chairs to seat everyone. Barbara's husband, Dr. Michael Deichen, filled two positions that as the Master Evaluator and the first evaluator for Paul's speech. The Deichen's were on fire tonight as Mike gave a exquisite evaluation. Not to be outdone, Ken Blake, ACS, CC also came through with a very good review for Barbara's speech. Even the Grammarian and AH Counter reports were 1st class this evening. The functionaries were AH Counter Ken Walley, ACG, CL; Grammarian Dennis Gola ACS, CL; Timer Jose Lopez, and Vote Counter Stephen Bentley. Besides two very positive comments by our guests Tim Gale and Jesse Baker, toastmaster John Bonowitz-Coffey also spoke some encouraging words about the meeting. This was a night that Club #28 not only had it "house in order" but it's "act in order" as well.

Each Summer Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 Celebrates the past six months and looks towards the future with the club's "Summer Celebration and the Installation of Officers". On June 26th 2008 The club once again gathered for this special meeting. The evening started with a Call to Order by our new Sergeant at Arms Jose Lopez. An excellent Invocation and Pledge was led by Toastmaster Susan Deichen and the meeting was given over to a master at being a Master of Ceremonies: Ken Blake, ACS, CL. Ken was just one of the many highlights of this evening. Given a night of many "political" and lengthy, speeches, Mr. Blake was at his best! Injecting humor and inspiration, he somehow kept the meeting fresh and exciting from gavel to gavel. Even more amazing was that Ken kept the meeting on time!. Our featured speaker on this evening was Dr. Michael Deichen, CC, CL who gave his Competent Leader graduation speech "The Art of Evaluation" Michael handled this speech very well and even though it was a longer speech, it was packed so full of excellent advice and presented so well that the speech did not seem long enough! Ken Walley ACG, CL was pressed into an evaluator's role shortly before the meeting but he was able to give a very good evaluation of Dr. Mike's speech. President Walley did not have to wait long to return to the lectern as the next item on the Agenda was his "Farewell Address #3" to the club. Ken gave a speech that brought out some of the accomplishments of Club #28, including an impressive International Speech and Table Topics Contest as well as members earning awards and the club overcoming some very strong challenges. Ken also looked to the future saying that Membership needs to be "job #1" for the next administration. He thanked his fellow officers who he praised highly. "Do not let anyone tell you that Club #28 is not a great club." said Ken. "This is the best club on Earth!" Next, Area 49 Governor Bruce Gould, ACG, CL addressed the club. He announced the many changes due to the splitting of District 47 into District 47 and 84. Orlando Club #28 will now be a part of Area 32 of District 84 and Bruce will be taking over as our District Governor! Bruce noted that Club #28 would have achieved a Select Distinguished Club status had it been able to keep 20 members and he challenged the club to achieve President's Distinguished status in the coming year. Governor Gould also presided over the "Passing of the Gavel Ceremony" For the first time in years ALL of the incoming officers were on hand to be inducted! Sgt-at-Arms Jose Lopez was followed by incoming Treasurer Ken Walley ACG, CL. The new Secretary, Susan Deichen was sworn in next and then Vice President of Public Relations-elect Paul Hagge. After Paul , the very important job of Vice President of Membership was literally, and symbolically with the gavel, placed in the hands of Barbara Cusack and then came the Vice President of Education Dr. Michael Deichen, CC, CL;. The last officer, of course, to be inducted was the incoming President Dennis Gola, ACS, CL. Dennis had a lot to say when he approached the lectern to give his Inaugural Address. Dennis spoke for over 20 minutes on many, different subjects. He painted a vision of a stronger club and how he would have to rely on his officers in order to restore the glory of our club's past. Membership and club growth was once again brought into the main focus as well as a call to dedication from our members and a hope that we can bring back some of the members that have left the club over the past years. It was a powerful speech. At end of the meeting guest Jessie Baker gave a very positive impression of the meeting in his comments. He said that he wants to return to experience a "more normal" meeting. The true highlight of this night's special celebration happened when guest Monica Walley a visitor to many, many different meetings over the past decade, stated that she looked forward to joining our club now that she had turned 18 years old recently and can do so legally! The room erupted into applause. This is a hopeful time for Club #28 and it's future could not be in better hands.

The June 19th, 2008 "Weather" themed meeting was so good it that it produced a torrent of praise and a flood of toastmaster talent! As shocking as lightening was our Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL who did not let a lack of club attendance rain on the parade. Indeed, most of those who made it to the meeting had to brave a thunderstorm but they were rewarded with an excellent shower of Table Topics, Speeches and Evaluations. Ken started the meeting with a 5 day weather forecast for the Orlando Area. He also brought along a number of interesting weather facts and records. Our Table Topics Master, Jose Lopez came prepared with some fabulous questions about weather. His first question directed to Dennis Gola, ACS, CL was "How could have the Hurricane Katrina disaster been handled better?" Ken Blake ACS, CL was asked "Have you ever been happy that the weather sabotaged your plans?" Jose asked Ken Walley ACG, CL "What was the coolest place that he had ever been?" Ken said in the deep freezer at his job at Disney! Stephen Bentley was asked to describe a "perfect afternoon" He said it would be a day watching the Atlanta Braves play at Turner Field. Our guest, Kim Anderson gave a fantastic answer about visiting Indonesia when asked "Where is the best weather you've ever seen?" Our speeches were as bright as the sun on a Florida summer afternoon. Stephen Bentley gave his first speech before Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 and his first speech as a Toastmaster as well! Stephen's Ice Breaker speech titled "The American Dream", wondered where had our hopes and dreams for our country gone? In the speech Stephen told of a vision of a non-profit organization to help bring back the values and living standards of the past. His speech painted a picture of an idealistic and compassionate person and showed us a dynamic speaker as well.. Ken Walley ACG, CL filled in as our second speaker. Ken gave a speech titled "Toastmasters Sells" which was based on an article written for the club website. Ken brought out many reasons how Toastmasters can help future sales representatives become successful. In the process he "sold" Toastmasters as well! Jose Lopez after giving Table Topics Master a try for the first time, also decided to see if he could be our General Evaluator. He handled that job as if he had been doing it for years. He had the pleasure of re-introducing Ken Walley ACG, CL to review Stephen's Ice Breaker. Ken called for a standing ovation in honor of Stephen's first speech. Dennis Gola ACS, CL had honor of giving the evaluation of Ken W.'s speech. In the evaluation Dennis called the speech "masterful". Ken Blake ACS, CL. filled all of the positions of our technical table: AH Counter, Grammarian and Timer and he did a remarkable job in every department! Guest Kim Anderson was one of our best ever Vote Counters. Kim, along with fellow guest Patricia Garcia both gave resounding and encouraging comments about the meeting. I sure hope they both join so we could have a few more people to experience upbeat, positive meetings like this one was. All this meeting needed was for a rainbow to form over the library to make it perfect.

The June 12th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters #28 2008 meeting had a very interesting theme of "Living Life Without Limits!" that seemed to bring out the philosophers in our members. From the moment our new Sgt. at Arms Jose Lopez brought the gavel down to start the meeting our toastmasters were engaged in enlighten thinking. Barbara Cusack our Toastmaster for the night brought up the many different ways that we can go beyond the limitations that we set on ourselves. Ken Walley ACG, CL served as Table Topics Master and he found many jewels of wisdom when asking questions based on the book by T.D. Jake titled "Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits" Ken's first question asked of new member Stephen Bentley was "What is the importance of facing your own indifference?" Jose Lopez was asked an equally searching question of "How have you learned from your past mistakes?" Guest John Bonowitz-Coffey expounded upon how to overcome the fact that "life is not fair!" Dennis Gola ACS, CL spoke on when "Tradition should be changed and why change is often for the good." "Tradition" said Dennis, "Is a bad thing when it hurts people." Ken Blake ACS, CL spoke on why you should "Dream Big and take chances". Another of our guests Ivan ______ gave an inspirational answer to the question of when it is "Best to go beyond limits and when it best to set boundaries". We had two excellent speeches again this week. First, Paul Hagge explained what he would like to see changed when his company sends him back to India for a business trip. In his speech titled "Cheeseburger with Extra Onions" Paul told us of India's erratic driving habits, suspect food and water and a really bad beer named King Fisher Beer. We will have that cheeseburger waiting when you get back Paul. Another brilliant speech but with a completely different topic was delivered by Jamie Waters. Jamie's speech was just what it's title promised: "An Update on the Commuter Rail Project" Jamie went into the reasons why the project was voted down and, using passion and reason, he explained how these reasons where politically motivated and poorly supported by fact. He ended his speech with a call for action and a demand for Gov. Charlie Crist to live up to his promises. Our General Evaluator was Dennis Gola ACS, CL and he also had the pleasure of reviewing Jamie's speech. Another Advanced Silver Award winner, Ken Blake, ACS, CL had the honor of giving Paul's evaluation. Both speakers had excellent advice to improve with and a vast pool of knowledge to draw from. Dennis was very impressed with our meeting in his "meeting evaluation" which he delivers as the General Evaluator. Supporting the meeting was timer Ken Blake, ACS, CL; Grammarian Jose Lopez and AH Counter Stephen Bentley. John Bonowitz-Coffey also helped out as our Vote Counter. This turned out to be another wonderful meeting in the Club #28 tradition. It is a toastmaster tradition of learning without limits.

For the first time in a month, the June 5th, 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was well attended! Maybe it had to do with the theme, "Get Rich Quick!" which was picked by our Toastmaster Ben Jackson. While Ben was unable to give us the "golden ticket" to prosperity, he was able to warn us of hustlers, cheats, scams and rackets that would gladly take our hard earned money. Ben was not the only one watching our wallets. Table Topics Master Paul Hagge, a financial advisor and accountant himself, offered a reward of $1 to the best answer to his questions. Ken Blake, ACS, CL gave it a good try with an answer to the question of "Have you ever been cheated or swindled?" Barbara Cusack had an excellent answer to what her "greatest hindrance to making money was." She, like many of us, replied that it was a "lack of focus." "Other than money what makes us feel rich?" was the question directed at Dennis Gola, ACS, CL. Dennis told of "almost" winning the lottery. Bob Blaydes, CC remembered the worst thing that he ever did for the sake of money. Ken Walley ACG, CL told us what he would do with a humongous lottery prize. Our newest member, transferring from an Atlanta, Ga. club, Stephen Bentley, answered the question "What jobs are the most underpaid?" He mentioned Teachers and Nurses. We were rich in the speeches department this evening having two sensational presenters. Jose Lopez, giving only his second speech, produced an effort worthy of a much more polished orator. Titled "Live the American Dream!" the speech pointed to how we can improve our living standards by plugging the "holes in the pool of prosperity." He covered the lack of financial education, taxes and inflation as some of the main culprits keeping us from real wealth. Speaking next was Louis Cianfrogna, who returned to the club after being away for awhile. We were reminded of why we missed him so much by his tremendous speech titled "The Next Time You are on the Highway." Louis brought up some great ideas for America's transportation systems that he learned while driving on Germany's autobahn. He also brought the thrill of "no speed limit" driving right into our meeting room! Ken Blake, ACS, CL served as our General Evaluator and introduced Ken Walley ACG, CL and Jamie Waters as our evaluators for our speakers. Both gave helpful and creative evaluations that were on par in quality with the speeches themselves! Bob Blaydes, CC served as our AH Counter and Vote Counter, Barbara Cusack did a solid job in the role of Timer and Dennis Gola ACS, CL delivered yet another elegant report as our Grammarian. Our Sgt. at Arms, Ben Jackson announced that he was leaving us to live in Korea for a time and he hoped that he would someday return to Club #28 again. He will be greatly missed and he was given a standing ovation. Our three guests, Stephen Bentley, Mayra DeJesus and Owen Gregory were very enthusiastic about our meeting. In many ways this meeting lived up to its theme. Every one that attended this meeting got a little bit richer before they left.

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 May 29th 2008 "Amazing Feats and Extreme Phenomenon" themed meeting was as amazing as it's own theme. It featured only five Toastmasters present but produced a meeting that belongs in a Ripley's "Believe or Not!" book. The Toastmaster, Ken Walley, ACG, CL not only told of such interesting facts like: "The world's fastest shopping cart was fitted with a jet engine and reached speeds over 50 miles an hour" but Ken also juggled the positions of President, Toastmaster, Timer, and being an Evaluator as well. Ken Blake ACS, CL was every bit as remarkable as the Table Topics Master. He investigated the bizarre and strange as well. Ken B. asked Ken W. "What was the the most amazing place that you have ever been?" Ken said parts of Yellowstone National Park were like "walking on another planet." Ben Jackson was asked what his "most incredible feat" was. Ben said that he had gone from not even being the best clarinet player in his High School Band to becoming the #1 rated clarinet player in the State... all within one year due to hard work and perseverance. Dennis Gola, ACG, CL was asked what would be the topic if he had to break the world record for "length of a speech" (120 hours). Dennis said he would be willing to talk on the subject of Baseball. Our guest, Krishna Akumalla handled the question of what his favorite reality show was. He loved it when Donald Trump announced "You're Fired!" on "The Apprentice". The last question was asked of Barbara Cusack. It was about past very large meals that she had eaten. She remember a "10,000 calorie Thanksgiving dinner" that she had when she was younger. We had three speeches, in other words... over half of the club members who showed up on this night were speaking! Dennis Gola, ACS CL gave a TV project speech from the Communicating on Television Advanced Manual titled: "A Focus on Contemporary History" which turned our meeting room into a TV studio. Next was Barbara Cusack's speech titled "Magnets" which paid homage to those little refrigerator magnets that can be collected almost everywhere. I never realized that you could tell so much about someone by looking at their refrigerator. Our third speaker was Ben Jackson who gave a very non-boring speech about statistics titled "100% of Statistics Kill 100% of Speeches" Ben explained to us how he kept his stat-laden speech to his boss interesting. Not only was his speech entertaining, but it was educational as well. We had excellent evaluations by Ken Blake, ACS, CL, Ben Jackson and Ken Walley, ACG, CL. Our Grammarian for this evening was Ken Blake, ACS, CL and our AH Counter was Barbara Cusack who also was able to count the votes as well. Earlier in the evening the new slate of officers was approved for the next term and we had two extraordinarily positive comments from our two guests Krishna Akumalla and Gerilyn Capps. The meeting was in a sense an "Amazing Feat" itself because the club able to produce such a great meeting with so few members!

One of the most successful meetings that Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 has ever had was the May 22nd 2008 "Success" themed meeting hosted by Toastmaster Ken Walley, ACG, CL. Among the advice and wisdom given throughout the evening from many wise thinkers and entrepreneurs was this quote on the subject of success by Mark Twain: "You only need two things to be successful: ignorance and confidence." Also joining the brainstorming session was Table Topics Master Dr. Mike Deichen, CC. Dr. Deichen started out the meeting by asking Barbara Cusack what her definition of success was. Ken Walley, ACG, CL was asked what it was that make a song or music successful. "Becoming successful has often been referred to in terms of 'playing a game'." said Dr. Deichen. He asked Dennis Gola, ACS, CL what his favorite games were. Another question dwelt with a boat named the "SS. Success" which led to a question to Bob Blaydes, CC about "Where would you go if you could sail off on a ship?" Bob, of course answered that he would "go fishing!" The last question asked of Jose Lopez was "What title would you give a book about yourself? His title was would be "Drive On!" and from his answer, I would love to read it. Again for the second week we only had one speaker but it was another amazing effort. Dennis Gola ACS, CL attempted a reading project titled "He Did What?" with a unique insight on our theme of success. The speech, featuring Ernest L. Thayer's famous poem "Casey at the Bat" and Grantland Rice's equally brilliant "Casey's Return". Dennis's speech was fun, interesting and inspiring! Ken Blake, ACS, CL did a tremendous job as our General Evaluator while also having the pleasure of introducing back to the lectern Bob Blaydes, CC who has been away for over a month. Bob showed that he had lost none of his abilities in giving excellent evaluations. More success was found in our team of functionaries: Jose Lopez manned the clock as our timer, Barbara Cusack served as our Grammarian and Ken Blake ACS, CL covered three positions: Invocation & Pledge, General Evaluator and AH Counter. Our guest Joe Dywer was pressed into duty as a vote counter and did an outstanding job. Joe also had some very nice things to say about our meeting as did returning guest Christie Cohen and a friend that she had brought with her, Jacob Tapia.The results of this meeting were personal growth, self confidence and a rewarding feeling of accomplishment. THAT is what a successful Toastmasters meeting is all about!

"PLAY BALL!" Said Ken Walley, ACG. CL after he led Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 in the "Star Spangled Banner" before throwing out the first pitch for the May 15th, 2008 "Baseball" themed meeting. Paul Hagge hit a Grand Slam as our Toastmaster for the evening with a fact & fun filled presentation on the history, joy and love of America's pastime. This meeting had everything, even for those who did not follow the game and those people, after listening to Paul, might just be sitting in the bleachers this summer. Although the sparsely attended meeting made the Albertson Room look like a Tampa Bay Rays game in early September, the meeting turned out to be a Toastmaster Hall of Fame type gathering. Ken Walley ACG, CL., his singing finished for the night, next led the TM version of the "Gashouse Gang" in Table Topics! He asked guest Stranje Nelson if she thought that our ancestors were "tougher" than our current generations. Paul Hagge was challenged to support or reject the statement that "Barry Bonds is the Greatest Baseball player to have ever played the game" Paul was not in favor of that idea. LaQuanda Thompson was asked "What scenery could be so beautiful that it might bring tears to your eyes?" She said being at a ballpark on a perfect summer evening." Dr. Mike Diechen was asked why Baseball is called "Our National Pastime?" Eddie Selover was asked to tell a story about actually playing the game. The last question was for Patrice Nelson: "What are your thoughts on this game of Baseball?" All the answers made one want to grab a glove and head out to the diamond. Speaking of diamonds, the shining jewel of the evening was Dr. Mike Diechen's (CC) brilliant presentation of the Toastmaster International "Successful Club Series" "The Toastmasters International Educational System" Not only was Dr. Deichen's speech informative and expertly crafted, but Dr. Deichen also personally created the PowerPoint slideshow that added substantially to his presentation. Batting cleanup was Mr. Walley who was given the assignment of giving an evaluation of Dr. Deichen's speech while also serving as the General Evaluator. Almost everyone present was given an assignment. Guest Stranje Nelson served as our AH Counter and did very competent work. Another of our guests, Patrice Nelson served as our Vote Counter. Both of them said that they looked forward to becoming Toastmasters in the future when they turn 18! Eddie Selover did double duty as Timer and Grammarian to round out our functionary lineup card. This meeting truly "hit the ball out of the park" and we only need more people to come out and cheer on the team! Remember that having a great time at Toastmasters is as easy as "catching a can o' corn!"

With Mother's Day fast approaching, Toastmaster Ken Blake, ACS, CL chose the topic of "Mothers" for the Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 May 8th 2008 meeting. Mom would have been proud! Ken Walley ACG, CL started off the meeting with some famous quotes about motherhood for the Invocation and Ken B. was ready with all kinds of great tidbits about Mothers and Mother's Day, including some interesting facts on semi-related subjects such as "Mother of Pearl", Mother Theresa of Calcutta and the Frank Zappa inspired "Mothers of Invention". Ken had some help from Paul Hagge who was our Table Topics Master, with preparing for Mother's Day. Paul asked Joe Cannizzarro "What advice have you received that has help you for his entire life?" Another person who was given a tough question was Jose Lopez when asked what was the "perfect Mother's Day gift?" Jose told how he quit his job to be with his mom on the first Mother's Day after his father had died. Dr. Mike Deichen, CC answered the question of which he would prefer to live in, a small family or large family. The open ended question of "What would mom do?" and how does she still guide my adult life was put before Ken W. The last question featured a savory Jewish meal that was the answer to Ken B.'s query of "Do you have a favorite family recipe?" Ken Walley ACG, CL was also the first speaker who came up with a "Speech about speeches" titled "Great Speeches!" (Which later became this month's featured website article, see the "Current News" section) In the speech, Ken remembered some of the excellent speeches that have been given over the past six months at Club #28. "These speeches are some of the best that have EVER been presented before this club! This club is over 70 years old!" said Ken. He mentioned speeches by Ken Blake, ACS, CL; Susan Deichen, and even Jose Lopez's unforgettable Ice Breaker among many others. "This club is still very rich in talent!" Susan Deichen proved that with the second speech of the evening titled "Keep Dreaming, Baby!" about not conceding youth to aging. Susan quoted in her speech that "You grow old when your regrets replace your dreams." Ken Walley, ACG, CL also stepped in as the General Evaluator, an easy job because he had Joe Cannizzaro and Paul Hagge on hand to give excellent evaluations on the speeches. Jose Lopez helped out as our Grammarian and AH Counter and Dr. Mike Deichen, CC did a great job as our Timer along with our very able Vote Counter, guest Jennifer Finch. This meeting turned out to be a meeting anyone's mom would have been thrilled to see her children attend! I only wish that more smart adult kids could have enjoyed it along with those who came to this wonderful Club #28 evening!

The May 1st 2008 "Cats" meeting kept the string of excellent meetings going as our Toastmaster for the evening, Barbara Cusack was at her very best! She came ready with some really interesting facts about the role of cats throughout history and the amazing things that they can do. It was also interesting to see the differences between last week's "Dogs" themed meeting and this week's "Cats" meeting. Barbara kept this evening lively and on track...and fun for everyone who attended! Also helping to make this meeting the "cat's meow" was Susan Deichen who had a very different approach to Table Topics as our Table Topics Master. She based each question on the name of a fictional cat. For example the first question asked of Paul Hagge was based on Garfield the Cat: "What pranks have you played on a friend?" Her second question was about Morris the Cat to Ken Walley, ACG, CL. He was asked what charity of Morris's he would support. Next, Joe Cannizzaro told about the "strangest food that he has ever eaten" based on the Cat in the Hat. The Pink Panther came into play when she asked Barbara Cusack about the "luckiest experience of her life" Dr. Mike Deichen got to answer the question about his "longest unplanned trip" and, like a Cheshire Cat, he answer about a trip to Europe he took on the spur of the moment! Newest club member Jeff Garica, in the memory of the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz, was asked what he would ask the wizard for. All of the answers were excellent, it was a Prrrrrfect Table Topics session! The speeches were both exceptional as well! Eddie Selover gave his 6th basic manual speech titled "Edward Ho!" towards his Competent Toastmaster award. His presentation was a humorous speech that described the harsh realities of "being an Eddie". He pointed out that notable "Eddies" such as Eddie Haskle, Eddie Munster, Eddie Money and The Edsel Automobile, all achieved dubious fame. But our Eddie succeeded with great distinction: he had us laughing our heads off.!! Also rising to the occasion with a great success was our second speaker Jamie Waters who gave an off the cuff speech titled "Commuter Rail" about the Light Rail System that was being debated by state legislators at the same time Jamie was giving his speech. Jamie used a lot of data and statistics to back up his argument that this would be a good thing for Central Florida. For a hip pocket speech, it was very well prepared and delivered! Ken Walley ACG, CL served as our General Evaluator and was also the evaluator for Eddie's speech. Joe Cannizzaro turned in another very strong effort as evaluator for Jamie's speech. The functionaries for tonight were: Ken Walley, ACG, CL as the AH Counter, Dr. Mike Deichen as our Grammarian and Paul Hagge doing a wonderful job as our Timer. Jeff Garcia filled in as our Vote Counter and announced that he wanted to join our club as welll! We had three guests, Shanique Nelson, Stranje Nelson and LaQuanda Thompson all of which had very nice things say about our meeting. This was another example of Club #28 landing on it's feet with another great meeting!

The April 24th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was another example of our club making something special happen. The theme of "Dogs" was picked by our Toastmaster Ben Jackson and Ben made sure that this was no "dog" of a meeting. Ben told of the love for his dog Pez and also came prepared with some excellent canine facts such as: "The longest ears on a dog measured 14 inches for the right ear and 13.5 inches for the left ear on a dog named Tigger, an Illinois Bloodhound." Also bringing out some interesting dog facts was our Table Topics Master Dr. Mike Deichen, CC. Mike asked Ken Blake, ACS, CL. "What are the best traits that a dog possesses?" Ken used endearing examples of his Chihuahua Queenie to answer the question. When Ben Jackson was asked "What would you put about dogs on a bumper sticker?" Ben said he would just put a picture of his dog Pez. Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked what he would name a dog. Ken said his daughter Monica Walley, FTM named their dog Becky but Ken would have named her something more reflective of her personality: friendly, obedient and giving of unconditional love. Visiting Toastmaster Elliott Dennis, DTM handled Dr. Mike's next question: "What are the more annoying traits a dog might have?" The last Table Topic question was asked of Barbara Cusack "What can we learn from a dog?" Barbara relayed some great lessons that she had learned from her dog Maggie. Tonight was also a very special evening at Club #28. The club hosted the newly crowned Division C winner Andrew Greenstein who graciously came to deliver his award winning speech "The Magic Is..." Deliver he did!! The speech about the magic words that help cure his young daughter's "boo-boo's" that would eventfully end up curing his own fears and worries. This speech was worthy of a 1st place finish in any International Speech contest! Having the tough task of following Andrew's speech was Ken Walley ACG, CL who performed a contest worthy speech of his own titled "Is There Anyone Out There?" The speech was about the West Baptist Church of Beatrice, Nebraska that exploded right as choir practice was about to start. Ken's speech was an uplifting and inspiring story. Ken also served as the General Evaluator and had the good fortune to introduce to exceptional evaluator's. Club #28's own Ken Blake evaluated Andrew's speech and visiting Toastmaster Elliott Dennis, DTM from Princeton, N.J. Club #3954 who reviewed Ken's speech. Both were very enthusiastic in their praise of the speakers. Also enthusiastic was Susan Deichen who served as both our AH Counter and Grammarian. She gave two brilliant accounts of the meeting. Guest Ed Riordan covered as our Vote Counter and turned in a phenomenal effort as well. Club #28 had many guests this evening all of whom were delighted with the meeting. Jeff Garcia, Cindy Laberinto, Kristi Stevens and Christie Cohen all offered wonderful comments about the night's events! This meeting truly showed why Toastmaster's is a "Speaker's Best Friend!"

The theme for the April 17th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "American History" and our Toastmaster for the evening, Ken Walley ACG, CL put together a list of the "10 Most Important Events in American History" as the evening went on Ken explained his selections which included The 1588 defeat of the Spanish Armada; The July 4th, 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence; The 1952 publication of Harriet Beecher Stowe's book Uncle Tom's Cabin; The invention of the electric light bulb and Neil Armstrong's Landing on the Moon in 1969. Missing from his top 10 were such events as the 9/11 attacks, The Kennedy and Lincoln Assassinations and the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Japan in 1945! Also "making history" was Club #28 Table Topics Master Eddie Selover. Eddie asked some very historical questions of our members such as: "If we were having our own tax revolt today what would you throw overboard at the 'tea party'?" Ken Blake ACS, CL had to answer that one. Dr. Mike Deichen, CC was given the question of who he though was our greatest President. Ben Jackson was asked to comment on myths in American history. Susan Deichen was asked "if not Lincoln, who should be on the $5 dollar bill?" Susan went went with ex-Federal Finance Director Alan Greenspan! Which when you think about it, would not be a bad choice. Shawn Tran our guest, commented on where he would go if he could go back into history. He choose the gold rush of the 1870's. Out other guest, Meghan Yost, answered the question of "What will future historians will think about us?" Using global warming as an example, she pointed out that we could be viewed by historians as either great world villains or beloved world saviors. The speeches tonight were both unique and interesting! Jose Lopez gave a powerful speech that showed that we have some great speeches ahead from this young Toastmaster! Giving his Ice Beaker speech titled "Big Thinking!" Jose, a budding entrepreneur, plans to start a life that includes travel, investing and writing a book in the near future. "What does not kill us, make us stronger!" said Joe. He gave some inspiring examples of how the human spirit can overcome devastating events such as losing an eye to a car bomb while serving in Iraq and the death of his girl friend in a car accident. Jose's Ice Breaker speech touched everyone in the room. Dennis Gola ACS, CL spoke next and gave us a "tune up" to his Table Topics Contest coming up next week at the District 47 convention in Jacksonville. He answered four questions in a speech titled "4 Questions" from the floor. "How would you end the energy crisis?" "What is the biggest problem with organized religion?" "Who is your favorite Baseball player and why?' and "If you could be an animal what kind of animal would you be?" Four completely different questions and all of them were handled extremely well by our extemporaneous speaking master! Our Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL also handled the job of Master Evaluator. Ken had some wonderful support from his evaluators Barbara Cusack and Ben Jackson. Barbara it must be noted has become an expert at evaluating Ice Breaker speeches and again tonight she delivered an exceptional effort for Jose's speech. Ben Jackson gave his first ever evaluation and did a superb job as well. Our functionaries tonight included Ben as our AH Counter, Susan Deichen as our Timer, and in a rare appearance as our Grammarian, Ken Blake, ACS, CL. Our guest, Shawn Tran covered as our Vote Counter as well. In the glorious history of Toastmasters Club #28, American History night will not be long forgotten, for it was truly a remarkable night!

I have been a Toastmaster for a long time and few meetings have left me with such a sense of sheer gratitude for just the opportunity of attending than the April 10th 2008 "Gratitude" themed meeting last week. First of all, We had a superb job of Toastmastering by this evening's Toastmaster, Barbara Cusack. She reminded us of many things that we should be thankful for, as well as keeping us entertained with some great stories. Table Topics Master Dennis Gola ACS, CL came up with another brilliant idea for Table Topics by using different derivatives of the word "Gratitude". Ken Walley ACG, CL answered a question about the "Grateful Dead" Rock group. Ken Blake ACS, CL was required to speak about what would cause him to leave a "Bad Gratuity" in a restaurant. Eddie Selover was given the word "Congratulate" and asked to speak on when the last time he greeted someone with pleasure. Answering the question of "Gratification" was our newest member, Jose Lopez who spoke on something he felt proud of in his life. Jose remembered his service to our Country in Iraq with great pride. Debbe Ryan ACG, CL told about her gratitude toward her parents for their love and support. Guest Ron Dixon did a wonderful job on his first Table Topic speaking about "Something that he deserved to be shown gratitude for." Rob remembered the hard work it took to achieve his goals on the football field. This was a really eye-opening and inspiring Table Topics session! I know I speak for everyone who attended when I say that we were grateful for the two awesome speeches that were delivered! First up was a very funny speech that is a sure win for a humorous speech contest by Jamie Waters titled "A Waste of Land". Jamie mused about the idea of Combining cemeteries with golf courses! "I have been told that the two biggest waste of land are cemeteries and golf courses!" said Jamie, "Why not combine them? With names like Forest Lawn, Pebble Beach, Maple Grove, Pinehurst...it's hard to tell the golf courses from the graveyards." Our second speaker Susan Deichen gave another masterful speech which was of a more inspirational nature. Her speech, titled "The Attitude of Gratitude" was a reminder of how we should not wait until we might not have a chance to show our appreciation and gratitude to those we love. Susan, a natural storyteller, remembered the last chance she had to tell her grandmother that she loved her. The speech was a poignant call to action as well as a call from the heart. Ken Walley ACG. CL returned to the club after a long hiatus to fill in the duties of the Master Evaluator. Ken had the good fortune of having two seasoned evaluators to help him out: Ken Blake ACS, CL and Debbe Ryan ACG, CL. Both of their evaluations were truly excellent, balancing wise advice with inspiration. Ken W. also doubled as the timer, the AH Counter was Jose Lopez, The Grammarian was Eddie Selover and filling in as our vote counter was Ron Dixon! It must be noted the marvelous work done by Joe, Ron and Eddie. Eddie's Grammarian report was worth coming to meeting for itself. Our guests, Ron, Dimari Castro, Aman Ra Reowen and his cousin Monica ______ all were very enthusiastic about the meeting. Jose Lopez also joined tonight making this a very special evening indeed! We are grateful.

[Editor's Note: A special "Thank You" to Barbara Cusack and Susan Deichen for this Meeting report!] Last Week, April 3rd, 2008 the theme for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "Brown Bag Meeting" and the Toastmaster Debbe Ryan, ACG, CL shared with us some of the history of Club #28! She told us that Club #28 is THE Florida Toastmasters club actually founded by the late Toastmasters founder Ralph Smedley, DTM. Small wonder that Club #28 enjoys one amazing meeting after another! This meeting was no exception! Ben Jackson returned as our Sgt. at Arms and Ken Blake ACS, CL got the meeting started with the Invocation and Pledge. Debbe introduced our Table Topics master Joe Cannazzaro who did a tremendous job asking some very intricate questions. Those who answered Joe's questions were Jamie Waters (What is your favorite color?), Dr. Mike Deichen, CC (Did you enjoy Science in High School?); Susan Deichen (How do you like going to the Beach?), Ken Blake ACS, CL (Do you have a favorite shirt?) and Ben Jackson (Talk to us about a Central American Government!). We also had two truly magnificent speeches. The first speech of the evening was by Barbara Cusack, her 7th speech in the basic manual was titled "Insidious Persistence". It was a very compelling speech about the important topic of HIV. She taught us many of the technical aspects of the AIDS disorder, and personalized some those with anecdotes that had us all on the edge of our seats! This meeting was extra special because Dr. Mike Deichen, CC gave his 10th Toastmaster's speech earning him his Competent Communicator Award!!! A heartfelt speech titled "A Ray of Sun" that was a moving story about a bad start of a morning and how an act of kindness makes the day better. He encouraged us to do the same and how the world would be a better place when we can learn from that example. We had two excellent evaluations from Ken Blake ACS, CL and Jamie Waters. Returning guest, Jose Lopez served as our vote counter, our timer was another guest Shawn ______ and Ben Jackson held court as our Grammarian. This was an incredible meeting!!!!.

Editor's Note: I was unable to get a report on the March 27th 2008 "Music" Themed meeting. Louis Cianfrogna led the meeting as Toastmaster and did an awesome job as we explored the world of Music. It was Louis's first time as a Toastmaster. We also had two excellent speeches by Jamie Waters and Dennis Gola Signing up to be the Table Topics Master was Joe Cannizzaro. Others who I know attended were Ken Blake, Sam Ryan and Debbe Ryan. If I receive any more information about this meeting I will update the information.

Editor's note: I was unable to get a report on the March 20th 2008 "Ways We Save" themed meeting. The lineup for the meeting's agenda was as follows :President: Dennis Gola, ACS, CL Toastmaster: Ken Blake. ACS, CL Table Topics Master: Susan Deichen; Invocation & Pledge:? Timer: Dr. Mike Deichen Grammarian:? AH Counter: Darrin Driver Speaker #1: Joe Cannizzaro. Speaker #2: Louis Cianfrogna, Speaker #3: Eddie Selover. Master Evaluator: ? Evaluator #1: Jamie Waters. Evaluator #2: ? Evaluator #3:? If I receive more information about this meeting I will update the information.

In what turned out to be a captivating March 13th, 2008 meeting with the theme of "luck", had nothing to do with luck...it had everything to do with a lot of talented Toastmasters and guests that attended that night. Although the meeting was small in numbers, as luck would have it some of Orlando Toastmasters Club #28's finest speaker were on hand to create Toastmaster bedazzlement. The meeting started with Ben Jackson holding two positions and doing both extremely well. Ben began the meeting as our Sergeant at Arms and then led the club in the Invocation and Pledge. Ken Walley, ACG, CL stepped back into his role as club President for the evening and he had the honor of introducing Jamie Waters who was serving as our Toastmaster. This was Jamie's first time at Club #28 as Toastmaster. Jamie was impressive with an array of tools that made our theme fascinating. He used wit, humor, personal experiences and anecdotes to bring enlightened us on the subject of luck. His audience were the lucky ones however. Ken Walley ACG, CL was our Table Topics Master and he let our members and guests do the "enlightening" with some excellent questions such as: "Do you believe in luck?" Joe Cannizzaro answered that one saying he believed that we "Make our own luck". The next question went to new member Darrin Driver who told us of the "luckiest thing that ever happen to him". Barbara Cusack was eloquent with her response to the question "Why are we "lucky to have been born in America?" Louis Cianfrogna answered Ken's question of "What was the unluckiest thing that ever happened to you?" Both of our guests tackled at Table Topics question Guest Dean Ritchey answered "Do you have a 'lucky charm' or superstition?" and Luis Salinas the question of "What would you do if you won $25 million dollars in the lottery?" Traveling was one of the things on Luis's list. We were lucky to have two excellent speakers this evening as well. Ben Jackson returned to the lectern to give a intriguing speech on how to capitalize on the "March Madness" NCAA basketball tournament. His speech titled "Everything You Wanted to Know About College Basketball" told the secret to winning big money by betting on individual games rather than on the whole of the 64 teams playing. Ben sounded like the expert as he guided our way through the complex world of "Bracketology". Ken W. also gave a speech, this time from the Toastmaster International's "Successful Club Series" titled "Building the Best Club Climate" In this speech, Ken pointed out ways that we could make our club a friendly and more inviting place for both our guests and members. Barbara Cusack served as our General Evaluator and again performed with excellence. She re-introduced both Ben and Ken who gave interestingly, evaluations of each other's speeches! Both evaluations were as good as the speeches that they had given earlier. Barbara called this meeting "A triumphant success!" during her review of the meeting. Our support staff was headed by our timer Louis Cianfrogna, with brilliant reports from Grammarian Joe Cannizzaro and Ah Counter (for his first time) Darrin Driver who also doubled as our Vote Counter. Our guests, Dean and Luis, had nothing but great praise for our meeting! As acting president, Ken Walley, ACG, CL explained that one of the reasons that we were low on attendance was because, "like in baseball's spring training, we were a Split-Squad tonight." Over at Rollins College this evening the Division 'C' International Speech Contest and the Table Topics Contests were being held! Toastmasters Bob Blaydes, CC and Dennis Gola, ACS, CL were representing Club #28 respectively. Dr. Michael Deichen, his wife Susan Deichen and Ken Blake, ACS, CL had attended the contests to cheer on our brave orators! Dennis won the Table Topics Contest and will go on to the District 47 Contest and Bob turned a commanding performance as well coming in 3rd place in the Speech contest! I have to admit that I feel lucky to be a part of Club #28!

The theme could not have been a better one for an Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 March 6th, 2008 meeting: "Random Acts of Kindness!" No Toastmaster could have been better qualified to lead on this subject than Barbara Cusack! Barbara did a spectacular job of giving examples, and telling stories of kindness and generosity that left a warm feeling in the hearts of everyone who attended. Another Toastmaster who has that effect on people was our President Dennis Gola, ACS, CL who served as our Table Topics Master. Dennis first asked a daring question for a Toastmaster meeting to Susan Deichen: "Is there kindness in religion?" Susan thought so, giving her faith as a Catholic for an example. Returning after an absence of a few meetings was our Sgt. at Arms Ben Jackson who was asked by Dennis: "What would be a good day for a 'National Random Act of Kindness Day' ?" Ben was thinking of making it a weekly thing and answered "Sunday!" Dr. Mike Deichen was given the task to "Pick someone and tell us why you think that person is a good example of kindness." Dr. Mike picked a number of people in the room to talk about. Jamie Waters was asked how "kindness connects us all". Ken Blake, ACS, CL was asked to explain the "ripple effect" of kindness and he brought to mind people paying for the people in back of them at a fast food take out lane. Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked to tell the difference between Kindness and Altruism. Our guest, Stan Penteck gave an excellent answer to the question of "an act of kindness that gets returned" Stan spoke of the love that his cat gives back when he is petted. Two impressive speeches happened this evening! The first was by Dr. Michael Deichen who's speech "A Special Script" told us how to BE FIT: 1. Be Prepared! .2. Everyone can exercise! 3.Fun is part of it! 4. Involve others! and 5. Train with someone who can help! By following Dr. Mike's advice you can live a long, healthy life! His speech started with the question "Do you want to live to be 100?" Dennis Gola, ACS, CL was speaker #2 and he gave a speech that was simply jaw dropping. Titled "Gola's Goulash" Dennis had everyone in the room write on a sheet of paper: (1.) A subject for him to speak about and (2.) a word that he must work into the speech. Dennis ended up with such diverse subjects as "Hillary Clinton", "Singing in the Shower" and "Hitting Curves and Fastballs" and words including "cornfed' and "tepid" among the offerings from the 15 or so present. Dennis then proceeded to give a speech, that told a story working in all of the subjects and words! He did such an extremely good job that one forgot that this speech was made up on the spot! It was Dennis at his best. The evaluations were delivered by Ken Walley ACG, CL (For Mike's speech) and Ken Blake ACS, CL (for Dennis's remarkable effort). Both were truly excellent reviews of the speeches. Ken B. also served as our General Evaluator. We had an impressive technical team as well tonight starting with our jack-of-all trades timer Ken Walley, ACG, CL. The AH Counter duties were handled by Susan Deichen, the Grammarian report was given by Jamie Waters and Barbara Cusack's mother, Yolanda Choser did another 1st class job as our vote counter! A random act of kindness on this night would have been to have brought a friend to this meeting!

A wide open theme like "Anything Goes!" was perfect for a wide open meeting like The February 28th 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL would wear a number of different hats for this meeting. Before the meeting Dennis took over as the club President so that Ken Walley ACG, CL could deal with some unexpected challenging life-situations. Dennis was not only the President but also the Toastmaster, Table Topics Master and the first Speaker of the evening. Only Dennis could succeed so well in all of those positions. As a Toastmaster Dennis embraced a number of different topics that varies from the important (social/political issues) to the mundane (the Orlando bus system). Dennis managed to keep everything interesting. As a Table Topics Master he asked the following questions: "When was the last time you cleaned your room?" (To Ken Blake ACS, CL); "When was the last time you took a trip, what did you do and where did you go?" (To Barbara Cusack); "Describe the windows in your office or home." (To Dr. Mike Deichen); "How do you deal with a rude boss?" (To Bob Blaydes, CC) and to Ken W.: "Tell us about a pet you have or once had?" Dennis's speech was about finding peace ("The Place") in a hectic world. Dennis expounded upon the necessary balance of finding inner peace and seeing the beauty imbedded in the world that surround us. Ken Walley ACG, CL was the second speaker who gave a speech on preparing for and giving a speech to a big audience. Titled "Speaking Before A Large Group" Ken gave many wonderful tips and ideas on how to address a large group including mental preparation, stage gestures and power-point presentation. Ken also had another hat to wear: that of the General Evaluator. Ken had the pleasure of introducing two very good evaluators: Dr. Mike Deichen who evaluated Dennis's speech and our visiting Area 49 Governor, Bruce Gould, ACS, CL who evaluated Ken's Speech. Both gave helpful and constructive evaluations. Ken W. praised the meeting saying it had excellent Table Topics, Speeches and Evaluations. Ken and Dennis were not the only ones filling multiple roles. Bob Blaydes, CC did duty as both the AH Counter and Grammarian. Barbara Cusack was our timer on this evening and in a very rare occasion, Ken Blake, ACS, CL served as Vote Counter! "I think this is my first time as Vote Counter!" said Ken. We had a lot of very positive feedback from both of our guests Audrey Brown and Sasha Coleman. Well, that's to be expected when "anything goes"...

The theme for the February 21st 2008 meeting was perfect for a Toastmasters meeting: "Encouragement!" picked by our Toastmaster for tonight, Diana Walley ACG, CL. Diana brought along a lot of encouragement for the entire club throughout the evening. She was returning to the lectern for the first time in the Toastmaster role in well over a year. A man who is no stranger to the lectern is Dennis Gola ACS, CL who was our Table Topics Master. Dennis used the opportunity to show that we could inspire ourselves. He asked us such questions such as: "What does encouragement mean to you?" (to Ben Jackson ); "In what area of your life do you need the most encouragement?" (to Ken Blake, ACS, CL); "Who's encouragement do you prize the most?" was asked of our returning guest Walter Moryan. Jamie Waters was asked "What form of encouragement helps you the most?" and Ken Walley ACG, CL had the hard question of "How can you tell false praise from true encouragement?" The last question went to our guest Heiledo (?) was "Who would you most want encouragement from Randy, Paula or Simon?" Heiledo and Dennis chose Simon... as did everyone else in the room. We had two superb speeches Paul Hagge who gave a speech about a very special man, the remarkable Civil War hero Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain titled "An American Hero" and the just the opposite was covered by Joe Cannizzaro's speech titled "Che Guevara" about a man whom he painted as a socialist failure. Ken Blake, ACS, CL acted both as our General Evaluator as well as the evaluator for Joe's speech. Barbara Cusack did a stellar job with her review of Paul's speech. It must also be noted that the work of our functionaries Jamie Waters as AH Counter and Grammarian, Ben Jackson as Timer and Walter Moryan as our vote counter brought much encouragement to all who attended. This was an uplifting and exciting meeting which hopefully encouraged everyone to attend next week's meeting!

The Valentine's Day (February 14th 2008) Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting theme was, of course: LOVE. The meeting started out with Ken Walley ACG, CL giving the Invocation and Pledge from the "Love verse" in the Bible 1COR. 13. Ben Jackson working as Toastmaster for his first time, did an extraordinary job using quotes about Love throughout the session. "Love, like a river, will cut a new path whenever it meets an obstacle." was just one of the many gems of wisdom from Ben. Also bringing wisdom to the meeting was Table Topics Master Ken Blake, ACS, CL who asked some thought provoking questions on the most powerful force in the world: Love. Ken's first question was to Ken W.: "Can you prove that there is Love?" Ben Jackson's question dealt with finding a mate: "Would you use a dating service like E-Harmony?" Diana Walley ACG, CL was asked about opposites attracting. Dennis Gola ACS, CL was handed a marshmallow topics question being as he is a cruise salesman: "Why you haven't lived until you've gone on a cruise." Joe Cannizzaro told us about his best friend and Darrin Driver told us what makes him cry at the movies. We had three unforgettable speeches starting with Karolyn Oakley's Ice Breaker speech titled "Western Foundations, Eastern Ties". She weaved a number of stories in a beautiful mosaic of her early life in the west and how she came to Florida. Dennis Gola's (ACS, CL) speech was a practice for the upcoming Area 49 Table Topics contest Dennis spoke extemporaneously combining two separate topics, that of the recent Super Bowl and The 2008 Presidential Elections and came up with an impressive presentation! Jamie Waters gave a speech ("The View") about pretending to be a buyer for a high rise condo in Orlando but guessing just a little bit to low on the price. Jamie got a quick tour by a caretaker from the "bottom up" instead of a tour from the top down! Ken Walley, ACG, CL acted as our General Evaluator as well as giving an evaluation for Karolyn's speech. Two excellent evaluations were also delivered by Joe Cannizzatro and Ken Blake ACS, CL as well. Our functionaries for this "love fest" were timer Diana Walley ACG, CL , Joe Cannizzaro was our Grammarian and our AH Counter was Ken Walley, ACG, CL. Darrin Driver did a great job as our Vote Counter. This meeting once again proved that Club #28 could pull together and produce a great meeting. That is what happens when you put love into the mix.

When Club President Ken Walley, ACG, CL and Vice President of Education Susan Deichen announced the date for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 International Speech and Table Topics Contests for Thursday, Feb.7th 2008 neither one of them could have known that the contest would earn the highest marks for any club contest held anywhere. Even though the contest was held one month before the club had ever held our club spring contests, these turned out to be two of the best contests ever held in our entire history of the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 which was founded in 1933! Area 49 Governor Bruce Gould ACS, CL called the evening performance one of the "Best club contests that I have ever seen anywhere!" Other members called the contest "remarkable" and "Amazing". Past Orlando Club #28 contests have often been lauded as some of the best club contests in the region. They are often compared with Area and even Division contests in terms of speaking talent. Even though the club had to work with such a short preparation time, these contests were two of the most impressive contests ever organized by Club #28! The club has a great wealth of talent both from established members and from the newer members who have recently joined the club. There was a large crowd on hand attending only only by many Club #28 Toastmasters but Toastmasters from other clubs as well and Dignitaries such as Area 49 Governor Bruce Gould, ACS, CL and Helen Joseph, DTM also graced the room. Club #28 was blessed with a number of guests attending to hear some of the speakers. Sgt. at Arms Ben Jackson called the meeting to order with a "Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The International Speech and Table Topics Contests Shall come to order! All gather 'round!" The Invocation and Pledge was delivered by Susan Deichen who also introduced our Contest Master and Club #28 President Ken Walley ACG, CL. Ken has held the Contest Master position many time before. Ken kept the contest on track with a quick pace, and even through it was a full agenda, we finished on time. Chief Judge Roxie Steadman, DTM was also fill a role that she has mastered extremely well over her years in Toastmasters. She got the festivities underway proclaiming "LET THE CONTEST BEGIN!" The sign up sheet for the International Speech Contestants was filled on the first night that it was posted.! The list included such impressive speakers as Bob Blaydes, CC; Dennis Gola, ACS, CL, ; Ken Blake, ACS, CL; Diana Walley ACS, CL; and newcomer Barbara Cusack. Diana was unable to take part in the contest but the other four brought their "A-game"! The first speaker was veteran Toastmaster Ken Blake, ACS, CL, who's speech titled "Please Don't be Offended!" was a speech about a bus driver who's foul language brought concern to Ken until he found out that he was going on a tour of the Hoover Dam. "Get on the dam bus please for the dam tour!" the bus driver said. Next up was Dennis Gola ACS, CL giving a speech titled "I've Changed My Mind" that weaved stories of his days as a baseball umpire along with his joy of discovering Buddhism... along with a good meal. Bob Blaydes, CC was the speaker with a quintessential International Speech titled "Connections" that told the story of how Bob faced certain death in an airplane free-fall that was saved only at the last moment by the pilot. The lessons that Bob learned in those 45 seconds changed his life. Barbara Cusack's speech was an emotionally charged performance titled "Positively Beautiful!" that told of her battles with the HIV virus that took the life of her husband. It was an inspiring and in the end, a positive call to action for all that heard her voice. With such verbal mastery any of the candidates could have taken home the trophy as our winner. Coming in 2nd place was Ken Blake ACS, CL and going on to the Area Contest as Club #28's representative was Bob Blaydes! His speech will be very difficult to beat at the Area Contest. The Table Topics Contest was every bit as impressive as the International Speech Contest. Serving as our contest Sgt. at Arms was Eddie Selover who was also by the way our Assistant Timer and Raffle Master as well. Eddie led all of the contestants out of the room except for the first contestant, Dennis Gola ACS, CL. He had the first shot at the question: "My idea of a Perfect Day is..." Dennis gave a humorous answer about being able to catch the Orlando Lynx Bus service on time at every stop since he does not own a car. Ben Jackson remembered his girlfriend in his answer and also a love of soccer too. Susan Deichen spoke about the love that she has received from her family, and the students that she teaches. Ken Blake ACS, CL spoke about his marriage and the time he spends with his lovely wife. Many of the answers were downright profound. Coming in 2nd was Ken Blake, ACS, CL and taking the top spot was Dennis Gola ACS, CL! Dennis and Bob will now go to the Area 49 contest later this month. Ken Walley ACG, CL handed out beautiful Certificates of Appreciation to all of those who made our contest possible. Area 49 Governor Bruce Gould, ACS, CL handed out the trophies and our guests were asked to comment on our special evening. All of our visitors Tim O'Mara, Teresa Beard, Darrin Driver and Kim Robinson were very impressed and had great things to say. Other dignitaries who visited our club were SarahLyndia Keihl and Luvenia Hart form our sister club Orange County Toastmasters Club #129. Here with a sincere Thank You" is a list of those who worked hard to make this historic evening possible: Contest organizer and Invocation & Pledge: Susan Deichen; Contest Master: Ken Walley, ACG, CL; Contest Sgt. at Arms, Raffle Master and Assistant Timer: Eddie Selover; Chief Timer: Paul Hagge; Vote Counter: Jamie Waters; International Speech Contest Sgt. at Arms: Ben Jackson; Chief Judge: Roxie Steadman, DTM and our Judges from the Let Talk Toastmasters Club and the OC Toastmasters Club #129.

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 had every reason to be optimistic about the January 31st 2008 "Optimism" meeting. With a jam-packed room of members and guests Sgt.-at- Arms Ben Jackson called the meeting to order. Ken Walley ACG, CL was our Toastmaster for the evening and he brought along some questions from a Pessimist/Optimist test that he had found on the web. he asked some of the questions to those at the meeting. " Do you find the good in even the most disagreeable people?" was one of the test's questions. Also coming prepared with some questions of his own was Table Topics Master Joe Cannizzaro. His first question was to Barbara Cusack "Can you remember a time when your enthusiasm for something you believed in was compromised?" Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked if optimism had made a difference in any part of his life. Ken Blake ACS, CL was asked about a time in his life when a negative was turned into a positive. Bob Blaydes, CC was asked about the last time he ate shellfish. The last question was to Ben Jackson about the upcoming Super bowl game. Ben said that you had to be an optimist to cheer for the Giants. Our two speeches were another example of Club #28 showcasing its best talent. Louis Cianfrogna gave an International Speech caliber presentation titled "Allen Hengst" about a mystery man who was very successful at his job but had "no past". Was this overachiever once in the CIA or a forgotten criminal? This speech was like reading a great novel. Dr. Mike Deichen gave a very different kind of speech titled "It's as simple as ABC" Dr. Mike warned us about the dangers of skin cancer and melanoma. He told of an easy way to recognize the signs of melanoma that could save a life. Ken Blake ACS, CL was the General Evaluator who had the pleasure of introducing two excellent speakers Barbara Cusack and Bob Blaydes, CC both of whom gave such helpful advice as to tie for the "Best Evaluator" ribbon! Jamie Waters was on had to do double duty as our Grammarian and AH Counter, giving superb reports on both. Ben acted as our timer for his first time at that position. Our returning guest, Jennifer Clement served as our vote counter as well. Jennifer plans to join the club! One guest who did join tonight was Karolyn Oakley who was very impressed by our meeting. Welcome Karolyn! Walter Moryan also returned to the club for a 2nd visit. We also heard wonderful comments about the meeting from guests Teresa Beard, Christine Sheriden, Kimbery Robinson, D.J. Johnson and Robert Schumacker. it was no wonder we were optimistic about a fabulous meeting like this one!

The January 24th 2008 had the theme of "Renaissance" and Club #28 had a renaissance of our own! It started with our Toastmaster Susan Deichen who did a job worthy of Michelangelo. Susan came prepared with stories, facts and insight into the Renaissance that kept us entertained throughout the meeting. This was Susan's first time as a Toastmaster and she did a sublime effort! The same can be said for Diana Walley ACG, CL who brought back the "Central Florida Dead or Alive Show!" tonight's show was filled with laughs and some great wisdom as "renaissance men" from the present were interviewed. First up was Bob Blaydes, CC impersonating Bill Gates while being interviewed by Dr. Mike Deichen. Next, Ken Walley, ACG, CL playacted Charles Shultz in his interview with Joe Cannizzaro. The founder of Toastmasters International, Ralph Smedley was portrayed by Ken Blake, ACS, CL and was interviewed by Ben Jackson. The last team was Louis Cianfrofna interviewing Paul Hagge as Nobel Prize winning environmentalist Al Gore. It was great to see the show come back again to Club 28! We had two masterful prepared speeches. The first Speech, titled "The J H20 Timeline" was an "Ice Breaker" speech by Jamie Waters. This was not his 1st Toastmasters speech but it was his first before Club #28 and he wanted to introduce himself to the rest of the club. We found that Jamie has had a very inspiring life! He survived a serious accident in Detroit but still became successful after moving to Orlando. The second speaker, Joe Cannizzaro gave a "history lesson" titled "The Irony of the Great Leap Forward" taken from Mao's "Great Leap Forward" experiment and the hard lessons that China had to learn from that disastrous experience. Ken Walley ACG, CL headed up the evaluation team as the General Evaluator and was supported by two excellent evaluations delivered by Dr. Michael Deichen and Paul Hagge. Our technical table was fielded by AH Counter Ben Jackson, who also preformed his official duties as our new Sgt. at Arms, Grammarian Louis Cianfrogna, Timer Bob Blaydes and for the first time in a long time as Vote Counter, Ken Blake, ACS, CL! Our one guest Jennifer Clement was very impressed with our "renaissance" themed meeting and she mentioned that she would like to come back again. If this meeting was a painting, Donatello would have been proud, if it was a play William Shakespeare would have felt it a great achievement and Leonardo Da Vinci wish he would have invented this meeting. It was an artistic triumph!

In a special "Wednesday Night Edition" of the January 16th, 2008 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting the theme was "Excuses". Nine toastmasters and guests had no excuses for not being there because... they showed up! Our Toastmaster for the evening was Dennis Gola, ACS, CL who had us all laughing with examples of children's poor excuses to the teacher. He mentioned that there were entire websites devoted to making excuses. Table Topics Master Paul Hagge was interested in what some of our excuses might be. Ken Blake, ACS, CL told how he talked his way out of a ticket with a good excuse to a policeman. Guest Greg Hentze was given the question of what excuses that he might use at work. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL was asked about an excuse for getting out of a commitment. Dennis told of his loathing of his company's office Christmas parties. Jamie Waters spoke on creative excuses that kids come up with. Ken Walley ACG, CL had to answer the question of how to give an excuse to end a romantic relationship. Ken thought "I am studying to be a priest." might work. Our speeches tonight were both memorable and praiseworthy. Louis Cianfrogna gave one of the most unique Ice Breaker speeches ever delivered to a Toastmasters club. Titled "Oxymoron" Louis told us about himself by looking at his contradictions. "I love the outdoors but I also love the couch. I love the gun range and the golf range as well. I love to exercise but I eat at McDonald's..." This was a great concept that ended up being an interesting and delightful speech. Louis was given a standing ovation for completing his first speech! Congratulations Louis! The next speaker was Barbara Cusack. Her speech, titled "Positively Beautiful" on the subject of her struggles with the HIV virus and the loss of her husband. This presentation was one was one of the most moving, powerful and positive speeches ever presented behind the lectern at Club #28. "This speech has the power to save lives but more importantly it might change attitudes." said Ken Walley ACG, CL during his meeting review as the General Evaluator. In his evaluation of Barbara's speech Ken Blake ACS, CL spoke of losing a spouse himself and applauded her courage to face hardships by helping others learn from her experience. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL, doing double duty as the evaluator for Louis's Ice Breaker commented on how Louis already had the ingenuity and speaking basics to become a future contest winner. They were two truly exquisite evaluations. The functionaries for the meeting were Jamie Waters as our timer., Ken Walley ACG, CL doubling as Grammarian and Greg Hentze handling the duties of AH Counter for his first time. Barbara Cusack's Mom and Dad who were there to hear her speak, Yolanda and Bob Choser handled the Vote Counter duties. They also gave wonderful and enthusiastic praise for our meeting. Greg Hentze became our newest member by joining the club after the meeting! Welcome Greg! This was a great meeting I wish that more people had been there to enjoy it. I guess they have no excuses now.

Before the Jan. 10th 2008 meeting started Barbara Cusack gave two speeches to Ken Walley, ACG, CL for evaluation and credit towards her basic manual. The first Speech was about her hometown. "Growing up in Orlando" which told about her early life and what it was like to be in Orlando when it was not the large city that it has become. Barbara's second speech titled "Destiny" which was a true-life, hard reality fairy tale. This left Barbara with only one speech to give to become eligible for the International Speech Contest.

My vote for "Best Meeting of the Year" would go to the "Voting" themed meeting Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 had on January 10th, 2008! Our Toastmaster was Bob Blaydes, CC who was the primary (pardon the pun) force behind the meeting. Bob gave us many reasons to celebrate the power of the ballot. He reminded us of just how important our right to choose was. "Only 520 votes were the difference between George Bush and Al Gore in Florida in the 2000 elections. Just 520!" Also making his platform known was Table Topics Master Ken Blake ACS, CL who asked some tough questions about both the process and the subject. Ken Walley ACG, CL was asked "Why should I vote?" Dennis Gola ACS, CL was asked if it "Would be a good idea to do away with the Electoral College vote and adopt the Popular vote?" Susan Deichen was asked about what attracted her to a particular candidate. Diana Walley ACG, CL was asked if it would be a good idea to lower the voting age. Joshua Brandt was asked if it was time for a woman president. At the request of Ken B., Joe Cannizzaro, a life-long republican, got to give his impressions of Barack Obama. We had two amazing speeches again this week. Our first speaker was Dennis Gola ACS, CL who gave a speech titled "The Interesting Thing About July" which, in keeping with the theme of the meeting was about July Perry who set off a race riot and lynching in Ocoee, Florida in 1920. July and a friend had taken upon themselves as an African-Americans to attempt to vote. This was a powerful and thought-provoking speech. Speaking second was Diana Walley ACG, CL with a speech titled "Who Can We Trust?" The speech brought up an intriguing question. She gave examples of how we learn from betrayal and how to place and receive trust in others. Both Diana's and Dennis's speeches are worthy candidates for the upcoming International Speech Contest. Louis Cianfrogna threw his hat into the ring to be our General Evaluator for his first time and did a remarkable job at that position. He was supported by two strong evaluators: Barbara Cusack and Jamie Waters. Both evaluations were insightful and helpful to our speakers. Our functionaries tonight were AH Counter Joe Cannizzaro, Timer Ken Walley and Susan Deichen as Grammarian.. Joshua Brandt filled in as Vote Counter. Our guest for tonight Walter Moryan was very impressed with the meeting and looks forward to returning to the club in the future. This meeting would any election as a great Toastmasters meeting!

The new year started with a BANG and another wonderful Club #28 meeting! The theme of the January 3rd 2008 meeting was "New Beginnings" and to start us on this journey through 2008 was Toastmaster and new President Ken Walley, ACG, CL. Ken came prepared with a "Top 10" list of the most popular New Year's resolutions. "Spending more time with family and friends" according to Ken was the top resolution. Ken's wife, Table Topic Master Diana Walley ACG, CL brought up a few resolutions of her own in her table topics session. Her first question was to Susan Deichen "What is a service that you could use for free?" Diana next asked her husband "How could you lose weight?" Although Ken denied the need, he mentioned eating right and exercise. Paul Hagge was asked what he could do to "Green Up" his house. Dr. Mike Deichen was given a chance to come up with a home/business plan. One of our guests, Eric Olsen was asked the question of "What did you do for Christmas?" Our other guest, Lindsay Braun was given the question "Where do you work and what do you do?" On a night that was a first in anyone's long memory as all three of our speakers failed to show so Joe Cannizzaro and Ken Walley, ACG, CL stepped in to give "hip pocket" speeches. Ken gave a speech from the Toastmaster International "The Better Speaker Series" titled "Beginning Your Speech" . Ken used humor and examples to show how to get the attention of the audience at the start a speech. Joe Cannizzaro gave a remarkable speech titled "The Middle East" about how fundamentalist Islam found its renaissance during the Afghanistan war against the Soviet Union and America's covert interest in the war. For an "off the cuff" speech it was well developed, entertaining and educational. Ken Blake ACS, CL and Mike Deichen both gave masterful evaluations of these two great speeches. Also great was Susan Deichen who covered as the General Evaluator for her first time and did a wonderful job! Our timer was Paul Hagge,doing double duty was Joe Cannizzaro as our Grammarian and Louis Cianfrogna gave one of the best AH Counter reports ever. Our guest, Eric Olson also did excellent as our vote counter. All of our guests, Kate McHugh, Lindsay Braun, Eric Olson and Greg Hentze were very enthusiastic about the meeting! Eric joined our club after the meeting!! Welcome Eric. This was a great meeting and a great beginning to the new year!

Christmas music floated from the meeting room for our 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 Christmas Party and Installation of Officers to the far reaches of the 3rd floor as we "decked the halls" with festive decorations and lights. A great job was done by our decorating committee Susan Deichen, Dr. Michael Deichen and Bob Blaydes, CC! We even had little stockings with candy canes at ever seat thanks to Susan! Also bringing joy to our celebration was our Master of Ceremonies Diana Walley, ACG, CL. Diana mixed the twin themes of Orlando Toastmasters Club history and the Holiday Season together as we went through the evening. Even had this evening been just an "ordinary" meeting, it still would not have been ordinary thanks to our two featured speakers for this evening. In keeping with the spirit of the meeting, our first speaker, Paul Hagge made a case supporting the existence of Santa Clause with the use of evidence supplied to him by his pre-school niece. Like Paul's speech, the results were compelling! Paul's speech was titled "Christmas Eyes" because it was seen from the eyes of a child. Our second speaker Jose Cotelo told of an amazing story of a young man who graduated from college and started his own business by the age of 20 after growing up as a "wild child" and overcoming a challenging family life. The speech was his Ice Breaker (titled "Evolution") and was as fascinating as any novel. Jose has a bright future. Evaluations of our speakers were then presented by Joe Cannizzaro and Ken Blake, ACS, CL. Both evaluations were filled with positive accolades for two excellent speeches. The club was next treated to the bitter-sweet Farewell Address of Dennis Gola, ACS, CL our outgoing President. Dennis expressed sadness because he was unable to carry on as President for our next term (he will be back and he is also returning as an officer) but he had many accomplishments to look back upon over his term in office. Dennis highlighted that the club is on a solid path for the future. He thanked his fellow officers and members for the tremendous support that he had received as President. Dennis introduced our Area 49 Governor Bruce Gould who honored the club with words of admiration and a reminder of the upcoming officer training sessions. Gov. Gould then presided over the Toastmasters Induction of Officers ceremony the "Passing of the Gavel". Inducted this night into office was Treasurer Joe Cannizzaro; Vice President of Public Relations Dennis Gola, ACS, CL; Vice President of Membership Dr. Michael Deichen; Vice President of Education Susan Deichen and President Kenneth H. Walley ACG, CL. Also taking office this night would be Secretary Barbara Cusack and Sergeant at Arms Ben Jackson. After President Walley was handed the gavel he gave his Inaugural Address that was simply titled "#3". This was Ken's third time being induced as President of Club #28. Ken made a plea for support noting that he learned more from his fellow Toastmasters than he could ever teach them. "This club is larger than any one person. That is why the call it a 'club'." Said Ken. "I am going to need all of the help I can get." Ken praised outgoing President Gola calling him a "tough act to follow" and one of the "most effective Presidents that this club has ever had." Ken's goals for the next six months are to keep growing in membership, both with new members and also by returning past members to the fold. He also put his focus back on the Presidents Distinguished Award program as well. "I have a feeling that this club is going to do great things. It will be a great year, as great as the people who are in this club.". Diana closed by wishing everyone a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The holidays got off to a great start with the December 6th 2007 "Happy Holidays" themed meeting! We had a great present for the club as Jamie Walters became the newest member of the club and started off the meeting with an excellent invocation. Club President Dennis Gola, ACS, CL was our Toastmaster on this enchanted night and spread a lot of Christmas joy. Dennis gave us some "holiday history", informed us of some holidays we might not even be aware of this time of they year, as well as a few cherished memories of his own that made our evening as bright as a shining star on the top of a well decorated tree. Dennis gave a few presents to our members also in the form of Table Topics questions while doubling as our Table Topics Master. Barbara Cusack was asked what her her favorite pie to bake for the holidays was. Her answered was "apple" after some deep soul searching. Ken Blake ACS, CL was asked what food he would chose if today was to be a "National _________ Day" Ken reminisced about traditional Jewish fare. Ken Walley ACG, CL had the toughest question of all. Dennis noted that Pearl Harbor Day fell on the same day as "National Cotton Candy Day". He asked Ken how one justify the two together? Ken paid tribute to those who gave their life for our county and suggested cotton candy to celebrate the freedom we enjoy. Josh Brandt was asked what he would use in place of a Christmas tree in order to help save our environment. Josh had a great answerer: an artificial tree! Returning guest Susan Lee was asked a question about what animal we should have a national celebration of. "Cows" rated very high in her answer. We had three speeches that were simply exquisite! Starting with Joe Cannizzaro who told about going to college in Australia (Titled: "College in Australia"). This speech has so many great adventures in it that it could be the basis of four or five speeches! Dr. Mike Deichen, already on speech #7, gave an amazing speech titled "The Mass Psychology of Voting" that looked into what makes people vote. He came to the refreshing conclusion that people vote not because they think that their vote really counts but because of peer pressure. Diana Walley ACG, CL gave a humorous speech that almost everyone could relate to. Her speech was about working in a mad house under a repressive regime while having to tip-toe through endless regulations and rules. She had everyone laughing with her speech "My Job is for the Birds!" Jumping in to handle the General Evaluator position for the first time was Barbara Cusack who did exceptional work. She had the pleasure of introducing Ken Blake ACS, CL, Jamie Walters and Bob Blaydes, CC. All of them were able to give helpful advice, and tons of encouragement! Our functionaries tonight included Joshua Brandt who did an impressive effort as Ah Counter for his first time at that position, Ken Walley, ACG, CL who was our Timer, Susan Deichen as Grammarian and Susan Lee who filled in as our Vote Counter. Besides Susan, Darren Driver and Davis Tademy visited our club. As Barbara said in her meeting review: "This meeting was a wonderful way to get the holidays started on a bright note!" Happy Holidays to everyone!

The theme for the November 29th 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "The Simpler Life!" and it was simply an awesome meeting! In order to make things simple, let me break things down alphabetically by last name: Ken Blake ACS, CL was our Table Topics Master and asked eight fascinating questions of Josh, Diana, Ken, Mike, Jamie, Susan, Joe and Susan Lee. Joshua Brandt served as our Vote Counter for the night. Josh also answered the Table Topics question: "How far would you travel to a sporting event?" Pretty far, he'd go to Chicago to see the Bears play! Joe Cannizzaro wore two hats as our Grammarian and AH Counter doing an excellent job at both! Joe answered the Table Topics question "What would be in capsule that would ensure great health?" Joe remembered a product called 'Juice Plus'. Dr. Mike Deichen gave his first evaluation of Diana's speech and he made it look like3 he had been giving evaluations all of his life. He gave some wonderful advice, and a lot of encouragement! Dr. Mike also was asked about Doctors making house calls...believe it or not some still do! Susan Deichen was our first speaker this evening and she gave an inspiring speech with the great title of "Never Give UP! Never Surrender!" The speech told of some of her heroes who created a legacy with courage and conviction including Babe Ruth and Chuck Norris. It was a captivating speech! Susan also answered the question: "What modern convenience would you gladly give up?" Susan Lee was our guest tonight and bravely answered a Ken B. Table Topic question of "If you could go back in time to a simpler life, where and when would you go?" When asked about our meeting she said that she really liked what we did here and planned to join us again! That would be great Susan! Diana Walley ACG, CL return back to the club for the first time in almost a year to give a speech titled "What to Do if Your Child Goes Missing?" Diana gave some practical advice for a situation that is every parents worst nightmare. Diana also answered the question of "Would the world be a better place with no cell phones or i-pods?" It was great to have Diana back and she pledges to return more often! Ken Walley ACG, CL was our Toastmaster and gave an number of excellent ideas for simplifying our lives such as: Learning to say "No", Using only one credit card, Cleaning out our closets, buying Christmas gifts all year long and many other great ideas. Ken W. was also the Acting president, General Evaluator, Invocation and Pledge and Evaluator for Susan's speech. Ken answered the Table Topics question "What item of value would you never part with?" Jamie Walters returned to Club #28 and filled in as our Timer. Jamie was given the Table Topics of "What Price would you not pay for gas?" Jamie said it would depend on how bad he had to get somewhere. Jamie also said he going to join the club! Welcome Jamie! This was simply a fantastic meeting!

The November 15th 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Favorite Things" themed meeting turned out to be a favorite thing for all of those that attended. Bob Blaydes, CC was our toastmaster and he came prepared for the meeting, even re-writing the famous "Favorite Things" song with new lyrics to fit our more modern times! Dennis Gola, ACS, CL used that song as the basis of the Table Topics session. Dennis called upon Ken Walley ACG, CL first. He was asked about "Brown paper packages tied up with string". Paul Hagge was asked about "His favorite season" which was fall because of Cornhusker football. Josh Brandt said his favorite sound was the screech of brakes as people stopped to look at the Christmas decorations on his house. Ralph Jean-Paul remembered his "favorite non- typical meal" which turned out to be a "4th meal" from Taco Bell! Jose Cotel told of an "unpleasant encounter with an animal" which turned out to a dog bite. Louis Cianfrogna spoke of his least favorite insect. Two of our favorite things on this night were the speeches. The first speech, by Barbara Cusack turned out to be a lively, funny and interesting story of working in the housecleaning business. "Queen of Clean" was the title of the speech but "Queen of Entertainment" is the title that should be given to Barbara for that witty and fun speech. Ken Walley ACG, CL gave his 2nd speech from the "Leadership Excellence Series" this speech dealt with Toastmasters Ethics and Standards. Two of the best evaluations of the year were preformed by Susan Deichen and Paul Hagge. Both were right on the mark with helpful ideas and insightful comments. Almost as impressive as the evaluations were the observations of our General Evaluator, Ken Blake ACS, CL. Ken noted that the meeting was "...fun and educational. It was interesting, but also filled with a lot of stuff that made you think... but not too hard." The technical table included Ken W. as the Grammarian, Jose Cotelo as our AH Counter, Louis Cianfrogna as our Timer and new member Joshua Brandt as our Vote Counter. This turned out to be a wonderful meeting and guest Mike Melicka echoed that sentiment when he answered President Gola's question of what he had thought of the meeting. As long as we have meetings like this Club #28 will be a "favorite thing" for many Toastmasters to come.

The November 8th 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Oxymoron" themed meeting was more than a "Qualified Success" it was "Awfully Good"! Our Toastmaster, Table Topics Master and General Evaluator for this meeting was Ken Walley ACG, CL who led us through the meeting with the help of a list of 600 oxymoron, giving him an "artificial intelligence" as he mentioned many of those throughout the evening! His "constant infrequent" usage of the contradictory phases did not stop with Table Topics. Ken assigned an oxymoron to each Toastmaster to comment on. Eddie Selover was given the phase "Microsoft Works". Ken Blake, ACS, CL talked about "Necessary Evil", Louis Cianfrogna spoke on a "Working Vacation". Susan Deichen used a pig as an example to describe the term "Pretty Ugly", Guest Jose Cotelo covered "Virtual Reality". Our other guest, Sharon Kazzowka took a stab at "Work Party". All of their answers were "Extra Ordinary"! There was a "Realistic fantasy" to our speakers, that being that they were all of the highest professional quality. Joe Cannizzaro came through with a remarkable follow up to a sales speech he gave a couple of weeks ago. This one was titled "Juice Plus Plus" which told of even more of the benefits of that product. Dr. Mike Deichen gave a speech (titled "A Special Christening") that was loaded with great "word pictures" about the rituals of attending a college football game. You could smell the steaks cooking at the tailgate party outside of the stadium! The evaluations were also "exceedingly exceptional" Ken Blake ACS, CL showed why he was a award winning evaluator with his review of Joe's speech. Eddie Selover also highlighted the skills of a master reviewer when he gave an impressive overview of Mike's speech. The Vote Counter for this evening was our guest Sharon Kazzowska who headed up another remarkable team of functionaries: Timer Barbara Cusack, AH Counter Louis Cianfrogna and Grammarian Susan Deichen. This was a "devilishly heavenly" meeting that once again showed how the best in Toastmasters can shine through at Club #28!

There was no risk of a boring Toastmasters meeting at the "Take a Risk/Play it Safe" Themed November 1st, 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting. Ken Walley, ACG, CL was the Toastmaster and started the meeting by seeing who would take risks such as, skydiving, doing missionary work in hostile countries, quitting their job for the chance at a better job, living in a tree for a week or betting on the Chicago Bears. He found that the club was full of brave risk-takers. Ken also spoke about "playing it safe" when it comes to drinking and driving, water safety, lighting storms and getting medical check ups. A few of our Toastmasters took a risk though answering some of Dr. Mike Deichen's Table Topics questions! I was unable to get the notes as to who answered what questions but Mike used examples from the likes of successful risk-takers like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Donald Trump to create his inquiries. He asked questions of Dennis Gola, ACS, CL; Joe Cannizzaro, Barbara Cusack, Adam Scoggins, CC, and Tony Betts, CC. This turned out to be another excellent Table Topics session with some very insightful answers. Our speakers did not "play it safe" with their speeches either. Instead we were treated to an amazing evening of dazzling speeches by Gladston Fuller and Paul Hagge that broke new ground for both speakers and paid off with great dividends for their audience. Gladston gave his Ice Breaker speech titled "Who Am I?" He told of his path of awareness that went through Jamaica and the United States as well as tragedy and the determination to succeed. Gladston gave a beautifully written and delivered speech! Paul Hagge came through with what many thought was his best effort yet. His speech, "Sometimes It's OK to Sleep With The Lights On" told the story of a family growing up in Nebraska in a simpler time and place, except for the state prison next door! Paul told of the night that gunfire was heard and his father, a policeman, had to go investigate. Told with remarkable word pictures and images, Paul's childhood came to life. It was storytelling at its best! The Evaluations section of the meeting was handled with the same professional grace that is expected of Ken Blake, ACS, CL. Ken had help however making this part of the meeting a success. One of our Toastmasters who has become a very good as an evaluator is Barbara Cusack. Barbara gave Gladstons's review and filled it with encouragement and great advice. Dennis Gola ACS, CL of course is an old hand at great evaluations. Again he used the time allotted to help Paul improve his speaking techniques. We had a star-laden cast of functionaries with Susan Deichen doing fabulous work as our timer. Joe Cannizzaro handled the duties of Grammarian as well as any seasoned Toastmaster. Speaking of old hands, two of our returning Toastmasters from our fabled past stepped in to help out as well. Tony Betts, CC, proved that being the AH Counter is like riding a bicycle and Adam Scoggins, CC volunteered to be our Vote Counter. Both Adam and Tony made commitments to re-join our club and Tony signed up to be our Toastmaster for next week. How's that for taking a risk? We had two guests, Joshua Brandt and Henry B. Stone who both showed an interest in joining the club also. It is "playing it safe" to say that this meeting was a hit!

There was nothing scary about the October 25th 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Halloween" themed meeting except for how good of a meeting it was! Our Toastmaster Paul Hagge, brought the "dead to life" as our host for the evening. Paul did a remarkable undertaking (pardon the pun) as Toastmaster giving ghoulish Halloween History as well as some frightening stories of his own. Ken Walley ACG, CL was our Table Topics Master who asked some devilish questions about Halloween. Ken's first question went to Toastmaster Bob Blaydes, CC: "Can you tell us a Halloween story from your past?" Bob told us a tale of a Snoopy costume that has haunted him ever since. Gladston Fuller was asked "What was the best Halloween costume that you have ever seen?" Debra Carr was asked about the scariest movie she had ever seen. Debra picked "The Exorcist" a movie which has given many people nightmares over the years. Ken Blake, ACS, CL was asked to describe a haunted house. "Do you believe in ghosts and have you ever had a supernatural or strange experience you cannot explain?" was the question given to a visiting Toastmaster Joe Jowdy. Lastly was the question given to guest Jose Lopez "What is the scariest place that you have ever been?" Jose told about a local Halloween Horror House attraction that was complete with Zombies, Butchers with body parts and people who chase after you with chainsaws! It was a perfect answer for a Halloween theme night! There were no Boos from ghosts... or our audience with our two speakers on this night. And why not? The speakers were the Deichens, the first husband and wife team to speak on the same night in over two years at Club #28 and the speeches they gave were brilliant. Susan Deichan gave a speech titled "The Little Seed in the Paper Cup" about her experiences as a Kindergarten teacher. This speech was profound in what she taught us from what she had learned from the smallest of teachers. I hope that she saves this speech for our next International Speech contest. Not to be outdone, Dr. Mike Deichen gave another excellent effort for the 2nd week in a row with a speech titled "High Blood Pressure" about how to control a medical problem that effects almost everyone in their lifetime. He recommended we that we get back to the basis of fruits and vegetables, lose weight and avoid process foods where up to 80% of the salt in most diets comes from. One thing is for sure, that because of Dr. Mike, we are going to be a healthier Toastmasters club! Bob Blaydes, CC doubled as both our General Evaluator and gave a euphonious review of Mike's speech. Another illuminative evaluation of Susan's speech was given by Barbara Cusack. Barbara as well wore two hats being our Vote Counter tonight as well. Debra Carr did commendable work as our Grammarian, Gladston Fuller served as AH Counter and Ken Blake, ACS, CL manned the time machine as our timer. This Halloween brought the Club members of Club #28 no tricks just a very yummy treat with a superior meeting.

The theme for the October 18th, 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "Potpourri, Hodgepodge & Trivia!" but the meeting was anything but trivial, although it was a lot of fun! Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL packed the meeting with numerous, odd and mostly useless facts such as "A hummingbird beats its wings 70 times per second" and "One percent of all US businesses let their employees nap during business hours". Another Toastmaster who had some great trivia was Dr. Mike Deichen. Mike filled the position of Table Topics Master and his first endeavor was truly remarkable. Ken W. got the first question from Mike: "Tells a humorous animal story" Ken told of his pet cat who "hunted" humans from the top of his refrigerator! Dennis Gola ACS, CL told of something good that "Comes in a small package." Ken Blake ACS, CL was asked to speak on the care and feeding of Hamsters. Paul Hagge told us of the opulent wonders of flying business class when asked about a "trip where sleep is a great part of the experience." Gladston Fuller remembered a time when he "ate like a horse!" By the time Gladston had finished, we all felt like we just had a Thanksgiving dinner. Debra Carr finished out our Table Topics session by talking about something that she would hate to lose and something that she would love to get rid of. We had two excellent speeches, both of them from the second project in the basic manual. Speaking first was Joe Cannizzaro who gave a sales-pitch type of speech titled "Prevention" about a juice product that would help ward off illness and disease. Part of his speech had Joe eating raw vegetables with a less-than-overjoyed look on his face! Another awesome speech was by Ben Jackson who's speech "Invest in the Wave of the Past" was a humorous address about a cell phone that was indestructible. Ken Blake, ACS, CL served as our General Evaluator and had the good fortune to introduce Paul Hagge to give Joe's evaluation. Paul's evaluation was his first ever but it was an excellent review. Paul pointed out many great things that Joe had accomplished in only two speeches he had delivered before the club! Dennis Gola ACS, CL gave an evaluation that went overtime for good reason. He had so many different encouragements and advice for both of our speakers that he had to cover them all. Jamie Waters returned to us after a long absence and did a super job serving as our Grammarian, Debra Carr filled in as our AH Counter and Gladston Fuller was our Timer also for his first time on this night. The most happy news was that our Vote Counter, Louis Cianfrogna not only did a superb job in that capacity but became our newest member as well! Even though the meeting had a lot of information that most people could not use, such as "Havergal Brian wrote 10 symphonies between the ages of 89 and 92." The one fact that everyone DID take with them was that this was a great way to spend this Thursday night!

The theme for the Wednesday, October 10th, 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "Winners or Losers!" but there were only winners who attended this excellent meeting! Meeting for the first time on a Wednesday since the mid-90's because of the meeting rooms being booked up for this Thursday, the turnout was very good! Eddie Selover started out the meeting on a high note when he brought-back-by-popular-demand his engaging rendition of "The Creation of the Pledge of Allegiance". Toastmaster Ken Blake, ACS, CL was the leader of the meeting and gave us a tour-de-force of the thrills of victory and the agonies of defeat by regaling us with a number of stories and anecdotes, including the saga of the fan who caught the Barry Bonds record-breaking baseball. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL filled in as our Table Topics Master and really came through with some winning questions. Ken Walley ACG, CL got the first question which required him to pick the World Series Champion. Ken said The Rockies and the Indians would vie for the prize with the Rockies coming out on top. Ken Blake, ACS, CL was questioned about George Steinbrenner. Eddie Selover was asked "What is the best way to lose weight?" Eddie said the only way he did it as an adult was when he had his mouth wired shut for braces. Joe Cannizzaro told a great story of the "Last time he lost his mind" which was when he was studying for a medical exam...in a foreign language. Debra Carr told us how to keep from getting lost and Gladston Fuller talked about a sport that none of us knew anything about, Hockey. Everyone was a winner in Table Topics because all of the answers were worthy of a ribbon! Two brilliant speeches followed our Table Topics session. The first speech was an Ice Breaker by Ben Jackson. Ben's speech, titled "All About Me" was inspiring and entertaining. Ben told of wanting to become a professional musician and then coming to the realization that he might have to redefine himself in order to pursue a different career. Ben also showed many of the abilities of a dynamic speaker. Also showing the potential to be a great speaker was Dr. Mike Deichen who gave his second strong speech in two weeks. This week he spoke on a subject that has the world's attention in a speech titled "Global Warming". Mike gave practical ways that we could help combat a growing threat to our environment. Eddie Selover, returning from the club after winning the Division "C" Humorous Speech Contest over the weekend, served both as our General Evaluator as well as the evaluator for Ben Jackson's Ice Breaker. Ken Walley, ACG, CL also did double duty along with being the Timer to give the evaluation of Dr. Mike's speech. It should be noted that the Technical team of Ken W., as well as Grammarian Susan Deichen, Vote Counter Joe Cannizzaro and AH Counter Gladston Fuller all served with distinction. Susan, Joe and Galdston were all "first timers" at their positions. Not only were everyone who attended this meeting winners but so was the club itself. This was a meeting that any Toastmasters Club could be proud of!

There were no bumps and bruises along the way of the October 4th, 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Bumps and Bruises" themed meeting but Toastmaster Dennis Gola, CS, CL brought in a goldmine of information about everything about bumps (from that which goes 'bump' in the night to the speed bumps in the road) and a few things about bruises including a brief explanation of bruises from our resident doctor, Dr. Mike Deichen. Jumping on the slippery path of bumps and bruises was our Table Topics Master Ken Walley ACG, CL who challenged our members with some good questions on the subject: "What was the worst that you have ever hurt yourself physically?" was asked of returning toastmaster Bob Blaydes, CC who told a grand tale of self-inflected woe. Dennis next was asked to tell a story about overcoming adversity. He turned to his days as a baseball umpire and found a lively story. "How do you stop a little girl from crying because she skinned her knee?" was the challenge given Barbara Cusack. Barbara had a great answer: "Bribe her with candy! That's the cure!" "Dr. Mike Dichen was asked what are the good and bad things about being a doctor?" Our guest, Gladston Fuller was asked "What good comes out of failing?" and Ken Blake ACS, CL was assigned the query" What is worse, Physical or Mental pain?" We had two excellent speeches on this evening. Our first speaker was Joe Cannizzarro who was giving his Ice Breaker speech. Joe gave a speech that many veteran Toastmasters would have been proud of! Joe's speech, titled "A Brief Summary of my Travels" took us around the globe and had enough twists and turns that his evaluator said "I see at least four more speeches coming out of this Ice Breaker!" Our second speaker, Dr. Mike Deichen, gave an interesting if somewhat scary and very informative speech titled "Protecting yourself in a Pandemic". He traced the recent history of mass illness and how to survive future events which are bound to happen again! Ken Blake, ACS, CL filled in as our General Evaluator and had the pleasure of introducing Barbara Cusack and Dennis Gola ACS, CL who both gave outstanding evaluations of our speakers. It should be noted that that our Technical Table preformed without any 'bumps' along the way as well. Bob Blaydes was our Timer, Ken Walley ACG, CL was our AH Counter and Ken Blake, ACS, CL was our Grammarian. Doing a fantastic job as our Vote Counter was our guest and what would turn out to be our newest member, Gladston Fuller! Welcome Gadston! Again, even though we had a small turnout we had a powerful and inventive meeting that was well worth the trip to the library!

The September 27th 2007 "Space Aliens!" themed Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was out of this world. Guiding us through the universe of UFO sightings, Area 51, strange abductions and little gray beings with big black eyes was our Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL. Helping out to beam aboard some extra insights into the space alien lifestyle was Table Topics Master Dennis Gola ACS, CL. One of our visitors, Ben Jackson was asked by Dennis to define what a space alien was. A tough question since Ben has not been lucky enough to have seen one yet. Asked of Susan Deichen what person in the room was most likely to be abducted by an alien, she immediately offered up her husband Dr. Mike Deichen. "He would be the most interesting specimen to them..." she said. Another guest Steve Montgomery spoke about alien spacecraft recommending a hydrogen-based model to traverse space. Derek Green spoke on "Do you believe in space aliens?" Derek thought that it is possible for other life forms to be in the universe but unlikely they are here. Debra Carr when asked if she would take go "where no one has gone before" (meaning exploring the galaxy) with Capt. James T. Kirk. She said that she could trust the good Captain to keep her safe during the voyage. Everyone had great answers! The speeches were All-Universe as well! Our first speaker was Paul Hagge who's speech titled "Shake it Off!" was an inspirational speech that focused on how to learn from defeat and how to triumph over adversity. Ken Blake ACS, CL gave a "tune up" to the Area 49 Humorous Speech Contest on Saturday with his winning club contest speech "Please Don't Stop!" Ken Walley ACG, CL, speaking to complete a project from the Interpretive Reading Advanced Manual gave a reading from the "Orson Well's Mercury Theatre 'War of the Worlds' by H.G. Wells" radio play. This was a very hard project as Ken had to play all of the different characters. The evaluations were given by Barbara Cusack for Paul speech, Ken W., who asked for help from his fellow Toastmasters to give some tips for Ken B's speech and Dennis Gola, ACS, CL who commented on Ken W's reading. Ben Jackson bravely filled in as our Vote Counter, Debra Carr was the AH Counter and rounding out the functionaries were Susan and Mike Deichen as our timer and Grammarian respectively. All and all this was a stellar meeting. The best news of this meeting was that Derek Green and Ben Jackson both joined our club! It looks like our club will live long and prosper.

The September 20th 2007 "Your Money or Your Life" themed meeting took place at the Herndon Public Library as the rain came down and the lighting flashed. Club #28 members did not let that deter them from coming together to have an amazing session. Even with going a few extra miles and fighting the unruly weather, Club #28 had a very good turn- out for the meeting. Good thing too as it was a typical Club #28 triumph. Thanks first to Eddie Selover who did a superb job of guiding our meeting as Toastmaster. He brought a wealth of facts on money management which, if our club members follow his advice, should make us all rich. Thanks also to our Table Topics Master Paul Hagge, who asked some challenging questions on the subject of money, and life: "Can Money bring happiness?" was the question put forth to Barbara Cusack. She answered in the affirmative. "A little more income would make me happier." she said. "Has Anyone ever loaned you money and never paid you back?" was asked of Ken Blake, ACS, CL. Ken said he had a simple solution to this dilemma and told us how not be taken again. "Has anyone ever been more interested in your money than you?" was an easy question for Eddie Selover. "Being as I have no great wealth"... started Eddie, "I still cannot rule out my charming personality and good looks." Another question, this one asked of Ken Walley, ACG, CL was "Ever have something offered that was 'just too good to be true', and find out that it was just that?" Ken told about how he was saved from looking into an internet scam. Sarah Stack had an impressive answer for the question: "Have you ever won something that was greater than the reward?" The last question went to our guest Joe Cannizzaro. "Have you ever been tempted by a 'get rich quick scheme?" Joe told about an opportunity to invest in manufacturing merchandise in South East China that did not work out as well as he had hoped. We had two speakers who also gave very different performances of two very different speeches. Ken Walley ACG, CL gave a speech from the Toastmasters Leadership Excellence Series on "Goal Setting and Planning". In the 10 to 15 minute speech, Ken used his audience instead of a Power-point projector and covered the basics of how set goals and plan for the future. Our second speaker was Dennis Gola, ACS, CL who's speech "Burlap is a Man's Best Friend" gave a very theatrical presentation of how not to give police K-9 shows, at least not with a temperamental dog named King! Our General Evaluator for the evening was Dennis as well and he introduced Ken Blake, ACS, CL who gave a tremendous evaluation of Ken W's speech. Barbara Cusack bravely gave her first Toastmasters evaluation of Dennis's speech and it was every bit as good as most seasoned evaluators would have given. Barbara by the way did double duty as our Grammarian. Rounding out the functionaries were Sarah Stack as timer, Debra Carr as our AH Counter and Joe Cannizzaro as our vote counter. All did excellent work! Rich Hasgood another guest, was pleasantly surprised with our meeting saying "he was much more impressed that he thought he would be!" Also returning to the club after a long absence was John Bonowitz -Coffey. The best news of the night was yet to come: Debra and Joe joined to become our newest members!!! Welcome Joe and Debra!

It was a great idea to attend the September 13th 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Great Ideas!" themed meeting. The only problem was that not enough Toastmasters attended and they truly missed out. Ken Walley ACG, CL started out the meeting with a inspiring Invocation and Pledge and then, as the acting Vice President of Education, became the acting President as well. Once the club business was covered, Ken became the Toastmaster for the night explaining that he was going to "rely on those present for the 'great ideas'." After all, said Ken, "There is nothing more powerful than human ingenuity. With time, all obstacles that plague mankind, be it poverty, hunger, disease or crime will be solved." Ken had some compelling questions to ask as our Table Topics Master. Ken Blake ACS, CL was asked "What was the greatest idea that you've ever heard of?" Dr. Princess Anita was asked the question "Who has inspired you?" She mentioned that her greatest influence was her father. Ken then turned to our guests from some answers. "What great ideas do you see coming from the future?" was handled very well by Derek Green. Returning visitor Debra Carr spoke about "great ideas from the past." The last question was a call for guest John Ekins to speak about "What is a great Idea in general?" All of the answers tonight were thought provoking, even enlightening. So were our two featured speakers for this evening. Speaking first was Ken Blake ACS, CL who spoke about a seminar he had attended earlier in the day. Titled "What I Saw Today" he told about two speakers. The first speaker did not give a presentation worthy of an audience and the second speaker gave a dynamite performance. The difference was that the second presenter was a member of Toastmasters. It was interesting to see why one succeeded and why the other one failed. Our next speaker was Eddie Selover who gave an astounding speech (Titled "Windows on the World") about being in New York City during the 9/11 attacks. It was simply amazing hearing an eye witness account of history. Ken Walley ACG, CL again filled in also as the General Evaluator and while he was still at the lectern, Ken gave an evaluation for Eddie's speech. Eddie himself excelled with an top-notch evaluation of Ken Blake's speech. Besides being the Sgt. at Arms, Invocation and Pledge presenter, acting President, Toastmaster, Table Topics Master, General Evaluator and evaluator of a speech, Ken Walley ACG, CL also filled the position of AH Counter. Not to be outdone, Eddie Selover was Speaker #2, evaluated a speech and served as our Grammarian. Filling out the technical table was Dr. Princess Anita who served as our Timer and guest Tom Razzano who bravely stepped in as our Vote Counter! We also had another guest Robb Zeiser who made the comment that he "Didn't think that the club would be able to pull this off" but said Robb, "I was impressed with the teamwork and the ability of the club to produce such a good meeting." Almost all of our guests stated that they wanted to join! That is good news when our guests outnumbered our members this meeting 5 to 4! Better yet, it was a great idea to come to this meeting!

When Vice President of Education Cathy Goonen announced the date for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest on September 6th 2007, she could not have known that Club #28 would be producing two contest worthy of it history of 1st class club contests that are often the envy of other clubs in the Area. "It took the effort of the entire club to make these contests a success." said contest organizer Ken Walley ACG, CL. "This year, Club #28 had a wealth of talent both from established members and our newer members who have recently joined the club. Thanks to everyone working together, we had two of our bests contests ever!" From the start of the first contest, The Evaluation competition which was held in our regular meeting room, the Palm Room at the Orlando Public library, guests and visitors were treated to some truly brilliant displays of oratory. Contest Master Sarah Stack got the festivities underway with an enthusiastic welcome and a brief reading of the rules. She then introduced our Chief Judge for the evening Luvenia Hart who has been a past contest judge at many of our contests. Luvenia is a member of our sister club Orange County Toastmasters Club #129. She announced the speaking order and proclaimed the start of the contest. In order to have an evaluation contest, a speech must be given for our contestants to evaluate. Tonight's "test" speaker Tom Jamieson gave an excellent speech that was perfect for the theme of the evening. Tom, who is from the "Let's Talk" Toastmasters Club #4413 gave a speech titled "Laughter Matters" . Tom's speech dealt with the healing properties of humor. He told a story of a man who literally "laughed himself well." Contest Master Sarah Stack then had the Sgt. at Arms lead the evaluation contestants from the room to a place where they could prepare their evaluations. They were given only five minutes and the one by one she had them brought back to give their reviews of Tom's speech. All four contestants gave enlighting and helpful advice while encouraging the speaker to reach his Toastmasters goals. Ken Blake, ACS, CL; Bob Blaydes, Eddie Selover and Dennis Gola, ACS, CL all gave such remarkable evaluations that the judges must of had a tough time deciding on a winner. Coming in second in the contest was Ken Blake, ACS, CL and taking the first place trophy was Dennis Gola, ACS, CL. The Humorous Speech Contest was worthy of a Toastmaster Club many times the size of Orlando Toastmasters Club #28. All who were present can attest that every single humorous speech given on this wonderful night was hilarious! The real winner on this contest was the audience who were laughing so hard at times that they were holding their sides or clapping until their hands were beet red. Going first was Dr. Michael Deichen who's speech "She Screams For Ice Cream!" told of not being able to come through on a promise to his 3 year old niece in a restaurant and ending up having to drag her screaming and clinging to his leg out of the place and down the block! Speaker #2 was Ken Walley, ACG, CL who gave a speech titled "My Curse: Inanimate Objects That Talk Back" in which he told of car alarms, telephone answering machines and computers that seemed to be plotting against him. Speaking next was Ken Blake, ACS, CL who gave a very funny speech titled "Please Don't Stop" about ways to raise money for Club #28 that included extremely far-out ideas to bring in the green. Our last speaker, Eddie Selover, brought down the house with a speech reprised from a regular meeting a few weeks ago simply titled "Dry". Eddie's speech was about how to make a martini. Eddie's humor was as "dry" as the martini that he spoke about. Four very funny speeches and each of them were a lot of fun. Later many members and guests said that this was the highest quality Humorous Speech contest that they have ever heard on a club level. Again it must have been a tough decision for the judges. Ken Blake, ACS, CL however came out on top with Eddie Selover taking the second place award. Besides Luvenia Hart, Club #28 was visited by other dignitaries of the local Toastmasters scene. Helen Joseph, DTM from the "Let's Talk" Club #4413 was there as well as Richard Arden who is the President of Orange County Toastmasters Club #129, Past Distinguished Club #28 President Ed Carmona, ACB was also present as well. We had one guest, Ben Jackson, who had many great things to say about our contest and promised he would return soon as well! The contest could not have been a success without the help of our club members who stood in as functionaries. Our Vote Counter was Helman Romero, our timer was Susan Deichen and our Raffle Master was Dr. Princess Anita. We give a sincere "Thank You" from all of Club #28 to those who made these contests possible. [The rest of this article will be added later.]

The August 31st 2007 "Trash or Treasure" Themed meeting Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was all "treasure" and no "trash"! What a great meeting this turned out to be thanks mostly to our Toastmaster for the night Ken Blake ACS, CL. Ken reminded us that sometimes treasures can turn out to be trash in an instant. Using Barry Bonds's home run record baseball as an example, he pointed out that the taxes from owning the ball were more than the "lucky" guy who caught it could get from selling it at auction! Another treasure was our Table Topics Master Bob Blaydes, CC. Bob gave some of us a few things to think about and we even found some 'gems' in the process. "What "treasures" would you leave with if your house was on fire?" was asked of Susan Deichen. She said irreplaceable family mementos and pictures. "What most would you like to find at a flea market?" was asked of Eddie Selover who dreams of finding a mint condition 007 mini-car set. "What trash do you think has sold for treasure?" Was the question that Ken Blake, ACS, CL who mentioned some over-priced Mustang parts sold to collectors. "What would be only treasure to you?" had Ken Walley, ACG, CL explaining his Christmas Music collection. "What is something special that you would never part with?" Was asked of Crystal Faulk, our guest. Our other guest Debra Carr was asked "What would you bring to the Antiques Road Show Program?" Everyone gave excellent answers and it amazing the variety of interests among our club members. Both of our speeches were exceptional tonight! Helman Romero gave his second speech titled "Columbian Traditions" about life in his homeland. He painted a remarkable picture of Columbia as well as telling a very scary story about when his son was missing and the police had to be called to find him. Next was Eddie Selover who gave a Humorous Speech that won another Toastmaster's Club Humorous Speech contest last week. "The Efficiency Expert" was a remarkable piece of humor that worked on many different levels. The speech, about working in a K- Mart deli for an overachieving and hyperactive boss. Eddie had everyone laughing. Ken Walley ACG, CL filled in as our Master Evaluator as well as giving Eddie's evaluation. Bob Blaydes did another wonderful effort as the evaluator for Helman Romero. It was not a packed room but the meeting was a great success because all of the Toastmaster present who came together to make it work. Susan Diechen was our AH Counter, Mike Deichen was our Timer, Dennis Gola ACS, CL worked as our Grammarian and even our guest, Debra Carr helped out as our Vote Counter. Thank you to everyone for showing such praiseworthy teamwork! As I said before: this meeting was a Toastmasters treasure!

[Editor Note: From this point on, the new Toastmasters awards designations will be used CTM (Competent Toastmaster) will be CC (Competent Communicator), ATMG (Advanced Toastmaster Gold), will now be ACG (Advanced Communicator Gold), ATMS (Advanced Toastmasters Silver), will be referred uniformly as ACS (Advanced Communicator Silver), etc.]

The theme for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 August 23, 2007 meeting was "Confidence!" and I am confident that our meeting was one of the best meetings that many Club #28ers have ever experienced. Confidence was not only the theme but was on display thanks to Ken Walley ATMG, CL who was our Toastmaster this evening. "Confidence is the brother of courage. The power that is in Confidence is surprising. That power multiplies by taking on challenges and defeating fear." Said Ken. A man unafraid of challenges is Dennis Gola ACS, CL who took on the role of Table Topics Master. Paul Hagge was challenged with Dennis's first question about the Consumer Price Index! It was hard for Paul to paint a confident picture of that. Mike Deichen answered the open ended question of "No matter what, I am confident that I can..." His answer was to "succeed in Toastmasters!" Bob Blaydes, CC, got the Table Topic of "I have a NO-Confidence vote for..." Bob picked the mortgage Industry. Eddie Selover was next with the question of "Just between us, in confidence..." Ken Walley ATMG, CL answered the question of having confidence that the quality of movies past will return. Ken Blake ATMS, CL was asked what a "confidence man" was. Throughout Table Topics we had some wonderful answers. We also had three truly impressive speeches. First came an inspiring Ice Breaker by Mari Chumley in which she unfolded her story ("Coming to the USA") about coming to America to enter graduate school and overcoming language barriers. This was followed by Susan Deichen's first speech that had everyone laughing as she told about a road trip ("Lost and Found") to Tallahassee that ended up somewhere in Georgia. Both Ice Breakers were simply awesome! Congratulations Mari and Susan!!! But wait! There was more: Barbara Cusack also gave a yummy speech about how to bake Hungarian Foldover Cookies...in which she brought samples for everyone! There were excellent evaluations by Ken Blake, ATMS, CL (for Mari), Eddie Selover (for Barbara) and special guest evaluator Helen Joseph, DTM for Susan's speech. All were excellent evaluations. Ken W. doubled as the General Evaluator. Helman Romano filled in the role of AH Counter, Bob Blaydes, CC was the Grammarian and Mike Deichen was our vote counter. Rounding out the technical table was Paul Hagge as the timer. We had four guest all of which said wonderful things about our meeting...with confidence! Our guests were Dixia Martinez, Karen Hartner, Yolanda Emmanuel and Maria Vargas. This meeting was not only a meeting about confidence but a good example of it as well.

He was "in the building" for the August 16th 2007 "Elvis Presley" themed meeting. With the rumors that he's still alive, I was hoping that Elvis would show up in person but we had the next best thing to rock the house: Eddie Selover as our Toastmaster! Eddie put on a show that would have made "The King of Rock and Roll" envious. He told us how he became an Elvis fan upon hearing "Heartbreak Hotel" and many other great Elvis facts as well. Ken Walley ATMG, CL filled in as our Table Topics Master and brought back Elvis for a encore with a few Table Topics questions. Ken asked returning Club #28 Toastmaster Russell Russ, CTM why Elvis had been so popular for so long. Susan Deichen was given the question of what her favorite Elvis song was and why. "Love Me Tender" was her answer. Ed Carmona, ATMB spoke about the multi-million dollar business of merchandising celebrities who have died. Our guest, Marlin Castor was asked how he would explain Elvis to a seven year old child asking "Who was Elvis Presley?" The last question asked was of Alexandra Rene who answered "If you were Elvis, how would you spend your day off?" Our two speeches were also #1 hits: returning to the club lectern after a long absence was Paul Hagge who gave an awesome speech titled "Stealing Time" which was about time management which was not only full of great organizational tips but was entertaining and fun as well. Mike Deichen provided another club highlight with his Ice Breaker Speech that painted a great word-picture about being a "Child of the 60's" growing up in Clearwater with a Short Wave Radio set and an antenna as long as his house! Congratulations to both Paul and Mike! The two evaluations were both worthy of gold records. Introduced by our Master Evaluator know himself as "The Elvis of Club #28" was Dennis Gola ATS, CL who reminded us that he is a "General Evaluator". The two Kens, Ken Walley ATMG, CL and Ken Blake ATMS, CL gave the review of Paul and Mike's speeches. Both gave good advice and encouragement. Speaking of encouragement, Mike daughter, Megan Deichen not only brought her boyfriend Reid Shelton to cheer on her dad, but served as our vote counter as well. Yes, her dad won the "Best Speaker" ribbon! Russell was our AH Counter, Susan was our timer for the first time, Ed rounded out our Technical Table as our Grammarian. We had another guest who said some wonderful things about our meeting, Vicky Kreiger and Alexandra Rene who not only said she was joining but signed up to do an Ice Breaker Speech next week! This meeting was no "Hound dog" it was a great success! Elvis has left the building.

The August 9th 2007 "Chocolate" themed meeting was very sweet indeed! Cathy Goonen brought plenty of Chocolate kisses for everyone and told a history of chocolate that dated back to the Aztec Indians of South America. We also learned that eating dark chocolate everyday could help us to live longer! I'm all for that! Eddie Selover conducted one of the most imaginative Table Topics sessions in recent memory. Using the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Eddie asked questions based on the quirks of the Characters. Dr. Princess Anita was asked if there was a time in which she got greedy and it did not work out. Barbara Cusack if someone had a habit that drove her crazy (one of her friends chewed her nails). Paul Hagge was asked if he ever had spoiled a child. Mari Chumley was asked if TV had ever effected her in a bad way as a kid. Guest Adam Dudley was asked if his biggest dream had ever come true. Our two speeches were both delicious as well. Bob Blaydes, CC gave his 10th speech from the Basic Manual and became our first new Competent Communicator of the new Toastmaster year! Bob told how he had attempted the Toastmasters program with another club before coming to Club #28 but this time he found in himself the confidence to achieve his goal. The speech, titled "This Was Not the First Time" was inspirational and Bob was simply dynamic. Congratulations Bob! Our 2nd speech, titled "Changes of Club Protocols" by Dennis Gola ACS, CL, was a speech designed to be "bad or unpopular news" and then followed by a "mini-press conference". Dennis told of some not-so-great ideas to increase membership mostly by levying fines on the existing membership. Dennis did a great job of inciting those present and handling the questions that followed. Ken Blake ATMS, CL as our Master Evaluator had the pleasure of introducing two of Club #28's best evaluators, Ken Walley ATMG, CL for Bob's speech and Eddie Selover who gave feedback for Dennis's presentation. Both gave exceptional, constructive, fair and entertaining reviews of the speeches. Ken W. doubled as our Timer and Paul Hagge served as our AH Counter. Mari Chumley jumped in as our Vote Counter and our Grammarian Barbara Cusack. All preformed their duties extremely well! To paraphrase Forrest Gump: "A Club #28 Toastmasters meeting is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Tonight we got something really yummy.

The special "Family Reunion" meeting of August 2nd 2007 was a grand success because many of our old friends returned home to Orlando Toastmasters Club #28!It was a very wonderful experience to see so many familiar faces again. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL was our host of the evening and he remembered some outstanding moments in Club #28's past such as the night Club #28 had a meeting on Ralph Cowell's (ATMB, CL) boat, the "Best of Club #28" Meeting, some great contests and even the "Backwards meeting" in which the club did the agenda backwards. Sarah Stack did an awesome job, again as our Table Topics Master. It was nice to be able to showcase our best before so many returning toastmasters and guests. "What are the best things about a Family Reunion?" was the first question asked of Bob Blaydes. "What makes a Family reunion special?" was answered by returning past Club #28 president Helen Joseph, DTM. "Tell us about a family reunion" was the question given to Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL and "Why do we have family reunions?" by another club #28 legendary toastmaster Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL. We had three magnificent speeches. Our Area 49 Governor Bruce Gould, ATMS, CL introduced himself to the club and gave an inspiring speech titled "Never Give Up!" in which he urged toastmasters to stay with the programs because the rewards just get better. Our second speaker was Helman Romano who also introduced himself to the club by giving an impressive Ice Breaker speech. Helman's first effort showed again that we some excellent new talent coming into the club. Dennis Gola ATMS, CL gave a dynamite speech titled "Melodies and Memories" about why Club #28 is special and the importance of remembering those who have made it great. Our three evaluators were introduced by Master Evaluator Cathy Goonen who did a tremendous job holding that position for her first time. Ken Blake, ATMS, CL had the honor of reviewing Area Gov. Gould's speech. Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave the evaluation of Helman's Ice Breaker and Michael Joseph DTM returned to the lectern to give an eloquent overview of Dennis's speech. Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL gave the Grammarian report, Mike Deichen was our AH Counter and he returned again this week with his wife Susan Deichen but this time as new members! . Also returning after a long absence was Paul Hagge who served as our Vote Counter and brought two guests Mari I. Chumley and John L. Striano as well! Two time Club #28 President Adam Scoggins, CTM was another returnee from our fabled past. Dr. Princess Anita was also present for the festivities as well. President Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL was overjoyed at the success of the evening and pledged to have another "Family Reunion" in six months or so. I hope that the success from this meeting spills over into many meetings to come.

It was no surprise that Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 had a fantastic July 25, 2007 meeting but with the theme of "Surprise!" there were lots of surprises as well...all of them good ones! The first surprise happened when our Toastmasters came in the door and they were instructed by the Sgt. at Arms to pull from a hat what their meeting roles would be for the night! Luck was on the side of Club #28. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL was both our Toastmaster and Table Topics Master for the evening and did a spectacular job doing double duty. Dennis said of the Table Topics questions, "This is almost as much a surprise to me as it will be to you as I don't have any idea what I am going to be asking!" It turned out that Dennis did wonderfully with the questions: Ken Blake ATMS, CL got the first question which was "What auto mechanic problem has surprised you the most?" His next question of Bob Blaydes was "What surprised you most when it comes to money?" Bob replied that it was how money can turn a family against itself so quickly sometimes. Dr. Mike Deichen was given the question "What was the best surprise of your last vacation?" His wife, Susan Deichen was asked about the "Bad Karma" of the same vacation. Ken Walley ATMG, CL was asked about food surprises. Dr. Princess Anita was given the chance to answer "What surprised you most about America?" She answered "general culture shock" from her native India. To Cathy Goonen he asked "What surprising things have left you 'white knuckled'?" Lastly, Dennis asked guest Helman Romano what was the most surprising thing about his native country of Columbia. Another surprise about this evening was the truly excellent quality of our two speeches. Ken Blake ATMS, CL gave a speech from the Specialty Speeches Advanced Manual in which he accepted an award presented to him by a charity organization. Ken not only accepted the award with grace and dignity but did it with a bit of flair as well as presenting the award giver with a check for his organization as well! It was a speech that was a lot of fun! Cathy Goonen gave another brilliant effort with her speech titled "A Dose of Reality" the speech told about overcoming the fear and worries of an unknown future. It was "acted out" in a tour-de-force performance that won everyone over in the audience! Cathy's speech was worthy of an International Speech contest. Bob Blaydes handled the Master Evaluator duties and also showed how he has become an exceptional evaluator as well with his review of Ken Blake's speech. Ken Walley ATMG, CL has the pleasure of evaluating Cathy's speech and he gave a performance of his own! Dr. Anita, The Kens and our guest Susan Deichen served as Grammarian, AH Counter, Timer and Vote Counter, respectively. At first, everyone was worried that with just a few Toastmasters we would not be able to even have a meeting. The surprise was that this turned out to be a wonderful meeting!

The July 19th 2007 had a theme of "Things that Motivate Us" and one thing was certain: Club #28 was motivated to have a tremendous meeting! Ken Blake ATMS, CL was our Toastmaster and he spoke about the things that made us start our day with "either jumping out of bed to get a head start or throwing the alarm clock out of the window." Ken Walley ATMG, CL was on board as the Table Topics Master asking some good questions about motivation. Ken asked Barbara Cusack "What motivates you to do a great job at work, besides money?" Ken B. was asked to give an example of a soft drink commercial that would motivate us to buy it. Barbara Lott CTM was asked "How do you motivate a 10 year old to study for school?" Angela Abreu, CTM was asked what are the elements of a motivational speech. Dennis Gola ACS was asked to give a half-time speech to get the team winning! It was another evening of excellent speeches. Since the theme was on Motivation, Dennis Gola ACS, CL gave the perfect speech : "How to Motivate Your Employees" It was a fact filled speech about motivating that motivated! Returning to the lectern after a long absence was past club president Ed Carmona, ATMB! Ed's speech titled "Sail, Rudder and Keel" was simply awesome. Using the different parts of a ship, Ed gave a powerful speech about facing life's situations and overcoming the storms that face us. Ed reminded us of what an amazing speaker he is and how much we have missed hearing him speak. Angela Abreu, CTM also returning to us after her vacation, and was back as our Master Evaluator. Angela also provided the evaluation for Ed Carmona's speech. Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave the evaluation for Dennis's speech. Dr. Princess Anita filled in as our AH Counter and Hamdi Yesilyurt filled in as our vote counter. Even better news was that Hamdi signed up to be our newest member! Welcome Hamdi! If this meeting did not motivate you to come to the next meeting, nothing will. I cannot wait for next week!

July 12th 2007 saw a group of Toastmasters not much larger than the rock group Pearl Jam show up for the "Rock and Roll" themed meeting. Still Club #28 pulled off a meeting worthy of a stadium crowd holding up lighters and cell phones screaming "More!" MORE!"...Ken Walley ATMG, CL was the Toastmaster who guided us through the history of Rock, at least through the 1960's because we ran short on time. That was enough to however to reminisce about Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane and many others. Also dropping a few names (like Jerry Garcia dropping, well something else) was Eddie Selover who rocked as our Table Topics Master! His first question was directed at Barbara Cusack; "Who is your favorite Rock Artist?" Bob Blaydes was asked about his favorite Rock concert that he has attended. Bob who a big country music fan had to admit that he has not attended many rock concerts. Instead, we heard about an awesome Conway Twitty - Loretta Lynn concert from his past! Ken Walley ATMG, CL was asked to pick between the Stones or the Beatles. Ken went with the Beatles. Our returning guest, Paul Arnold commented on the worst Rock group of all time. Dennis Gola ACS, CL talked about the impact of Rock Music in our culture. We had two excellent speeches starting with another super Club #28 Ice breaker speech by Barbara Cusack titled "Stead Past". Barbara did an awesome 1st speech telling about her life and how she came to arrive at Toastmasters. Congratulations Barbara! Next was Bob Blaydes who was giving his 9th speech in the basic manual titled "The Credit Union Difference" the speech used humor and fact to convince us to use a Credit Union over a Bank. Bob's speech as again very insightful and a lot of fun. He even gave away a present to all who attended. Ken Blake, ATMS, CL handled the Master Evaluator duties as well as giving the evaluation for Barbara's speech. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL did the honors for Bob's speech. Everyone chipped in to cover all of the functionaries positions. Even Paul Arnold who served as our Vote Counter! This turned out to be a truly rock and roll meeting1 I enjoyed ever minute of it.

On July 5th 2007, Orlando Toastmasters Club #28's "Milestones" themed meeting was packed full of memorable events from the past thanks to Toastmaster Dennis Gola ACS, CL. Dennis returned to the club after taking a week off to recover from surgery. Dennis reminded us of Milestones from the month of July such as Independence Day in the US (July 4th, 1776) and the death of Kenneth Lay (July 5th, 2006). Indeed, Dennis reminded us that it was not only the 4th of July that was important but the 5th of July as well! After all, the first cloned sheep, named Dolly, was born, ah... produced, on that day in 1996. One of the best Table Topics Masters in all of Toastmasters, Sarah Stack was on hand and she did not disappoint asking some brilliant queries on the subject of Milestones. Eddie Selover was asked if he could "go back in history and pick out a milestone to celebrate, what would it be?" He picked out celebrating the career of Arthur Conlan Doyle and the creation of Sherlock Holmes. Ken Blake ATMS, CL was asked to speak about a future milestone that our country was approaching. Ken Walley ATMG, CL was asked about "A milestone from the future." Ken said he looked forward to the day when everyone on Earth had plenty to eat and when there was no homelessness or war. Sung Ho Han when asked about a personal milestone in his life told about becoming a father when his daughter was born 14 months ago. Bob Blaydes told how his family celebrated the milestones in their lives. It was an uplifting Table Topics session. Our speeches tonight were both political in nature. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL gave a speech titled "Scooter and Mr. Bush" in which Ken reflected upon the reduction of Lewis "Scooter" Libby's sentence by President George W. Bush. Ken comparing Libby's crime to a litany of abuses by the Bush Administration itself. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL stayed on the political scene with a speech about the upcoming 2008 Presidential Election. Dennis touched upon the candidacy of Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and others of both parties while painting a wide picture of what is in store for the next 16 months. "It looks like quite a ride!" said Dennis. Bob Blaydes jumped in as Master Evaluator for the first time in his storied career as a Toastmaster and did an excellent job. He had help from Eddie Selover who reviewed Ken W.'s speech. Ken Blake, ATMS, CL did the honors of evaluating Dennis's speech. As Bob said during his meeting review that this was another example of how Club #28 produces a high quality meeting with not a lot of members present. Our three visitors Keith Gale, Paul Arnold and Hamdi Yesilyurt all had very positive things to say about the meeting. I hope they come back and experience many more milestone meetings like this one was.

On June 28th 2007, Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 celebrated July 4th with an "Independence day" themed meeting. We had an awesome meeting that had some fireworks of its own! Meeting in the very large Albertson Room at the library, even though we only had a few members present... we still came up with what I believe was one of the best meetings so far in 2007. Angela Abreu, CTM was on hand as Toastmaster and came very prepared with a lot of facts about how our country declared its Independence from in England in 1776. It was her personal thoughts however about the blessings of being free however that provided one the brightest and the most meaningful highlights of the meeting. Ken Walley ATMG, CL returned as Table Topics Master with the "Central Florida Dead or Alive Show!" for the first time in over a year! The show featured Ed Carmona ATMB, CL interviewing Ken Blake, ATMS, CL as George Washington! They covered every "father of our country" cliché ever thought of, including cherry trees, throwing coins and places he slept! It was a wonderful tour-de-force! Not to be outdone, Barbara Cusack interviewed Eddie Selover who played the part of Abe Lincoln and Cathy Goonen interviewed Angela Abreu, CTM who was none other than Susan B. Anthony. Everyone did a wonderful job. One of the best things about the show was that the true champion of the "Central Florida Dead or Alive Show" , Diana Walley ATMG, CL was on hand to see her husband attempt to play the host. Diana also served as our timer. We had two very different types of speeches. Eddie Selover gave one of the wittiest, funniest and most informative speeches (titled simply "Dry") in our club's history. Believe it or not on the subject was: "How to Make A Dry Martini"! It was worth coming to the library just to hear Eddie's speech alone! Eddie showcased an incredible sense of dry (get it?) humor. Ken Walley ATMG, CL followed with an informative speech titled "Evaluations" which had to do with the art of giving an evaluation. Ken's main point was that evaluations are more to encourage the speaker than to point out flaws, although it is important to help the speaker improve. It was good that Ken gave a speech about how to give an evaluation, because Cathy Goonen gave her first evaluation of Ken's speech! Cathy did a stellar job! Ken Blake, ATMS, CL who was also acting as our Master Evaluator, did a competent job as well with an evaluation of Eddie's speech. Dr. Princess Anita was at the meeting and filled in the role of Grammarian doing her usual good work. It must also be noted that Cathy Goonen filled the shoes of Club #28's President Dennis Gola ACS, CL while he was recovering from surgery. Cathy announced that Dennis plans to return next week. Cathy also did a perfect job as our acting President. George Washington would have been proud.

On June 21, 2007 Toastmaster Club #28 presented a very special meeting: Its 2007 Summer Celebration and Installation of Officers. After the call to order by Sergeant-at -Arms Jack Nguyen, and the Invocation and Pledge led by Cathy Goonen, our outgoing president Angela Abreu, CTM welcomed the attendees and introduced our Master of Ceremonies, Ken Walley ATMG, CL. Ken introduced the first "featured speaker" of the evening Dr. Princess Anita whose speech titled "I will not be Alone in this Wild World!" stressed the importance of human contact. "We are born to speak" said Dr. Anita "We depend on each other and it is the others around us that give our life meaning. That is why God gave us a mouth to speak with." Next up, with a "hip pocket" speech on the spur of the moment was Cathy Goonen, giving her fourth speech titled "Never Say Never". The speech told the story of how she met her husband Tom Goonen, who was present as a guest. Cathy did a great job of extemporaneous speaking. Later in the meeting the featured speakers were evaluated by Ken Blake ATMS, CL and Eddie Selover. As in the past, both delivered exceptional evaluations. Ken also had some time to spring a couple of Table Topics questions on Sarah Stack and Bob Blyades asking Bob "What meeting over the past six months did you find exceptional?" Bob remembered our very successful International Speech Contest (March 8, 2007). Sarah was asked what speech impressed her the most over the past six months. Sarah remembered Eddie's Ice Breaker speech (Feb. 22, 2007) recalling the 9/11 attacks in New York City. Our outgoing President Angela Abreu, CTM gave a touching "Farewell Address". She thanked her fellow officers and club members for their help in achieving many of the club successes during her term. She received a standing ovation for her hard work for the club. The meeting's highlight was the induction of our new club officers: Sergeant at Arms Jack Nguyen, Treasurer Bob Blaydes, Secretary Eddie Selover, VP of Public Relations Sarah Stack, VP of Membership Ken Blake ATMS, CL; VP of Education Cathy Goonen and President Dennis Gola, ACS, CL. Ken W. performed the "Passing of the Gavel Ceremony" to induct our officers in place of our Area 49 Governor Bruce Gould, DTM who was unable to attend at the last moment. Upon taking the gavel, Incoming President Dennis Gola, ACS, CL; gave an outline of the opportunities ahead for Club #28. He mentioned starting a youth program, achieving the club's 7th President's Distinguished Award and celebrating our 60th anniversary of the club's TI charter date. Dennis also received a standing ovation at the end of his speech. Ken W. also called upon our guest for some feedback as to this special meeting and received some high praise from Meena Pradham and Jessica Zuniga as well as Cathy's husband, Tom. The meeting was a great summary of the Club's accomplishments and an exciting preview of things ahead!

"This was a really remarkable meeting!" said a jubilant Ken Blake ATMS, CL of the June 14th 2007 "Ideas!" themed meeting. The club returned to The Center for Spiritual Living for the first time in quite a few months. The meeting excelled for a number of different reasons. First of all, Bob Blaydes did a wonderful job as Toastmaster. Having Bob lead the meeting it could be said was the best idea of the night. A close second was the brilliance of Table Topics Master Venky Allensky. Venky asked some wonderful questions such as the first one asked of Eddie Selover "What would be some good ideas on how to solve the hunger problem in the world?" Ken Walley ATMG, CL, thankful he did not have to solve world hunger was asked about simple ideas that have changed the world. Ken mentioned the toothbrush, the can-opener and the disposable razor. Jack Nguyen gave us some far reaching ideas on the future of the cell phone. Maybe the best answer of the night came when returning guest Kathy Quillinan answered the question of what kind of reality show she would offer on TV. "A show that would solve real problems, like world hunger, the environment and bring about lasting peace around the world." Dennis Gola ACS, CL was able to address his ideas for fighting childhood obesity and health problems. We had another three interesting and inspiring speeches. Cathy Goonan gave her third speech about the joys of taking a cruise in a speech tiled "To Cruise or Not to Cruise". By the time she was finished everyone in the room was thinking about getting away from it all on a cruise. Sign me up. Sung Ho Han was up next with a poignant and riveting Ice breaker speech tiled "Proud to be a Failure" His speech told of his trials chasing the dream to be a professional golfer but ending up a proud husband and father. There is nothing that is a failure about Sung Ho. Congratulations on completing your Ice breaker! It would not be a Club #28 meeting without a speech by Dennis Gola, ACS, CL and on this night he did not disappoint. His speech from the Advanced Public Relations manual titled "The Three R's" was given as an information speech and thanks for support from the Florida Literacy Coalition. Three great speech also had three great evaluations Jack Nguyen, Ken Blake ATMS, CL and Ken Walley ATMG, CL all gave very good advice and encouragement to our speakers. Dennis was working overtime on this evening also acting as our Master Evaluator. President Angela Abreu, CTM served as our timer and Eddie Selover did double duty opening the meeting leading us in the invocation and pledge as well as being our AH Counter. Our guests Mike and Susan Deichen gave some very positive feedback on the evening a pledged to return. This meeting was packed with great ideas, not the least of which was was having such a great time tonight.

The theme of the June 7th 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting was "Friendship!" Club #28 brought a number of friends together and came through with a very interesting meeting. We started out the meeting with a "1st" as Sung Ho Han gave the Invocation and led us in the Pledge to the Flag for his first time. Eddie Selover was impressive while serving as our Toastmaster for his first time as well. Eddie was very prepared with many thoughts, and some advertising facts, about friendship... including one that had to do with men wearing "Dockers" pants. Taking on the job as Table Topics Master was returning Toastmaster Sarah Stack. She did a super job with some very intriguing questions such as the one she asked of Sung Ho: "If Friendship were a recipe, what would be in yours?" Sung's recipe included honesty, trust and forgiveness. Bob Blaydes was asked if he had made any good friends from a chance encounters. Ed Carmona, ATMB was asked on how he would be a great friend. Venky Allensky was questioned with: "If friendship is a mirror how would your friends describe you?" Venky did indeed see himself as we see him. Dennis Gola ACS, CL told a story of how baseball umpires support each other when faced with 20,000 hostile fans when given the quote: "I get by with a little help from my friends." We had two speakers give two very different speeches: Jack Nguyen told a story of adventure in China while escaping the rage of an angry taxi driver. Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave a speech from the Toastmasters International "Successful Club Series" on Membership Building. Ken also acted as our Master Evaluator and introduced Dennis who gave the evaluation for Jack's speech. C.J. Jackson was our 2nd evaluator bravely attempting his first evaluation. He did a very good job reviewing Ken's speech. Another first of the evening was Barbara Cusack's excellent work as the AH Counter. Venky was our Grammarian and Angela Abreu, CTM as timer rounded out the evening's Technical Table. Kathy Quillinan was our guest tonight and had some very nice things to say about Club #28 and thus became our club's new best friend. Barbara Cusack joined the club tonight as well! Welcome Barbara!

The theme of the May 31st 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 was "Favorite Places!" and Club #28 put together a meeting that made the Downtown Orlando Public Library truly the favorite place to be on this Thursday night! Starting off the meeting was none other than returning Toastmaster Andrea McManus, CTM! It was great to see her back and she also served as our Master Evaluator without missing a beat. Ken Blake ATMS, CL was his always impressive and entertain self as our Toastmaster. Ken took us to a number of exotic and wonderful places as did the other members of the club throughout the evening. Eddie Selover transported us to distant and not-so-distant ports of call via Table Topics. As our Table Topics Master for the first time Eddie had some great questions for our members; Asking Dr. Princess Anita where would she be if she could be anywhere in the world? Dr. Anita remembered her hometown in India and painted a picture of a peaceful and loving place. Jack Nguyen was asked to sell Eddie's old house located under a busy freeway and next to a power plant! Jack made it sound dreamy. Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave advice on what to bring to Orlando for a vacation. Our guest, Barbara Cusack bravely tackled a question about the place where we "spend time in our head". Andrea McManus remembered a place that changed her as a person: Colorado. We had three speeches well worth traveling to distant lands to hear: Ryan Viloria came through with a very funny and yet serious speech titled "The Best Thing About Disney World" which about the bitter-sweetness of leaving home to work in a far away city. C.J. Jackson was magnificent in his Ice Breaker titled "My Introduction". He told a tale of a life in the Military and finding a new life in music. C.J. later received a standing ovation for his 1st speech! Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL who told a heart-string-tugging tale last week gave a completely different speech, a Public Relations speech about upcoming changes to our educational system, that was every bit as captivating. Andrea introduced three excellent evaluators: Angela Abreu, CTM, Jack Nguyen and Eddie Selover all of whom gave very good reports on their speakers. Jack gave his fist evaluation of C.J.'s Ice breaker and was just as impressive as his speeches have been. Andrea praised our meeting in her review and we hope she will be able to return to more meeting in the future. Sung Ho Han gave a great AH Counter report, also for his first time and our guest Barbara Cusack had noting but high praise for our club as well. She even signed up for a position for next week's meeting! This was a meeting that was out of this world...about the only place we didn't visit..

"Television!" was the entrancing theme of the May 24th 2007 meeting and Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 put together a meeting that was just as interesting as any reality show, soap opera or comedy on the little screen. Ken Walley ATMG, CL our Toastmaster for the evening, told many facts about the history of TV, some remarkable tube trivia and revisited some of his most beloved (and hated) shows. Ryan Viloria, CTM did an exceptional job as the Table Topics Master asking some questions that would have stumped any quiz show contestant but our "panel of experts handled them all with ease! Scott Waechter answered a question about Children's programming and if their has been a relaxing of the ethic guidelines recently. Scott thought so saying that he was surprised at some of what he saw even while he was growing up as a kid. "How would you define your life if it was to be fitted into a TV program formula? Soap Opera? Comedy? Quiz Show or something else?" was asked of Eddie Selover. "Which decade had the best TV shows?" was asked of Cathy Goonen. Returning Toastmaster Mike Masur was asked if it would be a good idea to have a "Toastmaster Idol" where speeches were judged by Randy, Paula and Simon! "Not unless you do not mind seeing Toastmasters running from the room in tears after a snarky Simon Cowell evaluation!" said Mike. Our visitor, Michael Wilson was asked a question about talking animals. He answered the question even better than the amazing Mr. Ed could have. We had another three expert speeches on this night. The first speaker was Bob Blaydes who gave a very impressive speech (titled: "Come on a Journey") about a family escaping the rising waters of Hurricane Katrina. To Bob's side was marked off up on the wall the distance that the water rose during the storm. Bob painted a harrowing picture of escape from certain death. Our Second Speaker was Jack Nguyen who took us on a journey of discovery via the internet. His speech title, "Why You Should Stay Informed in the Information Age" defined the goal of his speech. Jack gave us some ingenious pointers on how to use the internet (and Pod cast/ MP3) that including some advice to visit www.reddit.com and www.digg.com. Jack was as usual, informative as well as expressive. Dennis Gola, ACS, CL told a heart-string-tugging tale of a little boy who found a dime in the speech "Great Wealth" . A florist with a sympatric soul sold the poor young lad a dozen roses saying only "They are on sale today for just a dime!" The street urchin gave the roses to his mother not knowing it was the same day her husband had died years ago. Our three evaluators were... I am happy to say... the good, not the bad of Randy, Paula and Simon combined. Playing the part of Ryan Secrest was Angela Abreu, CTM as our Master Evaluator. Ken Blake ATMS, CL, Scott Selover and Scott Waechter all gave useful and meaningful evaluations which sometimes cannot be said for the American Idol crew. It was truly great to see Mike Masur return to us after almost two years away! Welcome back Mike! Sadly, we said goodbye to Toastmaster Scott Waechter who is moving to Tampa. We wish you the very best Scott and we thank you for the seemly endless effort and dedication you have given our club! Michael Wilson has some very nice things to say as our guest and he plans to return in the near future. This was another example of how a Toastmaster meeting should be: Interesting, informative and fun and...better than sitting in front of the TV!

The May 17th 2007 "Odd Jobs" themed meeting was another triumph for Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 but it almost didn't take place at all due to the pouring rain and howling wind outside. Indeed, our Sgt. at Arms Scott Waechter arrived drenched to the bone from bravely bringing our equipment through the deluge. Just as we thought that we might have to cancel the meeting, one by one... Club #28's dedicated members started to arrive and we ended up having an exceptional evening that made the trip to the library well worthwhile. Scott was also our Toastmaster and Table Topics Master for the evening. Scott told us about some rather dangerous and some well, rather silly jobs he did while making money to put himself through college. As Table Topics Master Scott was looking for the strange and the odd jobs our members had experienced. "What is the worst job you have ever had?" was his first question to Bob Blaydes. Bob recounted being a dishwasher at a Bonanza Restaurant when he was 16. Yikes! That was a tough job. "What is your dream job?" was asked of Jack Nguyen who said that his current job as a research engineer was perfect for him. "My boss checks on me at the end of the month and asks 'So what have you done?'" Ken Walley, ATMG, CL was asked about jobs that burned both ends of the candle. Ken remembered working two full time jobs in which he only got two to three hours a night to sleep. Both jobs had the same days off so he slept most of that time. He could not keep that up for very long. Ken Blake, ATMS, CL was asked what job he would encourage his children to do. Ken proudly told of his oldest son who got a doctorate in computer engineering but went into other fields to help others. Ryan Viloria, CTM was asked about the worst job he had ever heard of. Ryan said it must be the thankless job of working custodial at a large theme park and picking up after thousands of people. It was a great job to listen to our three speeches tonight. Speaker #1 Venky Allensky gave a speech titled "Human Behavior and the Stock Market Bubble" . This speech could have been a data-filled droning of the stock market but Venky made the speech interesting and fun. He even drew a parallel to the 16th century Tulip market! Our second speaker Ken Blake ATMS, CL announced that it was his birthday and that he was going to give us a present. He did by presenting us with an exceptional speech titled "If There Were Only a Pill" about how to save gasoline by using a pill...that's right. He gave each of us a sample of this amazing product at the end of his speech. Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL gave a powerful speech based in history titled "Warwick Creek" about a courageous hero during the Civil War who dragged his fellow soldiers from the line of fire. We found out at the end of the speech this hero was a 12 year old fife player! This was Dennis's fourth speech in four weeks. Our three evaluators did excellent work tonight as well. Dennis, Bob and Ken W. who also doubled as the Master Evaluator, were all on target with some brilliant advice and a ton of creative encouragement for our speakers. Angela Abreu, CTM served as our Timer while giving the Invocation and Pledge and Ryan and Jack filled in the rest of our functionary roles. This was a fun and exciting meeting truly worthy of Club #28. If I had to pick a "dream job" it would be going to Toastmaster meetings like this one, every day.

The theme was "Superheroes" for the May 10th 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting and the real superheroes were the Toastmasters who showed up for the meeting that night. Superhero #1 was Eddie Selover who started out the meeting with an brief "History of the Pledge of Allegiance". He gave a great presentation (that should be expanded into a speech someday) that was insightful, humorous and captivating. Superhero #2 was Ken Blake, ATMS, CL who courageously stepped in as acting President and guided our club through the treacherous waters of club business. Superhero #3 was Bob Blaydes who came prepared with tons of facts about caped crusaders out to rid the world of evil and wrongdoing!. Bob kept us entertained throughout the meeting and asked many trivia questions about our indestructible friends. Most of the trivia questions were answered by Superhero #4 of our Toastmaster Justice League: Jack Nguyen, also known as a mild-mannered Table Topics Master. The first question delivered like a fine line of silk from Spiderman's wrist was towards Superhero #5 Sarah Stack. "What superpower would you want to have the most?" was asked. Sarah chose wisely: "To be able stop time!" Next, Jack asked Bob Blaydes "What was the best Superhero movie ever?" He went with the second Superman movie "But it would have been better with Marlon Brando in it, like the first Superman." he said. "Who was the best Batman ever?" was asked of Superhero #6 Scott Waechter. Scott was torn between Michael Keaton and George Cooney. He decided on Cooney because he felt that he could beat up Keaton himself!. The last question asked was of Superhero #7 Jamie Waters. Jamie was asked who was indeed the greatest superhero of all? "Superman" said Jamie "He has endured all of these years and we have related to him all of this time." Three speeches, each more powerful than a locomotive in their own way were reveled by our brave and trusty speakers. First up was Scott Waechter with his eighth speech titled "Should We Arrange It?" Scott looked into the reasons why marriages worked over 90% of the time in India and only 50% of the time in the United States. The reasons were a real eye-opener. The second speech was given by Superhero #8 Cathy Goonen, only her second speech and her second in four weeks titled "An Exercise in Opposites" which was an inspiring speech about why people look at things in a negative or positive light. "Our perception of our world shapes our reality of our world." said Cathy. Superhero #9 Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL, who is in the middle of a "speech marathon" made good on his 3rd speech in three weeks titled "The Captain and the Stormy Sea" again from the Advanced Storytelling manual. Dennis came through with a powerful tale that held the room spellbound. Master Evaluator (Superhero #10) Ken Walley ATMG, CL had the joyful role of evaluating Scott's speech and then introducing Eddie Selover and Ken Blake ATMS, CL who did the honors for Cathy and Dennis's speeches. Ken W. also gave a magnanimous review of the the evening's triumphs. Ken said: "This was a night of nobleness, of jobs well done! This was a deservedly sublime evening of joy for all who came." Also sharing in the light of Toastmaster goodness and justice were Superhero #11 Dr. Princess Anita our AH Counter and Superhero #12 C.J. Jackson our Grammarian. This was a meeting that made the world safe for Superhero Toastmasters everywhere!

There were some that thought that the theme of "Oils and Fats" might be a tough topic to keep things interesting for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 May 8th, 2007 meeting. They would have completely underestimated our Toastmaster Angela Abreu, CTM who brought with her a vast array of facts and data about two things we take for granted but have a great impact in our lives. Angela made the subject not only interesting but even kind of fun. Ken Walley ATMG, CL as the Table Topics Master admitted that he was challenged to come up with questions on the subject but he also did pretty good: "How do you use oils in your everyday life?" was answered by Jamie Waters. "What do you prefer to cook with? Butter, Bacon fat, soy sauce, Canola oil?...or something else?" was answered by Venky Allensky. "You have heard the phrase: 'They get along as well as oil and water' Dou you know of an 'oil and water' relationship?" was handled by Bob Blaydes. "What colors would you paint your house and how would those colors make you feel?" was answered by Sung Ho Han. Blue, by the way was the main color that Sung picked. "What advice would you give someone who came to you to lose weight?" was asked of the rather thin Eddie Selover. Our guest, the Rev. Horace Kittzer was asked the question "How can we solve the oil crisis?" The club showed that it was capable of handling a number of diverse questions and coming up with some remarkable answers. We had two speeches that were worthy of any speech contest tonight. Jack Nguyen and Dennis Gola ACS, CL gave two speeches that were so good they will be remembered for a very long time. Jack's speech simply titled "Pi" was about the mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to it's diameter with an infinite decimal expansion. Jack's speech covered the definition, the history and some of the folklore surrounding Pi. It started with Jack writing on the whiteboard from memory: the number "3.14159265358979323546264338327950" and then standing in front of the whiteboard facing the audience and reciting it back by heart! Jack gave the prime (not the irrational) math speech ever given to Club #28. Dennis Gola ACS, CL gave a speech that was just as amazing in its own way. He told the story of watching the Detroit Tigers play a game in 1969 while a riot raged just outside the stadium. He brought to life the sights and sounds of both the baseball game and the riot as well. Our evaluators were introduced by guest Master Evaluator and former Club #28 President Ed Carmona, ATMB. Ed was rewarded by two excellent evaluations by two very good evaluators: Bob Blaydes and Scott Waechter. Ed also gave one of the finest meeting evaluations ever given before this or any other Toastmasters club. Using humor and keen insight, Ed remarked on how the room was packed, the high quality of the speeches and the creative Table Topics and Evaluations. He gave some pointers to the Toastmaster as well as poking a jibe at the "tradition" of starting our meetings late. His meeting review was one of the most entertaining part of the evening. Jamie Waters became our newest member and served as our AH counter. Also joining the club was Sung Ho Han who was the Vote Counter tonight. Venky Allensky did a great job as our timer and so did Cathy Goonen who was our Grammarian as well as giving our Invocation and Pledge. We had a number of visitors Dr. Princess Anita brought her friend Rev. Horace Kittzer who said he was coming back and bringing more people with him! Visitors Erica Ellrich and Richard Skinner had as number of great things to say about the Club and the meeting. The only one who was pretty quiet for once was Ken Blake, ATMS, CL who we will have to get talking more at next week's meeting! This meeting showed that no matter what the subject, Club #28 is up to the task of creating a great evening of learning and fun.

Before the April 26th 2007 meeting got underway, two of our newest member were inducted into Orlando Toastmasters Club #28. Vice President of Membership, Ken Blake, ATMS, CL inducted Cathy Goonen and Jack Nguyen...The vote for both of them was unanimous! Congratulations to Cathy and Jack! The theme for the meeting was "Going Green: Becoming Eco-Friendly. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL was our Toastmaster for the 2nd meeting in a row filling in at the last minute. Even though he was not very prepared, Ken still came up with a lot to say on the subject and came up with a number of ways to save our resources and save our planet at the same time. Also coming up with some great questions about our planet was environmentally friendly Scott Waechter who brought out some great ideas from our members asking Ken Blake ATMS, CL "What can you do to make your world more Eco-friendly?" Ken answered maintenance your car, use synthetic oil and put a brick in your toilet. Jack Nguyen came up with an excellent answer to the question of "If money was no option what would you buy to conserve energy?" He chose an electric car. Ken Walley TAM, CL was asked "What will it take to get people involved in creating a better world environmentally?" Ken said that people would have to be personal effected before they act. Dennis Gola ATMS, CL told about what he would do personally to improve saving energy: getting his roommate to turn off the Air Conditioner & Lights. His bill doubled since his roommate moved in! C.J. Jackson told us why he was "Eco-friendly" and Cathy Goonen also came up with a fear that we all share when asked "What worries you the most?" "That by the time we do something about the environment, it will be too late." We were blessed with two excellent speakers Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL and surprise guest speaker Ed Goddard, DTM for our prepared speeches on this night. Dennis started off with a speech from the Advanced Toastmasters "storytelling" manual. His speech titled "Um Um Good!" Told the story of hungry soldiers who got a village to make "stone soup" In the end, the soldiers had the villagers work together and everyone had plenty to eat. Dennis is a remarkable storyteller and he had everyone mesmerized. Ed Goodard, DTM did a project from the "Interpretive Reading" Advanced Manual. Ed read Robert Service's poem "The Shooting of Dangerous Dan McGrew". Ed did a very good reading of this famous poem. We had two excellent evaluations from Ken Blake ATMS, CL (for Ed's speech) and Angela Abreu, CTM who reviewed Dennis's speech. This was a great meeting even though we did not have a great turnout" said Ken W. during his meeting evaluation while also filling the role of Master Evaluator. "I wish we could have had more members here to have enjoyed, and learned from, this meeting!" The experience of this meeting would make anyone want to return next week for another superb Toastmasters Club #28 meeting!

The theme of our April 19th 2007 meeting was "Courage" which turned out to be a very appropriate subject with the valiant action by the students, teachers and emergency personnel during the Virginia Tech. tragedy. New member Linette Thompson gave an invocation in memory of those events. Ken Walley ATMG, CL as our Toastmaster brought out numerous examples of bravery throughout the meeting including those serving in our armed forces, those who have sacrificed to help others in danger and even those who face their inner fears on an "every day" basis. Sarah Stack returned to our club and served as Table Topics Master and came up with some excellent questions on the subject of "Courage". "What is the most courageous thing you have ever done?" was asked of Angela Abreu, CTM who remembered once stopping a shoplifter. "Who is the most courageous person you have ever known?" was asked of Dr. Princess Anita, who praised her father for taking unpopular and even dangerous stands. "What does courage mean to you?" Was answered by Scott Waechter. "What was the most courageous thing that you could see yourself doing?" was answered by our guest Toastmaster from sister club Orange County Toastmasters Club #129, Jimmy Waters. Linette Thompson answered the question "What is the opposite of Courage?" and C.J. Jackson told us about the "Most courageous things that he had ever heard about." Our two speakers tonight gave very different but very inspirational speeches. The first speech was by Ken Walley ATMG, CL which was simply titled "Courage" . Ken spoke about overcoming the three "universal fears" of death, meaninglessness and change. "Courage is the outcome of having nothing to lose and everything to gain." said Ken. Our 2nd speaker was Jack Nguyen who gave an enrapturing account of his life in his 1st speech titled "Jack's Ice Breaker" Jack's speech told about he had traveled throughout the world to end up in our club in Orlando. Jack told a number of exciting stories that we look forward to hearing more from him in future speeches. Angela Abreu, CTM served as our Master Evaluator and introduced our evaluators for this evening: Dr. Princess Anita who gave a very well thought out evaluation of Ken W's speech and Scott Waechter who delivered one of the best evaluations ever for Jack's Ice Breaker. Ken Blake, ATMS, CL served as our Timer, Angela as our AH Counter and Grammarian and Linette Thompson provided wonderful service as our Vote Counter. C.J. Jackson joined the club at the end of the meeting to become our newest member! This meeting was just another example of what Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 can do with the courage that they have to overcome their fears and improve their lives. This was a wonderful meeting!

"Fast Foods" hit the menu as the topic for the April 12th, 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting and it turned out to be more delicious than a hot apple pie from McDonalds! Our Toastmaster for the evening was Andrea McManus, CTM who came prepared with all kinds of fascinating facts on the good, bad and ugly of fast foods. Also being a major part of the meeting's diet was Ken Blake, ATMS, CL who put together some truly fatting questions for his turn as Table Topics Master. "What is your favorite fast food restaurant?" was asked of Venky Allensky who endorsed Burger King but also gave some warning about eating there too much. Ken Walley ATMG, CL revisited the fast food existence of his college days when answering the question "What is the longest you waited in line for fast food?" Eddie Selover had the question of what kind of meal he would take into space. Scott Waechter was asked to make a "weight gain commercial" for a fast food restaurant. Hot dogs, charred pizza and garlic bread were just some of the items Andrea McManus, CTM included in her recipe when asked "What would you put in a pot pie?" Lynette Thomson, one of our guests on this night had an excellent answer for the question "How do you get children NOT to eat fast food?" she suggested making "Health food hip!" and our newest member Jack Nguyen, took on the question of how much he would pay for a double-cheese burger. "Depending on how hungry I get, if necessary, everything I have!" The main part of our Toastmaster meal tonight was the prepared speeches and they were truly magnificent! Venky Allensky started with a speech ("The Indomitable Human Spirit") about a man named Gene D. Bobbie who overcame tremendous obstacles to write a book only by blinking his eyes because the rest of his body was completely paralyzed. The speech was very inspiring. Cathy Goonen was next up with her Ice Breaker titled " Chain of Thoughts" that was inspiring as well. Cathy told how she did not stop at accomplishing her goals because a professor told her she would not succeed. Her 1st speech showed a wealth of hidden speaking potential. Congratulations Cathy! Cathy was given a standing ovation after her speech. Scott Waechter acted as our Master Evaluator and introduced two excellent evaluators, Eddie Selover and Ken Walley ATMG, CL. Eddie's evaluation was full of great ideas and advice. Ken had the members shout "You Rock!" to Cathy whenever he mentioned what she did good. There was a lot of "You Rock's" shouted out during that evaluation. Scott's evaluation of the meeting rocked as well! Our Timer for tonight was Angela Abreu, CTM, Ken W. doubled as our AH Counter and Ken B. did a great job as Grammarian. One of the best parts of the meeting was our guest comments. Jack said he was joining the club! Lynette said she was joining as well and C.J. Jacksonn also said that he was going to come back and he give some really positive feedback for the meeting. This was a tasty meeting! But without the cholesterol and fat.

"Easter" was the theme for our April 5th 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting. The theme was appropriate this Thursday night being one day before Good Friday and the 8th of April being Easter Sunday. Club President Angela Abreu, CTM took us through the history of the Easter holiday along with the many different aspects of non-religious traditions that have become popular, including chocolate Easter eggs which she brought to the meeting. Ken Walley ATMG, CL also came up with some excellent questions about Easter as our Table Topics Master: Ken asked of Eddie Selover: "What were some of your childhood memories of Easter?" . "Easter is often spoken as a time of renewal. How is 'renewal' important?" was the question asked of our newest member, Cathy Goonen. Returning from a couple of weeks absence, Venky Allensky was asked where the best place to hide an Easter egg would be. Another returning club member, Ryan Viloria had the tough question of "How would you explain the meaning of the Easter holiday to someone of a different culture?" Given only two minutes, Ryan did an admirable job. The last question was asked of Dr. Princess Anita: "What are some good things to give up for Lent?" All of the questions had some very insightful answers! Our speeches were also 1st rate! Our first speaker was Scott Waechter who returned from vacation and once again he gave an awesome and stellar speech. Wow! "Don't Eat the Marshmallows " was Scott's 7th and it fascinated and inspired us with how we can improve our lives through self discipline and tenaciousness. Ken Blake, ATMS, CL gave his 4th speech from the "Advanced Communicating on TV " manual. Ken really showed us how tough owning a business can be when unpredictable events take place. Andrea McManus, CTM acted both as our Master Evaluator as well as giving a brilliant evaluation of Ken Blake's speech and Ken Walley, ATMG, CL, came through with a very good evaluation of Scott's speech. Although he was hard pressed to find improvement, Ken did suggest that he "Grow a distinguished beard like Ken Blake's!" One would also be hard pressed to find improvement from Cathy Goonen who served as Vote Counter, Ryan Viloria as Timer, Dr. Princess Anita as Grammarian and Eddie Selover as our AH Counter. Returning guest Jack Nguyen gave a review of the meeting that was heavy with praise! We are hoping Jack will be our next "newest member". This meeting was even better than eating a chocolate Easter bunny!

It was ironic that the theme for the March 29th 2007 meeting was "Transportation" as a number of our members were unable to get to the meeting due to the traffic congestion around Orlando. Even though we did not have a large turnout and some got there a bit late, the meeting turned out to be another in a long series of excellent meetings for Club #28. Ken Walley ATMG, CL volunteered to be the host for the evening and brought up a number of transportation issues along with some thoughts about his own favorite ways of getting around: "Magic carpet would be at the top of my list. I just cannot find one that will fly on e-bay." said Ken. The other part of the Club #28 "Kens club", Ken Blake, ATMS, CL served as our Table Topics Master and relied upon his background as an Auto Mechanic to come up with a few of the questions. "When did you last check your tire pressure and oil?" Ken asked of Bob Blaydes. Bob gave a wonderful answer for the importance of regular car maintenance. "Is High Speed Rail a good idea?" Visiting Toastmaster Ed Goddard, DTM was asked. Ed did not like the idea and gave some very compelling reasons why. Eddie Selover picked the town of Ithaca, New York, as his favorite place for a vacation when asked. Another guest, Cathy Goonen, came through with a great answer to the question "If you could go back in time and get your 'Dream Car' what would it be?" Cathy would come back with a baby-blue '57 Thunderbird! Ken Walley ATMG, CL told us that the answer to the fuel crisis was "steam" ! He envisioned cars fueled by water in the near future. Sungho Han said that it was reasonable to get a ticket for driving too slow in the fast lane. Lastly, Angela Abreu, CTM was very open to the idea of having a Toastmaster Cruise! Our two speeches tonight were very different and extremely entertaining. First, Bob Blaydes gave a tremendous speech that brought awareness to a subject that could strike anyone of us without warning: Heart Attacks. Bob's speech titled "A Matter of the Heart" gave answers that could save lives. Even better, Bob gave this speech a healthy dose of humor and charm that made it compelling and entertaining. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL gave a humorous speech titled "Bracketology" that told how we could use the same way that we chart NCAA Basketball tournaments for other things, like ordering dinner and picking the most important world event of our lives. Using the votes of those attending, the events of 9/11 beat out the Moon Landing to win in the finals. Ken W. also served as the Master Evaluator and had the pleasure to introduce Eddie Selover who gave his very 1st evaluation of Bob's speech. Eddie did a great job and brought up some wonderful points during his presentation. Andrea McManus, CTM gave another excellent evaluation for Ken's speech. Ed Goddard, DTM doubled as our AH Counter and Andrea did the same as Grammarian. One of the best parts about this meeting was hearing the fantastic reviews of our meeting from our guests. Guest Jack Nguyen said he was "extremely impressed" with the meeting and plans to return soon. Sungho Hun returning for the 2nd time, said he wanted to join the club as did Cathy Goonen! Cathy said that she has visited a number of clubs and this was the club "that she has been looking for!" Welcome Sungho and Cathy!

The March 22nd 2007 "March Madness" meeting was one of the most informative meetings that Club #28 has ever held thanks to the evening's Toastmaster Dennis Gola ATMS, CL. "Did you know that March 1st is 'National Pig Day'? and that March 25th is 'National Waffle Day'?" said Dennis amid a myriad of facts about the month of March. Like Alexander Graham Bell who was born in March as well as making his famous 1st phone call in March, Dennis called upon Sarah Stack to handle the duties of Table Topics Master. Sarah asked a number of questions about this time of year. Daniel Ashworth was asked to remember some memories of Spring Break. Dr. Princess Anita spoke about Rebirth and Renewal. Angela Abreu, CTM told us what she like to grow in a garden. Ken Walley ATMG, CL answered the question of "What is Bracketology?" He even showed how you could figure out what to have for dinner using brackets! Eddie Selover returned to the club serving tonight as Grammarian, proved that he was still a master at Table Topics with his answer of the question "What takes your mind off of work at this time of year?" Eddie did not answer "love" but "e-bay"! Our two speakers both reached two wonderful milestones for our club. Andrea McManus has waited to give her CTM speech for almost a year to the day that she first visited our club on April, 6th 2006. During that time she has served as our Sgt.-at-Arms and Vice President of Education. She has also given nine great speeches but tonight's speech titled "Touching Lives" was as inspiring a speech as one could ever deliver. Andrea spoke about the friendships and inspiration that she has gained from her year at Club #28. When she finished, she received a standing ovation. Our next speaker was Daniel Ashworth who was just starting on his Toastmaster path with his Ice Breaker speech titled "My Journey!" Daniel gave a strong speech about how he came from the very-different-from- Florida background of Columbus, Mississippi to be the first in his family to earn a college degree. He found a love of gardening (even after surviving a meal of 'Poke-salad') and turned it into a career in Landscape Architecture with Glatting-Jackson Inc. here in Orlando. He praised highly his wife, Tonya who has been his inspiration as they start their new life in Florida. Daniel's first speech was a great success, leaving his fellow club members looking forward to his next projects in the basic manual. Also handing two jobs on this night was Angela Abreu, CTM who served as our Master Evaluator as well as giving the evaluation for Andrea McManus, CTM. Our resident evaluator of Ice Breakers, Ken Blake, ATMS, CL once again came through with another excellent review of Dan's speech. At the end of the meeting our Timer and AH Counter, Ken Walley ATMG, CL awarded Andrea her new CTM Toastmaster nametag. "CTM" (Competent Toastmaster) is being retired in place of the new designation of "CC" (Competent Communicator) so Andrea is one of the last of the holders of this proud standard. Congratulations to both Andrea and Dan! No madness here, we are just MARCHING towards excellence!

Club President Angela Abreu, CTM started off the meeting as our acting Sgt.-at-Arms, being just one of a number of our Toastmasters tonight to juggle more than one job. Even though we started the meeting with a number of positions still up in the air, tonight turned out to be a fantastic meeting! The theme was very open-ended for the March 15th 2007 Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 meeting: "Pot Luck". It turned out that Toastmaster Andrea McManus picked a great theme as surprises kept the meeting very lively. Subjects that were covered in this meeting included everything from cooking to politics. Table Topics Master Ken Walley ATMG, CL incorporated the theme into the Table Topics session by putting a number of different questions, on all kinds of subjects, and having the members draw their question from a basket! Bob Blaydes got the question "The thing that I am most proud of is...?" He spoke about his family, of course. Daniel Ashworth spoke on a subject completely different: he drew "Anna Nicole Smith". Then Ken Bake ATMS, CL spoke on "Is there life on other planets?" Dr. Princess Anita answered the question: "What would be a perfect day for you?" Our guest on this evening, C.J., drew the question "If I was President of the United States, here is what I would do..." Andrea spoke about "A great movie that everyone should see!" We had three speakers tonight but the first speaker was giving a speech that many of our members had waited to hear for a long time. Sarah Stack gave her Ice Breaker speech ("My Story") and made us wonder why she had waited so long. Perhaps the most polished 1st speech ever, Sarah told about growing up in South Hampton and then moving to Florida where she she earned a degree in Nutrition and a Master's in Urban & Regional Development from Florida State University. Her path has lead her to being a private sector planner. Her speech was laced with sharp humor and some very interesting stories. Sarah received two standing ovations for her speech. Congratulations Sarah! Ken Walley, ATMG, CL presented a project ("Role Playing: Communication with Teenagers on the Dangers of Drugs") from the Advance Speaker's Manual "The Discussion Leader" in which he had Andrea and Dan role play as a parent and teenager discussing the dangers of drugs. Andrea and Dan were so good they had everyone convinced we were spying on a real family discussion. Ken Blake ATMS, CL gave his contest speech "If I could Just Remember to Breathe" for the club to get a group evaluation. Our two evaluators tonight stood out with excellent advice and encouragement. Andrea McManus came through with a contest-level evaluation of Sarah's Ice Breaker and Bob Blaydes gave his first evaluation, ever of Ken W's. speech which was every bit as competent as some Distinguished Toastmasters! Great job by both. The entire club helped with Ken B's speech to get him ready for the Area 49 contest next week. This entire meeting was fun and interesting and if this was "Pot Luck" then it was the club that was lucky and I'm going back for seconds.

When Vice President of Education Andrea McManus announced the date for the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 International Speech and Table Topics Contests as Thursday, March 8th, 2007, she could not have known that the date would become a part of Club #28 fabled lore. "Both contests were awesome!" said VPE Andrea McManus. "Club #28 has a history of producing contests that are the envy of other clubs in the area. These contests were a good example of that!" This year the club's Table Topics and International Speech Contests turned out to be some of the best it has ever produced. The quality of the present members, including the newer members that have recently joined the club, show a tremendous wealth of speaking talent. From the start of the first contest, the Table Topics Competition at the Center for Spiritual Living, guests and visitors were treated to some truly brilliant displays of oratory. Because the crowd was to large for the regular meeting room, the contests were moved to the spacious sanctuary. Contest Master Ken Walley ATMG, CL got the festivities underway with an enthusiastic welcome and a brief reading of the rules, Chief Judge and past Area 49 Governor Diana Estremera, DTM announced the speaking order and proclaimed "Let the Contest Begin!" The question that was answered by all of the contestants was "This was my most triumphal moment..." First to speak was Andrea McManus who spoke of hiking to the top of a mountain. Angela Abreu, CTM spoke of the accomplishments of her family. Venky Allensky spoke of overcoming his fear of speaking in public and having the courage to compete in a speech contest. Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL remembered a winning lottery ticket and Dr. Princess Anita spoke about coming to America and helping the poor. Everyone spoke extremely well and showed very impressive skills in extemporaneous speaking! The vote was so close it took the vote counters almost twenty minutes to declare the winners! Coming in second place was Andrea McManus and the first place trophy went to Venky Allensky. The International Speech contest was worthy of a club many times the size of Orlando Toastmasters Club #28. All who were present can attest that every single speech given on this glorious evening, was in and of itself capable of winning a speech contest. Every speech was deserving of a trophy and had the rules allowed that, each speaker would be taking home hardware. Indeed all of the speakers this night were winners. The real winners however was the audience, who were treated to sheer Toastmaster Excellence. Ken Blake ATMS, CL reprised a speech titled "I Can Finally Remember to Breathe!" Ken's speech, was also presented at the 2005 "The Best of Club #28" special celebration a few years back. In the speech Ken told about how he had been on an ocean diving trip and had thought that he had left two divers stranded when he returned to shore and they had never been heard from since...until...well I don't want to ruin the ending. The second speaker was Bob Blaydes who nailed a speech about his best friend (titled "My Best Friend") who seemed like a wonderful person until we found out it was his dog! The speech had everything: surprise, humor, emotion and joy. Brian Wheeler ATMB, proved that he was one of the best inspirational speakers in Orlando as he weaved a tale titled "It Can't Be That Bad" about his daughter's tender feeling when faced with defeat and pro football's Mike Marshall's wrong-way 60 yard safety! This speech was masterful! Well written, beautifully delivered and deeply meaningful. Brian came through with a work of art. So did Scott Waechter. Scott's speech was a speech that was given only a couple of weeks ago at a regular Club #28 meeting. Titled "What's Your Price?" is about a college student, like Scott was when he was younger, and what he would do find money to support himself. The speech, while rich in humor, also had the listener asking "Just what is worth it...for a price?" I do not believe that i would have done some of the things that Scott did for any amount of money, even if they were legal! The last speech of the contest was by past International Speech Contest winner Dennis Gola ATMS, CL who switched to a completely different subject: Little League Baseball. Dennis told about how the founder of Little League baseball ended up being ostracized from his own creation. Dennis, his speech "Uncle Tuck in the Nick of Time" used a profound knowledge of the English Language, painted scene after scene with words that gave his story a life of its own. It was almost like watching a movie in your head. There you have it, five great speeches. The judges came back with the following verdict but what will be remembered is the high quality of the entire evening. Any of these speeches would be an honorable representative to the Area 49 contest. Third place in the contest went to Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL. The second place winner was Ken Blake, ATMS, CL, and (drum-roll please) our winner for the 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 International Speech Contest is...SCOTT WAECHTER!! This was Scott's first contest! Speak about a man with a bright Toastmaster's future! This was also Table Topics Champion Venky Allensky's first contest as well. Bob Blaydes also highlighted the new talent of this club. Club #28 President Angela Abreu, CTM gave a very warm Thank You to all who attended and adjourned the contests until six months from now when we will have our Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests. Many dignitaries came to the Club #28 contests including current Area 49 Governor Barbara Bergstrom, DTM who also helped hand out the winner's trophies. Former Area 49 Governor Rev. Lani Wynne-Hampton, DTM; The "Let's Talk" Toastmasters Club #4413 Contest winner Michael Joseph, DTM; Former Club #28, Let's Talk #4413 and Orlando Conquerors Club #1066 President Helen Joseph, DTM; Former Uptown Toastmasters Club President Barbara Bess; Distinguished Toastmaster Al Cumberbatch, DTM; Orange County Club #129 representative Luvenis Hart, CTM; and former Club #28 President Ed Carmona, ATMB. A dignitary himself, two term distinguished club President Adam Scoggins, CTM volunteered to serve as one of our timers. Helen Joseph, DTM also helped as a vote counter. Past President of Orlando Club #28 and the Orators Club #2423 Diana Walley, ATMG, CL also served as a Vote Counter. Scott Weachter served double duty as our Sgt. at Arms and Dr. Princess Anita did a great job as our Raffle Master! The Club #28 International Speech and Table Topics Contest scored an amazing triumph on this memorable night.

Even before the March 1st 2007 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting started, Club #28 treated early arrivers to a speech that was as picturesque as it's subject. Bob Blaydes, gave the first of two speeches on this evening about his hometown of Westport Connecticut. In the speech (titled "My Hometown") he created beautiful words pictures about growing up in a place as idyllic as any painting. This speech, along with Bob's other speech tonight qualified him for next week's International Speech Contest. The theme of tonight's meeting was "In My Next Life" and it brought out some of the best in our club member's imaginations. Leading the way with a great imagination was our Toastmaster Sarah Stack. Sarah had us thinking about what it would be like if we could do it all over again. She came prepared with facts about the different religions that believe in reincarnation and stories of "soul recycling". As usual, she did a masterful job as Toastmaster. Andrea McManus was every bit as amazing as our Table Topics Master. Andrea wasted no time picking the brain of Toastmaster Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL. Remembering that the ancient Egyptians brought goods with them for the afterlife, she asked Ed what he would bring with him. "A beating heart would be the first thing..." started Ed. "If you could come back as an animal what would it be?" Andrea asked of Ken Walley ATMG, CL. Ken said he would like to fly in the next life and wanted to be an Eagle. "Although the food would take some getting use to." Sarah Stack when asked what she would teach future generations answered that she would want them to learn to "See themselves as a global community." Other questions asked were "What good things from this life would you like to remember in the next? (to Angela Abreu, CTM); "Have you ever felt you had a past life?" (to Russell Russ, CTM) and "Do you believe in an afterlife?" was asked of Ken Blake, ATMS, CL. Our speeches were out of this world. Bob Blaydes gave his 2nd excellent speech in the same night this one a more prepared speech titled "Juror #308" about what it was like to serve on a jury. His over-all judgment of the experience and the process was a very positive one. "Our founding fathers would be smiling ear to ear" said Bob. Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave the audience a choice: would you like to hear a prepared speech or one off the 'top of my head'? It was unanimous. Ken gave a speech about the upcoming Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 International Speech and Table Topics Contests next week... and made it up as he went along. The speech turned out pretty good. "Hopefully everyone here will show up next week. I don't think that I scared anyone away!" said Ken. Ken Blake ATMS, CL served as our Master Evaluator and had the pleasure of introducing Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL to give his first evaluation at club #28 in some time for Bob's speech. Ed showed that he had not lost his touch at giving astute evaluations. Ken B. himself gave the evaluation of Ken Walley's speech ("Evaluation number 2000, is it?") praising him on his ability to inform with passion. The Grammarian role was handled by Dr. Princess Anita and Russell Russ, CTM served as our AH Counter. Even our guest, Neil Buchanan, held the position of Vote Counter and did a solid job. This was a wonderful meeting in this, or any lifetime!

Club #28 may not have had the same number of people in the room as last's weeks' meeting but the February 22nd, 2007 "Colors" themed meeting was just as interesting and twice as colorful. Toastmaster Angela Abreu, CTM gave us the 'Meaning" of colors (throughout history and as we interpret them with feelings), Angela can really prepared for this meeting! Our Table Topics Master, Sarah Stack also added immensely to the theme of the meeting with another great table topic session. Her first question "What is your favorite color and why?" was answered by Dr. Princess Anita (Red was the answer and she extolled the many good reasons but mostly because red stands out like she does!). "Cobalt Blue" was the answer Andrea McManus gave to the question "What color can improve your mood?" Our newest member Scott Kizer answered the question "Do you ever judge anyone on the color of their eyes or the color of the clothes they wear?" One of the most interesting questions was "Does color effect taste?" which was answered by Scott Waechter. Scott said that his taste would be effected "If the Banana was brown!" Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL truly gave a powerful answer to the question "What is the most Stereotypical color?" "Red! I see red when someone says red is the color of passion!" Said Dennis. Also colorful were our speeches. The first speaker was Eddie Selover who gave his Ice Breaker Speech ("My Experience at Ground Zero") who spoke about being in New York when 9/11 happened and the effects that it had on his life afterward. Eddie's Ice Breaker was one of the most memorable first speeches ever given at Club #28. Our second speaker was Ken Blake ATMS, CL who awarded a trophy for coming in last place, that's right, last place to Toastmaster Ken Walley. "Ken is the last one who would not show up, he is the first to arrive and the last to leave, the last time Ken gave a speech was when he was the last person left to give one..." The speech titled "Last Place is the Best Place" ended with Ken W. giving a Grammy award style acceptance speech while receiving a one-legged man trophy with "Last Place" engraved on it. Not to be outdone, Scott Waechter came through with a wonderful speech titled "Who is a Role Model?" about his High School Basketball coach, other close friends and, most important, his wife Whitney Waechter. Whitney had come to the meeting tonight to hear Scott speak! Evaluations tonight were handled by Andrea McManus, Scott Waechter and Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL who all did remarkable jobs of extolling the virtues of our speakers. Scott Kizer gave an excellent report as our Grammarian for his first time and Ken W. who was doubling as our Timer, gave the AH Counter report. Our guests Jessale Rodriquez and Glen Fleuer both gave very positive and upbeat reviews to our meeting as well! This was a meeting that was a bright as the colors that we talked about!

Club Sgt-.at- Arms Scott Waechter called the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28, February, 15th 2007 "Relationships" themed meeting: "Probably the best meeting I have been to since I have started coming to Toastmasters." What was there not to like? It started with a thoughtful Invocation by Andrea McManus who also did a perfect job as our Timer. We had a Toastmaster doing a stellar job as Toastmaster for the first time in Bob Blaydes. We has one of the best Table Topics sessions in memory thanks to Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL. We had two excellent speeches provided by Venky Allenky and Scott Waechter. The evaluations were also exceptional by Ken Walley ATMG, CL and Russell Russ, CTM . Did I say Russell? Yes I did! Russ even revived the 50/50 raffle! Russell Russ, CTM was just one of many Toastmasters attending that have been missed for a while, including past club president Ed Carmona ATMB, CL and Sarah Stack! Another familiar face who returned to us was Mi Hoshino. We also had two other visitors: Matt Russ and Scott Kizer. Scott even became our newest member at the end of the meeting! I am getting ahead of myself. First of all, as I said Bob came prepared to be an excellent Toastmaster and kept the meeting on time and added many observations about Relationships including everything from Husband and Wife to Customer and fast food employee. Dennis expanded on the theme with an exceptional Table Topics session. Here are the questions he asked and every single answer to these questions was simply superb: "What did you not get for Valentine's day?" (Sarah Stack answered "Flowers") "What Valentine's day gift would you take back?" Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL said "Valentine's day itself" because now that he's celebrated it, he will have to keep celebrating it in the future!) "If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, what is your favorite restaurant?" (Ken Blake, ATMS, CL revisited his favorite Chinese Restaurant.) "Something that you would never part with no matter what?" (Eddie Selover told us about a really cool James Bond car) "Can you tell us about your relationships with inanimate objects" (Ken Walley ATMG, CL said he had a tough time with phone answering machines & car alarms) "Name a Broken sports relationship" (Scott Waechter told about his last High School Basketball game.) "What's the difference between Apples and Oranges" (was explained by Russell Russ CTM) "What kind of candy is given to a Valentine in India?" (Was answered by just one of our India experts, Venky Allenky) and "How much would you pay for a teddy bear?" (Scott Kizer even took us through a teddy bear factory!). It truly was a memorable Table Topics session! Our two speeches were also top notch. First, was an entertaining and very, very funny speech by Scott Waechter titled "What's your Price?" The premise of the speech was: what would a college student do for fifty bucks? The speech led Scott into a hospital to volunteer for medical experiments, and later... eating bugs. The speech was a huge hit! Venky Allenky also gave a speech that was interesting in a different way. Titled "Mother Nature's Miracle Cure for Diabetes" Venky's speech was as important as it was surprising. The "miracle cure" was found by scientists in the skin of the Gila Monster, a giant lizard! Both speeches were presented with excellent form and style. The two evaluators for tonight were introduced by Master Evaluator Angela Abreu, CTM. The first evaluator, Russell Russ, CTM had not stood behind the Club #28 lectern for almost a year but it was apparent that he had not lost any of his observational prowess. He gave a very good evaluation of Scott's speech. Club veteran Ken Walley ATMG, CL had the pleasure of evaluating Venky's speech. Also encouraging was the highly positive evaluation of the meeting by Angela. Dr. Princess Anita also gave a wonderful epilog to this magical evening when she spoke about how this club was a wonderful relationship to her. "A relationship with Toastmasters" said Princess, "that has changed my life for the better!" This was one of those meeting in which everything seemed to "click" as Scott Waechter said: "The enthusiasm and energy seemed to be on a high level from beginning to end, and the Table Topics session was excellent. I know you guys pour a lot into the club, so I hope you can see the fruits of your labor." Thank you Scott, we can see it in meeting like this.

Club President Angela Abreu, CTM volunteered to take the helm as our Toastmaster for the February 8th 2007 "Volunteering" themed meeting and provided a tremendous example how important it is to be able to make a difference! She gave some great examples of what it means to be a volunteer, giving of your time and labor to help others. Providing another excellent example of Volunteering were are Table Topics "volunteers" lead by Table Topics Master Bob Blaydes. Bob sets an example of volunteering, along with his entire family by helping serve the Coalition for the Homeless in Orlando. He came with some ruminative questions such as the one asked of Andrea McManus: "Has a crisis ever spurred you into action to volunteer?" ("Volunteering brings joy from a source of passion. [That] you are doing something from the heart and making a change for the good within you and around you." said Andrea) Another question was "What is your 'dream volunteer job'?" which was directed at Venky Allenky. Another question answered by Eddie Selover was "Why should we teach our children to volunteer?" (Said Eddie: "Passing on to our children what is important includes giving of ourselves and establishing a good moral example.") Our guest Debra Breland gave a perfect example of a "volunteer memory" with a heartfelt answer from her experience while working for the Legal Aid Society. Guest Scott Kizer also came through with a story about grooming pets in a pet shelter. Table Topics went beyond just helping us to 'speak from the cuff' this week, the session also inspired our club to take positive action in our community! Also inspiring our members to take positive action was our only featured speaker Ken Walley ATMG, CL who working from the Advanced Manual "The Discussion Leader". Ken led a "brainstorming" round robin project to answer the question "What can we do to lower the crime rate in Orlando over the next two years?" Using everyone in the room, Ken got plenty of great ideas including using the media to educate parents and children to be more aware of violent crime, Providing recreational areas and events that would create a place to keep future offenders off the streets and help reduce gangs and drug use, having law enforcement more visible, establishing new leadership with new ideas and many other ways of improving our crime rate in Orlando were brought up. There were far too many ideas to list here. Andrea McManus acted as our Master Evaluator as well and although she only had one evaluator to introduce, he gave a typical command performance. Ken Blake ATMS, CL highly praised Ken W's project and encouraged him to do more with the advanced manual he was working from. Our Grammarian for today was none other than Scott Waechter who also doubled as out Timer for the night and Venky Allenky was our AH Counter. This was as moving and creative a Toastmaster's meeting as any club could have. This night Club #28 took on an important topic and gave it insight and practicality towards improving our world and ourselves. This was an evening well worth attending!

With the Super Bowl less than a week away, the February 1st, 2007 meeting of Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 the "Sports Heroes" theme was a perfect choice. Eddie Selover started out the meeting with a quote from Jackie Robinson. Ken Walley ATMG, CL was on hand to do the honors as Toastmaster and regale us with many inspiring tales of sports nobleness. Great names such as Payton Manning from the Indianapolis Colts, and his brother Eli Manning from the New York Giants, Dante Wesley of the Chicago Bears, tennis great Arthur Ashe, baseball legend Roberto Clemente, football star and war hero Pat Tillman as well as many others, were mentioned. Also helping out with our theme was our Table Topics Master Andrea McManus who has a sport hero of her own in long distance runner Julie Brown. Andrea asked some very insightful questions on the subject, such as the one she asked of Angela Abreu, CTM: "Why should girls have sports heroes?" Angela spoke of many great examples in sports to challenge girls to excel in life. Scott Waechter remembered Gator quarterback great Danny Wurrfel as a good example of persistence in reaching one's goals. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL remembered Arnold Palmer as a man who's private life was as much as an example to others as his sports heroics on the golf course. Daniel Ashworth spoke on the "traits of a sports mentor". Tony Betts, CTM did not believe that David Beckham was going to revitalize soccer in America, if others who had come before him had failed so badly. Ken Blake ATMS, CL spoke about his love of the Daytona 500 and his admiration of driver Bill Elliott. "If you can count race car driving as a sport, he is a sports hero" said Ken. We had two truly excellent speeches for main part of our meeting starting with Ken Blake, ATMS, CL who did a mock Television show interviewing Toastmaster Ken Walley ATMG, CL about "What is this Toastmasters Thing?" Ken made us feeling like we were in a TV studio and had many thinking maybe he should think about a career on the small screen. Brian Wheeler, ATMB, returned to the club after a long absence to deliver a very memorable speech titled "Facing the Storm". This speech had everything! The story of Brian bringing his family back from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina not only inspired us to help others, but brought to life the personalities of his family and had a healthy dose of humor as well. Ken W. acted as the Master Evaluator and was helped out by two brilliant evaluations. Club President Angela Abreu, CTM evaluated Ken Blake's TV interview and Scott Waechter did a wonderful job with his very first evaluation of Brian Wheeler's speech. New positions abounded at our meeting: Dan Ashworth tried his hand at Grammarian, newest member George DeJesus was wonderful as our Timer and Eddie Selover did a superb job with our Invocation and Pledge. Even more delightful was seeing the return of so many Toastmasters who have been away for a long time: Brian Wheeler, ATMB; Tony Betts, CTM; Jim Stitt and Diana Walley ATMG, CL all returned this week. This turned out to be one of the best meetings of the new year so far and with a great expectation of success of the rest of the year! Although not everyone attending tonight was a sport hero they were heroes each and every one.

Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 did not have to worry when it came to the "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" Themed meeting of January 25th 2007. The meeting had about the best Toastmaster possible at the helm with Andrea McManus doing the honors. She came well prepared even quoting Richard Carlson who wrote the series of books with the same title as our meeting theme. Andrea brought great advice on how to overcome stress and tension throughout the night. Bringing some anxiety however was our Table Topics Master Angela Abreu, CTM who had a number of probing questions for our members. Angela asked Ken Walley ATMG, CL "How can we conquer fear?" Ken's answer was to confront your fears and live in the present. Bob Blaydes was asked how his family is a support during stressful times. Ken Blake, ATMS, CL spoke on "Living peacefully in a stressful world" Our guest Eddie Selover, spoke on the importance of being flexible. George DeJesus had a compelling, and conv