PAST MEETINGS
THIS "WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE" IS FULL! TO ENJOY OUR LATEST MEETINGS CLICK ON THE "PAST MEETINGS JULY 2006-Current" PAGE ABOVE.
On June 29th, 2006, The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 had a 2006 Summer Celebration as it installed its new officers for the next term and paid tribute to the officers that served the club so well in the past. Angela Abreu, CTM for the last time as the club's Sgt.-at- Arms called the meeting to order and introduced Dr. Princess Anita who gave a very impressive Invocation and Pledge to the flag. Also acting in his position of Vice President of Education for the last time, of this term, anyway, Ken Walley, ATMG, CL welcomed our members and guests to this special program. He also welcomed to the lectern the Master of Ceremonies for the evening Diana J. Walley ATMG, CL. Before the officers were to be inducted Diana announced our featured speaker for the evening, Andrea McManus who gave her 3rd speech from the basic manual titled "Wireless Woes". Andrea did a fabulous speech on protecting your home with a wireless network. She used humor and insight that had people applauding all of the way through. Due to our other featured speaker having cancelled out, we had time for an evaluation of Andrea's speech. Ken gave an upbeat and very positive evaluation of Andrea's speech. "We can learn a lot from Andrea's speech on how to do a speech well!" said Ken in his evaluation. The Farewell Address that was scheduled for President Laurie Heinitz, CTM was sadly missed as well because she was called out of town and unable to attend so instead we went directly on the agenda to the "Passing of the Gavel Ceremony" which was performed by Ken, at least through the first six officer positions and then Area 49 Governor Diana Estremeta, DTM arrived just in time to induct Ken himself! Called up to be installed as our officers for the July-December 2006 term were: Sergeant at Arms Andera McManus; Treasurer Brian Lewis; Vice President of Education Darryl Stephens; Vice President of Education Angela Abreu, CTM and President Ken Walley, ATMG, CL. Also installed but not present were Interim Vice President of Membership Ken Blake, ATMB, CL and Secretary Bruce Wigel. After the ceremony, new President Ken Walley ATMG, CL took the gavel to the lectern to present his Inaugural Address. Ken first paid a tribute to past President Laurie Heinitz, CTM who he called "One of the greatest Presidents that this club has ever had the great fortune to have had." Ken praised the new officers for "having the courage to accept these leadership positions and to lead by example" Ken set the goals for his term to "create a truly positive place" for the club. "Not just to survive but to thrive!" He wanted to place an emphasis on membership and to set a goal of 30 members by this time next year. He also spoke of returning to the President Distinguished Award goals and to carry on the legacy of the "Oldest Club East of the Rockies". Ken was given a long and strong ovation after his speech. Diana asked our guests what they had thought of the meeting and guest Sarah Stack and returning guest Doreen Bennett and Darwin Luttig all gave very positive reviews. Sarah even expressed a desire to join our club! Diana stated that the future of this club is bright and the leadership team is strong! It was a wonderful meeting a proud ending of an legendary era and a hopeful & positive start to the next toastmaster term!
The June 22nd Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 "Music" Themed meeting was "a beautiful song" for so many fantastic reasons: Starting on a high note was Toastmaster Darryl Stephens who put on a command performance as Toastmaster for his first time! Darryl infused his thoughts about how music makes him feel and insights on great artists through out the meeting. He conducted the meeting like a smooth jazz score, beautiful, on time and upbeat. Also joining the band was the Table Topics Master, Ken Walley ATMG, CL who picked up the tempo with some musical questions like: What music motivates you? What music relaxes you? This was asked of returning member Emilia Soto. "What is your favorite type of Music and who is your favorite artist?" Was answered by Ed Morris, CTM "Classic Rock/ Led Zeppelin" was a great answer. Angela Abreu, CTM told us about "The WORST music that she had ever heard". Diana Walley ATMG, CL spoke on how music has changed her life. Dr. Princess Anita told us about a great gospel performance she heard and how it made her feel! Our two speeches tonight came from Ken and Ed. Ken was filling in as a speaker at the last moment and gave a speech on the meeting theme titled "Random Thoughts on Music" Ken spoke about why his 16 year-old daughter preferred the music of the 60's, 70's and 80's to the rock music of today. Ed Morris, CTM gave a sports directed speech titled "The Basketball Capital of the World!" Ed gave a nod to the Miami Heat who won the championship last week and noted that Florida had won Championships in Football, Basketball, Hockey and baseball all within the last three years! No other state can make that claim. The evaluations were both excellent Angela Abreu, CTM told Ken that he was a great speaker because of three things: "Practice, practice, practice!" and commended him on his ability to fill in for missing speakers! Andrea McManus gave her evaluation of Ed Morris's speech and made a truly excellent effort for her first time. Laurie Heinitz, CTM handled the chores of the Master Evaluator and praised all of our members for coming together to create another excellent meeting. This is Laurie's last regular meeting as Club #28's President. We had two guests who both gave glowing comments about the meeting Able Zargara found the meeting "fun" and "very interesting" he hopes to return soon. Renee Malentin also said she enjoyed the meeting a plans to return as well! That truly is "Music to our ears!"
Like an Eagle soaring above the clouds the June 15th 2006 "Nature's Wildlife Animals" themed meeting reached new heights of Toastmaster enjoyment! Taking the helm as Toastmaster was Andrea McManus who showed why she was a natural at being a leader. Andrea made the meeting exciting and interesting with a number of stories and animal facts. She also kept the meeting on time as well. Also taking the challenge of a new role was Table Topics Master Brian Lewis who asked some excellent questions of our members. Diana Walley, ATMG, CL got the 1st question: "Tell us about an encounter with a wild animal?" Diana told a great Raccoon story. Ed Morris, CTM had an interesting response to a question about Hunting. Ed said they should arm the animals in oder to level the playing field. Darryl Stephens spoke eloquently about the need to protect Florida's Manatee. Andrea McManus weighed the question of Ben Franklin's choice of the Wild Turkey as our national bird. Our guest Shayonne Hoyte also gave a great answer to the question of "Tell us a Zoo story?' We had two very different speeches tonight as well. Laurie Heinitz, CTM gave a somewhat comforting speech on Spiders titled "Don't Be Afraid!" Many of us will sleep well now knowing that they can't kill us! Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave a speech to "Persuade with Power!" which he titled "Al Gore in 2008". Ken might have even won some votes for Al Gore if he runs again for President. The Master Evaluator for tonight was Diana Walley ATMG, CL and she had the pleasure of introducing Angela Abreu, CTM who gave an excellent review of Laurie's speech. Diana gave an evaluation of her husband's speech that was also excellent. Diana also gave a very up-beat & positive evaluation of the meeting as well. This was echoed by our guests Shayonne and Doreen Bennett who both said they hope to return next week! This meeting was both a tribute to our natural wildlife but also to the skill of Toastmasters as well.
The best example of our June 15th 2006 themed "SUMMER FUN!" meeting was the meeting itself. Ken Walley ATMG, CL took the lead as our Toastmaster and told stories of spring breaks past and surfing with hammerheads. Dr. Princess Anita staring as Table Topics Master for her first time, gave us a history of summer and insight into why it is the time that most of us choose to vacation. Princess asked of returning member Joey Holland to give us some of his childhood summer memories. Guest John Gada told about his spring breaks as a teenager. Andrea McManus remembered the sports that she loved, such as running track. Diana Walley ATMG, CL answered the question of "What do you like about Summer?" and Ken Walley ATMG, CL supported the idea of a giant picnic for all of the Toastmaster Clubs in Eola Park. Dr. Anita did a wonderful job for her first time as Topics Master. Two speeches were expertly given for the 2nd part of our meeting: Angela Abreu CTM started with a speech that gave example of how humor has enriched her life, titled: "Comedy in My Life". Diana Walley ATMG, CL, was giving her first speech at Club #28 since January 6th 2005. It was titled "What Makes a Good Realtor". Both speeches were brilliant. The evaluations were also worthy of high praise. Ken Walley ATMG, CL did double duty as our Master Evaluator and was given the delightful task of introducing two of the best of Central Florida's most revered evaluators: Laurie Heinitz, CTM and Ed Morris, CTM! Both exceeded expectations with strong reviews of the speeches. Both came up with supreme direction and innovative ideas along with plenty of encouragement for our speakers. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL also gave high praise for the entire meeting as well. It was simply a great night of learning and summer fun.
The June 1st 2006 "Comedy" Themed meeting started Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 out on a high note for the Summer! Toastmaster Ed Morris, CTM was at his comedic best and really keep everyone in stitches with some great joke borrowed from famous comedians including Chris Rock, George Carlin and Mitch Edberg. Also on roll was Laurie Heinitz, CTM who got us thinking and laughing, with some great questions. Angela Abreu, CTM remembered some great TV sitcoms when asked what her favorite TV comedy was. Diana Walley ATMG, CL listed such movies as "Airplane", "Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, World", "Rat Race" and the Austin Powers series when asked about the best Movie comedy. Andrea McManus spoke on the effects of "Bad Language" by stand up comics. Ed Morris, CTM praised Bill Hicks as his favorite comedian. Dr. Princess Anita listed a few comics who used off-color humor as her Least-favorite funnymen and Brian Lewis answered the question of "What kind of a 'Joke Teller' are you?" by telling a joke. Brian's not bad. We had two excellent speeches. Andrea McManus went first with the theme-friendly speech titled "The Benefits of Humor" Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave a helpful speech about how to become better at Table Topics. His speech simply titled "Table Topics" pointed out that this was a skill that we use everyday. Filling in as our Master Evaluator was Laurie Heinitz, CTM who did her usual excellent work in that position as well as giving a very good assessment of Ken's speech. Ken's Toastmaster wife, Diana Walley ATMG, CL gave a review of Andrea's speech. According to Laurie's meeting evaluation this was another in a long string of successful meetings and even a little more fun than most. "Learning and improving should be fun!" said Laurie. I could not agree more.
The May 25th, 2006 "Famous People" themed meeting proved that stardom was in the very room in which Orlando Club #28 met! What a truly excellent meeting ! Toastmaster Ken Walley ATMG, CL started off the meeting by reminding people that Fame is fleeting but he had no problem bringing up famous people, also called "name dropping" throughout the meeting. One of the many highlights of this meeting was the return of the "Central Florida Dead or Alive Show" produced by none other than Diana Walley ATMG, CL . This show featured Britney Spears being played by Laurie Heinitz, CTM and interview by Ed Morris, CTM; Tom Hanks played by Bruce Wigel and interviewed by Ken Walley ATMG, CL; Eddie Murphy played by Darryl Stephens and interviewed by Andrea McManus and even Mother Teresa played by Dr. Princess Anita and interview by Ken Blake, ATMS, CL. Everyone did a fantastic job taking on the famous roles. Our speeches were very special as well as we had two Ice Breaker speeches. Darryl Stephens first speech was titled "Even Stephens" and he told about how he aspired to be pro baseball player and ended up making music for a recording studio. The second Ice Breaker (titled "Taking on Challenges/ Overcoming Obstacles" was by Andrea McManus and she put on a performance that told of an interesting life of challenges that included being in the military to razing a teenager. Another impressive speech was given by Ed Morris, CTM who talked about fame in a speech titled "Famous People" he gave a well though out thesis on the pitfalls of being famous and on the future of fame itself. This was another of Ed's long list of excellent speeches. Our Master Evaluator Ken Blake, ATMS, CL also did a masterful job directing our three evaluators for the evening: Ed Morris, CTM, Angela Abreu, CTM and Ken Walley ATMG, CL. All three gave outstanding evaluations of the speakers but one of the best evaluations came from Ken B. of the meeting itself. Ken praised the "Central Florida Dead or Alive Show", lead a standing ovation for our two Ice Breaker speeches and praised the excellent work of the evaluators. It would be hard to imagine a better Toastmaster meeting than the one we had on this night. Maybe next week we can even top this one!
The theme "Time Travel" turned out to be a perfect vehicle for the May 18th 2006 Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 meeting! Our Toastmaster for the night Diana Walley ATMG, CL took control of our time machine and sent us blasting through space at warp speed and then going back in time to meet some famous people, much like the movie "Back to the Future". Helping Diana on this journey was our Table Topic Master Angela Abreu, CTM who sent a number of our members flying though time with such questions as: "If you could change something in the past what would it be?" (to Andrea McManus). "If you could build a Time Machine, would you?" (To Ken Blake, ATMS, CL) "Who would you bring back from the past?" ( to our guest Ken Johnson) "What would you bring from the future?" (Diana answered "Telepathy and the ability to transport oneself, like in Star Trek!") and "What great time travel movie would you like to star in?" (To Laurie Heinitz, CTM who answered "Total Recall"?). We had some great answers from everyone. Our speeches were from out-of-this-world as well. Speaker #1 was Bruce Wigel who gave a truly thought provoking and powerful speech on the most notorious day of the new century titled "9/11/2001" It required us to ask questions about that day so that the basic causes of that tragedy would not happen again. Our second speech was a brilliant Ice Breaker from an already polished speaker, new member Brian Lewis. Brian's speech, titled " It's Not As Exciting As It Sounds" was full of humor and wit especially when referring to his position as a CPA. Another here-to-fore unknown fact about Brian is that he is a Marathon runner! After hearing Brian's 1st speech we know that can look forward to some great speeches in the future! Our Master Evaluator was Laurie Heinitz, CTM who was supported by two evaluators who are seasoned in dispensing staid advice: Angela Abreu, CTM and Ken Blake, ATMS, CL. A nod should be given to our technical table: Dr. Princess Anita as AH Counter, Ken Walley ATMS, CL as Timer and Grammarian Darryl Stephens who also did excellent work! If we did have a "time machine" here would be a wonderful meeting to travel back in time and visit.
Still struggling with attendance, Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 continues to turn in remarkable meetings week after week. For example, the meeting of May 11, 2006 with the theme of "Joy and Happiness" brought much joy and happiness to all who did show up for the meeting. Toastmaster Ken Walley ATMG, CL switched with Ed Morris, CTM at the last moment to be the Master of Ceremonies for the night and sprinkled personal memories of joy and happiness as the evening went on. Another occasion that always brings joy to a Toastmaster meeting is when a new member takes on a position for the 1st time and does a great job. Such was the case of Andrea McManus who was our Table Topic Master. She picked the theme of "Surveillance Cameras". A question that she asked of Ed was typical: "Would you put surveillance cameras at your house?" Ed expressed a preference for more pro-active devices such as dogs and warning systems (barbed wire?) to protect his house. "Do these cameras invade our privacy?" was asked of Laurie Heinitz, CTM , "Do you think surveillance cameras are effective in stopping crime?" was asked of Bruce Wigel. "Should we have them at our schools?" was asked to Diana Walley ATMG, CL and the effects of videotaping our police was a question that was asked to Brian Lewis. Andrea did a truly excellent job as Table Master for her first time! Also we had two excellent speeches as well. Speaking from the cuff was Ed Morris, CTM who did a superb effort with a speech about "Reality TV" Ed gave his view on many of the shows which have become so popular over the last decade. Ed's thoughts on "American Idol" ("I don't think of anyone as 'my idol'" said Ed) to the police shows "America's Most Wanted" and "Cops" were covered in depth. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL gave a completely different speech, a reading from the book by James Finn Garner titled "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories" titled "Goldilocks"! Goldilocks, a rogue biologist was eaten by the bears in the end in a bid to be more multicultural. Two excellent evaluations were given by Ed's fiancée, Laurie Heinitz, CTM and by Ken's wife, Diana Walley ATMG, CL. Everyone pitched in to make this meeting a success! In the end there was much joy and happiness to go around.
One of the bright spots of an Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 Meeting is that even though the attendance may not be as strong as it could be, that the club can still create a great meeting. The May 4th, 2006 "High Tech" Themed meeting was a great example. Andrea McManus started out the meeting with a thoughtful Invocation & Pledge, just one of the two positions she would serve for her 1st time tonight. Ken Walley ATMG, CL also held two positions as well one of them being the Toastmaster. Ken reminded our members of how fast Technology advances by making a comparison of the year he was born with the High Tech world of today. "In 1953" said Ken, "Air Conditioning was 'high tech' and computers took up more space than the size of this room...and did less than our modern calculators." Jumping in as our Table Topic Master was returning member Diana Walley ATMG, CL who asked some great questions about the world of Technology. She asked Laurie Heinitz, CTM about cell phones and Diana asked Ken Blake ATMB, CL if he was happy with his cell phone provider. Her husband got a question about computer blogging. Our guest and future new member, Brian Lewis received the question: "What are you looking for in High Tech?" Ed Morris CTM was asked "What High Tech tools do you use and why?" Two Toastmasters jumped in with great speeches of a completely different nature: Laurie Heinitz, CTM gave a Technical Speech that was perfect in a way for the theme of the meeting titled: "The Pioneers of Support". It was a speech given to workers on how to channel support data through her company's networking systems. Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave a speech titled: "What Are We Doing Here?" which told about the Toastmaster mission statement and what is NOT said as well. It was a truly inspirational speech about Toastmasters. Two excellent evaluations were covered by Master Evaluator Ed Morris, CTM and Ken Blake ATMS, CL .It also should be noted that Darryl Stephens tried his hand at timer for the first time and did a great job as well. Both of our guests Brian Lewis and Jay (Rathakarn) Kaenham, were very impressed with the meeting. Brian said he was looking forward to joining our club as well! That is good because with a few more new members we will be filling the empty chairs!
The chemistry must have been right because the April 27th 2006 "Chemicals" themed was an explosive success. When you put Laurie Heinitz, CTM into the mix as the Toastmaster and Ken Walley ATMG, CL as the Table Topic Master this meeting had a lot to do with what worked well together. Laurie brought in tons of fun facts about Chemicals and Ken asked some interesting questions on the subject. He asked Bruce Wigel "How has Chemicals effected your life today?" A tall order to fit into two minutes but Bruce succeeded. "What is a dangerous Chemical and how can we protect ourselves?" was answered by Laurie Heinitz, CTM. Tim Powell was asked to "Name a chemical that has improved our lives." Andrea McManus was asked if she would volunteer to test an unknown chemical if it could save lives, even if she could become "very sick" and Ken Blake, ATMS, CL rattled off a number of new chemicals that are changing our lives. We had two very different but excellent speeches that came together to help create a wonderful speaking part of the meeting. Dr. Princess Anita gave a speech on the DaVinci Code controversy with a speech titled "Had She Been or Had She Not Been: The Co-heart of the Divine Jesus?" . Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL returned to the club with a great storytelling speech about a box of "treasures"; i.e., common things with great meaning in a speech titled 'The Little Box in the Corner". Again Ed held us spellbound. Laurie also gave an introduction that she is going to give at a seminar & asked for advice on how to improve it. Our Master Evaluator was none other than Ken Blake ATMS, CL who called upon the abilities of two very good evaluators: Angela Abreu, CTM and Russell Russ, CTM both of whom excelled with very good evaluations. Ken B. summed up the meeting as "A fabulous meeting!". Andrea McManus serving her 1st time as our AH Counter, Bruce Wigel as our Grammarian and Joe Bowie, CTM as our Timer rounded out the Technical Table. A fantastic job being done by all. Our guests agreed that this was a great way to spend Thursday night as we got strong positive comments from Maria Vargas, Mary Whited and her daughter Amanda Whited.
Another top-notch Club #28 meeting was held on April 20th 2006 with the theme "Fruits and Veggies" and what was healthy turned out to be entertaining as well! Angela Abreu, CTM tried her hand at being the Toastmaster for her first time and succeeded as if she has been doing it for years. Angela brought with her numerous facts out good diet and health. Our Table Topic Master Laurie Heinitz, CTM also did a wonderful job of teaching the benefits of fruits and vegetables! She asked a number of great questions that taught us that we knew more about the subject than we thought. "What does it mean '5 times a day' when speaking about fruit & veggies?" "What is your favorite Vegetable and why?", "Are genetically altered food safe?" "Should we send genetically modified food to 3rd world countries?" and "Organic food vs. non-organic food: does it make a difference?" were the questions asked of Angela, Andrea McManus, Tim Powell, Darryl Stephens and Ken Walley ATMG, CL. There were excellent speeches as well: Ed Morris, CTM was at his best with a speech titled "Conspiracy Theory" about how people scam other people and how that has become excepted. Ken Blake's (ATMS, CL) "I Love Quitters" titled speech was a great example of winning people over to a different viewpoint. Tim Powell reprised his "A Toast to the Bride and Groom" speech from a few week ago, this time with some added improvements. Our Master Evaluator, Joe Bowie Jr., CTM followed our excellent speeches with an excellent session of evaluations. Joe himself was the evaluator for Ed's speech. Ken W. evaluated Ken B's speech and Laurie helped Tim with an evaluation of his toast. This meeting left everyone with the feelings of good health and stronger minds!
The theme of the April 13th 2006 Club #28 meeting was "Storytelling' and what a great theme it turned out to be. One of the reason that it worked so well was because of our Toastmaster, Ed Morris, CTM has such a great imagination! Ed regaled us with stories throughout the meeting one of them being a mysterious story of how he came across a sub sandwich on the way to work. Another story by our Table Topic Master Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM dwelt with being sucked into a black hole. Joe of course called upon others to tell a story: Ken Blake, ATMS, CL told a story of how he is going to make a fortune from a great idea, Angela Abreu, CTM told a story of helping others; new member Andrea McManus told a story of how she helped a woman get her purse back. Since the theme was storytelling Ken Walley, ATMG, CL gave a speech ("I Have No Idea") of how he was abducted by aliens and lost all of his hair. Not to be outdone, Laurie Heinitz, CTM gave a great speech ("A Sucker is Born Every Minute") which told of the origin of that phase "A Sucker is Born Every Minute" with the story of P.T. Barnum and the Cardiff Giant hoax in which a con man conned a con man. It was a great speech and a great story! Ken W. also played the part of the Master Evaluator introducing Ed Morris, CTM and Ken Blake, ATMS, CL to give the evaluations. During his evaluation of the meeting ken gave credit to Dr. Princess Anita for covering both roles as Grammarian and AH Counter. "This was a great meeting! It proves that you can have a wonderful meeting even if there is not a lot of people attending. I am very glad I came tonight!" Both of our guests Andrea McManus and Tonya Valencia decided that Toastmasters is for them and signed up!
The problems, and solutions to the challenges facing our environment were explored at the "Save Our Environment!" themed meeting on April 6th 2006. Thanks to Toastmaster Ken Blake, ATMS, CL we had an informed and pretty darned scary overview of the massive problems infesting our plant. Table Topic Master Ken Walley ATMG, CL touched on just some of these. Russell Russ, CTM answered the question of "What is our biggest problem facing our Environment?" with water and air pollution. Darryl Stevens could not remember a place that he had ever been where there was absolutely no contamination of our land. Dennis Gola ATMS, CL spoke on a problem that threatens us locally: population growth and urban sprawl. Greg Velho pointed out some truly helpful recommendations when answering the question of "What can we do to save our environment?" Recycling was at the heart of his answer. We had three excellent speeches starting with a speech that was directly related to our subject. Laurie Heinitz, CTM working on the advanced manual of Interpretive Reading, read from the TIME Magazine article "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid ". She did a great job and underscored the many various threats we face including global warming, species extinction and protected land & rainforest development. Emilia Soto delivered her 3rd speech, again impressing all who heard her speak. She took the view of an immigrant in America in a speech titled "An Immigrant's point of View." She painted a picture of how tough it would be to face bias and confrontation in a new country. It was a powerful and enlightening speech. Our third speaker Joe Bowie Jr, CTM gave a speech about the dangers of do-it-yourself home improvement titled "It Just Wasn't Enough" . His speech featured a brick that broke the back of his toilet sending gallons of water rushing across the floor...A good message with a gentle humor, and a brick, made for a great speech. Two excellent evaluators, Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL and Russell Russ, CTM helped Master Evaluator Adam Scoggins, CTM who also gave an evaluation as well. It should be noted that our functionaries had two 1st timers: Darryl Stephens as Vote Counter and Greg Velho as AH Counter. Ken W. as Timer and Angela Abreu, CTM rounded out our Technical Table. Our guest, Andrea McManus commented that she was "very impressed" and would return next week. A great deal was learned from our meeting about the environment, this would have been an eye-opener for anyone who attended. Time very well spent.
The "Slow Down You Move To Fast!" Themed meeting on March 30th 2006 ran far behind schedule but nobody really was concerned because we learned that to "take it easy" was the best path to take of all! Russell Russ, CTM was a "cool" Toastmaster as he grooved through the meeting reminding us to "relax and chill out." Ed Carmona ATMB, CL was at his inventive best during Table Topics as we tried something a little different. Ed split up our members into three teams and we had a mini-debate on the subject of "Speed vs. Quality" our guest, Darryl Stephens acted as our judge awarded first prize to team #1 Ken Blake, ATMS, CL; Emilia Soto and Russell Russ, CTM. We had some great answers and some truly excellent points brought out. This is an experiment we must try again sometime! Innovation was present as well in our first speech presented by Ed Morris, CTM. Let me see if I can get this right: Ed, speaking to "himself" gave an evaluation of his evaluation last week of Tim Powell's Toast It was titled simply "Evaluation." Somehow this speech worked and became an imaginative blueprint for how to give both an evaluation and a speech! It was genius. Ken Walley ATMG, CL was next up giving a semi-off the cuff speech titled "The Stigma of The Mentally Ill". Ken tackled a tough subject bringing out a number of myths and stereotypes about those who suffer not only from a biological illness but from the misinformation and discrimination of society. It was a powerful message that took courage to bring out into the open. Also showing courage was our Master Evaluator, Emilia Soto who took on this role for the first time. She did a sublime effort at this position smoothly guiding the meeting back on track time-wise, and giving a brilliant meeting summary. The two evaluations should be noted as well: Ken Blake's (ATMS, CL) evaluation of "the other Ken" was worthy of a contest evaluation and Ed Carmona's (ATMB, CL) memorable evaluation of "The other Ed" was insightful. Ed commented that his evaluation was "an evaluation of an evaluation of a speech that did not last as long as the evaluation and the speech on the evaluation was longer than the evaluation itself!" Did you get that? Ed gave a great line of advice: "A speaker must learn to love the audience!" Angela Abreu, CTM was our Grammarian, Bruce Wigel was our AH Counter and Laurie Heinitz, CTM was simply wonderful as our timer. Our guest Darryl Stephens, wanted to join our club and even volunteered for a position for next's week's meeting! Somehow, we ended up on time, or close to it. Meaning that we used both speed and quality to finish!
Club #28 Marched into the "March Madness" themed March 23rd, 2006 Meeting with one of the best Toastmaster evenings of the young year. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL was the Toastmaster and he brought numerous facts about the month of March (It's "National Optimistic Month!" which was good because Russell Russ CTM started out our meeting with an Invocation about optimism) and some of the madness. Ed Morris, CTM as our Table Topic master used the Theme of the NCAA Basketball tournament to asked some very un-basketball like questions. For example he asked Emilia Soto "Is it better to get to the big game and lose or to not get there at all? "Get there!" said Emilia. Dr. Princess Anita told a story about a wild animal. Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL had to explain what a "Hoya" was. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL picked a mascot for his team (a "Silver Tiger"?), guest Jeff Mayersea told us he would cheer for the underdog over the champ. Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL said he would take the risk to win it all rather than play it safe to tie. These were great questions! We had three great speeches as well tonight. Ken Blake ATMS, CL in a speech title "What If?" told of a new product that will save 30% in gas cost in the form of a pill you can put in your gas tank. Angela Abreu, CTM in a Speech title "Natural Wonders" told a captivating story of how the aloe plant could have saved a man from a false jail sentence! Newest member Tim Powell gave a toast to the Bride and Groom for an upcoming wedding he has to attend as the best man. Tim did a great job! Our Master Evaluator, Dennis Gola ATMS, CL was blessed with three truly excellent evaluations from three remarkable Toastmasters. Joe Bowie Jr. CTM returned to the Club #28 lectern to give an excellent evaluation of Ken's speech. Ed Cartmona, ATMB, CL and Ed Morris, CTM showed that our "Two Eds" could produce great feedback as well. Everyone pulled together to produce a high quality and turly interesting meeting! It made this meeting as fun as St. Patrick's Day or a wild Spring Break!.
The turnout may have not been as large as we would have hoped but the March 16th 2006 "We Interrupt this Broadcast: The Great Events That Have Changed Our Lives!" Themed meeting was a great example of why a small meeting can be a great one. Our Toastmaster for the evening Laurie Heinitz, CTM was faced with a number of challenges but she made the meeting run smoothly and with flair by bringing to life events that shaped our world. Ken Walley ATMG, CL was also on hand as Table Topics Master and he asked questions that forced our members to explore how we deal with major events. The questions Ken asked spanned a broad spectrum of history: "Where were you when the twin towers fell & what were you thinking and feeling?" (To Laurie) "What are the major news events that have impacted your life and why?" (To Bruce Wigel) "What was the most positive major news event of the last century?" (To Dr. Princess Anita) "What can we learn from a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina? (To Angela Abreu, CTM) "Why Can't we all get along?" (To Mi Hoshino) and "Who Killed Kennedy... lone gunman or conspiracy?" (To guest Jeff Mayersea). Our prepared speeches were very different in nature but they were both excellent performances. Ken Walley ATMG started off with a speech about how to prepare a speech and what can be done even before you approach the lectern. His speech ("How to Prepare a Speech") had a number great speaking tips. Ed Morris, CTM earned his Competent Toastmaster Award (CTM) the hard way with a speech "off the cuff" on the subject of what we learned from the events of September 11th 2001 ("What We Learned From 9/11"). Although an extemporaneous speech, it had many of the elements that defined a well crafted production. Ed was later saluted with a standing ovation! Adam Scoggins, CTM was "drafted" into the Master Evaluator position on the spur of the moment and rose to the occasion with an impressive rendering of the role. He had help with two commendable evaluations from Laurie Heinitz, CTM and Anglea Abreu, CTM. Mi Hoshino served as both our Grammarian and Ah Counter and Bruce Wigel did a stellar job as our Timer! All of our guests, Dio Pouerie, Greg Vello and Jeff Mayersea all praised the meeting and pledged to return! As Adam commented it was a very good meeting and while not an event that would be worthy of interrupting a broadcast, it would be worthy of the broadcast itself.
We had a great turnout for the March 9th 2006 "To Your Health!" themed meeting and who better to host our meeting on Health than our own resident doctor, Dr. Princess Anita? It was the first time that Dr. Anita had served as our Master of Ceremonies and she did a great job. Princess brought to the podium a great deal of expertise in the medical field. She also had a lot of help for example Laurie Heinitz, CTM as the Table Topic Master who came prepared with a number of health related questions such as the one she asked Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL "At what age do you think people are the healthiest?" Future member Tim Powell answered the question "Do diets work?" Russell Russ, CTM who was runner-up in last week's Table Topic contest was given the question "If you had a magic wan and could make anything into a healthy food, what would it be?" One of the highlights of the evening was the return of Toastmaster Joe Bowie Jr. CTM who was even given a question by Laurie; "What physical attributes could you improve though exercise?" Mi Hoshino gave a great answer to the question of how she would compare Eastern and Western medicine. "Medical Care: A right or a privilege?' was tackled by Adam Scoggins, CTM and one of Laurie's toughest questions was saved for Ed Morris: "What is most important to maintain a healthy lifestyle?" All of our members gave great answers. Both of our speakers tonight were giving their second speeches but we had two very different speeches. Bruce Wigel gave a technical speech that center of financial investments titled "The Chartable Remainder Unitrust" Emilia Soto's second speech was titled "Stay Focused" in which she explained ways of maintaining a strong physical and mental healthy lifestyle. Both speeches showed that our two "rookies" have many natural skills of organizing and writing speeches. They both also were able to work around a lectern that collapsed before the first speaker was introduced! Master Evaluator Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL had it easy because his two evaluators were true veterans. Ken Walley ATMG, CL and Russell Russ, CTM each produced excellent evaluations for our speakers. Anglea Abreu as AH Counter, Debbe Ryan ATMG, CL serving as Timer and Ed Morris as Grammarian were our functionaries. Although rushed due to time restrictions we were able to finish on time and accomplish another great Club #28 meeting!
The 2006 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 International Speech and Table Topics Contest on March 2nd, 2006 lived up to the hype that had preceded it during the month of February. No one however could have envisioned a night in which all of the competing members came prepared with such brilliant performances that created two contests which are sure to live in the memories of all who were in that packed room. There were two of the best ever Toastmaster club contests to have been held anywhere. The meeting started out on a high note with the introduction of Amilia Soto by Sgt. at Arms Angela Abreu, CTM. Amilia gave an inspiring message leading us in the Invocation and Pledge to the Flag. She set the tone for a very special evening. Ken Walley ATMG, CL acted as the Contest Master a position that he has had the honor of holding twice previous. Ken used that experience to keep the contest running on time and somehow ending on time as well. Ken had tremendous support from The honorable Chief Judge Rev. Lani Wynne-Hampton, ATMG, CL to whom the club paid tribute for her efforts in find a place to meeting during the recent library renovation. Also playing a major part in the success of the contests were the Vote Counters Mi Hoshino and Bruce Wigel and the Timers, Dr. Princess Anita and Mike Masur who did a remarkable job of keeping the meeting running smoothly and efficiently. The Table Topics Contest was the first contest held and all five contestants answered the same question: "If you could speak with everyone in the world at the same time, what would you say?" All of the contestants came up with remarkable and very different answers. Russell Russ, CTM; Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL; Laurie Heinitz, CTM; Debbie Ryan, ATMG, CL; and Emilia Soto all gave intriguing and thought- provoking answers. The judges must of had a very difficult time choosing a winner as a case could have been made for all of the contestants. Winners of the contest were, 1st place Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL with Russell Russ, CTM taking home the second place trophy. The International Speech Contest featured four great speeches: Brian Wheeler's (ATMB, CL) classic speech "A Man Just Can't Sit Around" told the story of a man who exceeded his expectations and pioneered lawn-chair flight! It has all of the qualities of a great speech. Ed Morris captured the hearts of his audience as he told how he captured the heart of his fiance (Club President Laurie Heinitz, CTM) in a speech titled "A Modest Series of Proposals". Our third speaker, Ken Blake ATMS, CL has earned the title of "The O. Henry of Club #28" with speeches like "It's Time to Move On", a speech that sounded like he was leaving Toastmasters but had a surprise ending when it became clear he was leaving a classic car club instead! Dr Ross Thomson ATMB, CL had a speech that gave everyone an idea of how tough it would be to speak in a second language in his speech "Take It Slowly". Four very different, but all excellent, speeches. Brian Wheeler's speech took top honors and the judges awarded second place to Ed Morris. As with most Club #28 contests there were some delightful surprises: Angela Abreu, CTM did a great job as Sergeant-at-Arms, Tony Betts, CTM returned to Club #28to serve as Raffle Master. Michael and Helen Joseph, both DTM's returned to watch the festivities. Former Club President, Diana Walley, ATMG, CL also returned to the club after a long absence. Warren Lakhan, ATMS, CL; Jennifer Hopkins and Darryl Murtha, CTM were part of a contingent from Club #28's sister club Orange County Toastmasters Club #129. Our Area 49 Governor Diana Estremera, ATMG, CL help present the trophies! The 2006 Orlando Toastmatsers Club #28 International Speech and Table Topics Contest was a shining example of how a club, and many of its friends, can come together to produce not only a superb production but lasting cherished memories as well!
With President's Day only a couple of days past, Toastmaster Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL brought a ton of interesting facts about our nation's leaders and used them to make history come alive while serving as our Toastmaster for the February 23rd, 2006 meeting. We learned for example that 12 of our Presidents never attended college. Emilia Soto serving as our Table Topics Master for the 1st time asked more personal presidential questions than trivia for example to Mike Masur she asked what he would do if he were the president of a large company, Ed Carmona ATMB, CL was asked what ideas he would bring from other countries to America. Our guest Dean Vella was asked what he thought was the hardest part of being president. Ken Blake ATMS, CL answered a question of what the qualities for leadership were and Area 49 Governor Diana Estremera, ATMG was asked who she thought was her most admired President. Jim Stitt was also asked a question and told what he would do if he was the most powerful man on earth. We had two completely different kinds of prepared speeches. Ken Walley ATMG, CL started with a speech to inform. His speech was about The 2006 Club #28 International Speech and Table Topics Contests which are coming up next week! After hearing Ken's speech everyone was making plans to be sure to be at the library. Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL gave an inspired "Reading Out Loud Speech" in which he performed a Mark Twain article on an explanation of the Italian Language. Anglea Abreu, CTM acting as our Master Evaluator had the pleasure of introducing two honored Toastmasters who gave very well thought out evaluations. Debbe Ryan ATMG, CL evaluated Ken W's speech while Our Area Governor Diana Estremera, ATMG evaluated Ross's speech. Angela in her "Meeting Review" had high praise for everyone from Toastmaster Dennis to Vote Counter Mi Hoshito. At the end of the evening, Adam Scoggins, CTM, Dr. Princess Anita and both our guests Paul Enchelmayer and Dean Vella gave high marks to our meeting. If this meeting had been an American President, it might be carved someday on a "Toastmasters Meeting Mt. Rushmore". It got my vote for a great night of Toastmaster brilliance!
The theme for the February, 16th 2006 special Club #28 Toastmasters meeting was "Home Sweet Home" which was perfect because after more than 10 months Club #28 returned to the Orlando Public Library! Our last meeting at the library was on March, 31st 2005! Toastmaster Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL brought many memories of "home" to the meeting and the meaning of home and family was a constant theme throughout the evening. Club #28 members old and new, came together to make this night feel as if we were indeed surrounded by family. For example Table Topics Master Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL asked his first question to Anglea Abreu, CTM about her home country the Dominican Republic. Ed Morris told about his home state, Florida (he was born in Gainesville). Debbe Ryan ATMG, CL returned to the club for the first time since April of 2004 and showed that she had not lost a beat when it come to thinking quickly on her feet. Another past club president who has not visited us in a while was Helen Joseph, DTM who answered a question about "home cooking" her home town was in Caribbean Antigua! Guest Lindsey Chapman told about her home town of Clearwater. Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL talked about a different kind of home: home-plate! Ken Blake ATMS, CL told us about his "home away from home" a boat he had just bought. Our three speeches were all simply awesome: Starting with Emilia Soto giving her Ice Breaker speech "Emilia & Her World" which was another excellent first speech that this club has experienced in the past two weeks. Emilia gave a very polished speech telling us why she came to Toastmasters. It had humor, confidence and wisdom beyond her young age. Next up was Dennis Gola, ATMS, CL who spoke from the cuff and gave a powerful speech ("The Importance of Family in Society") on the responsibility of parents to help mold their children's education. Dennis put on a show on how to give a speech while "speaking from the heart". Mike Masur made a subject that could have been very complex and confusing seem entertaining and enlightening as he spoke about economics in his speech "Three Trends in our Economic Climate". All three speeches were deserving of the highest praise. Master Evaluator Ed Morris Introduced three very good evaluators Laurie Heinitz, CTM; Angela Abreu, CTM and Ken Blake, ATMB, CL all of whom came through with wonderful ideas and thoughts on our speeches. Laurie led a well earned standing ovation for Emilia's Ice Breaker speech. Bruce Wigle gave and excellent Grammarian report for his first time at that position. Dr. Princess Anita was our AH Counter who also gave some very uplifting comments during her report. Mi Hoshino, also serving for the first time, proved to be a very efficient vote counter. Ken Walley ATMG, CL manned the timer position. All of our guests: Nathan Becker, Lindsey Chapman, Eric Rivera and David Beck each had enthusiastic comments about our meeting as well. It was wonderful to see so many new faces as well as so many old friends. It was like coming home...and what a truly wonderful homecoming for Club #28!
The theme for the February 9th 2006 meeting was "Winging It" so I will take the advice of our Toastmaster for this evening, Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL and "wing" this review. Ross was great even though he had not prepared anything which, of course, was the point. Ross kept us laughing with quips and stories about times he had to fake his way through exams, speeches and other spur of the moment trials. Ed Carmona ATMB, CL came ready however as Table Topic Master with some really excellent questions, even if they were "off the cuff". His first question was "What is the Philosophy of 'Winging It'?" to which Laurie Henitz, CTM was somehow able to reach the minute mark with her answer. Ed Morris explored the inner-meaning of the theme with the question of "What is the Psychology of 'Winging It'?" Visiting Area 49 Governor Diana Estramera, ATMG, CL who again graced our meeting, came up with an answer for "What is the Ethics of 'Winging It'?" Ken Walley ATMG, CL approached the subject of "What is the Art of 'Winging It'?" Guest Tim Powell had a great answer for the question "Is there value in 'Winging It'?" Dr. Ross was given the tough question of "What are the Physics of 'Winging It'?" and Mike Masur had the always interesting question of the "Economics of 'Winging It'." "As an auditor," said Mike, "You can never 'wing it'...Never! You ALWAYS have to be accurate. If one person 'wings it', they could bring everything down, like in the Enron case." The speeches were both entertaining and captivating. First, Brian Wheeler, ATMB, started off with a speech that he had to give to an audience of 200 tomorrow morning! He told "The Story of Tijuana Flats" by packing his 40 minute presentation into a 12 minute speech. Next up was Dr. Princess Anita who gave a well prepared, wonderfully written speech titled "PSPP: Pain, Stress, Paralysis and Preventive Medicine" a speech which looked at the medical profession's role in "balancing the inner harmony" of the body. It was a brilliantly written speech. The evaluations were two of the best ever given in the same meeting in recent memory. Both Ed Morris (for Brian) and Laurie Heinitz, CTM (for Dr. Princess) gave truly balanced, helpful and encouraging advice. Ken Walley, ATMG, CL as the Master Evaluator had nothing but praise in his meeting evaluation. He mentioned Mike Masur's excellent Invocation to start the meeting, Angela Abreu's (CTM) work as Timer, Gov. Diana filling in as AH Counter, the Table Topic session, the Speeches and the Evaluations as well as how perfectly the whole club came together to make the meeting run smoothly. "A lot of energy tonight!" said Ken. From gavel to gavel this was indeed, a marvelous meeting!
Detroit is more than just the city that builds cars as we found out at the February 2nd, 2006 "Motown / Detroit" themed meeting. Toastmaster Ed Morris did a fantastic job taking us through the crime-infested streets and the smoggy, freezing cold back alleys to see that there really IS a genuine charm to the Motor City. Best of all, Ed spoke to a packed house that made our meeting room look like the Super Bowl! Ken Walley, ATMG, CL, was our Table Topics Master and he brought along a few questions and was delighted to spring them on a few toastmasters he had not seen in quite a while. For example, Jim Stitt joined us and was asked "Why would you want to have the Super Bowl in your city?" Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL was asked about the "Motown Sound". Brian Wheeler ATMB was asked about the layoffs in the auto industry and the effects on the city. Mi Hoshino answered the question of what would make her move to a big city. Another returning Toastmaster Joey Holland, predicted that the Seattle Seahawks would win the big game. John Bonowitz-Coffey told us how to reduce crime and guest Justin Costly, CTM gave a great answer to the question of what kind of car he would design. Three excellent speeches started off with a very special speech by Bruce Wigel: "Bruce: The Ice Breaker" in which Bruce told us why he came to our club and about his background. We found out that he grew up in Central Florida and works as a lawyer here in Orlando. Next was an entertaining speech "A Memorable Sale" by Anglea Abreu, CTM that told the story of how as a clerk, she caught a shoplifter...and even got credit for the stolen merchandise! Ken Walley, ATMG, CL gave another speech to inform ("WWW.Toastmasters28.org") that gave our members a tour of the club's website, in which he mentioned the impressive "Past Meetings" section. President Laurie Heinitz, CTM shined as our Master Evaluator with the help of our three evaluators: Brian Wheeler, ATMB; Russell Russ, CTM and Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL. In Laurie's meeting review, she said that this was a tremendous meeting because it was in a "Full House!" She even pointed out that our Area 49 Governor, Diana Estremera, ATMG, was in attendance and that made it even more special. Our Vote Counter for the evening, Dr. Princess Anita handed out the winning ribbons herself and another highlight of the evening was an excellent Grammarian report by new member Emilia Soto, her 1st time at the position and Joey Holland's always precise AH Counter report. There was more! Closing comments by our Area Governor praised "A great meeting, with a lot of energy!" She said. We ended the meeting with glowing remarks from our past two-time Distinguished Club President Adam Scoggins, CTM and former Club Vice President of Education, Tony Betts, CTM both said they miss the club and will be returning on a regular basis! This was a wonderful meeting that made Club #28 look like the "Super Bowl of Toastmaster Excellence!"
One of the best Habits that one can acquire is attending Club #28 meetings like the January 26th 2006 "Habits" themed meeting! Toastmaster Laurie Heinitz, CTM did a wonderful job of leading through the hazards of bad habits and rewards of good habits as we spent the evening on the topic. Also coming prepared with some great questions about habits was Table Topic Master Russell Russ, CTM who as some soul searching questions like the one he aimed at John Bonowitz-Coffey: "What habits do you have that other Toastmasters should NOT have?" New member Bruce Wigel (pronounced Why-gul) was asked about how effective resolutions were and did he have any? (Yes, to watch his diet). "How do you talk yourself out of the habit of talking to yourself?" was the question put to Ed Morris. Guest Matt Lowary was given the obscure question of "How is a bad habit like a bad Java script?" A question which Matt handled extremely well. Angela Abreu, CTM was asked what she would change about her family's habits. Mike Masur quoted Mark Twain while answering a question about getting in the habit of working out every day. Dr. Princess Anita spoke on having to break habits in order to adapt to life in America. New member Amilia Soto was given a question that hopefully she will follow: How do you make Toastmasters a habit every week?" Club #28 kept up the good habit of having excellent speeches during the meeting: Our first speaker, Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave a speech about the non-vocal parts of a speech in his presentation "The Non-Verbal Art of Speechmaking" based on his article on the website. Ken gave the club many great ideas on how to improve your speaking even before you open your mouth! Ed Carmona ATMB, CL showed why he is revered as a great storyteller with a speech titled "Beauty Killed the Rose". Telling the story of a rose that would not die, he held the audience spellbound! Angela Abreu, CTM played host to two excellent evaluators Laurie Heinitz, CTM and John Bonowitz-Coffey. Both gave truly impressive reviews of the speeches. Excellent work was done by Angela Abreu, CTM as the Master Evaluator, Amilia Soto as the AH Counter (that bell rang all night!) and Bruce Wigel as our Vote Counter. All of them filling those positions for the first time! It was also announced and voted upon, that we would return to the Orlando Public Library starting on the February 9th 2006 meeting. It will be hard to break the habit of having great meetings at the Center for Spiritual Living and easy to set a new habit of having great meetings there!
The "Humor, Laughter and Jokes" themed January 19th 2006 meeting was by far the funniest, and all around most fun, meeting in recent memory. Ken Walley ATMG, CL our Toastmaster host/comedian for the night, came prepared with jokes of many different kinds (blonde jokes, parrot jokes, light bulb jokes, etc.) and in such abundant numbers that the other members pleaded "No More! Please!" What a great crowd... Also highlighting a droll comedic wit was our Table Topic Master Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL who added many jokes of his own to the night's collection of mirth as well as asking some fabulous questions. The question asked of John Bonowitz-Coffey was "Are you offended by blonde jokes?" John, a blonde, was surprisingly open minded answering that he was not offended at all taking them in stride as well as being able to laugh at a good one now and then. Ed Carmona ATMB, CL was asked "What was the first joke that you ever heard?" He told the joke but very few could get it... because he told it in Spanish! All of our guests answered Table Topics questions as well. Emilia Soto told about how she had gotten fooled by some "tricky" jokes. Travis Bruehl was given the question "Besides Lawyers, is there an occupation that begs to be made fun of?" He picked his own profession, an engineer. Emem Stuppard commented on "other language" jokes. Bruce Wigle said that it was hard to offend him with a joke because he "was both a blonde and a lawyer!" It was a truly great table topic session. The speeches were also first rate as well. Our first speaker was Ed Morris who gave a well crafted speech ("Polarization is for Sunglasses") that highlighted political differences and made the point that they can create progress instead of promoting conflict. Our second speaker, Mike Masur who went to school in New Orleans and grew up in Louisiana, spoke on a subject near to his heart in a speech titled "Cajun Cuisine" Mike reminded us of the rich culture and traditions of New Orleans throughout his speech. Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL was our Master Evaluator and told an hysterically funny, although not at the time, experience of being treated for a misdiagnosed "heart attack". Two excellent evaluations of our speakers came from Ken W. and Dr. Ross. Also doing a note-worthy job as our functionaries tonight were Dr. Princess Anita serving as our AH Counter, Laurie Heinitz, CTM as timer and Angela Abreu, CTM as Grammarian. Besides the laughter and the fun, a truly uplifting experience was shared by everyone at this toastmaster meeting. Emilia Soto joined our club and Bruce said he going to become part of our family as well! I guess laughter is a good medicine for membership!
Starting out the year with the appropriate theme of "The Year Past and the Year Ahead" brought an optimistic feeling to the new year as well a look back on a year that was anything but kind. Hurricane Katrina, the death of Pope John Paul II, the war in Iraq, earthquakes and the Michael Jackson trial all brought headlines in 2005 as well as lesser stories like the breakup of Jen and Brad. Toastmaster Russell Russ, CTM and Table Topics Master Laurie Heinitz, CTM covered all of these but had us focus on our personal memories and our own dreams of the future. Russell commented that after the confusion of last year "things will seem to fall into place again." and that from confusion comes order. Laurie asked a number of soul-searching questions which brought to light hope for the future. "When asked what his resolution from last year Ken Walley ATMG, CL said it was the same every year "To get though a year without saying anything bad about anyone". He has yet to make it through the month of January. "But I gain a few days every year." In the second question, to Dr. Ross Thomson ATMB, CL we found out that he set his goal for this year: to gain his American citizenship. Ed Morris gave a number of compelling reasons for setting goals. Angela Abreu, CTM chose, as would most of us, the disaster of Hurricane Katrina as the "Worst event of 2005". Our guest Darwin Ludwig answered the question" What needs to improve in the year 2006?" He pointed out that his car was in great need of repair among other things. Our other guest Emilia Soto said that she felt positive about the upcoming new year. Russell Russ CTM said that the most pleasant event of 2005 was watching how people came together at his job to accomplish things they never thought possible. We also had two speeches that gave us hope for the new year as well: Dr. Ross Thomson's (ATMB, CL) speech "Breaking the Rules" was a wonderful lesson in how to succeed by breaking the rules. "Don't do things that are 'correct', do things that are RIGHT!" was just one of the may chestnuts sprinkled throughout the speech. Not to be outdone, Toastmaster Mike Masur also came through with a great speech of his own. His was on the ups and downs and the dangers of playing the stock market ("Stock Market ") that was a powerful and entertaining speech that educated as well. Ken Walley ATMG, CL served as our Master Evaluator and had the sheer joy of introducing Laurie Heinitz, CTM and Ed Morris who truly gave two of the best evaluations in memory. This was a truly excellent meeting which has set a high standard and has given us a hope and promise of the new year!
2006 started out on a high note and if the rest of the new year is as good as our first meeting, this will be a tremendous year for our club! The January 5th 2006 meeting was our special Induction of Officers celebration that also showcased two excellent speakers, and...one new CTM! Angela Abreu opened the meeting as our new Sergeant at Arms and introduced Russell Russ, CTM who gave a uplifting and encouraging Invocation and Pledge. Filling in for Barbara Lott, CTM our outgoing President, was Ken Walley, ATMG, CL who also served as our Master of Ceremonies for the evening. Ken introduced our two featured speakers to start off the program. First to speak was the always entertaining Ed Morris who gave a brilliant speech titled "A History of the Miami Dolphins" that had tons energy and was well researched. It was complete with Dolphin highlights that were projected in back of him on the wall! A great power-point presentation! Next to speak was Angela Abreu who became Angela Abreu, CTM with her CTM graduation speech titled "Embrace Change". Her speech was a powerful and inspiring speech that asked us to take charge of our lives and not to be afraid of change but to use change to improve the world around us. Another inspirational speech was delivered by Ken Walley ATMG, CL as he gave "Barbara Lott's Farewell Speech" Ken pointed out the many successes of Barbara's administration and how proud he was of our club. "I know if Barbara was here she would say the same thing I am...This is a great club with wonderful people who believe in each other and in themselves." Ken also said that "You could not kill this club even if you tried! This club only knows how to succeed!" said Ken. After the Farewell address Ken presided over the "Passing of the Gavel" Ceremony swearing in our new officers Sgt. at Arms Angela Abreu; CTM; Treasurer Ed Morris; Secretary Mark Cox, CTM; VP of Membership, Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL, VP of Education, Ken Walley ATMG, CL and our new President Laurie Heinitz, CTM. Not able to attend was Vice President of Public Relations Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL. Taking the gavel and giving a well thought out and promising vision of the future was President Heinitz in her Inaugural Address. Membership and attendance were two of the problems that she wanted the club to turn its attention towards. He speech was filled with hope and success for the next six months! The future looks bright with this group of officers1 Our guest for the evening Amy Mount said she was impressed with the "heart and spirit" of this club and wanted to look into joining! We would love to have you with us Amy! It was truly an inspiring evening and this years is already turning out to be our best year ever!
The 2005 Toastmaster year came to a joyous end with the December 15th 2005 "Christmas Party" unlike in the past, we did not have the induction of new officers instead waiting to start off 2006 with the "Passing of the Gavel" ceremony. We made more room this year for festive speeches and warm holiday cheer! Ken Walley, ATMG, CL was our Toastmaster and although he mentioned that he left all of his notes at home, he still told many a tale of Christmas past and even started the meeting with a hearty "Ho! Ho! Ho!" . Also in the holiday spirit was our Table Topic Master Ed Morris! Ed pulled bright sugar plumbs of questions from his bag of Table Topic treats: "Do you have Christmas story of when everything went wrong?" Dr. Princess Anita was asked the question of "What holiday gift would you give the world?" (To "Help Third world countries and be a missionary of compassion." she answered) Russell Russ, CTM was asked the question of who get a lump of coal in their stocking. Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL gave a theory of "moving at the speed of Santa" (Ross: "Santa, of course is a quantum mechanic...bending dimensions to achieve multi-warp speed...folding time...") Monica Walley explained why Johnny could not get the toy he wanted. ("Santa gave all of the X-boxes in the store to other kids!") Ken Walley, ATMG, CL warned "Beware of the Fruitcake!" Angela Abreu told us how to bring holiday cheer to all ("Less money and more love! Love is what it is about"). We had three speeches that hung like mistletoe over the club giving us three kisses of wonderful oratory! Barbara Lott, CTM gave a memorable speech titled "Merry Christmas!" which told of a Christmas that would make for a classic seasonal tale: trapped by snow and giving birth on Christmas Eve...what more do you want? Ken Walley, ATMG, CL had to follow that with an interesting speech titled "Merry Music!" in which he shared some of his Christmas Album collection. He showed the standards ("White Christmas" by Bing Crosby) to the downright strange "Weihnachten mit Heintje!"). Russell Russ, CTM gave us a speech titled "100 and Still going Strong" about "Russell's Elixer" and mixture that cures all and...helps you to live longer. Three wonderful speeches and three uplifting gifts for Club #28 to make the holidays brighter! The evaluations were wrapped up and delivered by Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL, Mark Cox, CTM and Laurie Heinitz, CTM all of which did a great job! Thanks again to Monica Walley who covered as our AH Counter. This was a great way to end the year and usher in the new year. Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays to all!
With all of the raw energy of a rock star, Ed Morris hosted the December 8th 2005 "Rock Legends" themed meeting. Ed rocked the place with awesome trivia & facts! Had this been a rock concert everyone would have been screaming and holding up cell phones and lighters hoping for an encore. Playing a tight duet with Ed and blasting forth some rock history was Table Topic Master Mark Cox, CTM. Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, Amy Lee, Mick Jagger, Kurt Cobane and The Bare Naked Ladies were just some of the Legends that got mentioned. Barbara Lott, CTM was asked to pick between the Beatles and the Stones. She chose the Stones because they had been around her whole life and the Beatles were "before her time." "Kurt Cobane" was the favorite rock idol of John Bonowitz Coffey as we found out on the next question. Ken Walley ATMG, CL reminisced about John Lennon and the night he was killed. Russell Russ CTM, remembered his favorite rock concert that somehow featured a "sax player from El Paso"!? Dr. Ross Thomson ATMB, CL spoke highly of the group Bare Naked Ladies while Ed Morris praised Led Zeppelin. Another part of the show that brought down the house was our prepared speeches. Dr. Ross Thomson ATMB, CL gave a totally rad speech about Canada titled: "The Sleeping Giant Up North" . It was laced with great facts, personal stories and his trademark humor. Laurie Heinitz, CTM also came through with a speech titled "Keeping It Clean!" which was written to inspire employees to reduce, reuse and recycle. Both speeches were excellent examples of Toastmasters taking their speeches seriously and preparing well for them. President Lott headed the Evaluation section of the meeting and was backed up by Mark Cox, CTM and Ken Walley ATMG, CL. who both gave uplifting and useful presentations. This meeting was like listening to a guitar riff by Jimi Hendrix! It has soul, life and a lot of energy! We did more than just "get by with a little help from our friends": Club #28 Rocked! More ! More! More!
December started out with a brilliant meeting on Dec.1st, 2005 with Laurie Heinitz, CTM hosting as Toastmaster the "Great Minds & Fantastic Ideas" themed meeting that really did feature some great minds and fantastic ideas! Laurie interjected thoughts and ideas from some of the most revered names in history throughout the meeting. Just some of the names mentioned as the evening went on were Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, Ben Franklin and Albert Einstein. A Club #28 name-dropper himself, Ken Walley ATMG, CL served as our Table Topic Master. Ken had some fantastic ideas for topic questions such as: "What was a fantastic idea that you came up with on your own?" Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL gave a great answer of "Coming to Toastmasters!" Asked who in her life was a good example of "A Great Mind?" Laurie answered that various members of her family, including a loving and caring sister, fit that description. Asked what a great idea was "in general", Dr. Princess Anita answered "To Love others" and quoted the 'Golden Rule'. Answering the tough question of who was the most influential man over the last 100 years, Mark Cox, CTM gave a surprising answer of Ted Turner! "Ted's vision of the CNN News network and cable broadcasting gave him the power to influence millions of people on an everyday basis." said Mark. Ed Morris was asked the question: "What great idea was thought to be at first impossible or stupid?" Ed remembered that the concept of democracy was at first thought ridiculous. The hardest question was on that Angela Abreu was given. It was a question the greatest minds have been attempting to answer for thousands of years: "If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to hear it...does it make a sound?" Her answer was "Yes" and she gave some very good reasons why that was so as well. Our two speakers tonight both came with some fantastic ideas for speech topics! Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL spoke first with an excellent speech on the reasons on should shop online and he exploded the myth of internet "Black Friday" as well. I truly believe convinced a lot of us, including me, to do our shopping on line this holiday season! Angela Abreu's first speech before Club #28 titled "Yoga and a Long Life" was also a big success! Reflecting a lot of preparation, she expounded upon the benefits of yoga and gave an eye-opening view of the positive ways that yoga enhances health and vitality. Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL doubled as our Master Evaluator and along with Mark Cox, CTM gave two very enlightening reviews of the evening's speeches. Ed's energy added to our meeting as well as his ability to ring the bell as AH counter from the lectern. It may have been a small meeting but the truly great minds did show up and brought with them some fantastic ideas! See everyone next week!
NO MEETING NOV. 24: Happy Thanksgiving!
The November 17th 2005 meeting had a fantastic theme : "Super Heroes!" The real super heroes however were the toastmasters that showed up to make this a super evening! Able to leap tall building with a single bound was our Toastmaster for the night, Ken Walley ATMG, CL who somehow name dropped every comic strip do-gooder from Mighty Mouse to Superman. Also giving the evening an heroic edge was table Topic master Ed Morris! Ed saved the evening like The Flash arriving at the last second to rescue the helpless victim of evil tied to the railroad track...Here are some of the questions he asked: (To Russell Russ, CTM) "If you had the claws of the 'Wolverine' what would you cut in half?" (To Ed Carmona ATMB, CL) "What is your 'Kryponite', Your greatest weakness?" (To Ken Walley ATMG, CL) "What mask would you wear...what do you hide like Batman?" (To Dr. Princess Anita) "Who is you favorite Superhero?" (To Anglea Abreu) "What would be you favorite place to 'get away'" (To Ken Blake ATMS, CL) "What mutant powers would you like to have?" and Russell even got a 2nd question of "What turns you into the 'Incredible Hulk'?" Testing his Toastmaster Super strength was Ken Walley ATMG, CL who gave a speech on self-esteem titled "Self Esteem and Me!". Ken highlighted way to feel better about ourselves and the world around us. Ken Blake ATMS, CL returned from a tour as a FEMA inspector on the Hurricane ravaged gulf coast to give a speech ("I am on Plan B...forget Plan A"). He gave a harrowing account on the time that he had spent there. Tonight's meeting also benefited from the excellent evaluations by Ed Carmon ATMB, CL and Ken Blake ATMS, CL both of whom pointed out some interesting ideas in speech craftsmanship. We had two guests including returning guest Mi Hoshino and new guest Erez Dayan. Both gave glowing reviews of our meetings. Also filling in as our president (take a guess) was Ken Walley ATMG, CL who commented on the fantastic job that this club does week in and week out producing a quality meeting no matter what the challenges. He also wished everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. "You are all superheroes to me!" said Ken.
The theme to the November 10th 2005 meeting was "Work/Life Balance" which was something that most of us can relate to. Often the stress of day-to-day living can seem insurmountable at some times and finding the proper balance is important. Toastmaster for the evening Laurie Heinitz, CTM came prepared with some fantastic research that underscored this fact. Our Table Topics Master Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL also let the attending members bring out other ideas as to how to handle stress and bring peace into their lives. Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL spoke about the importance of making time for "play". Laurie explained how family and time for self interests could be balanced. Angela Abreu given the choice of what held the most importance to her life of Work, Family, Play & Self told us why she picked "family". Returning member Alan Brents, ATMS, CL spoke on the general subject of Stress. Ken Walley ATMG, CL spoke about how life was at time like walking a "tightrope". Visiting guest Sheldon Kagel spoke on "skating through life" and President Barbara Lott, CTM covered the subject of "Achievement and Balance". Ed Morris followed up by handling a question on "Self-Control" with some excellent insights. We had two wonderful speeches that should not have been missed by anyone! Starting with Barbara Lott's, (CTM) brilliant "after-dinner" speech titled " Welcome to the Club!" which told how joining clubs had enhanced her life. Ed Morris spoke on a subject that would have sounding boring to some. His speech titled "The Federal Budget Deficit" was really in parts very funny and throughout both interesting and entertaining! Who would have thought! Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL doubled as our Master Evaluator and served as our first evaluator for Laurie's speech. Club #28 was treated to the return of Alan Brents, ATMS, CL tonight and was reminded of his skill as a speaker when he delivered his talent-filled evaluation of Ed M.'s speech. Our other guest tonight was Mi Hoshino who said that she was most impressed with our meeting and looked forward to returning. Club #28 was ready for the challenge of producing a superlative meeting and teaching some highly desired life skills as well tonight!
Florida State, The University of Florida, UCF, Michigan and even McGill College (Canada) were just some of the colleges represented at the "College Football" themed meeting on November 3rd, 2005. Toastmaster Barbara Lott, CTM really brought to life the flavor of the game with an excellent overview of the gridiron. Also stepping in to bring to life the pageantry of the pigskin what Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL who reminded us that his alma mater, McGill College played the first college football game in the 1860's against Harvard! Barbara was asked the first question about the BCS poll: "Is it fair to be judged by a system you don't understand?" Russell Russ, CTM was asked about college recruitment: "What would be the one thing that you would want from a player?" Ken Walley, ATMG, CL was asked about being a coach and how would he market his team. Ken liked the idea of Silver and Gold colors. "Put 'Metal Men' on the field!" he said. Guest John Maynard tackled a tough question on money and college football. Matt Weekely spoke about women in college sports...He did not believe that a woman's college football league would be successful. Somehow Laurie Heinitz, CTM was asked about college football and how it related to her social life. Our two speakers both scored touchdowns. kicking off first was Ken Walley ATMG, CL who gave a speech on the History of Club #28 ("The History of Orlando Toastmaster Club #28") that gave an overview of our 75+ years including many club legends (Franklin Roosevelt was an honorary member) and triumphs (6 straight President's Distinguished Awards). Giving a speech ("I Joined the Color Guard!") that was perfect for the theme was Barbara Lott, CTM who told of when Barbara and her best friend joined the flag team at Michigan and learned about the game of football. She also told about attending a game of one of the greatest rivalries in the history of college football: Michigan vs. Ohio State. It felt as if you were there in the stands! Evaluations were given by Laurie and Russell who also doubled as our Master Evaluator. Both evaluations were right on target like a well thrown pass. Our cheerleading squad could have been our guests, Mary Gezzi and John Maynard who both gave wonderful reviews of the meeting. It was also good to see the return of Matt Weekely! Welcome back Matt! If this had been a football game team Toastmasters 28 would have been tearing down the goal posts after the meeting.
In lieu of the record number of Hurricanes and other types of natural & personal challenges that from time to time upset our lives, the theme of our Oct. 27th 2005 meeting was 'Recovery'. Hurricane Wilma had just passed through the southern part of Florida leaving many people to experience the same recovery efforts that we ourselves were faced with last year around this time. Toastmaster Ken Walley ATMG, CL pointed out that there are many other kinds of recovery and everyone at some time or other needs to rebuild. "Be it a house, a relationship or a life" said Ken. It was good however to "recover" one of our members, Paul Hagge who has not been with us for a while and also to welcome our Area 49 Gov. Diana Estremera, ATMG, who took on the roles of vote counter and Grammarian as well! Table Topic Master Barbara Lott, CTM pointed out that there was different definitions of "recovery" asking Joe Bowie ATMB to explain of a time that he "lost something but was able to get it back again". Joe spoke about achieving a 'state of well-being' and finding his passion in life. Paul Hagge remembered last's year's hurricanes while pointing out ways to recover from natural disasters. Ken W. spoke of living in his VW bug while in college as a time that he needed to recover from financial woes. Ed Morris spoke of overcoming last week's flu when asked about a time he had to re-gain his health and Gov. Diana Estremera, ATMG spoke about re-using things that could be repaired as a way of recovery. She admitted that it was hard for her to "throw stuff away". We had two outstanding speeches tonight both worthy of a "Best of Club #28" remembrance nominations. First, Laurie Heinitz CTM gave a powerful defense of the hiring policies of the "O-Town Gym" while facing a discrimination lawsuit. Besides the speech which was titled "Don't Judge a Book By It's Cover", Laurie even handled some very tough questions during a mock press conference. Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL truly was at his best with a inspiring speech ("Members") challenging Club #28 to bring in more members. He divided up the room into two teams and explained a plan that would help our membership to grow while rewarding the team that delivered the most guests and new members! With the small turnout to this meeting, his speech could not have come at a better time! Our two Evaluators: Ed Morris and Joe Bowie, ATMB both gave excellent examples of top quality evaluations. Our meeting tonight was another success but it did test our ability to overcome a small turnout of members and still create an experience that was educational, entertaining and fun! Club #28 came through again!
It was a relaxed and peaceful meeting, free from inner-strife... which was good because the theme of the October 20th, 2005 meeting was "peace". Our Toastmaster / Guru was none other than Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL who set the mood with a breathing exercise to start the meeting. Relaxed and refreshed the club was guided through table topics by none other than the question master of tranquility himself, Joe Bowie Jr. ATMB who asked such questions as: "What does 'peace' mean to you?" (to Laurie Heinitz, CTM who answered "Inner harmony and balance".) Russell Russ, CTM returned to us and also gave an entertaining answer "Have you ever needed 'the last piece' of something but could not find it?" (he told a story of working on his son's car's brakes which was missing a part somewhere when they were put back together. Ed Morris had three ingredients to world peace: Ending the reliance on foreign oil, a general understanding for other cultures among nations and...brownies! Dr. Ross told about real estate that he had seen on the way home from last week's meeting ("A beautiful piece of property!"). Ed Carmona ATMB, CL had a wonderful answer ready to the question of "What brings peace to your 'significant other?'" Ed told about how he did chores without being asked to bring a smile to his wife but it is what is in the heart that brings peace to others. Ed pointed out: "I will never be 'perfect' no matter how hard I try but perfection does not lead to peace." The speeches tonight may not have been perfect but they were both excellent. Speaker #1 was Ken Walley ATMG, CL who gave a speech "Hurricane Wilma") on a hurricane for the second time in two months. Ken told of how this hurricane had become, almost overnight, the most powerful on record in the Atlantic. He gave a general path of where Wilma headed for and a warning to be prepared even if the hurricane had weakened by the time she hits Florida. Mike Masur was also up for the challenge with a speech about our environment and overcoming the challenges we face in the future. Laurie also did double duty as our Master Evaluator and introduced Angela Abreu who did a fantastic job delivering her 1st evaluation for Ken W.'s speech, Another excellent evaluation was given by Ed Carmona ATMB, CL who dispensed sound advice for Mike. "All and all a very peaceful but highly energetic meeting." said Laurie in her meeting review. This was a perfect example of the blending of the "yin and yang" of Toastmaster bliss. See you next week!
If you missed the October 13th 2005 "Shrimp" themed meeting, you missed a Toastmaster meeting that was as yummy as the topic! Highlights of this meeting included: An excellent job of Toastmastering by one of our masters: Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL. Ed even had an excellent drawing of a shrimp and even explained the anatomy of the little creatures. Table Topics was a highlight all by itself with the delicious shrimp questions of Topics Master Ed Morris! Tales of prawn and fettuccini abounded from Angela Abreu, Joe Bowie, ATMB, CL, Mark Cox CTM, Laurie Heinitz, CTM and Ken Blake, ATMS, CL. leaving everyone hungry for more! Both of our speakers were no "shrimps" when it came to giving great speeches. Ross Thomson ATMB, CL gave a great speech that dared to look at the difference between "creationism" and "evolution" and where those ideas are going in the future. It was a bold and excellent speech. Ken Walley ATMG, CL came through at the last moment with a speech ("14 Years of Frustration") about the futility of the Atlanta Braves getting into the World Series. He even gave a brief history of the ball club that dated back to 1914. Barbara Lott CTM presided over the evaluators who did an excellent job with wonderful insight to the speeches. Ken Walley ATMG, CL and Mark Cox CTM did those honors. Barbara gave a superb evaluation of the meeting as well. We had for the 2nd week in a row memorable AH counter and Grammarian reports from Mike Masur and Angela Abreu. This was just another example of a great Toastmaster meeting...all it needed was the cocktail sauce!
"Say Cheese!" started out the October 6th, 2005 "Cheese" Themed meeting along with a photograph of the attending Club #28 members. Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL was both our toastmaster and photographer throughout the meeting and we delved into the world of cheddars and pepper-jack. There are we learned over 500 different types of cheese. Another toastmaster who excelled like Cheese Wiz on a cracker was Laurie Heinitz, CTM who led our Table Topic session. Ed Carmona, ATM, CL gave a strong opinion that "Bier Cheese should not be even called a cheese! What IS that stuff?" when asked his question. Ken Walley ATMG, CL named a new cheese "Kenwalley cheese" it goes well in salads, with wine, on a burger and as a dessert. J.P. Grace remembered his youth and grilled cheese sandwiches. Dr. Ross gave us a lesson in how to make goat cheese. Now we know. Ed Morris told about how his frat made pledges eat Limburger cheese. I'm glad I didn't pledge there! Joe Bowie Jr. ATM-B CL thought of many things when he hears the word "cheese" and guest Dr. Brad Arms told us the nutritional pro and cons of cheese. The speeches were not "cheesy" either. Barbara Lott CTM gave a very inspirational speech ("Tiny Dancer") about a young girl who overcame horrible disfiguration from a fire with the help of plastic surgery and psychotherapy. The speech showed that it is possible to overcome great odds to live a meaningful and valuable life even in the face of extreme hardship. Ken Blake ATMS, CL also excelled with a speech ("Let's Play Baseball!") about how to master the sales marketing art of "cold calling". Ken gave a great example of cold calling himself during his speech with a pitch for a product called "Team National Sales." Our Master Evaluator was Ken Walley ATMG, CL who had the pleasure of introducing two excellent evaluators Joe Bowie Jr. ATMB and Laurie Heinitz, CTM who as usual came through with well thought out and helpful insights for our speakers. Ken said the meeting was a "tremendous success...I would give this a grade 'A+' " The best was yet to come as Ed Morris and Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL delivered two of the best ever Grammarian and AH Counter reports. Ed C. even counted every sentence spoken at the meeting in his AH counter report along with how many Um's and Ah's! Great work! Princess Anita also gave some excellent praise for the meeting and introduced while she introduced her guest Dr. Arms. More good news followed when Angela Abreu , who also brought a guest, her daughter, announced that she was joining the club! Welcome Anglea! This was a meeting that was as good as crumbled Blue Cheese on a thick, sizzling steak!
In what was one of the most unique meetings that Club #28 has ever produced, our club attempted to celebrate the September 29, 2005 meeting theme of "Backwards" by reversing the agenda and conducting our meeting backward! The result was a meeting that was imaginative, sharp witted and a lot of fun! Acting President Laurie Heinitz, CTM "started" the meeting by adjourning it and calling for the 50/50 raffle and the other protocols reserved for the end of the meeting! She then returned the lectern to our Toastmaster Ken Walley ATMG, CL who asked for an AH Counter Report and Grammarian Report from Laurie for a meeting which had yet to take place. Laurie gave two of the most creative reports in Toastmaster history especially the grammarian report that including "colorful phases" attributed to various club members! Ken Blake ATMS, CL also shined as our Master Evaluator with a highly fantasized evaluation of the "past" meeting that had everyone laughing. We had two wonderful evaluations of speeches that had not yet been delivered by Laurie and Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL which warned the speakers of things to do and to watch our for when they actually did give their speeches! Our first speaker was the second speaker, Mike Masur who gave a great speech on running Marathons. His speech ("Marathon Man") gave interesting ideas and tips for preparing and running in a Marathon. Our next speaker was Dr. Princess Anita who came to the club's rescue for the 2nd week in a row with a great speech about using our gifts and talents to make an impact in the world around us. The speech ("Do Not Forget Me!") was full of wisdom and encouragement to go beyond what we think we can do and to take chances to test our abilities to the limit. After the speeches came one of the most resourceful and ingenious Table Topics sessions ever presented to any Toastmaster club on the face of this planet. Topic Master Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL started off by asking Mike to give an answer and then he would ask the question. Dr. Anita was given the question of which would she prefer: 1. No gravity; 2. Work is fun and fun is work or 3. Your friends are your enemies and your enemies are your friends. Ken Blake, ATMB, CL got to answer the question of "what would it be like to grow from old to young, would that be any better? (Ken had to speak for 7 minutes because Ed had already called for a timer's report and J.P. Grace said that he had gone way over time!). Ken Walley ATMS, CL was challenged to speak for six minutes on "Actions before Words" . Ken made a speech out of his answer and even got credit for it. Our guest, Angela Abreu was even asked to ask Ed a question! Speak about backwards! (Ed had to tell us why he joined Toastmasters and what he liked best.). The meeting ended with our technical table introducing themselves, the welcome by the Toastmaster and then our acting President, the Invocation and Pledge and the flag and, to end the meeting, the Call To Order by our Sgt. at Arms, J.P. Grace... In that sequence, of course. The great thing about Club #28 is that this club will not shy away from trying new things and doing whatever it takes to keep our meetings interesting and fun! This club lives on imaginative and insightful thinking!
The September 22, 2005 meeting had a theme that many of our Toastmasters were very familiar with: Technology. Leading us through the maze of technical jargon and confusing intricacies was our Toastmaster for the evening Russell Russ, CTM. Russ also doubled as our Table Topic Master asking some great questions that put the complex world of our "new frontier " into perspective. Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL, a toastmaster who is truly at ease with Technology, answered the question "How would you repair the Levee if another storm hits New Orleans?" Ed's answer was that if that happened with the same force as before, it might be best to "move New Orleans to Puerto Rico." Russ asked Dr. Princess Anita about medical cures. Ed Morris asked what he would do if appointed to the post of Energy Czar by President Bush. His answer was astute: turn towards clean burning coal rather than oil. Mike Masur gave a great answer about creating the ultimate workout machine. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL had to answer a non-technical question about being a bear in the Country Bear Jamboree at Disney World. We had three truly excellent speeches. The first was by Ed Morris titled 'That's why they call it the Swamp". In this speech Ed brought to life the sounds, and smells, of attending a University of Florida football game in "The Swamp"! Laurie Heinitz CTM gave an excellent speech that was a corporate update for executives in large technical company. Her power-point presentation was extremely effective. Our third speaker, giving her 2nd speech ("Bring It On") was Dr. Princess Anita who told of a "medical" treatment that uses magnets to relieve pain. All agreed it was an excellent 2nd speech! Three evaluators all pitched in to give valuable feedback: Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, a FSU grad, somehow incorporated the "tomahawk chop" in his review of Ed's "Gator swamp speech" . Ed Carmona ATMB, CL who was also our Master Evaluator, covered Laurie's Speech and Ken Blake ATMS, CL did a superb job evaluating Princess's speech. Thanks also to Mike Masur who handled the highly technical job as timer with a confident flair! Everything came together to create another flawless masterpiece of Toastmaster learning and fun. See you next week!
Meeting in the main sanctuary of the Center for Spiritual Living, it took teamwork to make the September 15th, 2005 meeting the rewarding Toastmaster experience it would become! Fortunately, the theme of the meeting was "Team Work!" Who better to lead a meeting with that theme than Laurie Heinitz, CTM? Laurie who is also filling in for our President, was our Contest Master from the week before. Also serving as great example of teamwork was Ken Walley ATMG, CL who juggled the roles of Sgt. at Arms, Invocation & Pledge and Table Topics Master! Ken asked some very interesting questions about teamwork such as the one he asked to Phil Sumanpow CTM: " What is the importance of teamwork?" Other questions included "What single achievement can you point to as a testament to teamwork?" (Ed Morris pointed out the pyramids); "How does teamwork bring order out of chaos and confusion?" (Ed Carmona, ATMB, CL answered than one); "How was teamwork used to produce our Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests?" (Laurie gave a wonderful answer... filled with praise); "Give a personal example of teamwork from your own life" (Princess Anita mentioned her father as a strong organizer) and "What are the elements of teamwork?" was answered by Russell Russ, CTM which included "Thought, Heart and Purpose." The speeches were also top notch and reflected the craftsmanship of our member's hard work. The first speech was by Ed Morris titled "So You Want to be an Electrical Engineer!" Ed's speech told the story of how he became interested in making things tick. Our 2nd speech was by Mike Masur who gave an excellent presentation on the YMCA ("The Central Florida YMCA and it's importance in our Community") complete with a power-point slide show! Both speeches were interesting, informative and laced with humor. We had two more excellent efforts by Ed Carmona ATMB, CL who gave a textbook evaluation of Ed's speech and Russell Russ, CTM who was on target reviewing Mike's speech and giving an evaluation of the meeting. In Russ's evaluation he stated that "We should fill up this entire sanctuary! Let's bring back the old members and show our visitors what a great thing we have here!" Russ was right. This meeting was uplifting, illuminating and fun!
The 2005 Club #28 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest that took place on Thursday September 8th 2005, turned out to be the very best Humorous Speech and Evaluation contests ...ever! Vice President of Education Laurie Heinitz, CTM who did a supreme job as our Contest Master, was absolutely correct when she announced that "we had some truly entertaining speaker in both contests." What Laurie did not know was that a 1st class performance would come from of ALL of our contestants! Acting Sergeant-at-Arms Mike Masur called our contests to order and did a fantastic job all of the way through even though it was his first time as SAA...and his first Toastmaster contests. Laurie and Mike were just two of the reasons our club produced a truly classic Humorous Speech and Evaluation contests. Tseganesh Gudeta, ATMB, CL; Phil Sumanpow, CTM; and J.P. Grace all returned to the club after long absences and pitched in to help out as our (respectively) Timer, Vote Counter and Raffle Master! Even Club #28 legend Diana J. Walley ATMG, CL attended the contests after being away for a long time! All of them have been very missed and what a great boost to the club to see them return! Thanks also go out to John Bonowitz-Coffey who also helped to make theses contests run perfect. Chief Judge Delsa Diehl-Banks, ATM-S, CL was the epitome of excellence as Chief Judge. Even the "reading of the rules" added to the high quality of both contests. The Evaluation contest featured a remarkable test speech by Darryl Murtha, CTM from our sister club Orange County Toastmaster Club #129. Darryl's speech "Do You Like Vegemite?...Your Gonna!" was a hilarious tour of Australia, jammed packed with props and comical twists. The Evaluation contestants, Barbara Lott, CTM; Ken Walley ATMG, CL; Ed Morris and Dr. Ross Thomson ATMB, CL all gave brilliant evaluations. "Every one a winner" most people agreed, but the judges came up with Ken W. winning 1st place and Barbara coming in a close 2nd place. "all around one of the best Evaluation tournaments for any club, at any level, I have ever experienced." said one of our judges. The ONLY thing that could have topped our Evaluation contest was our Humorous Speech contest! Four very funny speakers gave four very different but side-splittingly hilarious speeches. Going first was Dr. Ross Thomson, ATMB, CL who spent six-and-a-half minutes slamming English food. The speech ("Cuisine is a French Word!") was pure genius. His comments on what people eat in England had everyone holding their sides and ...maybe their stomachs. Ed Carmona's (ATMB, CL) speech titled "Denial" was an update on his battle with middle age! Ed's mid-life crisis has plenty of material for hysterical laughter and applause. Ed showed an amazing array of talent while bringing down the house with laughter and roaring approval. Mark Cox, CTM also brought his 'A' game with a very funny speech he had presented a year ago titled "Mrs. Cox, I See Mark Had Corn For Dinner" which as you may have guessed, returned to his college party days. Ken Walley ATMG, CL gave a speech geared more for a horror movie than a Humorous Speech contest which he titled "True Waiter Horror Stories!". The speech included a pratfall and some horrendous behavior by restaurant patrons. Former "El Presidente" Ed Carmona ATMB, CL was presented the 1st place trophy and Dr. Ross earned the runner-up trophy. The speeches were some of the best and definitely some of the funniest ever presented at this club's lectern. In an e-mail review that was sent out later titled "Notes on Club #28's Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests" by this author, was quoted as saying: "Club #28 on September 8th put on a show that not only rose to the ridiculous high standards that this club sets for itself, but exceeded all expectations! If that is possible." Thank you to all who made this contest possible.
The September 1st 2005 Club #28 themed "Favorite people" meeting include some of our favorite people...Club #28 Toastmasters who are on a roll with producing excellent meetings! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was the Toastmaster for tonight and he was pleased to find that all of the Toastmasters came this evening with great stories about some of their favorite people. For example Toastmaster Mark Cox, CTM who was our Table Topic Master asked Mike Masur who, not in the family, brought to mind a "favorite person". Mike remembered Mrs. Hammond his dynamic 2nd grade teacher. Russell Russ, CTM remembered the old school days and having to up with the "In crowd". Denzell Washington we found out was Barbara Lott's (CTM) favorite movie star and new member Troy Millar remembered another teacher, Mr. Brentley who always "looked outside of the box" . Ken Walley ATM-G, CL remembered actor Gregory Peck as a great man who cared about all people equally. We had two equally excellent speeches this evening starting with a humorous speech by Dr. Ross Thomson, ATM-B, CL titled "Cuisine is a French Word" it was not about French cooking but instead about how bad the food from England. Hopefully Dr. Thomson will give this speech at next week's Humorous Speech contest! It might be a winner. John Bonowitz-Coffey gave his best speech yet with a speech on Environ-botany titled "Roves, Roots and Hallucinogenic Drugs" . It was John's best speech yet. He made a complex subject interest with the use of humor and insight. The Evaluators did the same thing with their evaluations. Barbara Lott, CTM and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL working under the guidance of Master Evaluator Mark Cox, CTM gave sharp, witty and encouraging evaluations of our speakers. Mark did the same with our meeting. It should be noted that the AH Counter was Troy Millar who performed perfectly in his first time at that position as well as Mike Masur our Grammarian, who also gave a 1st rate effort for his 1st time in the role. I guess it could be said that favorite people produce favorite meetings and this was one of my favorites.
"Another brilliant meeting!" said President Barbara Lott, CTM at the end of the August 25th 2005 "Products" themed meeting. One of the reasons that this meeting will be so fondly remembered is because of the extraordinary work done by our Toastmaster for the evening Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL. Ed gave an overview of modern consumerism while painting a background of personal and commercial product use and how it effects all of us. Ed's use of humor, props and insight into human nature was a remarkable testament to his skills as a communicator. Also doing a magnificent and creative job was Barbara in the role of Table Topic Master. Her questions truly were insightful and challenging. Our members were up to that challenge. John Bonowitz-Coffey said his car's air-conditioning was the one product he could not live without. Russell Russ, CTM responded to the question about being a "product of your environment" with an answer that included the quote "you are what you eat...and I see a lot of hams here tonight"! Ed Morris was magnificent with word pictures that told of how not buying a brand name item over a generic product can backfire. Ed Carmona, CTM reviewed his favorite commercial. Lastly, Matt Drury again showed his still at extemporaneous speaking with a enlightening answer on the subject/warning of "Buyer Beware!" For the first time in a few weeks Club #28 boasted three superb speakers with three speeches of sharp content. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL told us about a hurricane that was coming ashore as he spoke in his speech "Hurricane Katrina" Ken warned us "To take all hurricanes seriously, even a category '1' hurricane!" Mark Cox, CTM was truly on top of his game with an award presentation for an employee who epitomized gracious hospitality. Best of all was a wonderful Ice Breaker by new member Mike Masur! We learned among other things that Mike grew up in a small town, runs in marathons (he has run the Boston Marathon twice) and is a CPA who now works for the YMCA programs in Central Florida. High praise to all of our speakers came from the excellent clarity of our three evaluators. First doing double duty as Master Evaluator and evaluator was Laurie Heinitz, CTM who set a high standard for the next two evaluators Ken Blake, ATM-S, CL and Russell Russ, CTM. Also holding two positions tonight was Matt Drury who led our Invocation and Pledge as well as being our AH Counter. Ed Morris gave another highly polished Grammarian report. Dr. Princess Anita was also given a chance to speak and left us with a closing statement that was (in her words) "splendorous for the heart." The only thing missing that would have made this meeting perfect was some guests to have appreciated the excellence of this night. "This was a diamond of a meeting," said Laurie in her evaluation of the meeting, "as usual, for this club!" I guess that is just the product we like to create here a #28.
If you thought that last week's theme "A Swing and A Miss" was a tough one for a Toastmaster and a Table Topic Master, the theme for the August 18th 2005 meeting was even tougher: "Waterfalls!" Undaunted, Toastmaster Barbara Lott CTM came through with an impressive effort about waterfalls and how they and what they represent, and how they effect our lives. Even more impressive were the questions gleaned on the spur of the moment by Table Topic Master Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM. Ed Morris answered a question about where he would liked to be married (not next to a waterfall, but by a beach). Matt Drury told of something stupid, like going over a waterfall in a barrel. Matt picked flipping the wrong switch on a space shuttle. Laurie Heinitz, CTM told us of what kind of an explorer she is (like when Stanley & Livingston found Angel Falls). Barbara Lott, CTM was stuck with the hard question of what to give a beautiful name of an awful thing. Mike Masur told a story of the fall of the Berlin Wall and trading jeans for money, which was somehow related to waterfalls but I don't quite remember. Our first speech ("Where Am I?") tonight was by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL in which he used the entire meeting room as a "prop". He gave a tour of the room and told of it's history, and the people who have been there before from the clues in the room. The second speech was by the other Ken, Ken Blake, ATM-S, CL who roasted Ken W.( "A Roast of Ken Walley") with some very funny tall tales and humorous anecdotes. He also gave Ken, a 27 year Disney World employee, a gold watch "From Disney...in the hope he'll take the hint!" Ken had everyone, even Ken W., laughing with a perfect example of how to put someone on the spot and still make them feel good. The evaluations were just as excellent: Ed Morris and Laurie Heinitz, CTM both came through with truly helpful and insightful reviews. There were some other highlights as well: Mike Masur gave an excellent performance for the first time as an Invocation and Pledge and Ah Counter. Matt Drury also shinned in his debut role as Grammarian again giving support to the belief that our newest members are a bright spot for our club's future. Truly our club's blessings are like water flowing from a waterfall.
The theme of the August 11th 2005 meeting was unique even for a Toastmasters club: "A Swing and A Miss" but this meeting ended up hitting a 'Home Run'! One of the most apparent reason for the complete success of this meeting was that of the skill and ability of our Toastmaster Ed Morris. Ed spoke about many vignettes about how others have found success through failure. His wise council inspired everyone in the room. Unlike Ed, the Table Topic Master Ken Walley ATM-G, CL did not have time to research his topic having taking on the position at the last moment. Ken came through with some challenging questions however: Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL told us what he had learned from failure. Laurie Heinitz CTM commented on "Making Fear your Friend". Ken Blake ATM-S, CL told of an embarrassing moment and how he dealt with overcoming it. Our newest member, Matt Drury gave a superb answer about the greatest disaster in history: The Dark Ages. Two of our guests were brave enough to take on Table Topic questions: Bob Reed told us about the mistake he would fix if he could go back in time and Troy Millar brought out some excellent points about America putting to much emphasis on being successful. The three speeches were very different in nature but all achieved a success of their own. Laurie Heinitz CTM who is taking on one of the most difficult Advanced manuals while perusing her ATM bronze, The Technical Manual, gave a speech titled "Air Transport Information Systems". Her use of the Power-point system and her organized approach to a very complex topic kept the speech from becoming bogged down in facts. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL delivered a TV editorial on the dangers of lung cancer (Ken Blake Speaks: An Editorial on Lung Cancer) that pointed a finger at movie stars and other celebrities that set a bad example. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was next with a speech titled "The 8 Elements of a Great Toastmaster Club!" He used Club #28 as a great example of what we do right in creating a positive learning environment. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was not finished "wearing different hats" as he also served as our Master Evaluator as well. At least in this job he had it easy because of the support from his evaluators on this night: Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL, Barbara Lott, CTM and Laurie Heinitz, CTM. All of them lived up to their billing and gave exemplary speech reviews. It must be noted the truly helpful efforts of Tierra Lott who contributed to vote counting and the excellent work of Matt Drury as a first-time timer. All of our guests praised the meeting and vowed to return. Guest Mike Masur was a good example of this when he noted how "well this club works together!" This was meeting that we did not have to learn from failure...only to build upon success! No 'swing and miss' on this night, this meeting was a hit!
Almost as regal as a trip to the White House was our August 4th 2005 "The Presidency" meeting which was packed full of incredible "Presidential Trivia" compiled by our Toastmaster Mark Cox, CTM. For example, did you know that in the middle of an argument James Monroe chased his Secretary of the Treasury out of the White House with a pair of fire tongs? Their was also excellent Chief Executive and Commander in Chief questions by our Table Topic Master Laurie Heinitz, CTM. Dr. Princess Anita was asked what she would like about being president. Remembering FDR's "fireside chats" she said "connecting with the American people...and getting to fly in Air force One!" Jim Stitt said the one thing he would like to do as President is to create more holidays. Said Jim: "'Jim Stitt Day' has a nice ring to it." Ed Carmona ATM-B, CL said the thing he would dislike the most about being president was getting up everyday to have to face the world's problems. Our own president, Barbara Lott, CTM spoke about a woman becoming president. she noticed that our next election might have two women running against each other. Brian Wheeler CTM dodged the question of who should be the next president by suggesting that George W. Bush should run for a third term. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL said that a four year term was "just right" for our presidents to serve in office. Its the perfect time to know if we have a dud or not. "Remember the people brought Grover Cleveland back after finding our what a dud Benjamin Harrison was" said Ken. Mark also brought up the fact that William Howard Taft threw out the very 'first pitch" to start that great baseball tradition. That fit in with our first speaker Joey Holland who gave a great speech titled "Remembering Baseball". The speech followed a player from 'T' Ball to the Major leagues. Fitting perfectly with our theme was the exceptional speech by Ed Morris about Thomas Jefferson titled "My Man T.J." Ed took us through the accomplishments of Jefferson as President, Philosopher, architect, and writer and more. His speech painted a panoramic view of this amazing man. Matt Weekley gave a speech titled "Balls" that started with "GGGGOOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!!" of course it coved the subject of soccer. Matt's speech gave the benefits of playing the sport which include building physical strength and abilities, character and sportsmanship. Our evaluation team was presidential material as well. Master Evaluator Ken Blake ATM-S, CL had the support of Joe Bowie Jr. ATM-B, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Ed Carmona ATM-B, CL as evaluators. This was a great meeting and what made it even better was the announcement that we had gained a two new members! Jim Stitt re-joined our club and guest Matt Drury joined as well! Looks like we will have everyone voting for Club #28 for at least four more years!
When Ken Walley ATM-G, CL started the meeting off with the words "Is there anybody out there?" there was indeed Toastmasters 'out there' for the July 28, 2005 "Anybody Out There?" themed meeting! I only wish more members could have been there to have enjoyed this truly exceptional gathering. One person who did return for our meeting was our President, and Toastmaster for the evening, Barbara Lott, CTM who was exceptional herself throughout the meeting weaving in a very interesting theme as the evening progressed. Also doing a remarkable job with our theme was John Bonowitz-Coffey as our Table Topics Master. His first question to Ken was about being stranded at sea on a sandbar. Ken came up with some great ideas to get help but thought it best to wait for the tide to come in and float away. Russell Russ, CTM spoke about how it would be to lose your senses. Laurie Heinitz, CTM gave an excellent answer about being in remote places and Mark Cox, CTM spoke about being alone in a crowd. Dr. Princess Anita answered a question about finding herself in faith. Ed Morris has an excellent answer about looking into the stars rather than back at the Earth from space. It was a very enlightening session! Our speeches were uplifting and humorous as well. Barbara Lott, CTM gave a speech ("Quality vs. ") that told in a Mathematical way, about her recent trip across the United States to visit relatives. "Start with the number 3,250. That's how many miles I drove...now subtract 50 from that...that is the number of relatives I visited..." Her speech ended up with "Two crazy kids and one very tired mom." Dr. Ross Thomson ATM-B, CL also told a travel speech ("Werner goes Vinkles") about a very long bicycle trip with a person who just would not shut up! "Worse than the dangers of riding a bike from Montreal to Boston was having to do it with Werner Vinkles!" Both Ross and Barbara had everyone laughing. Russell Russ, CTM again was excellent as our Master Evaluator which included an awesome evaluation of our meeting which by the included high praise for the two evaluators Ed Morris and Mark Cox, CTM. The meeting was so good that our visitor Matt Drury pledges to come back and to join the club as well! Welcome aboard Matt! Let's see if we can fill the room to overflowing next week with members and show Matt what a BIG Club #28 meeting is all about! Hello...Is there anyone out there?
The July 21, 2005 meeting took off like a rocket with the theme of "To the Moon!" Doing a remarkable job as our Toastmaster for the night was Ed Morris. It was Ed's first time at the position and he was more than prepared for the task as he gave us an overview of the space program and its history as we went through the meeting. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was our Table Topic Master and asked many queries about our closest celestial neighbor. Russell Russ, CTM answered a question however that had to do with Ralph Cramden when he said "One of these days, Alice...Pow! To the Moon!" on the old "The Honeymooners" TV show. Dr. Princess Anita told us why she would like to live on the moon. John Bonowitz-Coffey told us what he would spend a million dollars on if not moon rocks. Joe Bowie CTM remembered the day that Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. Mark Cox, CTM gave a great answer as to why the moon is thought romantic. Ed Morris gave as a "full moon" story about what happens when he turns into a werewolf! The two speakers tonight gave very different types of speeches. First up was Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who started off with a speech about the subject of Fear ("We Have Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself") in which he reminded us that Fear is only real because we give it the power to be. "Fear, like everything else, except Love, is transitory and therefore meaningless." said Ken. Giving a "briefing" in which she played the part of a CEO informing her company of major changes was the subject of the second speech by Laurie Heinitz, CTM. She did an impressive job also of handling some tough, and often hostile questions with a short Q&A session at the end of her speech. The Master Evaluator for the evening was none other than John Bonowitz-Coffey who produced a tremendous success in his first time filling that role! John had the support of two excellent evaluators, Mark Cox, CTM and Joe Bowie, ATM-B. Both lived up to their reputations and gave some thoughtful advice. Dr. Princess Anita also served as AH Counter for her first time and brought a guest, Michelle Detter who did a veteran-like effort as our Vote Counter as well. Michelle was very impressed with our meeting and vowed to return. Russell Russ, CTM served with excellence as our Grammarian and Joe did double duty as our timer. This was a meeting that brought out the best in our club, much like Armstrong landing on the moon, we seek out, and explored new ways to improve ourselves! We boldly go where no where no Toastmaster club has been before...
ALOHA! Was the greeting as we started the July 14th 2005 "Hawaii" themed meeting. The only thing missing from our meeting tonight was hula dancers and a luau as Toastmaster Ed Carmona ATM-B, CL kept the meeting in a festive mood throughout the evening. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL complete in Hawaiian shirt, straw hat and bright lei, also brought us to the islands as our Table Topic Master. Ken asked Ken Blake ATM-B, CL About his visit to our nation's newest state. Keeping that in mind, Ken asked Ed to compare Hawaii with Puerto Rico. Incredibly Ed found an amazing number of similarities. Ken told the story of how the volcano goddess Pele and the demi-god Kamapula'a battled over the big island of Hawai'i and then assigned the task of making up an Hawaiian myth to Laurie Heinitz, CTM. Dr. Princess Anita told why she would like to visit Hawaii and Russell Russ, CTM answered a question as well about his luau experience. We had three great speeches tonight. First up was a man who is riding a bullet to his CTM, Ed Morris, giving his #4 speech already titled "Sam's Choice". The speech was a truly humorous look at the Walmart stores. Tonight's speeches also including the return to lectern of Brian Wheeler ATM-B who was a the top of his game with an inspiring speech "A Man Just Can't Sit Around" about a man named Larry Walters who was determined to reach his goal of being a pilot. Larry did so by tying balloons to a lawn chair and shooting up into L.A. Airport's flight zone! Our third speaker had as much courage as Larry but more common sense because he was giving his Ice Breaker and not leaving the ground: Matt Weekley came through with an excellence speech ("How Did I End Up Here?")!! We learned that Matt is from Vancouver, plays soccer, Graduated from UCF and is a "Metelhead" who loves rock concerts. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL served double duty tonight by being our Master Evaluator as well as evaluating Brian's speech, Russell Russ, CTM did a great job of evaluating Ed Morris's speech and John Bonowitz-Coffey gave his first evaluation by presenting an encouraging and thoughtful review of Matt's Ice Breaker. Congratulations to both Matt and John! Congratulations also go out to Joey Holland who served as timer for the first time tonight and to Laurie Heinitz, CTM who besides being our Grammarian is doing a great job filling in for Barbara Lott, CTM as President while she is on vacation. Like a trip to Hawaii this meeting was a wonderful memory like the wind through the palms trees with the grass skirts swaying to the sound of the drums on the ocean. All we needed was Don Ho to make it complete. Aloha.
The Air Conditioning has gone out in the regular meeting room at the Center for Spiritual Living where we normally meet, leaving a very summer-like room temperature. Although the theme was "Summer Time" we did not want that kind of reality so we moved the meeting (July 7th, 2005) to the nice cool sanctuary. Due to a flat tire, Laurie Heinitz, CTM started out her first meeting of the new term as our acting President when we received a call that Barbara Lott, CTM was on the side of the road with a flat tire. Laurie not only did a great job as our President for the night but as Toastmaster as well. We had a few Toastmasters jump in at the last moment and cover open positions and, as usual, everything worked out as if it had been planned to the last detail! Some special feats of excellence go out to the following: Ed Morris who started out the meeting with our Invocation and Pledge also was our Grammarian and Vote Counter as well. Mark Cox, CTM covered as Table Topic Master with a great session on the good ol' summertime. Mark got Laurie to tell us of her favorite Summertime memory, by the way we found out that Ed and Laurie share the same birthday...is that fate or what? John Bonowitz-Coffey, who covered as our AH Counter, answered the question about his scariest moment at the beach. (Sharks? Rip-Currents? Lighting Storms? No...his favorite seafood restaurant closed and there was no more fresh shrimp!) Ken Blake ATM-S, CL has to answer the question of how he used his summer vacation...did he waste his time of use it wisely as a youth? To the surprise of everyone, Ken used his time wisely to plan his future!. Speaking of summer movies...we found out from Ed Morris that he does not like at all the new Star Wars movies but prefers the Darth Vader of old. Our first speaker of the evening was the most courageous hero of all! Dr. Princess Anita gave her Ice Breaker speech....speaking only from the heart. What an excellent speech! She told of her roots in India, her search for faith following in the teachings of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her belief in helping those who are homeless and in great need. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL stepped in also to give a speech of a very different nature. He told us about the Bull Shark and the dangers of going in the water when they are around! Joe Bowie Jr., CTM again did a great job stepping in as our Master Evaluator. He had help from Ken Blake, ATM-S, CL and Dr. Ross Thomson ATM-B, CL who both gave contest-level evaluations! Two of the best ever heard at Club #28. As the summer heats up, so does the high quality of our meetings! This was the perfect place to be be on a hot summer's night.
The "Best of 28" was a very special evening that will be long remembered for those members who were lucky enough to attend! The brainchild of our immediate past President Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL more than lived up to its billing. This night is certain to become a Club #28 legend. Moved from the smaller meeting room in the I.W. Phillips House to the larger and even more elegant Dr. Phillips House at the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne. We were surrounded by beauty and grace. Speaking of which, our new club President Barbara Lott, CTM gave a warm welcome to all and announced that this was the "First Annual" Best of Club #28 extravaganza! What a great idea to do this every year! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was our Master of Ceremonies for the evening and it was apparent that he loved every minute doing the honors. The meeting was not without a few "curve balls" being thrown at our organizers at the last minute. Steve Litt, ATM-S, CL who's speech "Family Values" has been selected by our members as one of the six best speeches since the year 2000 was called out of town...as was Steve's replacement Brian Wheeler, ATM-B, who also had a classic speech "One Crazy Party" ready. Yet another speaker Joe Bowie Jr. ATM-B who's brilliant speech "Something Old is Something New...The Ball-Peen Hammer and You" has an emergency and was also unable to give his speech! To any club BUT club #28 this would have been a disaster. Not Club #28 however! With a very strong core of great speakers Club #28 came up with yet another speaker and a masterpiece presentation! Ken Blake ATM-S, CL stepped in at the last moment to give an impressive speech that was 1st given a year ago at Club #28! When He first gave the speech "I Can't Breathe!" Ken went over the 8 minute time limit and spoke for 19 minutes but tonight his speech, about two lost men in a SCUBA diving class lasted well within the required time. Ken was beyond excellent and his story had the usual Ken Blake surprise ending! Many thought it was Ken at the very top of his game! His speech was worthy of the best ever given at Club #28. The second speaker was award winning speaker and Club #28 honored member Tony Betts, CTM who gave an impassioned and heartwarming rendition of his speech "B4343" which refers to the number given at the Auschwitz death camp to Henry Langworth, a man who would later create the Make A Wish Foundation for children with terminal illnesses. Needless to say the speech was inspiring and moving. There was an intermission after Tony's speech so we could eat the giant spread that was contributed by the greatest Burrito Company in the world: Tijuana Flats! Thanks to Adam Scoggins, CTM, Matt Weekley and Joey Holland, all members of our club and employees of Tijuana Flats, we were the best fed toastmaster club east of the Rockies! Part two of our celebration included 3 more legendary speeches by three of the most talented orators ever to grace our club: Dr. Ross Thomson ATM-B, CL, Phil Sumanpow, CTM, and Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL. "Dr. Ross" went first with a technical speech titled "The Physics of the Movies". Ross somehow topped his 2004 version with a superb effort that truly made physics fun, taught us something and reminded us not to throw ourselves off tall buildings. Phil gave a speech that dealt with relationships and overcoming fear. "Monsters Under the Bed" is a favorite speech of many of our members and Phil's beautifully executed delivery added even more enjoyment to the performance. Ed Carmona ATM-B, CL reprised the funniest speech that this writer has ever heard in a Toastmasters club: "For A Purpose". The speech was just as funny, no funnier, than the last time i heard it when Ed won our Humorous Speech contest. I believe it gets funnier every time you hear it! The room was packed with members and guests and everyone had a great time. It was not only some of the best speakers of Club #28 and some of the best speeches and the best food but...it was one of the best meetings we have ever had.
"Sometimes things don't go as planned." said the Master of Ceremonies, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL "But Club #28 always seems to somehow make it work out and succeed!" The June 23rd, 2005 Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 Installation of Officers and End of Term Celebration had a number of challenges to overcome. Unfortunately, our out-going President was called away by emergency and was unable to give his farewell address. The Area Governor was expected to preside over the "Passing of the Gavel" ceremony to induct our new officers but she was unable to attend! Worse yet, only 3 of our seven officers were present for their own induction! Most clubs would have scratched the plans for this special night, but Club #28 found a way to triumph even over this adversity! It would be a special night after all. Our two featured speakers both showed up with great speeches. Our first speaker, John Bonowitz-Coffey gave a sociologically themed speech ("The Social Role of Grandparents as a Model") which explained the role of grandparents in childhood. It was an excellent speech with some great information. Our second speaker, Joey Holland gave one of the best Ice Breaker speeches ever ("Life Has Its Ups and Downs"). His highly polished style added to a moving story of how he overcome tragedies and life challenges to conquer fear and open new doors for himself. It was inspiring. We might have a future James Webb, CTM in our club! Russell Russ, CTM stepped up to the plate and presented a memorable look back at the last six months in the life of Club #28 when he gave "Ed Carmona's President's Farewell Address". Ed would have been proud. Russ praised our outgoing President as "one of the best any Toastmaster club could even dream of having." He also paid tribute to incoming President Barbara Lott, CTM as the best we could have to guide our club into our future. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL presided over the Passing of the Gavel Ceremony explaining the different officer positions and acknowledging each new officers. Ken, as our new VP of Public Relations, J.P. Grace as our Sergeant at Arms and Barbara as our President were on hand to accept the gavel. Despite the lack of officers present, the ceremony was informative and went extremely well. Barbara Lott, CTM came through with a flawless, powerful and dynamic Inaugural Address! Barbara reminded us that she, or any one person, cannot make a club succeed. It takes the courage and the effort of everyone to reach new accomplishments! Barbara said our future was as bright as ever and that this club will succeed because of it's ability to adapt. Her speech had meaning and a clear call to action to everyone present. Inspiring as well were table topic questions interspersed through the meeting on the subject of Leadership. Ken Blake, ATM-S, CL for example gave a great answer to the question "What can you learn as an officer in Toastmasters?" J.P. and John as well spoke about the meaning of Leadership. Joey Holland remembered his grandfather as a leader who had inspired him. Russell Russ, CTM answered the question of how to lead by example. Our two feature speakers were also able to better themselves with the excellent evaluations of J.P. Grace and Russell Russ CTM. Both gave upbeat and enthusiastic reviews of our speeches with some helpful pointers as well. We had as many guests as members on this night! Russell brought his brother Carl Russ (who also served as our Vote Counter) and Brett Downs, Maureen Gimenez, Bart Cangialose, Jr. and Jonathan Makofske all gave wonderful comments about our meeting and most said they would come to our next meeting at the I.W. Phillips House. This was one of the most remarkable meetings I can remember simply because this club refused to give in and ended up having a wonderful, meaningful and very special evening. No matter what the circumstances.
The theme for the June 16th 2005 meeting was "Life in the Fast Lane" and this gathering lived up to it's title. Russell Russ, CTM was on hand to pull out all of the stops in a fast paced, high intensity show that rocked all the way through. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL as the Table Topics Master went to the edge with some great questions. Dr. Ross Thomson ATM-B, CL remembered Humphrey Bogart as a celebrity who lived life in the fast lane. J.P. Grace told us how to reduce stress in our lives and Adam Scoggins, CTM talked about dangerous drivers. New member Joey Holland was back this week and gave us a good definition of a "party animal". Our guest, Scott Smith, night even got in on the fun answering the question "what is the fast lane to success?" It was great to see long time absent former member Jim Stitt return and show a glimpse of past glory with a great answer a question about "Piercing, Tattoos and Stitches"! We had three very able speakers for the evening as well starting with Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who was giving his 4th Ice breaker ("My Life in Five Minutes") in which he remembered his youth in Central Florida. Brian Wheeler ATM-B gave a speech project "Off the Cuff" presentation ("Building Sales for Restaurants") in which he told a great Taco Bell story about a not so great 'run for the border'. Ed Carmona ATM-B, CL jumped in with a truly excellent speech ("Friends From My Neighborhood") about 3 of his buddies from Puerto Rico. Dr. Ross Thomson, ATM-B, CL did a great job as Master Evaluator with evaluation help from Adam Scoggins, CTM and Joe Bowie, CTM. Ross himself did a great evaluation of Ed's Speech. Kudos go out to Joey who was our Grammarian for the first time and to Jim who served as Vote Counter. Scott Smith our guest, echoed everyone's feelings: that was another great, on-the-cutting-edge meeting! Tonight had everything a Toastmaster meeting could possibly want, except for maybe free flowing booze and lamp shade dancers...no that would be taking "Life in the Fast Lane" just a little bit too far! See you next week!
What a difference a week makes" said Toastmaster Ken Blake ATM-S, CL of the June 9th 2005 "Graduation" themed meeting. Every seat was taken and the room was packed as we saw some members return for the first time in awhile. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL returned to us with daughter Monica Walley, FTM although she had to leave to pick up her son and former Club #28 member Robin Knight, CTM at the airport. It was good to see both of them back at a meeting. Also returning was Brian Wheeler, ATM-B, CL who brought two guests both of whom joined our club at the end of the meeting!! Dr. Ross Thomson ATM-B, CL had the pleasure of presiding as our Toastmaster for what would turn out to be an extraordinarily marvelous meeting. Ross peppered the occassion with his trademark humor and homespun tales of past graduations. "I'm a PhD. so I have been through quite a few graduations in my time..." said Ross. Also graduating to the level of excellence was Tony Betts, CTM who played two major roles as our Table Topic Master and as our Master Evaluator. Tony had some great questions. His first was a beauty to Brian Wheeler, ATM-B asking him to "Give a short speech to today's graduating class." Brian used this time to remind everyone including two of his Tijuana Flats employees he had brought as quests, that "Hard work, and relentless dedication to the job will bring success..." Ross was given the question" Was it worth going through school?" Russell Russ, CTM remembered graduation from the armed services boot camp at Ft. Knox, Ky. as his "most memorable graduation". Guest Matt Weekely told of the "craziest thing he did before graduation" Joey Holland remembered his boss Brian, along with Jason Varitek of the Bosox as the people he would most like to hear give a graduation speech. Joe Bowie, CTM redesigned the cap and gown into a mesh shirt (and baseball caps?) to cool things down some! Three great speeches came from our President-elect Barbara Lott, CTM, Sgt.-at-Arms-elect J.P. Grace and our Secretary-elect Mark Cox, CTM. Barbara gave another outstanding speech that was filled with wit and humor titled "Things My Mom Taught Me". Remember that you can't live life without chocolate! J.P. Grace gave a very different speech "How The U.S. Monetary Policy Effects Us" which covered the broad span of federal economic and trade options and how they reach down to the average American. J.P. made this speech interesting and enlightening. Fed god Alan Greenspan would have been proud! Mark Cox, CTM gave a roast of fellow club member Russell Russ, CTM that had everyone, including Russ, holding their sides in laughter! Mark's skepticisms about Russ's optimistic hopes for a $250.00 boat will be cherished for a long time. Three Evaluators took on the challenge of reviewing three excellent speeches. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, Laurie Heinitz, CTM and Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL all came through with truly excellent efforts. Ken Blake ATM-S, CL told a great closing story as well about not graduating to black belt from brown belt. Princess Anita was back this week as well and enjoyed the meeting. This was a meeting to remember and the best one yet at our temporary home! The best news yet is that some truly great meetings are coming up as well. Don't miss a one!
The June 2, 2005 "Getting Rich" meeting gave us many riches indeed! The first was the business meeting in which President Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL confirmed the appointments of our new officer slate for the July-December 2005 term! We voted as well on two other issues concerning Toastmaster's International: rejecting a proposal to increase dues and accepting a proposal for TI to use e-mail in official correspondence. The real fun started when Ed stopped being president and started being our Toastmaster. Ed, as always, had the club rocking all night with great ideas, stories and new perspectives. Mark Cox, CTM also did a remarkable job as our Table Topic Master! Everyone had a great time answering his questions, and we even learned a few soul-probing revelations about greed & wealth. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL answered the question "Would you rather have fame or money?" Ed Morris answered a tougher one: "The perfect girl or the money?" Russell Russ, CTM was asked how he would like to earn his fortune. "It's already too late to inherit." said Russ. Tony Betts gave a great answer to the question: "What is richness besides having money?" He spoke about health and family. We ended up with two excellent semi-prepared speeches! Our first speaker Laurie Heinitz, CTM gave a very entertaining and really fun speech that had everyone clapping and laughing all the way through. "Why Preparing for a Speech is so Important" was packed with humorous quotes and personal insights into the fears and foibles of speechwriting. Ken Blake ATM-S, CL earned his Advanced Silver with the Better Speaker Series speech "How to Select a Topic" that followed Laurie's topic very nicely. Like Laurie's speech, Ken's was replete with a lot of humor and some great educational tidbits as well. Ken earned a standing ovation along with his ATM-Silver! Mark Cox, CTM returned as our Master Evaluator and had the pleasure of introducing two great evaluations from Dr. Ross Thomson, ATM-B, CL and Russell Russ, CTM. Princess Anita joined us as a guest this evening and echoed the feeling of everyone present when she said that the meeting was "a very good time". Indeed, we all felt richer for this experience! See you next week!
"Pets" was the theme of the May 26th 2005 meeting and it was one of the truly outstanding meetings of 2005. You might say it was the "Cat's Meow"! Dogs, Cats, lizards, birds almost every animal was included in this meeting thanks to the excellent work of Toastmaster Mark Cox, CTM. Mark told a number of personal memories of past pets that kept everyone laughing. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL kept to the theme as well with some excellent questions on the subject. J.P. Grace told his "Favorite Pet story" that ended up with his parents going crazy over what the cat dragged in. John Bonowitz-Coffey told about some pets that were out of place. Paul Hagge was in great form with the task of telling a 5 year old that the family dog was going to "go to doggy heaven" soon. Mark Cox, CTM gave us the four best names for a dog: Mark, Dr. Ross, Edwardo and George? The best answer came from guest Matt Russ, FTM who told us how to care for an elephant! Our three speeches were all the pick of the litter: Dr. Ross Thomson ATM-B, CL gave a great speech titled "Enough is Enough" about younger days and peace marches in New York and Canada. It brought to life an era long past. It also earned Ross his ATM Bronze! Not to be outdone by a great speech was Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL who introduced us to "Juan Bobo", a speech about a man who had trouble holding a job in Puerto Rico but was better "lucky than smart". Ed dressed for the part and sprung a surprise ending that had everyone caught of guard. Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL gave a great speech on our club title "What's so Great about Club #28?" It was a truly uplifting and affirming speech filled with praise for our club and its members. Our evaluations were uplifting, and praise worthy as well. Master Evaluator Mark Cox CTM doing double duty, introduced Ed Carmona ATM-B, CL, Paul Hagge, and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who fetched the stick of helpful guidance and did not roll over and play dead. Yes, like a loyal, faithful pet, this meeting worked it's way into our hearts and gave us the cold wet nose of a loving little puppy...I better stop writing this or I'll be in the doghouse.
It was easy to tell the future at the start of the May 19, 2005, "Looking into the Future" themed meeting. With a great lineup of speakers and Laurie Heinitz, CTM as our Toastmaster, we were sure to have a fantastic time. I am happy to report that all predictions came true! Laurie, of course was wonderful as our Toastmaster giving insightful glimpses as to what is to come. Many of us present thought it was her best effort ever as Toastmaster. She made the evening fun and interesting. So did John Bonowitz-Coffey, serving for his first time as a Table Topic Master. John used a book of ethical dilemmas for his questions. Some of them pretty tough! Barbara Lott, CTM for example spoke on how "How do you explain a disapproved moral behavior of society to your family when it appears to be popular?" Ken Walley ATM-G, CL had it a bit easier when he talked on TV ratings. Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL used Spanish to illustrate a point about swearing in public. Laurie Heinitz, CTM spoke on when it is "OK to break a promise." Russell Russ, CTM spoke about adults letting their kids see that they are human and make mistakes. Mark Cox, CTM gave a great answer about reaching a 13 year old as opposed to a 18 year old. Our speeches this night again came up to our club's high standards of excellence! The first speaker was was none other than Paul Hagge who returned to the club after a long trip out of the country. Paul's speech, "Overcoming Fear" dealt with how the very best speakers approach a speech and make that challenge work for them. Ed Morris gave a masterful speech on overcoming a different fear in his speech "Fear of the Computer: Irrational and Stupid!". It was Ed's 3rd speech in three weeks and his best so far. Steve Litt ATM-S, CL took up the challenge of giving a technical speech ("The 3 Steps to Power Troubleshooting") which dealt with how to repair computers. Our evaluations were as impressive as the speeches themselves: Joe Bowie, CTM, Barbara Lott, CTM and Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL really made it very hard to vote for best evaluator. Russell Russ could have won as well with his evaluation of the meeting as the Master Evaluator. We even had a guest join us, Lu Zhang who expressed interest in joining our club and said she would be back next week! It was another great meeting and like Lu, I look forward to returning next week as well! See you there.
You can always count on Russell Russ, CTM to provide an interesting and insightful meeting whenever he is the Toastmaster and Russell did not let us down this week. With the theme of "The Best of Times and The Worst of Times" the May 12th 2005 meeting had mostly the best of times for Club #28. It was a small meeting attendance wise, but we had great Table Topics which was led by Table Topic Master Mark Cox, CTM, three excellent speeches and great evaluations. Mark asked Russ the first Table Topic question based on Charles Dickens famous book A Tale of Two Cities: "Would you give up your head for the love of a woman?" Just in case Russell's wife is reading this, Russ, of course, answered "Yes!". "Love" said Russ, "has many avenues, some of them with dead ends." Ed Morris who was our Grammarian and AH Counter got the tough question "Is this the best of times or the worst of times in the world of sports?" Laurie Heinitz, CTM who served as our Timer told a story from her father about building a landing strip during worst of times, the Korean War. Barbara Lott, CTM was asked to remember a time from before she was born, about her favorite 60's sit-com and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL (who was also our vote counter this evening) told why the USA had such national pride when our Hockey team beat the Russians in the 1984 Olympic games. Barbara Lott, CTM started out the speeches with a remarkable performance she titled "Perseverance". This speech inspired all who heard it and might have made a change in the lives of some who attended the meeting. She spoke about what it takes to overcome the odds and to attain success by using such elements as hope, faith, determination, patience, attitude and a belief in oneself. Ed Carmona ATM-B, CL gave a different type of speech but no less illumining, titled "Can You Hear Me Now?" which was on the "Art of Listening". John Bonowitz-Coffey gave his Ice Beaker to Club #28 as we had missed it when he had first given it to another club. We learned, among other things, that he spent sometime at an "Irish Social Club" while studying at Florida State University. Indeed, John has attended classes at most of Florida's major universities. Our evaluations were administered by Russell Russ, CTM, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, and Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL. All of the evaluations were again worthy of evaluation contests and helpful to not only the speakers but everyone in the room! It was the best of times with such an excellent meeting and the worst of times because more members were not on hand to enjoy it! I hope to see more attend next week's meeting because our meeting just keep getting better and better.
"Hi There! Ho There! Hey There! You're as welcome as can be!" said Ken Walley ATM-G, CL as he started the May 5th 2005, "Mickey, Donald and All Things Disney" themed meeting. It was a meeting that would have all of the fun of a trip to Disney World and even some insight into the impact upon Central Florida by the Disney Company. Ken entertained us throughout the meeting with numerous "Disney trivia facts". Russell Russ, CTM as the Table Topic Master kept to the theme as well with some interesting questions leveled at our club Mousekteers such as the question to John Bonowitz-Coffey: "What was your best Disney trip?" Joe Bowie Jr., CTM got he question: "Was your daughter's wedding an 'E' ticket ride?" Joe said it was a 'G' ticket for "Good golly! This is expensive!" Ken Walley ATM-G, CL got to do his Mickey Mouse imitation in his answer to the question of "What Disney Character has the most Aplomb?" Ken Blake ATM-S, CL was able to answer a question about "Herbie the Love Bug" by comparing the Volkswagen to super-spy James Bond! Mark Cox, CTM remembered his Grad Night at Universal Studios! and Laurie Heinitz, CTM spoke on what she would do if she had made a killing in Disney stocks. My! Oh my! What a beautiful table topic session! Our first speaker, Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, CL told a touching story that was titled "A Teacher's Story". The speech had all of the elements of a great Disney movie and Ross was every bit as entertaining! The second speech was Ed Morris's Ice Breaker speech he titled "Dork of the Ring". Ed's speech was simply excellent for his first speech! Contrary to the speech title, Ed painted a portrait of an honest, hard-working and all around nice guy. The club later gave Ed a standing ovation for giving his Ice Breaker. Congratulations Ed! Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL gave another first class evaluation of Ross's speech. It was almost as emotional as Ross's speech! Not to be outdone, Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM, who was doing double duty as our Master Evaluator, gave the evaluation for Ed's Ice Breaker with an excellent critique of his own. John Bonowitz-Coffey was given recognition for his excellent performance as our Timer. It was his first time filling that role. It would be unfair if I did not mention the exceptional work done by Laurie who took up the challenge of naming all 7 dwarfs. This was a meeting that we could all be proud of, I just wish that Walt Disney himself could have been here to have enjoyed this meeting.
We found out this week that our new temporary home would not be as "temporary" as we had wished. President Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL announced that the library meeting rooms may not be ready until September. We did not let that news keep us from having another exceptional meeting at the Center For Spiritual Living on April 28, 2005 with the theme of "Vacation". J.P. Grace was our Toastmaster for the evening and he was absolutely fantastic in his first effort at the position! J.P. even made us envious because he himself leaves on vacation next week on a trip to New York! Also doing an excellent job was our Table Topic Master Laurie Heinitz, CTM she asked some great questions such as "What was your Best Vacation (answered by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL); "Where is the most wonderful place to go?" (J.P. Grace); "Where are you going on your next vacation (Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL); "What is the most far away place you have ever been?" (Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL) and "What is your worst vacation?" (Russell Russ, CTM). Joe Bowie, CTM also gave a very memorable answer (most of his are) to the question: "What do you say to a boss who will not give out vacation time?" John Bonowitz-Coffey spoke for the first time as a speaker in Club #28 and he did not disappoint! His speech, "The Three Times I Got Mugged" took us to places all over the globe (England, Africa, Switzerland, just to name a few) and told a story about bad luck and fear while traveling. Surprisingly, John's speech had a positive message "I ended up better off from being mugged three times!" said John, he will be ready the next time! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL gave a very funny humorous speech about true stories that happened to him as a waiter. Among them were people stealing food, kids causing accidents, screaming spouses, food fights and diapers left on the table. The evaluations section of the meeting was insightful as well as Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL was the Master Evaluator for the evaluations of Russell Russ, CTM and Joe Bowie, CTM. Tierra Lott, 8, the daughter of our timer, Barbara Lott, CTM served as our vote counter and did a great job! Even better, Tierra gave one of the best speeches at the end of the meeting. "I Loved being the vote counter and counting all of the votes!" she said enthusiastically. Ken W. giving a review of the meeting said this meeting was "worth the trip a thousand miles away!" Maybe that would be a good idea for a vacation but I will return to the Center For Spiritual Living next week! See you on Thursday!
Our third meeting at our new, abet temporary, meeting place the Center For Spiritual Living was our third outstanding meeting in a row. The theme was "High School" and our Toastmaster Mark Cox, CTM was up to the challenge with tons of memories of High School life from first dates and used cars to bad lunches, teachers, and the prom. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL also helped bring back those awkward years with questions like the one to J.P. Grace "Who did you hang out with in High School and what did you do?" Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL was asked if he hated High School or loved it (Some of both but it taught him a trade). Ed Morris told of a favorite teacher (a dynamic teacher named Mr. Schinder who made history exciting) while Laurie Heinitz, CTM told of a teacher who was her very worst... and for good reason, he did not care what happened in his class. Russell Russ, CTM spoke of prom memories. Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, CL remembered the class clown, and John Bonowitz-Coffey spoke about school clubs and organizations. The best Table Topic came from Barbara Lott, CTM who addressed the current controversy that surrounds the FCAT exam. Barbara believes that teachers are teaching how to pass the exam rather than the subjects the students need to learn. The speeches both came up to the same high standards of the last two weeks. First, Ed Carmona, ATM-B, CL earned his ATM-Bronze while also earning Club #28 it's 6th straight President's Distinguished Award with a presentation called "Outsourcing" in which he played the part of a company executive that has to break the news to some of its employees that their jobs are being distributed elsewhere! Complete with a question and answer period to less! What a tough speech! Joe Bowie's (CTM) speech titled "Why is Higher Education Getting Lower" gave some alarming examples of how the university level has failed to produce quality education. Again Joe used his trademark humor while bringing to light a serious problem. Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL did double duty as our Master Evaluator and was supported by two excellent evaluations by Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL and Laurie Heinitz, CTM. Both evaluations were worthy of mention because they had good insight, were inspiring and gave helpful advice. Ken W. noted that this was a terrific meeting, better than a Senior Class play, and he hoped that we would graduate to even better things next week!
In what would turn out to be another in a long string of fantastic meetings, it was no surprise to see Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL taking the helm as Toastmaster for the April 14th, 2005 "Identity Theft" themed meeting. Meeting at the Center for Spiritual Living, Tseganesh came prepared with many interesting facts about one of the fastest growing crimes in America. Barbara Lott, CTM as our Table Topic Master provided some interesting questions on the subject as well. We learned that some of our members have been victims of Identity Theft such as Ed Morris and Laurie Heinitz, CTM. Both had great advice on how to protect yourself such as using only a couple of credit cards that you are sure of that can be canceled quickly. Joe Bowie Jr. CTM said the reason people would want to steal his identity was because "I'm one great guy!" Ed Carmona, CTM, CL insisted when asked "Have you ever had a secret identity?" that he was not Ed Carmona! Serita Morgan said the best aspect of her personality that most defines her was "talking and being 'bubbly'!" Those are perfect ingredients for a toastmaster, Serita! We only had two speeches but both of them were exceptional (So far we have only had exceptional speeches at or new meeting place!) J.P. Grace, delivered an impressive speech ("Spontaneity") about an argument with his wife over the meaning of spontaneity. The speech started with a quote from Paul Rubens, aka. Pee Wee Herman: "I know who you are but what am I?" The second speaker was Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who presented his upcoming Division 'C' International Speech Contest speech titled "The Making of a Saint" about St. Maxmillan Kolb. Ken was hoping for some feedback from the club on how to improve his speech before he had to present it at the contest. Speaking of evaluations, Master Evaluator Phil Sumanpow, CTM had two accomplished evaluators in Alan Brents ATM-S, CL and Mark Cox, CTM who both gave insightful evaluations of the speeches. Alan praised J.P.'s natural talent and noted that he was far advanced than his 3rd basic manual speech. Mark commented that Ken's speech underlined the importance of remembering the holocaust so we can avoid such horror in the future. Phil opened up the evaluations to the entire club asking for ideas on how to make Ken's speech better. Great ideas flowed from almost every member present! Ken took notes and pledged to "use them all" at Division. "These are great ideas, just what I was hoping for!" said Ken. Russell Russ, CTM it should be noted gave a great Grammarian report as did Serita with the AH Counter report. I believe that the new home of Club #28 is having a truly positive impact on our club's abilities!
It may have been a different place, The Center for Spiritual Living, but it was the same result: A fantastic meeting! Because of the weather, the move and a few other challenges, Club #28 did not have the best of turnouts. The members who did show up for the April 7th 2005 "Baseball and Summer Sports" theme meeting brought their very best! Highlights of the meeting included a great job by Alan Brents, ATM-S, CL as our Toastmaster for the evening. Alan kept a very lively meeting going with his sharp wit and humor. Ed Carmona CTM, CL came through as Table Topic Master asking not your average questions about summer games. Joe Bowie, CTM, for example, spoke about "Competition: Rooted in Evil or good for society?" Ken Blake ATM-B, CL handled "What is the problem with Steroids?" (He said: "There is no steroids in NASCAR!") The other Ken , Ken Walley ATM-G, CL spoke about "Do you really mean it when you say "Good Luck" before the big race?" Mark Cox, CTM returned to Club #28 tonight and gave one of the most vivid descriptions of the Cubs winning it all in the bottom of the 9th. Laurie Heinitz, CTM also gave a great answer as to what makes an Olympic sport. We had 3 speeches and everyone was a winner! Mark, Ken B. and Ed all came up with some of the best speeches of their toastmaster careers. Mark's speech "My Father's Retirement" was an inspiring speech paying tribute to his father at a retirement ceremony. Ken Blake's (ATM-B, CL) speech "No Pets!" was both humorous and heartwarming, It was Ken at his best telling about how a puppy melted the heart of his wife. Ed Carmona, CTM, CL "The Inconsistency of Marriage" which Ed looked at marriage in a philosophical way. "There are three groups of 'The Married': The first is 'Young Love', the second 'Rough Love' and last is 'True Love'." Ed gave a thought provoking and eye-opening look at marriage." Great job Ed! With Laurie doing the honors as Master Evaluator she introduced Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, Joe Bowie, CTM and Alan Brents, ATM-S who all exceeded expectations with great evaluations. Alan even sang during his evaluation of Ed's speech, and, he has a pretty good voice! Laurie was more than positive with her evaluation of the meeting "This club came together to have a great meeting even under the most difficult circumstances." said Laurie. Our new meeting place is different, but a really nice place to meet and, of course, we had a lot of fun. Let us hope that everyone can join us next week and we can pack the church for yet another great meeting!
Yeah, yeah yeah! It was no hard day's night for Club #28 at the March 31st 2005 "Beatles" themed meeting. The club found a way to come together and even with a small number of people we found a way that we can work it out. Let's get back to the beginning as Ken Walley ATM-G, CL had a ticket to ride as our Toastmaster. In this long and winding road, Ken also took us down Penny Lane past Abby Road to Strawberry Fields and back as our Table Topic Master . I've got a feeling that our members needed something, mostly help to answer some of his questions. John Bonowitz-Coffey, Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, CL (who's favorite Beatle song is "Fixing A Hole"), Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM (who's favorite Beatle is Paul McCartney) and Russell Russ, CTM all answered questions about the Fab Four but Andy Schrader put the Beatles in perspective when he talked about how they changed many different things on many different levels in society. Our speeches did not let us down and it is too bad that we don't have eight days a week so we could hear them again. Serita Morgan gave an excellent Ice Breaker titled simply "Me!". We learned that she hails from San Francisco, served in the reserves and is a future attorney! Serita did a wonderful job and also gave us a lot to look forward to hearing in future speeches. Barbara Lott, CTM gave another excellent speech titled "Wingin' It!" in which she succeeded in giving a highly entertaining speech off the top of her head. Her Seinfeldesque speech was about giving a speech with nothing to say. She ended up saying all kinds of great things! Alan Brents ATM-S, CL gave a prop-filled speech titled "The Mystery of the Law Office" in which Alan demystified the many ornaments found in an attorney's office. He had us all laughing. Our Master Evaluator tonight did double duty as an evaluator along with along with Russell Russ, CTM and Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, CL (who did triple duty as our Grammarian and AH Counter as well as evaluator!) The evaluations covered everything from Mean Mr. Mustard to Love from me to you. I guess I have worked enough Beatle titles into this recap, so I guess I will just let it be for now. This meeting was so much fun and it went so fast, it felt just like "Hello, goodbye..."
Club #28 continued a great month of March with a "dream " meeting. The theme for the evening was "Dreams" and according to our Toastmaster for the evening, Ed Carmona, CTM, CL we had a "dream team" of Toastmasters. This was another Club #28 example of a meeting where everything just seemed to fall into place. Table Topic Master Russell Russ, CTM had some fantastic questions about dreams starting with one that Laurie Heinitz, CTM handled about "What is you most behemoth nightmare?" Laurie's answer had to do with "A monster looking thing and dead people in the living-room!" Whew! Dr. Lisa Palmer answered a question about what she was daydreaming about last, Tony Betts, CTM had a question about who he dreamed to aspire to be, Phil Sumanpow, CTM told us about a dream of winning the lotto, Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL about what Howard Hughes would have dreamed about ("Cutting his hair and getting his nails trimmed...") and J.P. Grace told us of a dream where he "hangs out with famous people". It was a great session. We had three excellent speeches that covered a wide range of interests. Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL used in her speech ("The Art of Conversation") Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL giving a lesson about how to make effective conversations. For the second week in a row we were lucky to hear Andy Schrader speak. This time his speech title was "Making it All Fit" and the speech was more technical in nature. He described the basic financial principles such as interest, down payment, term, collateral and deposit. Even still, Andy made the speech an interesting and educational experience. Our third speaker was none other than Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, CL who gave one of the very best Competent Leader speeches ever! Using the Successful Club Series speech "Meeting Roles and Responsibilities" as a guide, Ross used a fine French dinner in a small French restaurant to make his points. The result was a vivid, almost poetic word picture that left everyone more knowledgeable about TM roles and also very hungry! Master Evaluator Alan Brents, ATM-S, CL did a great in that role ("I do anything that has 'Master' in the titled" said Alan) as did all of the evaluators: Joe Bowie, CTM, Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL. This meeting was the stuff that toastmaster dreams are made of, you might say that it was "dreamy".
The 2005 Club #28 International Speech and Table Topics contests held on March 17, 2005 may have been the highest quality contests ever held in the long and storied history of this great club. These words are not to be taken lightly, as many Contest Masters have presided over the festivities in years past but few have been as entertaining, efficient and enjoyable as Ed Carmona, CTM, CL was on this gala evening. Chief Judge Helen Joseph, DTM filled in at the last moment in that position to even bring sense a joy to the reading of the rules! Our Table Topic contestants all achieved superlative results answering the question "If you could go back to when you were16, what advice would you give yourself?". Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL, Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Joe Bowie Jr., CTM all came up with great answers. Ken W., who came in first place, started his answer with "Well, I am still sixteen in a lot of ways..." Finishing the contest in a close second place was Steve Litt ATM-B, CL. The fact is that any of the answers could have won the contest. A year ago, James Webb, CTM won the Club #28 contest and would go on to the Toastmaster International finals. James returned this evening to witness four great speeches in their own right. Andrew Schrader started with a wonderful speech "The Fire Inside" which inspired us to find our passions. He used a great example of Olympic track star Wilma Rudolph. Andy's speech was followed by a speech by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who turned on the "electricity" with a speech about being the parent of teenagers titled "A Teenager Survival Guide". Ken's speech was followed by yet another excellent presentation given by Steve Litt ATM-B, CL. "My Success Guide" was about a personal friend, Ralph Desanto who gave meaningful life-lessons by example. Phil Sumanpow, CTM rose to the occasion with performance about becoming a hero. "In the Blink of an Eye" was a tour-de-force which told a powerful story that covered a wide range of emotions. Again, all of the speeches were were 1st class and worthy of winning this contest. Ken was fortunate again to win his second 1st place trophy of the night. Phil took home 2nd place but will represent Club #28 at the Area Contest as Ken will be representing Orange County Toastmaster Club #129 in April. Kudos must also go out to the superb support staff that made this contest possible: Sgt. at Arms Russell Russ, CTM; Timers Alan Brents, ATM-S, CL and Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL; Vote Counter Jennifer Mattison, Raffle Master J.P. Grace and of course the judges who took time from their schedules to attend our contest. We had a great turnout which was good because this was a contest to remember!
The March 10th, 2005 meeting was more like "a day at the beach" than a toastmaster meeting. That's because the theme was "Spring Break" and Barbara Lott, CTM made it a vacation blast with tons of great stories and even a brief history of our national rite of spring. Barbara was not the only one to shine like the sun in this meeting, Table Topic Master Brian Wheeler, ATM-B had some superb questions that reflected the craziness and irresponsibility of this special time of the year. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was so un-cool he was cool when asked "to appear cool for MTV". Dr. Lisa Palmer told of her "wildest Spring Break experience" with a G-rated version of a trip to Snowshoe Mountain. Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM Ed Morris answered the question of "What are the key ingredients for Spring Break These included "Adult Beverages and a place, far, far from where you live." Ed Carmona, CTM, CL got the toughest question of explaining "Why I was arrested for running down the road nude." No explanations were need for our speeches tonight. They were all simply awesome! Russell Russ, CTM created the highlight of the evening with his CTM graduation speech ("Bringing Passion to Your Life") in which he warned that "to be rigid in your beliefs will put your relationships in danger." It was a compelling 10th speech worthy of the CTM honor. Congratulations Russ! Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL Gave a toast to his air compressor named Bertha ("A Tribute to Bertha!)" in which we said goodbye to Ken's faithful friend. Lastly Tony Betts, CTM gave one of the funniest and perfectly delivered roasts of fellow toastmaster Ed Carmona, CTM, CL to all who saw this roast, agree that it was a true work of art that had everyone, including Ed, laughing so hard that our sides hurt! Brilliant work Tony! The evaluations were almost as good as our speeches. Under the wise guidance of Master Evaluator Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM the evaluation part of the meeting rocked like the music blasting from a Daytona Beach motel room. Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL, Laurie Hienitz, CTM and Alan Brents, ATM-S all gave super advice to our speakers. Making the Spring Break meeting scene were also Janet Rodriguez who was our Ah Counter for her first time, Alexandra Rene who wants to join our club soon (welcome aboard Alexandra!), Andy Schrader who always adds to our meetings and John Bonowitz-Coffey who commented that this was "a great club and a great meeting!" This was almost as much fun as a Spring Break trip itself...and without the hangover.
[Editor's Note: I was unable to attend this meeting but I put together this account based upon the 3/3/05 meeting minutes. Anyone who can help me fill in the blanks would be greatly welcomed. -KHW]
The March 3rd, 2005 "leadership" themed meeting was by all accounts a truly meaningful evening of Club #28 excellence. That is of little wonder when you take into account the expert guidance of the toastmaster of the evening and the former club VP of Education Tony Betts, CTM . Tony however had help from Table Topic Master and current club Secretary Laurie Hienitz, CTM who asked some challenging questions of our members. Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL, a past Club #28 Sgt. at Arms, was asked "Can someone be a good leader but not a good Manager?" Alan Brents, ATM-S, CL a past Club #1066 Vice President of Education, was asked about the relationship between leaders and followers, our current Area 49 Governor, Delisa Deihl-Banks, ATM-S, CL was asked about the relationship between communication and leadership. Former 3 term Secretary and Competent Leader Award winner, Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL answered Laurie's tough question "Can anyone become a leader?" Laurie also asked questions of Ed Morris, as well as our current Vice President of Public Relations Barbara Lott, CTM, and the two time distinguished Club #28 President Adam Scoggins, CTM. Three excellent speeches were given this night. The first was by Brian Wheeler, CTM the founder of a chain of restaurants and a former VP of Membership for Club #28. The highlight of the evening came when J.P. Grace presented his Ice Breaker speech which was loudly applauded and the third speaker was Alan Brents, ATM-S, CL who lead by example by giving his second speech in two weeks! Another former Orlando Conquerors Club #1066 VP of Education, Phil Sumanpow, CTM along with our current Club #28 VP of Education, Russell Russ and our current President Ed Carmona, CTM, CL all excelled in showing their leadership skills with artful evaluations of the speeches. The club Vice president of Membership, Joe Bowie, Jr., CTM did an outstanding job as our Master Evaluator as well. Joe showcased many of the organizational and communication skills he has learned in Toastmasters by how he orchestrated the evaluation session. Like the speeches, the evaluations, and Joe's evaluation of the meeting, were all of the highest quality. Looking back upon the talent and the experience that was present in the room on this night, it is of little surprise that this meeting was such a great success. Everyone learned from one another many different ways of looking at the subject of leadership. Everyone left this meeting a better leader and much more confident than when they came in.
Toastmaster Club #28 was "getting it done"... creating another great meeting that is... for the February 24th, 2005 "Getting it Done" themed meeting. Toastmaster Russell Russ got a lot of things accomplished during the night like leading a wonderful session that was both inspiring and entertaining. New Toastmaster Ed Morris started the meeting with an excellent Invocation and Pledge. It was Ed's first time filling that position and he did a great job. Also getting it done with a 1st class effort was our Table Topic Master Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM who asked some excellent questions on the subject of personal accomplishments such as: "Ever have a great Idea but did not follow through?" which was asked of John Bonowitz-Coffey. Serita Morgan was asked "How does it feel to get something major completed?" Barbara Lott, CTM was asked about how to motivate kids. Tony Betts, CTM had a question about cosmetic surgery and Eva Garrick had to explain how she would sweet talk an employee to come into work on the weekend! Two great speeches were in store and the first speaker, Laurie Heinitz, CTM got her Competent Toastmaster Award graduation speech done with an inspiring and uplifting speech about overcoming fear and striving to better oneself. She titled it "I Think I Can! I Think I Can!" and she received a standing ovation for her CTM! Congratulations Laurie! Giving a very different type of speech was Alan Brents, ATM-S, CL who gave Ken Walley ATM-G, CL an award for "Sewer Engineer of the Year" which was complete with a trophy showing the back half of a donkey! His speech was a hoot and it had everyone laughing with some great tongue-in cheek humor. Getting it done by wearing two hats was Tony Betts, CTM who was both the Master Evaluator and the evaluator for Alan's speech. Barbara Lott, CTM evaluated Laurie's speech. J.P. Grace got it done with flair as our Grammarian as did John Bonowitz-Coffey as our AH Counter. Even returning guest Janet Rodriguez got it done with a lot of praise for our meeting. Ken surprised Dr. Lisa Palmer by calling upon her to speak at the end of the meeting "I thought I would get by without having to speak! said Lisa. No such luck we wanted to get it done this night by having everyone have a chance to express themselves. Lisa came through with more wonderful praise..."This was a fantastic meeting! It was well worth the effort to get here!" I hope to see everyone back next week for another great meeting!
Our Toastmaster for the evening, Phil Sumanpow, CTM was just as "punny" as "funny" as our theme for the February, 17th, 2005 meeting was Puns! Phil asked us what kind of horse was on the Kentucky state quarter, for example. The answer, of course, was a "Quarter Horse". Phil filled the entire evening with groans and moans and a lot of fun as well. Adam Scoggins, CTM bravely took the role of Table Topic Master and challenged everyone to use a pun in their topic answers but few were able to rise to the occasion, although everyone did stand when giving their answers. Joe Bowie, Jr., CTM answered the question of how Toastmasters has benefited him outside of the club. Tseganish Gudeta, ATM-B, CL used "Table Topics" in the answer to her question of "Most embarrassing toastmaster moment" Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL answered "Michael Eisner" to the question of "Who would you be if you were not yourself?" explained Ken, "It's good to be king!" One of our guests for this evening, Serita Morgan gave the best answer to the question: "What would you do if you won a million bucks?" Her answer included a Day Spa and treating some of the homeless to a good dinner. We had two wonderful speeches, if very different in style and content. Speaker #1 was Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM who told a great tale ("Barn Bash") of his father and a roving band of hippies having a party on his farm in Canada. Speaker #2 was Ed Carmona, CTM, CL who was more than impressive while giving a corporation-style boardroom presentation titled "The Club #28 Speaker's Bureau" Ed managed to make the mundane fascinating. Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL doubled as the Master Evaluator and also as the evaluator for Ross. Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM gave the evaluation for Ed. Both brought out some excellent points while emerging the speaking in encouragement. It should be noted the excellent job of our Technical Table: Tseganesh was our Grammarian, Ed Morris did a great job filling in as our AH Counter and our timer was Laurie Heinitz. The meeting was superbly guided by these experts. Marianne Minors, another one of our guests, was not tongue-tied in her praise of the meeting, even if the puns & jokes made it hard to hear at times because of the laughter.
For any Toastmaster the theme of the February 10th, 2005 Club #28 meeting would have been a challenge: "Full House"! To Toastmaster Mark Cox, CTM however, it was simply a matter of doing some research. Mark told stories about the poker hand, concerts that were SRO and gave us some memories of when he had tons of people over for a visit. The Table Topic Master Ken Walley ATM-G, CL also came up with some great questions on a rather open topic. Phil Sumampow told a wonderful story about playing poker, Newest member J.P. Grace told about going to a sold-out concert. Eva Garrick told why she would run for the U.S. House of Representatives and Ed Morris told about a Thanksgiving dinner that included a lot of family members in a small house. Also taking part in the session was guest Janet Valone who said that she would "fill up a house" with love and the laughter of children. All of the answers were truly excellent. So were the speeches! Incredibly we had two Ice Breaker speeches and both were of the absolute highest quality for 1st speeches! Dr. Lisa Palmer gave her speech title "Miracle Baby" which told the story of how she overcame childhood physical challenges to become a professional athlete. Her speech was full of fascinating stories of her life. Jennifer Mattison rose to the occasion to give her Ice Breaker speech at the last minute because of a speaker opening! This "off the cuff" Ice Breaker was wonderful! Coming from Long Island, Jennifer ended up doing the things she feared most: being a journalist, working in marketing and teaching at the college level! Both speakers received standing ovations! The evaluators, Joe Bowie, Jr. , CTM and Phil Sumanpow, CTM were so good that they tied for the Best Evaluator ribbon! Master Evaluator Laurie Heinitz spoke for everyone when she gave this meeting some very high praise. There was more however as President Ed Carmona, CTM recognized J. P. Grace for his first time as Grammarian, a job he did very well. It was a truly great meeting, Good news was also announced that Alan Brents, ATM-S would be out of the hospital soon and that his condition was not as serious as first thought. I only wished that we could have had a "full house" so that everyone could have enjoyed it!
The theme of the February 3rd, 2005 meeting was "Beauty is all Around Us" and that was especially true of the exquisite speeches, table topics and evaluations that were rendered on this lovely toastmaster evening. Toastmaster Alan Brents, ATM-S, CL showed us true unadorned excellence as a meeting host with glorious stories and observations on the splendor that surrounds us. Including a story about the beauty that can be found from spilled food on a couch! Table Topics Master Ed Carmona, CTM, CL kept to the theme of the meeting with some questions that were real beauties themselves. Mark Cox, CTM had to answer the question "How would you describe beauty to a Martian?" That question was easy compared to Alan Scoggins, CTM who's question had him propose marriage to a beautiful girl. Dr. Lisa Palmer described proposing to a beautiful guy. Her answer included a sandy beach on a moon-lit evening. Laurie Heinitz spoke on how beauty is "only skin deep." The best answer however came from a guest, and boyfriend, of Laurie's, Ed Morris who had to speak about "The most beautiful person I know." Not surprisingly, Ed named Laurie to that honor. Also answering questions were Ken Walley ATM-G, CL; Ross Thomson, CTM; Wanda Diaz, Russell Russ and Alan Brents, ATM-S, CL. We were also treated to two elegant speakers with speeches full of vision and fine taste. Joe Bowie, Jr., CTM presented his first step towards his Competent Leader award with a Successful Club Series speech titled "How to be a Distinguished Club" Joe gave us an overview of the goals that Toastmaster Clubs try to reach. Giving his first speech as a member of Club #28 was Phil Sumanpow, CTM, CL. Phil delivered a contest quality speech about overcoming imaginary fears. "Monsters Under the Bed" dealt with adult fears from the past that haunt and restrict our lives even though they are baseless. This speech had the power to change lives. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL had the pleasure to be the Master Evaluator with two great evaluators, Adam Scoggins, CTM and Mark Cox, CTM both of whom out-did themselves with great advice for our speakers. Ken's evaluation of the meeting was an "A+"! There was much joy as we found out that J.P. Grace had added his name to a growing list of new members such as Wanda Diaz, Jennifer Mattison (who said that tonight's meeting "Made up for a bad day!") and Lisa and Phil! Welcome J.P.! Adam also brought two guests from the Tijuana Flats Burrito Co, Matt and Brian as well. I hope they join as we like to think of ourselves as the official Toastmaster Club of Tijuana Flats! This was one BEAUTIFUL meeting, the kind of meeting every Toastmaster Club would love to have!
There must have been a power surge that was re-directed to the Magnolia Room because the January 27th, 2005 "Love and Marriage" themed meeting was Supercharged! To start the meeting Joe Bowie, CTM made an impressive entrance to give our Invocation and Pledge. Russell Russ had the hard task to follow Joe as our Toastmaster but he came prepared with many stories of Love and Marriage, the good ones, about his own. If his wife is reading this he said only good things about his spouse. As, of course did all of the people who answered the Table Topic questions from Topics Master Ken Walley ATM-G, CL. Ken asked some very interesting questions such as the one asked of Mark Cox, CTM, "What would you advise a young man about to get married?" (Sound advice: "Wait until you are ready, marriage is a very important decision, only a fool would rush into it.") Joe Bowie, CTM gave an excellent answer about why Hollywood marriages fail. He even used a cell phone ring as part of his answer! Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL gave a humorous answer to the question "Describe the perfect husband?" She said, "First, he would have to do everything I asked of him..." Three guests & future members gave great answers as well: Wanda Diaz, Tamara Blaze and Jennifer Mattison. Tamara's answer to "How do you know when that 'special person' is the man you want to marry?" won her the Best Table Topics and Wanda's answer to "Do you believe in a Love at first sight?" won her the Most Improved ribbon! All three of our speeches could have won 'Best Speech' tonight. Andy Schrader started off with a speech with a great subject & title: "The Fine Art of Being Right" Being right is not always the most important thing" said Andy, "Ask 'What is it that I want out of this relationship?'" Ed Carmona, CTM, CL followed with a speech about creativity in the workplace. In "Creativity, Imagination and Innovation" Ed stated that "Organizations fear Creativity" and he outlined a program to help companies think "outside of the box". Barbara Lott, CTM earned her Competent Toastmaster Award with a great speech about educating and uplifting students. Her speech was titled "Educate, Empower and Enrich" Her speech did all of that for us! Barbara also received a standing ovation for earning her CTM! Congratulations Barbara! Also congratulations to Joe Bowie CTM as the Master Evaluator and his three evaluators: Alan Brents, ATM-S, Ross Thomson, CTM and Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL . All of the evaluations were of the very highest caliber and everyone, not just the speakers, learned from them. As the meeting came to an end, I heard one of our guests state: "I wish that the meeting could have gone on longer! This was great!"
The "Who's in Charge?" Themed meeting on January 20th, 2005 left no doubt who was in charge: Toastmaster Joe Bowie, CTM! Joe did an awesome job as our meeting leader giving us a "civics lesson" as the meeting went on about if the United States was a "Republic" or a "Democracy". Returning to the club to start the meeting was Sgt. at Arms John Walker and taking a role in her first meeting as a member was Dr. Lisa Palmer who did a truly excellent presentation of the Invocation and Pledge! Both John and Lisa also did double duty as our Ah Counter and Vote Counter, respectively. One of the best Table Topic sessions in memory was directed by Table Topic Master Barbara Lott. Barbara asked some tough questions like the one she asked of Paul Hagge: "Who is in charge of the Media?" Other equally tough questions asked were "Who has more power, the President's speech writer or his Secretary?" (handled by guest Tamara Blaze), "Who 'Wears the Pants' in the White House, George W. Bush or Laura Bush?" was answered by Dr. Lisa Palmer who, of course, answered in the 1st Lady's favor. The hardest question of all was answered by Russell Russ. He got the question of "Who wears the Pants in YOUR house." If you were not at the meeting, I guess you will never know Russ's answer...(but take a wild guess). We had two great speeches by two veteran Toastmasters. The first speaker was Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who gave a humorous speech titled "Help! I'm The Father of a Teenage Daughter!, Part 2" Said Ken: "I'm not allowed to use the phone anymore, or the computer, I even have to make reservations for the bathroom...my daughter is only 14, but she has my car keys just in case they lower the driving age tomorrow!" It was a very funny, funny speech. Mark Cox, CTM filled in at the last moment to be our second speaker and gave an "off the cuff" speech titled "A Toast: There will Never Be A Bunch Like Them Again!" It was a speech that many toastmasters would have spent a month researching. His toast to our founding fathers was brilliantly delivered and packed with interesting facts and anecdotes. Russell Russ served as our Master Evaluator and had the pleasure of introducing two excellent evaluators: Diana Walley, ATM-G, CL and Ed Carmona, CTM, CL both of whom gave strong evaluations. It was a rare time that Diana evaluated her husband Ken but she stuck to the time-tested "sandwich method" and Ed admitted that he was the "King of the Castle" at his house... "at least until his alarm clock wakes him up in the morning!" Russell said that this meeting was "Supercharged! and a lot of fun." Ed added that it was "High energy for a small group. I hope we have more members present next week" Ed said, "because this was a meeting everyone should have gotten a chance to enjoy." Guest John Bonowitz-Coffey returned as well as did guest Tamara Blaze and both said they were really glad that they had come back! Join up John and Tamara, we would love to have you aboard! Let's have a great turnout for next week!
The January 13th 2005 "Mari Gras" themed meeting was a Toastmaster party all of it's own! Paul Hagge started the meeting with an excellent Invocation and Pledge and President Ed Carmona, CTM, CL pumped up the energy a couple of notches when he announced that at the last moment Barbara Lott would be our Toastmaster! Barbara was more than up for the challenge as she created an atmosphere worthy of Bourbon Street. Also in the party mood was Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM who had some very interesting Mardi Gras questions as our Topics Master. New member Phil Sumampow, CTM answered the question "There is a Fat Tuesday, why not a skinny day?" New member David Landers had to tackle even a more unique question of "What would a big snowman do at a party?" Adam Scoggins CTM handled the question of drinking and partying with a knowledgeable skill. Defending last week's best Table Topic ribbon was Lisa Palmer who was asked to answer the question "Where does crazy behavior come from?". Eva Garrick was very elegant in her answer to a question about "masks". The best answer came from Paul Hagge with his answer on "The Meaning of Mari Gras". We had two great speeches of a very different nature. Ed Carmona, CTM, CL gave a presentation "The Columbia Accident Overview Board" which was an investigation into the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster. Russell Russ, coming ever closer to his CTM did a speech on his Toastmaster journey though the Basic Manual titled "Speech #9". Russell brought back some great memories of some very good speeches. Adam Scoggins, CTM stepped in at the last moment as well to become our Master Evaluator as he lead a session in which we heard two great evaluations from Andy Schrader and Laurie Heinitz. Other thanks go out to Joe Bowie, Jr, CTM as the AH Counter, Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL as our timer and Diana Walley ATM-G, CL as our Grammarian. It should be noted that this special night saw two new members join our club: David Landers and Phil Sumampow, CTM. Two more members may not be far in our future we hope with returning guest Dr. Lisa Palmer and Wanda Diaz. This was another great Club #28 meeting because in party terms: CLUB #28 ROCKS!
Club #28 started the New Year off to a great start with the January 6th, 2005 "New Beginnings" themed meeting. Words of welcome were given by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and a very well spoken and moving Invocation and Pledge was given by Mark Cox, CTM who remembered the victims of the recent Tsunami disaster. Our Toastmaster for the evening, Laurie Heinitz was really at her best with a great performance that included a "Top 10" countdown of New Year resolutions. #1 by the way is: "Spend more time with friends and family". Ken Walley ATM-G, CL kept on the theme of new beginnings with some interesting questions and the club responded with some great answers. Brian Wheeler told us of his three resolutions that included the #1 above, plus "do more housecleaning" and one that he had already broke (stop drinking)! Mark Cox, CTM remembered the Atlanta Braves with the subject of "renewal". Tony Betts, CTM spoke on a resolution for the entire world, Ed Carmona, CTM, CL told us about his new grandchild, and guest Lisa Palmer really impressed everyone with her answer about a New Beginning in her life (moving to Florida). Our three speeches were a great start to the Toastmaster as well, Eva Garrick astounded all present with a speech that was both a call to action against "modern slavery" and a word song/poem titled "Cocoa Me". Diana Walley, ATM-G, CL gave a humorous speech about Realtors ("Realtors: You Gotta Love 'Em) and remember you pronounce it REAL-tor, no 'a'! Barbara Lott gave the third speech that was another success in her quest for speaking excellence. Titled "Literacy, More Than Words!" the speech brought across the growing problem and importance of being literate in Mathematics as well as reading. Besides three great speeches we had three excellent evaluations by Ken Blake ATM-B, CL, Brian Wheeler, ATM-B, and Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM. Master Evaluator Russell Russ summed up the thoughts of many with his evaluation of the meeting: "This was great!" Joe Bowie Jr., CTM was our able timer and Ed Carmona, CTM and Mark Cox, CTM filled in with excellence as the Grammarian and AH Counter. Our Guests tonight, Wanda Diaz, John Bonowitz-Coffey, Dr. Lisa Palmer and Tamar Blaze all gave our club high marks! What a great way to start the new year!
The yearly Club #28 Christmas Party and Installation of Officers is always a special event. It was held on the evening of December 16th, 2005 and this night was no exception. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave a hopeful and touching invocation to start the meeting. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was the Master of Ceremonies on this magical night. Throughout the evening he brought holiday joy to everyone by asking those present what their favorite holiday memory was. Eva Garrick remembered a family feast and being surrounded by love and warmth. Alan Brents ATM-S gave us a truly special recipe for Hot Chocolate. Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL remembered a Christmas time not so very long ago when she was young in Ethiopia. Russell Russ spoke of a large family Christmas. Joe Bowie, CTM gave us a wonderful Christmas Eve memory about sneaking downstairs to look at the presents... and none were there! The story had a happy ending however. We had two great holiday gifts by Andy Schrader and Barbara Lott in the form of excellent speeches. Barbara's speech ("Break For Safety") told a compelling story of how her son took his first bike ride and almost ended up badly hurt. She stressed the need for bicycle safety helmets and pads. Andy's speech titled "Plan to Succeed" was a speech about the important need to create a business plan for any business to be successful. Next on the agenda was Dr. Ross Thomson's (CTM) "Farewell Address" who spoke about how the members pulled together to make his term a success while Ross himself had to overcome life challenges. Ross was given a standing ovation for his dedication and achievement as our President. Area 33 Governor Tim Rickie ATM-G, CL did a great job of inducting our new officers Sergeant-at-Arms John Walker, Treasurer Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, Vice President of Public Relations Barbara Lott, Vice President of Membership Joseph Bowie Jr. CTM, Vice President of Education Russell Russ and President Ed Carmona, CTM, CL (returning Secretary Laurie Heinitz is the other club officer). President-elect Carmona's Inaugural Speech had a healthy dose of enthusiasm, pride and hope for the future to last the entire year to come. He challenged the club to "take it just one step more" towards excellence. "I feel like a doggy getting a new, bigger, better dog dish." said Ed. He also paid tribute to Dr. Ross Thomson's term as President. Congratulations to all of our new officers! Ken W. adjourned the meeting a half hour early so that the members could spend time in holiday fellowship and enjoy the festive decorations and holiday music. Ed was right when he said that Club #28 is "A great place to be, a fun place to come to and a hard place to leave!" Happy Holidays to all!
The Dec. 9th "Mathematics" Themed meeting was big plus for all of the number crunchers out there. Who better than Barbara Lott, a professional math teacher, to be the Toastmaster for this brain busting meeting? Tonight math really WAS fun and Barbara gave us great examples of how to improve our lives with numbers. Table Topics Master Paul Hagge came up with some fantastic questions such as "Who was your favorite teacher?", "When do you use Math in the real world?", "Are you a 'Math' or a 'Word' person?", "When can you only communicate with numbers?" and "How do you count in your head?" my favorite question was " How are irrational, simple and complex numbers like people?" Those brave enough to field math questions were Joe Bowie, CTM, Tony Betts, CTM, Andy Schrader, Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, Ed Carmona, CTM, CL and Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL. The easiest question was 1 + 1+ 1 = three great speeches! The first was by Ed Carmona, CTM, CL who gave an uplifting speech titled "Toastmasters Ruined Me! I'm Not the Man I Used To Be!" believe it or not, Ed was better off with TM! Laurie Heinitz gave another great effort with a call to action speech titled "Our Wasteful Society!" Brian Wheeler, CTM returned to the lectern to give a powerful speech of his own on going beyond what is expected. Our Master Evaluator for the evening Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL, had an All-Star cast of evaluators which included Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, Russell Russ and Andy Schrader. They all excelled with helpful advice and encouragement! On a scale of 1 to 10, the Mathematics meeting would rate an "infinity" or .33333...anyway, a perfect '10' (as opposed to an imperfect 10?) will do. See you next week!
A jolly "Ho Ho Ho!" and a feeling of Holiday joy enveloped our December 2, 2004 "Christmas Lights, Trees and Parties" Themed meeting. The evening got off to a great start with an excellent Invocation and Pledge by John Walker. Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL was called upon next by our President Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM to confirm by vote the new slate of officers for the January-June 2005 term. All were quickly approved. Dr. Ross then switched from his role as President to that of the Toastmaster where he entertained and delighted all present with Christmas stories and antidotes including a detailed instruction on how to string tree lights. Laurie Heinitz was brilliant as our Table Topic Master with a session that brought to life the warmth, and challenges of the holiday season. Ross was asked about the Christmas Party. Paul Hagge was asked to choose between an artificial or a natural tree. Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL told how Christmas differs in her native country of Ethiopia. Barbara Lott said that she was neither a Scrooge nor a Santa, that she takes the holidays in stride. Guest David Landers came through with a wonderful answer to his question about what drives him crazy during the Christmas season. Dave spoke about traffic, crowds and holiday planning. Eva Garrick and Alan Brents ATM-S, CL gave the club two really wonderful presents: great speeches! Eva's speech ( "Processed Cereal: Do You Know What You Are Eating?") took what could have been a "dry" speech and she made it interesting and even entertaining. One thing is for sure: I will never look at cereal the same way again! Alan got the whole room dancing with his speech "Learning The Electric Slide"! Everyone had a great time attempting to follow his directions and we even got it down pretty well in less than 7 minutes! Ed Carmona CTM, CL did a few dance moves of his own with Alan's evaluation and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL gave this meeting top marks with his evaluation of the meeting as the Master Evaluator. "This was a wonderful way to spend a Thursday night," said Ken, "meetings like these are what Toastmasters are all about."
Two weeks ago, Club #28 was visited by club legend, Ralph Cowell, ATM-B, CL and before the start of the November 18th 2004 meeting we were again honored by a visit from another highly respected past member, Toastmaster Mike Hare, ATM-B. It was good to see him return and see old friends again.. Mike could not stay for the meeting, however and he missed a good one! The theme was "Chickens, Turkeys and Hams" and with the thought of Thanksgiving approaching, Toastmaster Ed Carmona, CTM, CL set the table with interesting Turkey-day trivia. He added flavor to the meeting by challenging the members present to make toasts throughout the night. Also adding gravy to the main course was Barbara Lott as our Table Topic Master. Mark Cox, CTM was asked by Barbara about "The perfect Thanksgiving Day", Paul Hagge gave a classic answer to "How do you like your Turkey?" ("Baked" said Paul, "not live, certainly not that!") Joe Bowie, CTM gave a surprising answer to the question "Who is the worst cook in your family?" Joe's answer was himself! Eva Garrick spoke about her biggest fear and Diana Walley ATM-G, CL said that her daughter Monica Walley is a "bigger ham" than even her husband Ken! Russell Russ told about family tradition coming from a family with 10 kids! One thing is for certain, everyone was thankful for our speakers on this night. Speaker #1 was Andy Schrader who came through with a truly excellent speech "Tiny Teachers" about how we learn from even our smallest children. The second speaker was Ken Blake ATM-B,CL who gave a semi-impromptu speech on how to give an Impromptu speech ("Impromptu Speaking") which was from the TM Better Speaker Series. The third speaker was the "other Ken", Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who gave a speech from the Humorous Speaking manual titled "Ghosts and Other Things" which featured Ken's favorite ghost story. Laurie Heinitz as the Master Evaluator played host to three excellent evaluators who were all at the top of their game: Diana Walley ATM-G, CL, Russell Russ and Joe Bowie, CTM all excelled with great advice. There were no "Turkeys" here at this meeting! No "chickens" or "hams" either, just really great Toastmasters! This was a blessed meeting! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
The November 11th 2004 "Friends and Enemies" meeting was one of the most unique and delightful meetings Club #28 has had since the "Holiday Boat Tour" meeting of two years ago! Club #28 members were treated like Royalty by the students and staff of the Orlando Culinary Academy and we were even treated to a tour of the Academy as well as being served some delicious treats made by the students themselves! Our timer for the meeting, Joe Bowie Jr., CTM started off the meeting with an excellent Invocation. The toastmaster for this special rendezvous was Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who focused the meeting more on friendship than on the "enemies" part of the theme. His "best friend" was also the Table Topic Master (as well as his wife) Diana Walley ATM-G, CL who asked some fantastic questions on the subject. Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL when asked about what it means to "keep a friend" said "You should protect your friends like the are the most precious things on Earth." Ken Blake ATM-B, CL had an equally adroit answer to the question of "Can money buy friends?" He said "It is not money that is the root of all evil. Evil comes from the worship of money." Eva Garrick commented on how her best friend brings out the best in her. Two Culinary students bravely answered Table Topic questions: Chris Slobe ("How do you deal with a bully?") and John McMurry who told us about his best friend. John even won the ribbon for the best answer! The 35 or so Toastmasters and Culinary students were all treated to two excellent speeches. Ed Carmona, CTM, CL started with the telling of a true tale that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. His speech ("El Machete!") started with Ed trapped in a boat with a man threatening another man with a machete. The ending of the speech found Ed in a hospital next to his friend with a split skull! Laurie Heinitz's 8th speech ("We have a Problem!") was not as dramatic as Ed's speech, but it was every bit as entertaining. The subject was on keeping fit with exercise the self-determination needed to make a workout routine successful. She used props in her speech including an exercise ball and weights. Our host of the evening, Prof. John Loblack filled two positions extremely well as our Grammarian and also as the Master Evaluator. John had the pleasure of introducing two brilliant evaluators doing their best. Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL and Ken Blake ATM-B, CL both did contest quality evaluations of our speakers. Along with our Club #28 members who took part in the meeting Monica Walley stepped in as well by helping out as our vote counter. Ken W. brought out one last fact about friendship when he said: "That a great place to make friends, life-long friends, the kind of friends that are supportive and caring, is...right here in Toastmasters!" Including all of the Orlando Culinary Academy students that hosted us this night, we count you as our very good friends and we thank you for your wonderful hospitality!
Every meeting at Club #28 has a full share of wonderful moments but the "Wild West" themed meeting on November 4th 2004 had more of them than a playing card shot up by Buffalo Bill Cody. John Walker started out the meeting with an invocation that found some great gems of wisdom in a series of political quotes. Our Toastmaster for the night was none other than Russell Russ who interjected some facts about Billy the Kid, Jesse and Frank James, Wyatt Earp and others who made the west the "wild west" as the meeting went along. Table Topic Master Dr. Ross Thomson CTM asked questions that brought the smell of the campfire and the sound of spinning spurs to the meeting. "Would you like to go on a cattle drive?" Not Diana Walley ATM-G, CL who said roughing it to her is driving in a RV! "If you were an outlaw what would your nickname be?" was answered by Laurie Heinitz with "Buffalo Bill!" I never would have guessed that. The best answer came from Club #28 legend Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL who was visiting us for the first time in in over a year. His question of "Why are there no Camels in Kansas?" (Yes, that was the question.) Brought the answer that they are not allowed on the yellow brick road...so Dorothy could not take one with her. Or something like that... but it was a great response from Ralph. Welcome back! Ralph and the rest of us were treated to three great speeches. Barbara Lott gave an inspirational speech ("Renew Your Mind and Achieve Your Goals!") about earning her Doctorate degree. "I can! I will! I must!" exclaimed Barbara. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave a speech about how to sell an inexpensive product titled "Selling WORX". We found out that Worx is an all natural hand cleaner. Ken did a great job of convincing us that we needed this product. Ed Carmona, CTM earned his CL (Competent Leader) award by giving the Successful Club Series speech "How to Be a Distinguished Club!" Ed put us one step closer to our President's Distinguished goal! We had three excellent evaluations orchestrated beautifully by Master Evaluatior Diana Walley ATM-G, CL. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, Laurie Heinitz and Dr. Ross Thomson CTM. all gave helpful and encouraging reviews of the speeches. Pressed for time at the end of the meeting AH Counter John Walker and Grammarian Andy Schrader came though with very good reports. A special thanks should also go out to Joe Bowie Jr., CTM who shined again as our timer. This was a Rootin-Tootin', Yee-Haw, Wild West meeting that was quick on the draw for great learning and a heap of fun!
The October 28th, 2004 "Food" Themed meeting was delicious! We met in the main banquet hall of the library also known as the Albertson Room. I am happy to say we had a good turn out so the room did not seem as large as in the past. A smorgasbord of delightful speeches was served up by our Head Chef/Toastmaster Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM. Joe also brought to the table many tidbits about nutrition, good health and culinary facts. Speaking of "at the table" , Diana Walley ATM-G, CL, the Table Topic Master, dished out some excellent hors d'oeuvres topic questions such as "What's your favorite dessert?" (Laurie Heinitz likes Chocolate Chip Cookies among other things), "How bad is Sugar?" (John Walker said It is bad for you but "There is nothing you can do about it. It's everywhere!"), "Have you ever tasted a food you thought would be really good but it turned out to be really awful?" (James Webb, CTM gave us a Halloween "treat-turned-into-a-trick" story!). Barbara Lott gave a great answer to "What would you eat on a deserted Island?" ("I'd starve if I had to make things from 'scratch'" she said) and Melissa Baldauf's presentation on the topic of 'Sushi" created a truly funny and brilliant response to eating raw fish. We actually learned a lot! The main course of the evening was our speeches and we had 3 gourmet feasts! Andy Schrader gave a funny, and educational, speech ("A Visit to Texas!") which was about his trip to San Antonio. It covered everything from the history of the Alamo to "speaking Texan". It was an excellent entree, one of Andy's best! Not to be out-done Russell Russ had us laughing hysterically with a very humorous speech ("Getting Ready For the Future" which was about an impending hair-loss situation and an accidental delivery mix-up of Rogaine and Viagra.. A Halloween-style speech came from Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL who's presentation ("Spooked For Life!" ) was about an experience she had when she saw a hand hanging out of the car trunk in front of her! For dessert, our Master Evaluator Ed Carmona, CTM introduced us to three delectable courses. The first one was created by himself as Ed gave a palatable recipe for success on Andy's speech. Barbara Lott un-corked a fortified and well-balanced, yet delightful and sweet, evaluation of Russell's speech. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL cooked up a hearty stew of positive reinforcement for Tseganesh's speech. The entire meeting left everyone with that wonderful, satisfied feeling as if they had finished a great feast! As President Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM said as we rushed to finish the last crumbs of the meeting, "This was a great meeting!" The only thing left to do was to meet afterwards at Tijuana Flats and wash it down with a few beers!
Not even "The Dark Side" could keep the October 21st, 2004 "The Dark Side" themed meeting from being an unqualified success. Our Toastmaster for this meeting was Laurie Heinitz who turned away evil & darkness and produced an excellent meeting of great Table Topics, Speeches and Evaluations in front of a packed house! Laurie also had a great supporting cast to fight the dark side of communication demons. For example Table Topic Master and Professor John Lowblack amazed both club #28 and a class of his Culinary students from the Orlando Culinary Institute with an exceptional Table Topic session! John called upon Dr. Ross Thomson CTM, Ed Carmona, CTM, Barbara Lott, Mark Cox, and Ken Blake ATM-B, CL with question such as "What is the best way to deal with depression?", "What would you do if your doctor told you had only 6 months to live?" and "What is the scariest ride you've ever been on at a theme park?" John even called upon on of his students Rebecca Gonzalez to answer the question: "What was your scariest Halloween memory?" Rebecca told a tale of how her friends dressed up like Freddy Kruger frightened her so bad that she broke her leg! Even though both of our assigned speakers cancelled out, Club #28 came up with two good speakers to replace them at the last minute. Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL gave an off the cuff speech ("Ruth Is Free To Go") celebrating the recent Boston Red Sox's victory over the New York Yankees. "Babe Ruth was forced to invade the bodies of mediocre men, the likes of Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone! Ruth was destined to roam forever the dark halls. Then came Schilling and Ortiz, Wakefield and Martinez to perform the exorcism!" Ken's wife, Diana Walley ATM-G, CL gave a speech in which she took on the role of a goodwill ambassador for Toastmasters with her speech titled: "Club #28 & Toastmasters". Diana made a great case for joining our club...two actually did at the end of the meeting! The evaluations were two of the best in memory. Master Evaluator Ed Carmona, CTM almost stole the show however with an introduction of Dr. Ross that could have won a Humorous Speech Contest. Ross came through with a balanced, well thought out and superbly delivered evaluation of Diana's speech. Mark Cox, CTM went even a step beyond with his evaluation of Ken's speech by giving an excellent mini-baseball history lesson that left everyone wanting more! Both Ed Carmona, CTM and Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL gave rave reviews of the meeting as a whole. They noted the return of past President Adam Scoggins (who filled in as Ah Counter), Michelle Crane again stepping up as vote counter, and joining as well, the great job that Laurie Heinitz did as Toastmaster, the attendance of 30 people, the enthusiasm, the hard work and the effort of everyone who did their very best. That is what made this another special Club #28 meeting! It will be hard to top this one next week.
It was great to see a packed Magnolia Room for the Oct. 14th 2004, "French" themed meeting. we had 20 members show up for what would turn out to be a fun filled, interesting and even inspiring meeting. One of the major reasons this meeting was a success was the effort of Toastmaster Mark Cox, CTM who did extensive research on the country of France and the jokes about the French. Many of the facts were very interesting and the jokes were very funny as well, although I cannot repeat them here. Mark did a great job! The Table Topic session was not on the subject of France however (with one exception) Topic Master Russell Russ chose the subject of "Mentors" and produced a very interesting session. Prof. John Loblack talked about what he would tell his protégé. Returning member Brian Wheeler ATM-B, CL coached his mentee for a Presidential debate. Tony Betts, CTM spoke on what direction his students (Russ & Laurie) should follow. Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL spoke on what it means to be a mentor but the best answer was in a French accent by Joe Bowie Jr. CTM on the do's and don'ts of Mentoring. Our two speeches this evening were simply brilliant. Barbara Lott was the first speaker and she gave a speech ("Life Lessons Learned Thus Far") that was worthy of an International Speech contest. She told a series of short vignettes each with a pearl of wisdom at the end. Andy Schrader really outdid himself with his best speech yet titled "A New Case For Altruism" in which he appealed for a kinder, gentler world. Joe Bowie Jr. CTM again excelled as our Master Evaluator but he had help with excellent evaluations by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Tony Betts, CTM. As noted before, Brian Wheeler ATM-B returned to our club (and to cheers) and did a great job as our timer. Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL and Ed Carmona, CTM filled in as Grammarian and AH Counter, respectively. One of our guests, Michelle Crane, bravely accepted the role as our vote counter and did a great job. The entire meeting was a wonderful example of how people can learn, have fun and, laugh at the French at the same time. It will be hard to top this meeting.
I was not at the Oct. 7th, 2004 "Truth and Lies" Themed meeting however from all reports this was a meeting not to be missed. Sadly, many Club #28 members were not on hand for this meeting, but one toastmaster who set a great example was Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL. Steve, even though he endured extensive damage due to hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne, he still volunteered at the last minute to be the Toastmaster. With only eight members and one guest, our club still put together three great speeches, remarkable table topics and excellent evaluations! Table Topics included such questions as "Men tell lies but women tell bigger lies" and "Have you ever been bamboozled?" Joe Bowie, CTM Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL, Laurie Heinitz, and Paul Hagge, all answered questions but our guest for the evening, Melissa Baldauf won the best table topic ribbon with her answer. Here is what Steve had to say about the speeches: "John Walker's speech was excellent! (This was his Ice Breaker titled "I'm A Lucky Guy!") He came out from behind the lectern and took charge!...overall it was a great speech!" Steve had this to say about the second speaker: "Ed Carmona CTM did his usual great job of forcefully presenting an inspiring speech!( titled "To the End")" And about Dr. Ross Thomson's (CTM) speech ("Meeting My Wife") he commented: "The real shining star was Ross Thomson, who told the story of meeting his wife, but in such a way that every guy who has ever gone through bad times instantly identified. It was one I'll remember forever." Steve, Laurie Heinitz, Joe Bowie, Jr., CTM were perfect as evaluators and Joe doubled as the Master Evaluator. Steve said the "Energy level was typical for 28--huge. Energy level per attendee was better than usual because we had only 8-9 people. Acoustics were tough because of a very large meeting in the next room, so we just got louder and more animated!" This was a great meeting and I wish it could have been shared by more of our members! Thanks to all who made this night special.
Open wide, wider...Good. Now this won't hurt a bit." And believe it or not, the September 30th, 2004 "Dentist" themed meeting was even better than getting out of the dentist chair after a perfect check-up! Toastmaster Ken Walley ATM-G, CL remembered his recent trips to the tooth doctor and told a number of painful stories of the drill. Table Topic Master Dr. Ross Thomson CTM also had some choice questions on the subject. Russell Russ got to speak on the topic of false teeth (They run in the family). Ed Carmona, CTM told of painful numbing experiences with a colorful description of slobbering. Andy Schrader warned of the importance of good teeth cleaning habits. Alan Brents ATM-S told why he trusted his Dentist but also answered Dave Dyrek's question "Have you ever had a crush on a dental assistant?" (Dave said No but Alan confessed.) Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM had many reasons why he did not want to be a dentist including "Do rotten teeth smell good? I don't think so!". The speeches were far better than a trip to the dentist as well. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL gave an off the cuff speech ("Career Challenges") about Challenges on the job that included stories of battling falling radio towers, snakes and pet pigs! Paul Hagge gave his 2nd speech ("Planning for the Future") that gave great advice about how to beat the taxman and build a stronger financial future. Tony Betts CTM gave a moving and inspirational eulogy of his father. It brought honor to his father in a very well delivered profound and sincere speech. The three evaluations also were exceptional Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM, Russell Russ and Mark Cox CTM truly gave textbook examples of how to evaluate their assigned speeches. Other notes about this 1st rate meeting: Our timer was Phil Sumanpow who filled in at the last minute and did a superb job! Phil has visited our club a number of times. Time to join our club Phil! Alan Brents ATM-S gave the very best AH Counter report in memory and he did a remarkable job of bell-ringing! No Novocain was needed for this meeting. It was pure Toastmaster gold.
The REAL Power and Electricity from the September 23rd, 2004 "Power, Electric and Otherwise" themed meeting came from our members. The enthusiasm surged through the start of the meeting to the last rap of the gavel! Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL was back with a super job as Toastmaster enlightening us on the many aspects of power. T.G. did a truly great job as Toastmaster this evening. As did Table Topic Master Andy Schrader. Andy was accomplishing this task for his first time and he produced a tremendous topic segment!. Here are some of the questions: Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM was asked "What person in the last 100 years used his power for the most good? (Joe picked India's Mahatma Gandhi), Eva Garrick was asked "What trait gives someone the most personal power?" ("The ability to believe in themselves" said Eva), John Walker got asked " If you were President how would you handle the nation's energy problems?" and Dave Dyrek answered the question "Does Power corrupt? ("It does, but it does not have to.") Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave an outstanding answer to the question of what is our most important power source other than electricity. His answer about fossil fuels was very thought provoking and heavy with insight. Our Speeches all carried the same theme because Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM produced a "Team Technical Presentation" that featured himself and the other two speakers, Russell Russ and Ed Carmona, CTM. The presentation orchestrated a planning session for "Power Grid Blackout Modeling" produced by a fictitious Power Company!! Ross was simply electric in the way he put together such an excellent team project. Russ gave a wonderful presentation titled "It Takes Power to Make Power" which gave us insight to the inner-workings of a power plant. Ed Carmona, CTM gave a speech to entertain called "The Power-grid and the P3 Variables" It was a humorous speech with the goal to "Peep, Predict, and make Puny..." It would take a lot to explain. You just had to be there. The evaluations were all of the highest quality and energy as well. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, Diana Walley ATM-G, CL and Mark Cox CTM gave three balanced and insightful evaluations which were highly praised by Master Evaluator Ken Blake ATM-B, CL. It was also good to see the return to the club of Tony Betts, CTM after some time away from the club. Besides Andy as our Table Topic Master, John Walker was a "1st Timer" as our Raffle Master and Vote Counter as well! Both performed like pros! At the end of the meeting every single person in the room agreed that this was an evening well spent and the only place to be on a Thursday night!
Yet again Toastmaster Club #28 put on a meeting (September 16, 2004) with the all of the grace and class of a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie. This time the theme was "Dance" and who else to lead the meeting but award winning ballroom dancer Diana J. Walley ATM-G, CL! Throughout the meeting Diana even showed us some fancy dance steps and danced (very nicely) with Toastmaster Ed Carmona, CTM! Also bringing fun and flair to the meeting was Table Topic Master Dave Dyrek who asked a number of great questions that keep us "on our toes". Ed answered "What can you learn from dancing with someone?" Laurie Heinitz handled the question "Is Ballroom Dancing a Sport?" and Paul Hagge did a great job with the question "What's the best dance?" (Paul said it was the "Lean Back" where you "Lean Back away from the dancing"). The winning answer was Eva Garrick with her answer to the question "Should we teach children to dance?" ("A resounding "Yes!") Our three speeches were all winners. Andy Schrader gave an excellent motivation speech titled "Getting the Most From Your Teams." Ken Walley ATM-G, CL told a ghost story about the ghost of a little girl in the tale "The Falling Girl". Russell Russ was at his best with a speech about mule racing in the desert called "Running Barefoot in the Desert". Ken doubled as the Master Evaluator and was lucky enough to introduce three great evaluations from Ed Carmona, CTM, Barbara Lott and Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL. Barbara, who is sharpening up for her upcoming Area Evaluation Contest, won the ribbon with the same high quality competition she will face at the contest. Club President Dr, Ross Thomson, CTM noted that everyone had a great time and the energy level was very high for this meeting. I think it was the fancy footwork of our members!
The September 9th, 2004 meeting happened in the wake of Hurricane Frances (the 2nd hurricane to hit the state in three weeks) as yet another hurricane, Ivan was tearing through the Caribbean heading on a possible course for Florida. Thus the theme of the meeting "Hurricanes" was very appropriate. David Dyrek gave yet another meaningful Invocation and Pledge that echoed the feelings of all present: a prayer for the fast healing and safety of all in the path of these storms. Club #28 President Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM reflected on how nice it was to see so many faces present as over 20 members and guest filled the Patio Room. Those attending were treated to a meeting that had hurricane-force excellence from the start to the finish! Ed Carmona, CTM truly out did himself as Toastmaster on this night. He illuminated both the good and not so good of our human nature caused by the storms while also bringing some humor to our mostly bleak current Florida weather. "Why call them "Hurricanes?" said Ed, "We don't want them to hurry here! We should call them 'Slow down, Go Away-canes!'" Table Topic Master Barbara Lott injected more welcomed humor while pointing out our common experiences and trails with great questions such as "Will you Evacuate?" (Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL said she'll stick it out) "Would you live somewhere other than Florida now?" (Joe Bowie Jr. CTM said he had some land in New Mexico but "Five Acres of prairie land might not be the best place to go." ), Prof. John Loblack listed three things you will need for a hurricane (Flashlight with batteries that fit, strong legs and a sound mind) and John Walker gave us some ideas on how to prepare for a hurricane and Diana Walley ATM-G, CL gave a great "realtor answer" to the question about home owner's insurance. Our speeches were both category 5 winners. Laurie Heinitz gave her 7th speech ( titled "Discipline") about how important it is that we remember the lessons of self control and self improvement. "Without discipline I would be fat, ugly and stupid!" Laurie said. "Discipline equals success!" Laurie must have a lot of discipline because she is the complete opposite of fat, ugly and stupid. As excellent as her speech was, Laurie had a tough time competing with James Webb, CTM who delivered his International Speech Contest entry that he gave at the Toastmaster Convention in Reno that won him 3rd place in the world. The title of the speech was "Ride of Life" and it was the dynamic and powerful presentation that we have come to expect from this world-class speaker. This speech had everything! James also presented our club with a special treat: an informal session about what he learned over the process of the Toastmaster Contest Experience. Some of the things he learned were "Don't do a Humorous Speech for an International Speech if you want to go to the top, Don't change your speech for anyone if you know you are right, use the entire stage, and, BE CREATIVE!" James gave use many awesome and enlightening suggestions. We were also treated to two excellent evaluations by Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and Russell Russ who had the hard task of evaluating James's award winning speech. Mark Cox, CTM as the Master Evaluator said in this evaluation of the meeting "This was a very good meeting in all areas!" From when Ken Walley ATM-G, CL first hit the gavel to the "second the motion to adjourn", this club showed it would take more than a few hurricanes to get us down.
The September 2nd, 2004 Club #28 meeting had the theme of "Champions " and if ever there were Champion Toastmasters they were at this meeting. Because of yet another hurricane approaching the coast of Florida, Hurricane Frances, only a few die-hard Toastmasters showed up for this meeting, but what a great meeting it was! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL took over the part of Toastmaster as well as an Evaluator. David Dyrek was our Grammarian, AH Counter and led us in the Invocation and Pledge. Alan Brents ATM-S, CL served as an evaluator while Russell Russ filled in as Table Topic Master and vote counter. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL was a speaker as well as our acting President. Barbara Lott was also a speaker and a Master evaluator. The timer position was handled by Barbara and Russ. Sound like total havoc? No! The meeting went very smoothly as if it had been plan this way weeks in advance! Russell Russ had a chance to ask a question of everyone for Table Topics. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL had to list three Champions. Alan had to speak about why he uses Champion spark plugs and Barbara Lott remembered a Champion from her own life, Renee Ellis. All of the answers were truly exceptional and it was a very good session. The speeches, while both put together shortly before the start of the meeting, came out like International Contest winners. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL gave an excellent speech titled "Follow Your Passions!" It was one of Diana's very best speeches and filled with wisdom and insight. A different kind of speech, but every bit as entertaining and thought-provoking was Barbara Lott's speech titled "Thunderclap of my Soul!". It told in an often humorous way how we need others to help us to overcome obstacles in the world around us. Barbara created a performance that kept everyone transfixed. Barbara also did a tremendous job in the role of Master Evaluator. She had help from Alan Brents ATM-S, CL and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who both gave uplifting and helpful evaluations. I think that everyone was amazed that they could produce such a great meeting with so few people. Then again Club #28 was the ONLY group to meet in the library on this night! If Hurricane Frances will let us, we should have another great meeting next week. Everyone left with reminders to each other to stay safe during the storm it would be great to see everyone well and returning next week.
"I had to hold my sides because I was laughing so hard!" said one Club #28 Toastmaster. Another Toastmaster chimed in "I was CRYING, I was laughing so much!" In what many thought was the best Humorous Speech and Evaluation contests ever held at Club #28, took place in the Patio Room on the evening of August 26th, 2004. Smiles and laughter were everywhere in a much needed respite from the ordeal of Hurricane Charley. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL started out this special night as our Sgt.-at-Arms be welcoming many members back who have not seen each other since the storm hit. Giving an excellent Invocation and Pledge was James Webb, CTM who himself had just returned from the International Speech Convention in Reno, NV. where he had won 3rd place in the speech contest. Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM did a fantastic job as our Contest Master and added much humor himself to the evening with his quick wit and cleverness. He also did a great job of keeping the contest organized and running on time. We were honored to have Brenda DeArmond, DTM from the Conquerors Club #1066 and the ORRAtor Club #2423 as our Chief Judge. Brenda somehow managed to fulfill all of her duties and give two of the best "reading of the rules" ever heard at any Toastmaster contest. She kept the readings light and upbeat and, for such dry material, made it extremely interesting! Great job Brenda! The Evaluation Contest was held first. We were treated to a humorous "test" speech by Alan H. Brents, ATM-S, CL who used amazing vocal variety and body movement to weave a great speech about how we can learn a lot from our pets when handling tough life situations. Contestants Laurie Heinitz, Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL and Barbara Lott all gave insightful, helpful and very well organized evaluations of Alan's speech. All three evaluations were a great reflection on the depth of talent that we have in this club. Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL took home the 2nd place trophy and Barbara Lott finished in first place! Congratulations Barbara and Steve! The Humorous Speech Contest presented three great speakers doing three hilarious speeches. First up was the master storyteller Joe Bowie Jr., CTM with a timely speech about living without electricity titled "Modern Conveniences-Bah Humbug!" Many of us got a chance to laugh at ourselves as Joe looked back at the last couple of weeks taking cold showers and walking around with candles. His senior citizen "Junebug" character came to life and just could not understand why we needed all of this "power and light stuff!" "It's dark...just go to bed!" reasoned Junebug. It was truly a great speech Joe. Not to be outdone, was Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL another seasoned Humorous Speech contestant with a few trophies of his own at home. Ken told a funny tale of a trip to the emergency room with a broken leg. Ken's speech title "I Shot the Moon!" expertly tied together a fall from a ladder and Neil Armstrong's moon landing! It was truly another great funny speech from a great speaker. Ed Carmona, CTM however was up to the challenge with a speech that many said was one of the funniest they have ever heard. The speech "For A Purpose" started with Ed's birth, went through many language changes (It's a wonder he can speak at all!) and ended up with a strange noise being broadcast at the wrong time and wrong place. Its impossible to explain this speech and even harder not to laugh so hard that your glasses fall off! All of the contestants brought their "A" game and delivered their speeches perfectly. It must have been tough for the judges to pick a winner but Ed Carmona, CTM took home the 1st place trophy and Joe Bowie, Jr., CTM came in a very close second place. The entire contest was so well run that it must be mentioned the great job that was done by our other functionaries. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL and David Dyrek did a perfect job as our timers and Russell Russ and Mark Cox, CTM performed the important roles as our vote counters. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL besides serving as the Sgt.-at-Arms was also the Raffle Master. The turnout to the contest was very good and it was nice to see a large crowd on hand. Barbara and Ed will now represent Club #28 in the Area 49 Contest on October 2nd, 2004. Club #28 has gained an Area reputation for winning this contest as Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL quipped that the Area 49 Contest is now being called the "Club #28 Invitational". Let's see if we can pack the place in support of Barbara and Ed! Not even a hurricane could dampen the spirits of Club #28 for this club contest! What a great evening indeed!
[Editor's Note: Due in part to damage caused by Hurricane Charley and other circumstances, I was unable to attend the meeting on August 19, 2004. The club did however hold a meeting and our club President, Ross Thomson, CTM was kind enough to write this summarization for our web site. As you can see, Ross is an excellent writer as well as speaker. -KHW]
The Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 came together for the Post-Hurricane Charley meeting on August 19th, 2004. As many of our members were still without power or had trees entering uninvited into their houses, the turnout was small. Still we had a great meeting and signed up two new members! Russell Russ stood in as Sergeant-at-Arms getting meeting off to a rolling start. Barbara Lott did a fantastic job as Toastmaster for the evening: she brought up old memories by having the speakers embrace the night's theme of High School and state their High School's name and the year they graduated. Those numbers will remain among those who were at the meeting. Toastmaster Alan Brents, ATM-S stepped up to help us out again as a Table Topic Master for the evening. He took us through a number of questions on Hurricane Charley. All of the members had a chance to do a Table Topics question and our two guests (including Laurie Heinitz's sister, Ellen) stood up to take a question as well! Both of them did a great job. Alan Brents, ATM-S once again came to our aid by taking up the first speaker's slot. He gave a wonderful speech on finding the hero in yourself. "In the end, we have no one to look to but ourselves for inspiration." He said. Our second speaker, Ross Thomson CTM did his best to inspire the club with a speech from the "Successful Club Series". He later said that he was gratified that no one in the audience fell asleep! Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL evaluated Toastmaster Brents, and Toastmaster Heinitz gave the evaluation of Ross's excellent speech. On this evening Club #28 chased away some of Hurricane Charley's darkness for awhile.
[Editor's Note: The August 12, 2004 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 Meeting was cancelled due to the approaching Hurricane Charley which would indeed hit Orlando the following day. -KHW ]
Once again Orlando Club #28 showed that it could produced a high quality Toastmaster meeting no matter what challenge was thrown at them. The August 12, 2004 meeting started off with a the challenge of finding a Toastmaster at the last moment. Club President Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM came to the rescue as did our 2nd time visitor Alan H. Brents ATM-S who filled in as one of our Evaluators and Ed Carmona, CTM who jumped in to do a speech! We were set for another great meeting with the theme of "Media". It is a shame that ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and CNN were not there to cover the excellent way that Laurie Heinitz presided over Table Topics! She asked probing, insightful questions and got some great answers on the subject of the Media from Ken Walley ATM-G, CL ("What story would you like to have the media cover about you?" Ken's answer was "Winning the Lottery!") Ed Layman, Diana Walley ATM-G, CL, Mark Cox, CTM and Paul Hagge all gave sharp answers. If the Media HAD been at our meeting then Laurie might just be the next Barbara Walters. Our speeches tonight were nothing short of extraordinary! Andy Schrader gave his Ice Breaker and did such a great job that many wondered if he had done public speaking before. Andy received a well deserved standing ovation after his speech. Steve Litt ATM-B CL also came through with another impressive effort (his 3rd speech in 7 days) titled "You Can't Miss if You reply to the List" in which Steve had to explain a technical idea to a general audience. He did a fabulous job but it would take too much space to explain that speech here! Ed Carmona's (CTM) first CL speech "Evaluate to Motivate" was perhaps the most impressive speech of all because he gave of the speech while competing with an open door alarm that had gone off before his speech started! Both Ed and the Library maintenance person received wild applause for: 1.) A great speech effort and 2.) turning off the alarm before we all went deaf, respectively. Barbara Lott was an example of the perfect Master Evaluator as she introduced our three evaluators Alan Brents ATM-S, Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and Dr. Paul Layman, and gave a masterful evaluation of the meeting. Alan, Ken and Paul were almost as adept at excellent reviews as Barbara was. They gave three very good evaluations. Even with covering positions at the last minute, contending with an ear-splitting door alarm and pressed for time, this club STILL produced a great meeting! Most other clubs would have given up but we should have invited the press!
[Editor's Note: On August 2, 2004, Dr. Paul Layman, Ed Layman and Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL staged an Orlando Club #28 "Invasion" of Apopka Foliage Club #840! Fellow Club #28 member Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL is the past President and current Sgt. at Arms of Foliage Toastmasters and had invited us to attend. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL took on the role of Toastmaster for the meeting and Ed did a great job as the timer. Ed has become proficient with all kinds of timing devices! Both Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL and Dr. Paul Layman gave speeches. Paul's speech, his 9th from the Basic Manual, was titled "The Law of The Summit" and once again established Paul as a polished speaker. It dealt with overcoming obstacles in life and adapting to change. Steve's speech was a brilliant work of impromptu speaking that he titled "The One Piece of Knowledge" It was a plea for human understanding. Club #28 made a great impression on Apopka this evening!
Water was the theme of the July 29th 2004 meeting and the high Toastmaster quality was as refreshing as a cool dip in the pool. Toastmaster Diana J. Walley ATM-G, CL brought together our theme by illuminating the endless levels on how water effects all of our lives. Her husband, Kenneth H. Walley ATM-G, CL also underlined water's many uses as our Table Topic Master. His first question went out to Prof. John Loblack about living without water. John turned the question around from a drought to a story about a hurricane. Mark Cox, CTM returned from a long absence to answer a question on water sports. Paul Hagge talked on water parks and a returning guest Neil, spoke on water Pollution. Another guest, Lanna answered a tough question about how you would teach someone how to swim without water! We had three very good speeches starting with Russell Russ' s "Company Safety and You" which had us pretend to be workers attending a lecture on safety in the workplace by an executive. Steve Litt's (ATM-B, CL) speech ("Family Values") was completely different. It was humorous speech about blowing up "balloons" as a child that he had found in "little foil wrappers in my Daddy's sock drawer." The entire speech had us holding our sides in laughter. Dr. Paul Layman was not to be outdone giving a wonderful speech of his own titled "What Happens in the Boat...Stays In The Boat!" about fishing with his father. Evaluations did more than just tread water they were of Olympic gold medal caliber. Diving in first was Master Evaluator Ed Carmona, CTM who made a big splash by introducing a great evaluation relay team of Laurie Heinitz, Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and Hector Amezquita, CTM. Once again Ed Layman manned the lights. I think he has been our official timer for the month of July. Also a class from the Orlando Culinary Institute joined us and left very impressed Dexter Scott speaking for the class said he wanted to come back and look into Toastmasters as a way to improve his future. Come on back Dexter and get your feet wet, the water's fine! The entire meeting was a Title Wave of Toastmaster Excellence!
It was no risk that the July 22nd, 2004 "Risks" themed meeting would be a really good one. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was our Toastmaster for the evening and he teamed up with Table Topic Master Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL to explore how we take risks and deal with risky business in our lives. Dennis asked some great questions such as "What is the biggest risk you would take in your business?", "What is the best betting to gamble at?" and "How is music risky?" Toastmasters Ed Layman, Arthur Layman, Dr. Paul Layman, David Dyrek, Steve Litt, James Webb, CTM and newest member John Walker all had great answers ready. Our speeches were also excellent and very different from each other. Laurie Heinitz gave another of her wonderfully written speeches about how outwardly shallow that society has become in a speech titled "Buyer Beware!". Ken Blake ATM-B, CL had one of his famous surprise endings with his speech "Bertha's 25 Anniversary". Paul Hagge gave an awesome Ice Breaker ("Meet Paul Hagge!") introducing himself by way of telling what his "perfect day" would be. James Webb, CTM was every bit as great as a Master Evaluator as he has been on stage lately at contests. He had some great help however with evaluations by Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, Ed Carmona, CTM and Adam Scoggins, CTM. We had a number of guests who attended and each one said great things about the club. It's no risk to come back again you have nothing to lose.
You did not have to sell anyone on the fact that the July 15th, 2004 "Salesmen" themed meeting was a money back guaranteed, premium top quality success. Toastmaster Dr. Paul Layman provided insight into the world of sales. He even told some of the cleaner salesman jokes to keep us entertained throughout the meeting. Russell Russ was at the top of his game with an excellent Table Topics session. New member Andy Schrader answered the question "Have you ever been a Salesman?" With a great description on how hard it is to be one. Paul Hagge spoke on the most important trait of being a salesman (Enthusiasm). Eva Garrick expounded upon the "bad rap" that Insurance Salesmen have acquired and Laurie Heinitz spoke on what kind of product that Ken Walley ATM-G, CL would sell ( He'd be a motivational speaker). Our three speakers all sold us on their excellent abilities with three very good speeches. Dave Dyrek's 2nd Basic manual speech was about how dangerous our streets have become because of intense traffic. The speech ("Walk At Your Own Risk") claimed Orlando to be one of the most dangerous cities in America to walk in. Brian Wheeler, ATM-B, earned his ATM Bronze with an inspirational and motivational speech titled "It's OK to Fail!" that looked back to his start in Toastmasters to understand how to learn from past setbacks. Joe Bowie, Jr. started on his own path towards his ATM with a project titled "A Toast to Mike & Malita" he had the entire club toast a wedding couple! Evaluations "sold themselves" with three excellent evaluations. The impressive Barbara Lott gave a helpful and insightful evaluation of Dave's speech. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL doubled as both Master Evaluator and also reviewed Brian's speech and Tony Betts, CTM again came through with a superb effort with his evaluation of Joe's wedding toast. We had two guests including Alan H. Brents, a toastmaster from The Conquerors Club #1066 who was very impressed with "the high level of energy" we had in the room Alan called us "supercharged"! Our other guest, John Walker announced that he would be our newest member when he turns in his application next week!!!! Welcome to the club John! Brian Wheeler ATM-B, CL received a standing ovation for his Advanced Bronze Award. It must be noted that electronic geniuses Dr. Paul Layman and Ed Layman created a "timing machine" that make it easier to time our speakers. The device was used for the first time at this meeting. Paul plans to patent it in the near future. Its called the "Toastmaster 28!" speaker timer. You've just got to get one of these things. I tell you they are great! It makes timing easy AND fun! ...
"This was the best meeting we have had in a long time!" said Club Sgt.-at-Arms Ken Walley ATM-G, CL. You know that this MUST have been a great meeting if you have been to any past meetings recently. The theme for the July 8, 2004 meeting was "Superheroes!" and this meeting leapt tall buildings with a single bound and was faster than a speeding bullet. Disguised as a mild mannered Toastmaster, Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL electrified the meeting with his sharp wit and droll observations. Dr. Ross Thomson CTM, also kept the Patio Room safe from danger and boredom with a powerful array of Table Topic questions that Club #28's version of the "Justice League" handled with the ease of bending cold steel. Ed Layman said if he were a villain he would least like to fight Superman. Eva Garrick would like to turn into rocks, or the color green like "The Thing/Hulk" Adam Scoggins, CTM would be Spiderman if he could, and, our newest member, Andy Schrader, said we might see superheroes everyday and not even know it. The speeches were also full of super greatness. Dr. Paul Layman giving his seventh CTM speech "The Trip of A Lifetime" told about overcoming obstacles in life. "The lack of a plan is a plan to fail." said Paul. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL with the help of Ed Carmona, CTM gave a speech ("Coaching the Waiter") about 'Coaching' using Ed as a wayward waiter in a role play! Barbara Lott used an excellent Analogy in her speech "Watch Out for the Worms That Bite!" telling a story with a great life lesson. More powerful than a locomotive, but not at all loco, was Master Evaluator Tony Betts, CTM who lead a brave and valiant session with his three super-evaluators: Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL, James Webb, CTM and "Russ-ss-ELL Russ" Russell Russ. Always on the lookout for crimes against the spoken word, this heroic foursome saved the day! Other superheroes of this meeting: Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL returned as our Grammarian, Arthur Layman did a courageous job as our timer and members of the Orlando Culinary Institute were present to keep the world safe for Truth, Justice and the American way! Superheroes all were all the members of Club #28 this night!
With the Fourth of the July approaching the July 1st, 2004 meeting had the theme of "America". Toastmaster Ed Carmona, CTM a native of Puerto Rico, reminded us that he, too was an American as are all citizens from that country are U.S. citizens. Ed brought out many reasons to be proud to be an American throughout the evening. Table Topics Master Joe Bowie, Jr., CTM had a brilliant idea (as always) for the session: using the words from "My Country Tis' a Thee" he formed the questions about America. Dr. Paul Layman spoke on "Let Freedom Ring" and a guest from TM Club #1423 John Mathews, CTM spoke on "A Pilgrims Pride" Said John: "Their destiny of Freedom, even in a country of many wonderful things, that freedom, that would be our pilgrim's pride!" Tonight marked the start of yet another Layman Toastmaster speaking career as Ed Layman gave his Ice Breaker ("Me: Without Notes") and got our attention by announcing at the start of his speech "I don't need notes to talk about me!" He told us about a love of computers (like his brother) and music. The High School senior "Lives out of his Jacket" and is always busy doing something. Steve Litt ATM-B, CL was back in great form with another humorous speech ("Horse Feathers!") lampooning politicians, public figures and horses among other things. He suggested a "little purple pill called 'Chuckleset'" that would make people laugh. "It would be great for humorous speeches, but maybe not for sex!" Our third speaker Dennis Gola, ATM-S, CL did another in a series of off the cuff speeches for his 2nd CTM this one on the subject of "Club #28!" in which he reminisced about great speeches of the past and the accomplishments of a truly great club. It was a powerful, moving speech. The evaluations were almost as remarkable as the speeches! Barbara Lott gave an evaluation that was truly memorable of Ed's Ice Breaker, it was encouraging and uplifting as well as giving good advice. Ross Thomson, CTM and Dennis Gola, ATM-S, CL gave evaluations that rivaled the best ever made at Club #28. Russell Russ was also fantastic as our Master Evaluator. His evaluation of our meeting brought it extra life! James Webb, CTM appeared to a standing ovation in respect to his victory at the Region VIII International Speech Contest! Praise from the club towards James echoed though out the entire evening! We also had a number of visitors to the meeting and some from other Toastmaster clubs. Word is getting around about Club #28! We might even become "America's Toastmaster Club" someday soon!
A very special Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 meeting unfolded at the I. W. Phillips House at the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne. It was the perfect place for the June 24th 2004 Installation of Officers and the "Passing of the Gavel" Ceremony. Tony Betts, CTM opened the meeting with the Pledge to the Flag and introduced our Toastmaster, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL for this special occasion. There was a speech before the festivities began by Hector Amezquita, CTM. Hector gave his first Advanced Manual speech "How To Write A Book" which gave great advice on how to organize and how to get published. The speech was even more impressive because the manual called for the speech to be given "off the cuff" without the speaking knowing what he was to speak on. Hector handled it brilliantly. Before the second part of the meeting took place ken asked the question "What is Leadership?" to Ed Layman who answered that it is a special quality that helps people to improve themselves and others. Another question asked of Joe Bowie Jr., CTM "Why does a Toastmaster Club need Leadership?" gave a number of astute observations including "setting an example of responsibility is a way create order and avoid chaos." The club paid tribute to our outgoing president with a standing ovation after Adam Scoggins, CTM had delivered a warm and very upbeat Farewell Speech. He thanked the hard work of his fellow officers and described his terms in office as "rewarding and making me a better leader." Ken Walley ATM-G, CL as his last official duty as an Area Governor preformed the "Passing of the Gavel" Ceremony. He also accepted the gavel as our new Sergeant-at-Arms. The other officers present to be installed as our new leadership team were: Barbara Lott as Treasurer, Laurie Heinitz as Secretary, Dr. Paul Layman as the Vice President of Membership, Ed Carmona, CTM as Vice President of Education and Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM as our In-coming President. Not present but accepting the role of Vice President of Public Relations was Diana Walley ATM-G, CL. Ken dropped the gavel after Ross had accepted it and then quipped "In Toastmasters it is a GOOD omen to drop the gavel! We will have our best year ever!" Dr. Thomson gave an Inaugural Speech that was packed full of Positives and uplifting thoughts. "This is a place to grow as people!" He spoke as keeping the club as a relaxed atmosphere where people can enjoy themselves and learn at the same time. Ross also spoke about a tremendous club with a bright future. It was an inspiring speech that got our club off to a strong start for the new term. With the excellent choice of officers we have for this term the sky is the limit for Club #28. Or should I just say "Club #28 Rocks!"
There may not have been a great turn out for the June 17th, 2004 "Father's Day" themed meeting, but there were enough Club #28 Toastmasters to put on a great show. Many of us had to fill more than one position but this gathering was one of the best run and most interesting meetings in memory. Much of the credit for the success of this evening goes to Laurie Heinitz who did a wonderful job as Toastmaster. She keep the meeting going at brisk pace but still filled it with a ton of stories and facts about Father's Day. She ended with a touching tribute to her own father and fathers everywhere. In keeping with the tradition of Father's Day, Barbara Lott asked some excellent questions like the one she asked Russell Russ, "What can children do to honor their father?" (Russ answered "Obey the rules!" among other things.) Two of our guests even volunteered to field questions. Andy Schender remembered his father. "The older I get the wiser my father becomes." he said. Scott Burkett talked about TV fathers including Ward Cleaver from the "Leave it to Beaver Show" as a great father figure. Our three speeches were also memorable. Adam Scoggins, CTM in a speech titled "My 15 Minutes of Fame" recalled a TV interview that went bad. Dennis Gola, ATM-S, CL gave his second excellent speech in two weeks, this one ("My Father of Radio") about his mentor and Radio legend Mitch Mick. The best speech of the evening belonged to David Dyrek who gave his Ice Breaker speech ("Every 2 to 3 Years") where we learned he was schooled in Lakeland, became a pro Baseball player, then served in the Peace Corp and much more! It was a great first speech. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL doubled as the Master Evaluator and the evaluator for Dave's speech and he was joined by Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL and Hector Amezquita, CTM who also did 1st rate evaluations. We had a number of "Firsts" including Hector's first evaluation (of Dennis Gola's speech), Barbara Lott's first time as Table Topic Master and Russell Russ's first time as a Grammarian. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL who was our timer tonight got a parking ticket, and although not happy about that he said that it was worth it to be able to have been to this meeting. President Adam Scoggins, CTM announced the next slate of officers for the upcoming term and Dennis paid a great tribute to Adam as a man "who has guided this Club to great new levels of success." It was truly a great meeting proving that you can have great meetings even if they are small meetings.
Outside the wind was blowing and the rain was pelting the roof of the beautiful and historic I.W. Phillips House. The awful weather would not stop Club #28 from having one of its best ever meetings on that soggy June 10th, 2004 night. The theme was appropriately enough "Weather" and over 25 guests braved the storm. They were rewarded as Ken Blake ATM-B, CL volunteered at the last minute to serve as our Toastmaster. He did a remarkable job, which is expected with Ken's legendary humor and quick wit. Both were evident throughout the evening. Our Table Topics Master, Dr. Paul Layman brought sunshine to the room with some great questions. One of the best was directed at Laurie Heinitz who answered the question "What was the worst weather you ever encountered?" (The heat in Florida), Paul Hagge answered his first question in a long time "How do you prepare for the weather?" (Carry an umbrella and get ready for a hurricane) and new member David Dyrek answered his first question ever, "Where would you go for the best weather?" His answer was South America. Arthur Layman also took part by telling us the best place to be informed about weather. He said to check out the online Doppler. Good advice. It was a great session. All the speeches could be called great as well. Steve Litt ATMB became Steve Litt ATMB-CL when he gave his 2nd speech from the Successful Club Series ("The Toastmaster Education Program") He did a fabulous job. Barbara Lott once again triumphed with another excellent effort ("License To Kill") a speech about overcoming stress in your life. "You are too blessed to be stressed!" said Barbara. "K.I.L.L." by the way, stands for: 'K': Know yourself. ' I ': Investigate. 'L': Learn how to avoid stress. and 'L': Live life to the fullest. Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL gave another inspiring speech "Who's the Greatest?" in which he compared United States Presidents and painted a great word portrait of Harry S Truman. Master Evaluator Ken Walley ATM-G, CL had the easiest job of the evening by introducing three of Club #28's best evaluators: Adam Scoggins CTM, Diana Walley ATM-G, CL and Brian Wheeler CTM. Each gave 1st class encouraging and helpful evaluations. Ken also called for a standing ovation for Steve Litt ATM-B, CL and for the entire club who just earned it 5th straight President's Distinguished Award! Kudos also went out to Russell Russ as our timer, James Webb, CTM as our Grammarian and AH Counter Ed Layman who did a great job for his first time at that position. It was a magnificent meeting. We had even seemed to clear away the clouds by the time we had adjourned.
Who better to serve as Toastmaster than Dr. Paul Layman when the theme of the June 3rd 2004 meeting was "Canada"? As it turned out Paul, who is from Canada, was the perfect choice. This was a meeting full of surprises and we learned many thing about Canada throughout the night such as "Canada is the donut shop capital of the world with more donut shops per population than anywhere else on Earth." Paul had tons of great facts about his native land as the meeting went on. We learned even more from Laurie Heinitz as out Table Topic Master. Laurie who obviously had researched Canada asked great questions and got some interesting answers. "Who is your favorite Canadian?" got the surprise answer from Paul of "William Shatner, a great actor and singer!" But fellow Canadian Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM came up with the best answer when asked about his favorite city. Ross wove a poetic picture of Montreal. Our two speaker for the night turned out to be two completely different speakers than the ones scheduled. Steve Litt, ATM-B, took another step towards his Competent Leader Award by doing the CL speech "Setting The Stage For Success" an overview of the functionaries and leadership positions in Toastmasters. Steve did a great job. Club #28 was in for a real treat when former Club #28 president and past Division Governor Michael Joseph, DTM spoke on the importance of enthusiasm in communication and life situations. His speech titled "Passion" held the audience spellbound. It must be noted that Joe Bowie Jr. CTM excelled as the Master Evaluator with a remarkable summation of the meeting his performance tonight was a great example of how the position should be done. He had some help with a very polished evaluation of Steve by Russell Russ. Russ gave some great example and advice. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL put Michael's advice to work in his evaluation which had plenty of enthusiasm. Some other positive notes about this meeting: Ed Carmona, CTM did a very good job as our acting President. He had his hands full with 8, that's right, eight guests. They included the return of Paul Hagge, a former member who wants to join again! I am also very pleased indeed to announce that two others DID join: Ed Layman and David Dyrek! This meeting was as refreshing as a nice cool Canadian breeze!
"Money could not buy a better meeting!" said Toastmaster Ken Walley ATM-G of the May 27th 2004 meeting with the theme of "Money $$$!" Ken could not have been more right as Club #28 paid off in a big way with great Table Topics, Speeches and Evaluations. Everyone chipped in to get things squared away at the start of the meeting. Joe Bowie, CTM took on the role of timer at the last minute and James Webb, CTM wore two hats as our Grammarian and Ah Counter. Even Ken played two roles as the Toastmaster and Table Topics Master but it was one of those meetings where everything just fell into place. Some of the questions asked at Table Topics included: " What would you do if you won the Lottery?" (Laurie Heintz would live it up). "How would you invest $8000.?" ( Ed Layman would put it in stocks & bonds) and "Why is money the 'Root of all Evil'?" (Barbara Lott pointed out that it can be used for good as well). The best answer came from Joe Bowie Jr., CTM was when asked what the worse abuse of money he even seen? Joe answered the abuses by multi-millionaire Osama Bin Laudin. The speeches were remarkable and far above what anyone could have expected. Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM weaved the classic story "The Grandfather and the Grandson" in a way that simply captivated his audience. It was pure magic. Dr. Paul Layman also came through with a completely different speech titled "Recycling is Garbage!" A refreshing anti-recycling speech that gave many a pause for thought. The third speech ("For A Purpose") by Ed Carmona, CTM was one of those masterpieces that makes being a Toastmaster completely worthwhile. This brilliant humorous speech, had Club #28 in tears with laughter. Starting with his birth and ending with an embarrassing public speaking episode, this speech was one of the funniest ever given in a Toastmaster meeting. The Evaluations were all excellent as well. Paced by Master Evaluator Diana Walley ATM-G, CL, evaluators Mark Cox, CTM, Laurie Heintz and Barbara Lott all gave excellent advice. Barbara's first time as evaluator also won her first Best Evaluator ribbon! Laurie, by the way won her 4th straight Most Improved ribbon, a club record, no doubt. Another high point of the evening was that one of our guests, Ashly Kohly Darroch joined our club! Ed Layman is also looking to become the 3rd member of the Layman family to become a member of the Club #28 family as well. I am sure that they will find as well that its truly worth the money to join Toastmasters! .
The theme for our May 20, 2004 meeting was "Retirement" and you would think that with a theme like that, the meeting would be a rather "restful" one. THIS meeting turned out to be anything but "restful"! The meeting again featured a packed Patio Room at the library thanks to a number of attending Orlando Culinary Institute students brought by Prof. John Loblack. Indeed it was a meeting full of surprises and another classic Club #28 get together. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL was our toastmaster for the evening and she brought along some retirement jokes to get us groaning through the night. Table Topic Master Mark Cox, CTM asked some wonderful questions about Retirement: "What are your retirement plans for the future?" to Brian Wheeler, CTM (Travel) and "How will your retirement effect your family?" to Russell Russ (He plans to spoil the grand kids.) But the best answer came from Ken Blake ATM-B, CL with his answer on the "40-40-40" plan. "You work 40 years, get 40 days severance pay and a $40. watch!" Said Ken, "Don't get caught in that trap!" Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL doing an off the cuff 5 to 7 minute speech on a subject he did not prepare for, was nothing short of amazing! His subject given to him by Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL only seconds before speaking, was "Retirement". Dennis touched on many serious issues. "It's not enough for us to plan, we must protect those who have given us so much. Our older citizens are being forgotten and set aside like trash! We cannot let that happen!" Steve Litt ATM-B, CL, gave a completely different type of speech ("It's Not Cool!"), a humorous speech about the evils of drugs and drinking. The best was saved for last as Barbara Lott really came through with an inspiring speech ("Sing Your Own Song!") about how we should bring out the best inside of us and strive to be a light for others. It was a truly great speech. Laurie Heinitz was so good as the Master Evaluator that she won the "Most Improved" ribbon for the 3rd week in a row. She had help however from three excellent evaluations given by Adam Scoggins, CTM, Ed Carmona, CTM and Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL. All those who attended learned something about becoming a better communicator. This meeting had two more great surprises left. One of the Culinary students, who I was only able to get his first name, Carlos, gave an excellent review of our meeting that was both eloquent and moving. Surprise number two was the return of Chris Moore to happily announce the birth of his baby daughter and also to sadly say that he was moving out of Orlando. He said that he would try to visit as much as possible. Chris will be very missed. We retired the meeting on time but with a lot of great memories to think back upon. This was a truly excellent evening of Toastmaster magic.
The theme of "Summertime and Easy Living " was perfect for the laid-back meeting of May 13th, 2004 as Toastmaster Ken Walley ATM-G, CL lead the club on an "escape tour" of Florida get-away locations. Ken mentioned The Everglades, St. Augustine, the Florida Keys and city parks just to mention a few. Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM joined in the fun as Table Topic Master asking Russell Russ to name his ideal summer vacation (a trip to San Diego & L.A.) and Ed Carmona, CTM if he had ever met a hurricane (he had). Ed Layman, our guest and the brother of club member Arthur Layman gave the best answer however to the question: "What was your worst summer vacation?" Ed did not think much of staying around his house doing chores for his dad. Ed's dad, Dr. Paul Layman, however was up to the task of delivering his best speech ("Pop! Pop! Pop!") ever. Paul took us back to the days of camping in the Canada wilderness and singing songs around the campfire. Laurie Henitz also delivered another interesting speech ("Are You Stressed Out?") that gave us three sure fire ways to deal with stress. "Make Realistic Goals." said Laurie, "Prioritize and then take action. Do something about what is troubling you!" Joe Bowie, Jr. CTM did a fantastic job as our Master Evaluator and he had some help from two excellent evaluators: Russell Russ and Steve Litt ATM-B, CL. Russell did exceedingly good work on the job as an evaluator for his first time while evaluating Paul's speech. Also filling a role for the first time was Ed Carmona, CTM who filled in as our acting President. Ed showed us a great leadership style and a good Richard Nixon imitation. Although attendance was down some for this meeting, Club #28 proved once again that we can have a great meeting, and a lot of fun, no matter what the circumstances. See you next week!
"Play Ball!" shouted acting Sgt. at Arms Mark Cox , CTM as the May 6th, 2004 "Baseball" themed meeting got underway. Little did we know then that Club #28 was going to hit a home run of a meeting. Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM did a fantastic job as our Toastmaster and kept us laughing with plenty of Chicago Cub antidotes. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL an avid baseball fan himself, was our Table Topics Master and he came ready with some tough questions about our national pastime. Tony Betts, CTM, Adam Scoggins, CTM, Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL, Russell Russ and Arthur Layman were up to the task of giving excellent answers but the club "Mr. Baseball" himself, Mark Cox, CTM displayed his vast knowledge of the game by answering the question: "Name the Best Hitter, Pitcher and Fielder to ever play the game?' Mark's answer was Ted Williams, Tom Seaver and Ozzie Smith. Our three speakers tonight were all MVP's with truly excellent speeches. Hector Amezquita, CTM became our latest Competent Toastmaster with his 10th speech titled "Enjoy the Trip!" many believe this was his best speech ever. It was an inspiring speech about how to get the most out of life. Hector received a standing ovation for accomplishing his CTM. James Webb, CTM delivered another contest-quality speech ("Never!" ) about a recent trip to New York and just how wrong he had been about New Yorkers. Steve Litt, ATM-B, CL also gave a great speech, filling in at the last minute as our 3rd speaker. His humorous speech ("Can't We All Just Get Along?") had plenty of laughs and great ideas on how to deal with the world's childish behavior. Three great speeches call for three great evaluations and we came through. Dr. Paul Layman, Laurie Heinitz and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL all had high scoring evaluations. Also stepping up to the plate was Adam Scoggins, CTM as our Grammarian, Brian Wheeler, CTM as our AH Counter and Joe Bowie Jr., CTM as our timer. Each threw their own perfect games. What a wonderful meeting even if there we were missing some peanuts and cracker-jacks. I DO care however if I ever get back because I want to see what is on deck for next week! See you there!
Toastmaster Sam Ryan, ATM-G, CL while attempting to put this incredible meeting into perspective said "One of the reasons that Club #28 is so successful is that it is not afraid to try new things." This meeting really put that statement to the test. The theme was "Change is Good" and Toastmaster Ed Carmona, CTM hosted one of the most interesting and fun meetings that Club #28 has ever had. Some of the changes that were made for this meeting included the snapping of fingers instead of clapping, a "Woo-hoo!" sound whenever the Word of the Day was used and high-fives instead of handshakes at the lectern! Diana Walley ATM-G, CL also brought an innovative Table Topic session in which each Toastmaster had to "become" another club member given only a brief description of what they did! Ed described Steve Litt's (ATM-B) job, Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM attempted to describe working at UCF as Sam Ryan, ATM-G, CL and James Webb, CTM gave an award winning performance as Russell Russ. One thing that did not change was the high quality of our speeches. Dr. Thomson, CTM gave one of the best technical speeches ever ("The Physics of the Movies") in which he described such things as why there is no sound in space and why a bullet will NOT throw you through a window. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave a humorous speech titled "Read the Label" complete with his trademark props and the reason he bought bubble bath instead of "the bubbly". Joe Bowie, Jr. earned his CTM tonight with a speech from the heart titled "What Do You Talk About When You Have Nothing to Talk About?" Joe talked about the frustrations of trying to help others overcome almost insurmountable troubles as a corrections officer. "Giving them hope is hard. It is hard to care especially when the people don't care that you care." said Joe. The evaluations were also very good and no wonder: they were all by seasoned Toastmasters. Steve Litt, ATM-B won "Best Evaluation" over Dennis Gola, ATM-S, CL and James Webb, CTM. No small task there. Our VP of Public Relations Diana Walley ATM-G, CL was our acting President for the evening and did a fantastic job. Dr. Paul Layman was our AH Counter, Barbara Lott served as Grammarian and Laurie Heinitz also did a great job as timer. In another highlight of this meeting, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was awarded a "World's Best Mentor" trophy by his mentee James Webb CTM. "This is the best award of my Toastmaster career!" said Ken. The Orlando Culinary Institute also showed up with 15 members and we had to bring in more chairs from other rooms in order to seat everyone! Prof. Loblack even said he was thinking of joining our club! Joe got a standing ovation for earning his CTM. and everyone agreed that this meeting was different and wonderful. Change can truly be good.
"I vote for Club #28 as the club most likely to have the best meetings!" said Toastmaster Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL who jumped into the role at the last minute and again delivered a landslide victory on the side of superior ability. The theme for the April 22nd 2004 meeting was "The Right to Vote" and we had a tough time voting for best Table Topics, Speakers and Evaluators. The real winners however was anyone who attended this wonderful meeting. Club President Adam Scoggins, CTM filled in as our Table Topics Master and asked some very probing questions worthy of any election debate. Dennis addressed why we should vote for "none of the above", Barbara Lott gave a great answer on do we "vote for the best or do we vote for personalities?" and Arthur Layman explained why he would be a dictator! Our three speeches also rivaled anything that you would hear on the campaign trail. Hector Amezauita started off with a speech about how to harness the realization that our thinking is not controlled by outside influences. "our thought process might be influenced by the collective consciousness, but that influence does not decide our thinking!" said Hector. Laurie Heinitz gave a vivid and powerful word picture-masterpiece titled "Dreams" which took us though a surreal landscape of the unconscious mind. Dr. Paul Layman came up with a great speech ("A Barley Sandwich") on how beer is created and loved. It was his best speech yet. It had everyone heading out for a brew after the meeting. Master Evaluator Dr. Ross Thomson had the pleasure of introducing three excellent evaluations by Ed Carmona, CTM, Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL. Thanks also to Joe Bowie Jr. who was our timer for the 3rd week in a row! Russell Russ also gave an excellent accounting as our Grammarian for his 1st time at the position! This meeting was a "winner" in anybody's book, and a true joy to have attended.
If any of our club members had a phobia about not having a fantastic meeting at Club #28, they need not to have worried about the April 15th 2004 meeting. Mark Cox, CTM did a lot of research for the theme "Phobias" and named off an amazing amount of fears that plague the human condition. Rest assured, Mark did a tremendous job as Toastmaster. Also highlighting the theme was our Table Topic Master Brian Wheeler, CTM who made us face our fears with some great questions. Joe Bowie gave an excellent answer when he addressed the fear of visiting a doctor. Tony Betts, CTM told of a practical joke that got out of hand with his wife's missing car. Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL had a fear of Wasps and James Webb, CTM had a fear of Gorillas. Our speakers however had no fear at all as we had some wonderful speeches. Showing the most courage in the room was our first speaker, Barbara Lott who gave a truly excellent Ice Breaker Speech ("Call Me Barbara"). In the speech we learned that Barbara has been known by many names including "Bebop", "Troublemaker", "Flags" and "Mom" but the pastor's wife likes to be thought of best as a "Child of God". Russell Russ also gave an excellent speech titled "Sailing To Save Lives!" which was an exciting tale of how Russ was forced into action on a sailboat to retrieve some boaters who had fallen overboard! It was a great speech which kept us on the edge of our seats. Laurie Heinitz and Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM gave flawless evaluations of our speakers which also made a strong impression on our guests Kevin and Nicky from Seminole Community College. It was a great example of Club #28 putting its best foot forward because we "Have No Fear!"
It was another "packed house" for the April 8th 2004 "Positive Thinking" meeting as over 30 Toastmasters and guests filled the Patio Room! Everything was Positive about this meeting including our Toastmaster for the night, Dr. Paul Layman. As the evening went on Paul taught us with the 10 Positive Traits of a Successful Person: Optimism, Enthusiasm, Belief, Integrity, Patience, Focus, Courage, Calmness, Vision and Confidence! Dr. Layman not only gave us a roadmap to positive enlightenment he set an example of it during the entire meeting. Table Topics was another positive adventure. Ed Carmona, CTM took us to the "Communication, Leadership and Culinary Institute of Positive Thinking" by asking questions of it's "Professors" such as "Dr." Barbara Lott and a real professor, Dr. John Loblack. Barbara' s answer to how Positive Thinking changes those around her, won her her first Table Topics ribbon! All three speeches were positive indeed, especially the first one by Arthur Layman who gave his Ice Breaker speech!. Arthur told of a love of video games and Anime features. He gave an excellent 1st speech! His father, Paul, and the rest of us as well, were obviously proud of him. Congratulations Arthur! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL gave a hip-pocket speech entitled "You Need Toastmasters!" which told why he joined toastmasters and why everyone else should as well. It must have worked as we had a new member join our club tonight! Brian Wheeler, CTM also chipped in with a spur-of-the-minute speech that was perfect for an audience which included about 20 culinary students. Brian's speech gave an overview of what attributes make a great manager and a prosperous restaurant. One of the best performances of the evening was by Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL as the Master Evaluator who was able to fit in the evaluation section in the last 15 minutes of our meeting time! Excellent evaluations were given by Adam Scoggins, CTM, Mark Cox, CTM and Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL himself. Even though this meeting was pressed for time...and space, it was one of the most positive meetings we have ever had!
The April 1st 2004 meeting was yet another "one of the best meetings ever!" thanks to the theme of "April Fools" and thanks to the Toastmaster, the limping, gimpy, full of pain Ken Blake ATM-B, CL! Ken arrived on crutches and, wincing in agony, he still had the presence of mind to review the history of April Fools Day and how it is celebrated in other countries around the world. Table Topic Master Ken Walley ATM-G, CL also kept to the theme during the Table Topic session and he learned just what a devious group of tricksters our club membership was! Brian Wheeler CTM told a great story of how he ended up looking like an April fool; and his story was matched with stories of tricks and pranks by Joe Bowie Jr., Jim Stitt, Laurie Heinitz, Ed Carmona and others. The speeches however were no April Fool's trick. Eva Garrick was at her best with a fascinating speech ("The Bell Rings Loudest In Your Own Home") about Acupuncture alternative medicine. Dr. Paul Layman also gave a brilliant oration about the birth of his son and fellow Club #28 member, Arthur Layman. His speech titled "July 15th 1985" was packed with excitement, humor and a great message about misinformation. The speech made by Diana Walley ATM-G, CL on raising our children to reach their highest potential ("See Yourself as World Leaders") concluded with a video song and a lot to think about. The speeches and the Table Topics alone would have made for a special Toastmaster meeting , but James Webb, CTM truly added to the night by presenting three great evaluations by Adam Scoggins, CTM, Mark Cox, CTM and Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM. At the end of the meeting a tearful Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL explained that his insurance would not cover the cost of his surgery to repair his re-broken ankle. He asked the club to pitch in for $1,200.00 to help with his mounting medical costs. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL said "I'll give $250.!" Then the amounts started to be shouted out fast by each new member: "$200!"..."$75!"..."$150!"...and then one member shouted:"$500!!!" Ken threw down his crutches and skipped across the room saying "500 Bucks! I'm healed!" It was all a big April fools joke after all! We also added a new member to our club family tonight: Barbara Lott! Welcome Barbara! May your Toastmaster journey be a long and rewarding one... and that is no prank.
One of the best things about a Club #28 meeting is that each meeting is different and you always take a great memory with you when you walk out the door. The March 26, 2004 "Lawyers, Judges and Going to Court" Themed meeting has plenty of great memories to go around. Toastmaster Ross Thomson, CTM kept the meeting upbeat and kept all of us laughing with what seemed like a million lawyer jokes. The more serious side of the Justice System was presented by Table Topics Master Tony Betts, CTM. One of his questions, about lawyers, was given to Debbe Ryan, ATM-G, CL who gave an excellent answer. She made a very good point: "We might make jokes about lawyers but when we are in trouble, the first person we call is an attorney." There were wonderful memories with our speeches as well. Our Club Secretary became Ed Carmona, CTM with his 10th speech ("Ricky's Wedding"). It was a loving celebration of how a father can learn from his son. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave an extremely dramatic speech about SCUBA diving ("I Can Finally Breath Again") and the fear of losing 2 people on a dive. Mark Cox, CTM gave a humorous speech ("Did Mark Have Corn for Dinner?") that showed us how not to use history to pick up women. It had the entire room engulfed in laughter. Russell Russ did a remarkable job as Master Evaluator and got the meeting back on time as well. Evaluations were delivered by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL , Joe Bowie and Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL. It would not take a jury very long to come back with a guilty verdict for the charge of a fantastic Toastmaster meeting!
I believe that tonight (March 18th, 2004) Club #28 put on the very best International Speech and Table Topic Contest in its rich history! This contest did not have one poor performance. All of the contestants achieved the highest quality presentations and they must have given the judges fits trying to pick the winners. A giant wave of applause should go to our Contest Master Diana J. Walley ATM-G, CL who did a great job of keeping the contest on time and never letting a dull moment enter the Patio room. Others who made this contest possible and preformed with honor were our Vote Counters Laurie Heinitz and Darlissa Griffith, our Timers: Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Dr. Paul Layman, and our Raffle Master Arthur Layman. Doing a great job of leading the Invocation and Pledge was Monique Engelhoff as well as our superb Sergeant-At-Arms Chris Moore. The Table Topic Contest was introduced by our esteemed Chief Judge Ann Kelly CTM, CL and what an excellent subject Diana gave our contestants to speak on: "If I had it to do all over again, I would..." Eva Garrick, Adam Scoggins, CTM, Ken Blake, ATM-G, CL, Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL and Dennis Gola, ATM-S, CL all exceeded everyone's expectations. Dennis (an old hand at winning contests) came out on top and Sam came in 2nd place. The International Speech Contest consisted of four amazing speeches from four great speakers. Speaking first was James Webb, CTM. James gave a powerful performance worthy of any professional actor with his speech titled "Superhero". The speech was about facing down one's fears. Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL gave one of the best speeches of her storied Toastmaster career titled "Freedom". It gave a view of America from of a person who arrived here from Ethiopia and what it has taken to adjust to a completely different society. Speaking third was Joe Bowie Jr. who really wowed the audience with a humorous speech ("It's Not My Fault I look Like This...The Machine Broke Down" about the trial and errors of staying in shape and battling exercise machines. A late entry into the contest Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL gave an interesting speech ("Hearing Is Believing") that paid tribute to "Madge" the dish-soap lady and gave us a lesson in mass propaganda as well. James Webb, CTM will represent our Club in the Area Contest as our winner and Joe Bowie Jr. was a close runner up. Area 49 Governor Richard L. Gump ATM-G, CL was on hand to present the trophies. The room was full of Dignitaries. Besides Area Gov. Gump, two past Club #28 Presidents and Area Governors, Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL and Helen Joseph, DTM, returned to the applause of our members. It was a spectacular event that was more than worthy to take its place besides the great Club #28 contests of the past.
[Ed Note: I was not at the March 11, 2004 meeting so in my place our Club secretary, Ed Carmona filed this poetic report. Thank you, Ed!]
Once upon a time there was a club named twenty-eight / where all its members started fairly straight / And though at first they were all tremblers and shy / They all became great at inspiring pride / As they saw each other grow / in the art of speaking with persuasion and gracious flow / and none were ever the same, because of what they heard each other say.
March 11 2004 amounted to another inspiring confederation. The gathering elicited command execution from table topic impromptus, speeches and evaluations. Mark Cox's (CTM) thematic interrogation about Marriage and the Single Life sent Philosophers, lovers and romantics to describing "The biggest difference between the married and single life." (Russell Russ) to counseling on whether "Married people should go out only with other married couples and never with single people" (Guest John Lowback) and placing at rest the question as to weather "The bread winner earns his 50% by the work he does away from home" (Jannine Ynchaustegui). Adam Scoggins, CTM clarified "What keeps single people single" and Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave his touching wisdom about "What he would do to make a second marriage work". How is it that the great speakers always come back better and better. Joe Bowie Jr. gave hilarious comic relief through his self-deprecating, award winning speech titled "Its Not My Fault...The Machine Broke!" as he blamed the malfunctioning exercise equipment for his not being in top shape. Fascinating us with his technical prowess, Dr. Ross Thomson brought us the heavens as he managed to deliver in layman's terms a highly technical speech ("The Celestial Sphere") about the evolution of the science of the stars, It was a cosmic delivery. The speakers were commended by Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL and Ed Carmona who evaluated their speeches and provided insightful, helpful suggestions on improving their ever expanding talent to entertain and captivate with speech. I love this country. I love this club! Notes: Toastmaster: Adam Scoggins CTM, Grammarian: Ken Blake ATM-B, CL, Speaker #1: Joe Bowie Jr. "It's Not My Fault, The Machine Broke!" Evaluator: Ed Carmona, Table Topics Master: Mark Cox: Question #1 to Russell Russ "What is the biggest difference between Married & Single Life?" Question #2 to John Lowback "Should married people only go out with other married couples?" Question #3 to Tseganesh Gudeta "Does the breadwinner earn 50% or is it the workload?" Question #4 to Janny Ynchaustegui "What keeps single people single?" Question #5 to Adam Scoggins CTM "Single life, does it ever get old?" Question #6 to Ken Blake ATM-B, CL "What do you do to make a 2nd marriage work?" Evaluator: Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL, AH Counter: Chris Moore. Master Evaluator: Russell Russ. Speaker #2: Ross Thomson CTM "Holes in the Sky" Timer: Janny Tnchaustegui. Also present: Jim Stitt. Guests: Rebecca Russ, The Orlando Culinary Insistute with Prof. John Lowback. WOD: Elicit. Location: Orlando Public Library. Start Time 07:05 pm. End Time: 08:25. Theme: Marriage and the Single Life.
It was an Amazing Place to have an amazing meeting. The March 4, 2004 "Amazing Places" themed meeting took place in the beautiful I. W. Phillips House at the Courtyard at Lake Lucerne. Many wonderful things took place during this magical evening. Mark Cox CTM started us out with the call to order and Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL delivered the invocation and pledge with her usual excellence. Covering the duties of our President tonight was our VP of Education, Tony Betts, CTM who filled those shoes extremely well. Another treat was the sheer excellence of our Toastmaster Ed Carmona. Ed took us to many an exotic land throughout the evening. Tony also took us on travels to Amazing Places with his questions as our Table Topic Master. One of his questions got a surprising answer from Dennis Gola, ATM-S, CL when asked about the most interesting place he had ever eaten a meal. Dennis answered it at a McDonalds Restaurant, but not just ANY McDonald's, This one was a the foot of an awe-inspiring mountain. Dennis described the panoramic view as if he was looking out of the window. Our first speech was also special. James Webb, CTM gave his CTM graduation speech ("Umpa, Umpa Lumka's Paradigm" ) a wonderful speech with philosophy, idealism and humor throughout. It was a typical James Webb speech: uplifting and insightful. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL in her speech ("Overcoming the Most Fearsome job of All") used her husband, Ken in a role-play session to teach us how to conquer the fear of the "cold call". Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL was next with a speech about our Toastmaster Mission statement "Our Mission Is Your Mission". Russell Russ gave his 3rd Speech from the basic manual ("A Friend or an Angel?") which was a touching story about a close friend of his who made a difference at just the right time. Janny Ynchaustegui's first time as a Master Evaluator was also a big success as she gave a great meeting evaluation and some elegant introductions. She was also helped by fabulous evaluations from Brian Wheeler, CTM, Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM, Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL and Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL. in what must have been one the hardest choices in history to vote for Best Evaluator! Chris Moore returned to the club this night after a long absence to fight a serious illness. He looked great was given a very loud, and very long round of applause. Joe Bowie, Jr. did not give up but made it to the meeting after getting a bit lost. Arthur Layman did a great job as our AH Counter filling in at the last minute. He even dinged his dad, Grammarian Paul Layman, a few times! It was good to see Darlissa Griffith return as well as Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL who served as our timer. James Webb, CTM also received a standing ovation for his CTM accomplishment!. This meeting took us to many amazing places but it will take its place among the best ever Club #28 meetings.
It was more "riches" than "rags" in our Feb. 26th 2004, "Rags to Riches" Themed meeting. Toastmaster James Webb did a fantastic job as our host for the evening. Even more incredible, his excellent performance was the first time that he has ever been the Toastmaster. It was an evening of "firsts" for this club: besides James, Laurie Heinitz was impressive as an evaluator for the first time, as was 1st-timer Ed Carmona as the Master Evaluator and we even had an Ice Breaker speech by Eva Garrick! Table Topics Master Diana Walley ATM-G, CL introduced a number of famous people who rose from rags to riches and had our Toastmasters "walk in their shoes" for one to two minutes. Abe Lincoln, Zig Ziglar, James Earl Jones were all role-played but the two most memorable were Oprah Winfrey as performed by Dr. Ross Thomson and Col. Harlan Sanders who was well represented by our returning guest, Karl Jebailey. Our Speakers for the evening all turned in wonderful efforts. First up was Monique Egelhoff who made a great first impression with her first speech at Club #28. Monique's speech ("The Desert") touched on the Season of Lent and dealt with self-sacrifice and reaching inward. Another wonderful Club #28 Ice Breaker Speech ("Me! Me! Me!") was delivered by Eva Garrick. Her entrancing life has taken her from Panama to Maryland, New York, Tampa, Miami and to her new home in Orlando. Eva's speech shows that she has the makings of an exceptional speaker. Janine Ynchaustegui painted wonderful images in her 6th speech (already?!) as she races towards her CTM! Master Evaluator Ed Carmona was helped out with a great cast of evaluators with Laurie Heinitz, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Club President Adam Scoggins CTM doing the honors. Ed also gave a very good meeting evaluation with some great suggestions such as to "Jazz up the Technical Table introductions with some imagination" . So impressive was this meeting that our guest Carl Gebely is ready to join! We will sign him up at our next meeting. Club #28 itself is a "rags to riches" story. It was not long ago that the club was dire trouble but now the years ahead hold only the brightest Toastmaster future for our club.
It was "Happy Hour" for an hour and a half at the Feb.19th 2004 "Happy Hour" themed Club #28 Toastmasters meeting. A large crowd was on hand (38 people!) for the meeting. A class from the Orlando Culinary Academy visited and we gave them an excellent show. Giving many a toast & many a joke throughout the evening was our Toastmaster and designated driver, Diana Walley ATM-G, CL. She kept us in the spirit of things if not with real spirits but with with great cheer and "cheers". Raise your glasses to our Table Topics Master for the evening, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who also kept to the theme as he asked Russell Russ to tell Tony Betts CTM that he had had too much to drink and that he was driving him home. Jannine Ynchaustegui told us about the bars in South America. Arthur Layman told us why (or why not) a lounge is a good place to pick up a member of the opposite sex. It was good that we had a packed room (SRO) as our speeches were up to the challenge. Dr. Paul Layman gave his 2nd speech from the basic manual ("Is an E-mail Address a license to communicate poorly?") on how E-mail messages get misunderstood. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who is going through the basic manual for the 3rd time, did a speech on the subject of Love titled "Love Revisited" . "Love is the most important thing of all." said Ken, "It should be what we search for the most." Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave a great speech ("Fairy Tales Do Come True") from the Storytelling Advanced Manual. It was the story of how a boy went on a search for a "Little red house with no windows or doors and a star inside." It turned out to be an apple and the story had a moral for toastmasters: "Don't go rusty by being inactive." Ed Carmona, Tony Betts CTM and Dr. Ross Thomson CTM all gave excellent evaluations of the same high quality standards we expect in our club, or for that matter in a good beer. Ross won both the Best Evaluator ribbon and the Best Table Topic ribbon as well on this night. Among our many visitors was Carl Gebely who said after the meeting that he looked forward to coming back next week. Prof. John Loback also expressed his thanks to the club for hosting his class tonight: and offered more praise. The library staff gave "last call" at 8:30 and we all headed home until next week when we'll say "Set 'em up Joe" again.
Toastmaster Club #28 was Rockin' and Rollin' with an awesome meeting that lit up the February 12th 2004 "Rock n' Roll" themed night! Toastmaster Laurie Heinitz was our "rock star" for the evening as she belted out a superb performance as Toastmaster! It was her first time in that role and she did a great job giving us some cool rock trivia and hot rock-star stories. Also adding to the theme was Table Topic Master Dr. Paul Layman who weaved the lyrics of such classics as "Light My Fire", "Stairway to Heaven" and "Born To Run" into the questions. Excellent answers were given by rockers Russell Russ, Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL, Ken Blake ATM-B, CL, Arthur Layman, Eva Garrick and Joe Bowie Jr. It was also Paul's first time as Table Topic Master and he did a fantastic job. Our three speeches were of the highest quality and would have ranked #1 on the Billboard Chart for Speeches if there was one. Ed Carmona gave another insightful and intellectual speech titled "Deafness Comes By Hearing; Blindness Comes by Sight". His speech focused upon listening and perception. Hector Amezquita returned to the club to give another speech that showcased his professional speaking abilities. "The Here and Now" made a powerful argument for our need to use the present to create a positive future, that change only happens in the here and the now. Jannine Ynchaustegui's speech was no less as meaningful. She told of a program for taking control of her world ("Managing My Life") and ended with a strong testimonial of Toastmasters. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL extolled another great meeting in his evaluation of the meeting as our Master Evaluator. Included in the praise for the club were three great speech evaluations by Steve Litt ATM-B, CL Diana Walley ATM-G, CL and James Webb. Other thanks went out to Diana for getting the web-site back on line, Mark Cox, CTM for helping to set up and being our timer, Arthur Layman who was excellent as our AH counter and Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM as our Grammarian. As President Adam Scoggins, CTM said, "If this had been a rock concert, everyone would have their lighters out and yelling for more!"
The February 5th 2004 "Time Management" meeting was right on time to be the perfect way to spend a Thursday night Diana Walley ATM-G, CL led us through the evening with a highly energetic tour-de-force of making the best use of our time. Her story of "Big Rocks" gave us a great example of how to look at time in a new way. As the meeting went on Diana gave some great insight on how to make our lives a little more efficient and easier. Adam Scoggins CTM provided more insight with another interesting Table Topic session. Grammarian Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL won the white ribbon with the answer to a question about personal life & work priorities. You could not have found a better way to spend your time than to have heard the excellent speeches that were in store for us this evening. The highlight of the evening was the Ice Breaker speech ("You Are What You Believe") of one of our newest members Dr. Paul Layman. We learned that Paul has a PhD. as an Electrical Engineer and hails from Canada. He is starting his own business in Orlando. Dr. Ross Thomson (yet, another PhD.) delivered another highly technical speech ("Vehicle to Vehicle") from the Technical Manual about "E-Pass" type equipment and the benefits of that technology. Handling the job of Master Evaluator for the first was Russell Russ. Russ made it look easy! His evaluation of the meeting was excellent as were the evaluations of our speakers by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Brian Wheeler CTM. We had other great news also: Steve Litt ATM-B announced his becoming an Advanced Toastmaster Bronze and James Webb returned to the club and brought a great cheer from the audience! More cheers went up when it was made official that Arthur Layman is our newest member! Laurie Heinitz and Joe Bowie Jr. helped out as our timer and AH Counter, respectively. We also had two visitors, Carl Davis (who returned from last week) and Mary Hurley. Our guests were again impressed with our meeting, as well they should have been tonight. A Time Management themed meeting, of course, ended right on time at 8:30 pm.
The January 29th, 2004 "Great Movies" theme meeting was most definitely a show to watch! The critics all agree that this meeting was one of the best of the year! Toastmaster Joe Bowie Jr. was on a roll and he took us on a film adventure that was a blockbuster event! Great movies and film legends stood in Joe's spotlight as he turned his sharp insight and deft humor toward the wonderful memories of the silver screen. Tony Betts, CTM kept the celluloid rolling with some great Table Topic questions about the Best Pictures, Oscar winners and the true turkeys that were so bad that they were good. Our newest member Jordan Ellington came away with our version of an Oscar: the white Table Topic ribbon. It was "two thumbs up!" for all of our speeches also. Brian Wheeler, CTM gave his best entertaining speech ("One Crazy Party") to date. The speech was about how he wrecked his sister's car and went from being the coolest guy in town to being the un-coolest guy in town in a matter of minutes. This speech would have made a great movie. Another great speech was Jannine Ynchaustegui's speech "Inside The Jungle!" a tale of getting lost in the woods and falling into a river. This speech weaved a wonderful spell that had us on the edge of our seats. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL came through with a humorous speech that paid sort of a weird tribute to the Hoover Dam ("If You Saw What I Saw") which had the entire room laughing, and yet oddly, learning a lot about the biggest Dam in the west. It was truly an excellent job by Ken B. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL proved to be an excellent Master Evaluator as she led us through the evaluations by Dr. Ross Thomson CTM, Mark Cox CTM and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL. Diana summed it up well in her evaluation of the meeting. "The only thing missing was popcorn! What a great meeting!" Adam Scoggins, CTM was our Timer, Ed Carmona served as the Grammarian, Paul Layman was the AH Counter and Tony Betts also counted Votes. Carl Davis joined us as a guest and promised to return next week. Our other guest, Arthur Layman also said he would be back, and join! Jordan Ellington became our newest member of Club #28! Welcome aboard Jordan!
If you had to vote for a great meeting the January 22, 2004 meeting with the theme of "Politics" would be a frontrunner. Mark Cox CTM who is filling in for our Sgt.-at -Arms started off the meeting by introducing our President and Toastmaster for the evening Adam Scoggins CTM. Adam did a great job of keeping us on the "high road" of politics as did our Table Topic Master Dr. Ross Thomson CTM. Ross asked designed questions NOT to lose members and friends but had us thinking. "What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican?" was one of the questions. But our guest, Monique Egelhoff gave the award winning answer to a question about the direction our county should be going in. We had three speakers at three different levels all giving remarkable speeches. Joe Bowie Jr. who is closing in on his CTM gave a meaningful and insightful speech titled "I Feel Bad, I must be Coming Down With Something" The speech looked into the causes and dangers of Compassion Fatigue. Giving only her third speech, Laurie Heinitz showed remarkable improvement with a speech titled "Do Something Good For Others". Laurie challenged us to become involved with the worthy cause of fighting breast cancer by supporting an up-coming Dance Triathlon event. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL tackled a speech from one of the toughest manuals (Interpersonal Communications) by negotiating Adam Scoggins CTM out of committing suicide in a role play! In her speech ("To Break A Man's Resolve") Diana showed a great ability to resolve a thorny conflict. The was no mudslinging during the evaluations with Brian Wheeler, CTM, Ken Blake ATM-G, CL and Ed Carmona all performing excellent work as did Mark Cox, CTM with a valuable evaluation of the meeting. This meeting would also top the polls because of some other wonderful events that took place: Jim Stitt took it upon himself to train new member Dr. Paul Layman as timer, Steve Litt CTM, CL gave a great Grammarian report and best of all Club #28 became richer with TWO new members: Monique Egelhoff and Darlissa Grifith! The State of the Club #28 Union is getting better every week!
With the theme of "Celebrities" for the January 15th 2004 meeting quite a few names were dropped as the evening went along including: Michael Jackson, Britany Spears, Princess Diana, Bob Hope, James Dean, Miss Piggy and Nellie Bly (Nellie Bly?). Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Diana Walley ATM-G, CL as the Toast and Table Topics Masters for the evening kept the famous names coming. Diana had our members answer the question "Let me tell you what it is like to be..." with personalities like Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Madonna. Brian Wheeler CTM had the tough task to explain (as best he could) Michael Jackson. Dr. Paul Layman brought to life William Shatner and Joe Bowie Jr. made it feel as if John Wayne was in the room! Mark Cox CTM became a celebrity himself this evening by giving his CTM graduation speech: "The Right To Vote" The speech inspired us to remember the past sacrifices of our forefathers and to use our privilege to go to the polls. Dr. Ross Thomson CTM gave a truly difficult speech from the technical manual titled "Toastmaster Technologies" which he sold company services to electronic executives. Jannine Ynchaustegui gave a truly excellent speech about the temptations of moving away to be closer to her family over the holidays. In the end she made a courageous choice to make her own life here in Central Florida. The evaluations were some of the best in memory by Adam Scoggins CTM, Ed Carmona and Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL. Ed's evaluation was highly technically qualified by perhaps the only one able to comment on the same level as the speech., "T.G." 's evaluation was inspiring and meaningful. Some more of the highlights of the evening were our guest Marcus Allee taking part in Table Topics, Tseganesh's daughter, Yordanas Gudeta returning back to us to visit (we have room for you in our club!) and Dr. Paul Layman becoming our newest member! The true celebrities of this night were anyone who attended this meeting. It was a blast!
Many times a small core of truly excellent toastmasters will rise above their numbers to create a memorable and exciting meeting. That is what happened as Club #28 started off the new year for the January 8th, 2004 "New Year" meeting on an upbeat and positive note. All of the Club #28 toastmasters had to fill a position of some kind and some of us had to wear more than one hat for this meeting. Ken Walley ATM-G CL covered as the Sgt.-at Arms, and timer, his wife Diana Walley ATM-G, CL filled in as Toastmaster, Ed Carmona was excellent as Grammarian, Laurie Heiniez was superb in performing the role of Invocation and Pledge for her first time, Dr. Ross Thomson CTM was both our Master Evaluator and AH Counter, Joe Bowie and Mark Cox both were awesome as evaluators and Mark served as our Table Topics Master as well. Mark had some great questions ready for us even though he had to put together the Table Topics at the last minute. "Name a New Year's resolution that had the most impact on your life?' was one question. Another question was "What's the worst resolution you ever made?" Ed Carmona gave us a really funny answer to "What is a New Year's celebration like in Puerto Rico?" Both of our speeches on this night were truly worthy of high praise. Russell Russ giving only his 2nd speech (titled "Only One at a Time") gave an impassioned plea to give blood so that others will have it when it is needed. His speech was inspiring and moving. Tony Betts CTM gave one of his best speeches ever when he told about the day a man held a gun to his head and threatened to kill him for something that he had no knowledge of! Tony's speech had us on the edge of our seats! One of the true highlights came from our guests for this evening Darlissa Griffith, Monique Egelhoff, Paul Ena, Jordan Ellington and Tom ? All of them requested applications to join our club! VP of Membership Brian Wheeler CTM and Treasurer Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL will be very busy next week! This was a truly great meeting and a lot of fun for everyone who came tonight. Let's hope that next week we have a large group to enjoy high quality meetings like this one was..
What a joyous December 18th 2003 meeting it was as Club #28 celebrated another successful year with a festive Christmas Party! The patio room was decked out with lights and decorations and Christmas music greeted all those who entered the room. A bounty of refreshments added to the holiday cheer. The meeting started out with our upcoming Sergeant-at-arms Chris Moore opening the meeting. Toastmaster Ken Walley ATM-G, CL preformed the first of many duties tonight by giving the Invocation and Pledge. Ken welcomed our guests for the evening Jordan, Kurt and Club member Russell Russ's Daughter Rebecca Russ and then introduced the Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Brian Wheeler CTM. Brian did a fantastic job as our holiday host! Throughout the evening he told stories of Christmas past and asked many a challenging Table Topic question that kept us in great seasonal spirits. We had two fantastic speakers who brought two wonderful gifts to the party. The first present was from Ed Carmona who unwrapped a speech about perception. Using Chess-pieces as a prop, Ed introduced us to "Joe, Moe, Smoe and Jose" who guided us on an inward tour of self-awareness, self-honesty and self-trust. Our next speaker, Laurie Heinitz gave a remarkable speech that many members will think about for a long time to come. Her speech, "Do We Really Need All That?" was a powerful statement on the dangers of greed. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL acting as an Area Governor, preformed the Toastmaster tradition of the "Passing of the Gavel" Ceremony for his first time. On hand for the Ceremony was Sergeant-at Arms Chris Moore, Secretary Ed Carmona, Vice President of Public Relations, Diana J. Walley, ATM-G, CL, and Vice President of Membership Brian Wheeler CTM (Treasurer Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL and Vice President of Education Tony Betts, CTM are also returning as officers). We had a brief intermission while we waited for the arrival of our President who was running late from delivering toys to disadvantaged children. President Adam Scoggins CTM arrived to wild applause and made this a very special evening for everyone. His 2nd Inaugural Address was full of warmth, positive vision and great hope for our club. By all accounts Adam's speech was a masterpiece that energized all those in the room. After some wonderful guest comments by all of our visitors, the club adjourned for refreshments and conversation. There was a smile on everyone's face who left the meeting this night. The feeling of joy and fellowship that Club #28 created this special evening will be a bright holiday memory throughout the coming year.
The theme of the December 11th meeting was "Nicknames" and our Secretary-elect Ed Carmona sent in this excellent report on the meeting: The Toastmasters may have trickled in, but they left with a bounce and step. As typical at a meeting where great speakers meet, our spirits were tantalized by great words. Today we met in the Patio Room. On the south side of the room was the "Good Doctor" Ross Thomson, CTM who served masterly as Master Evaluator and gave a doctoral evaluation of "Mr. Baseball" Mark Cox's award winning speech ("Traveling To Mars"). There was "T-Bone" Tony Betts, CTM who evaluated superbly even while under heavy medication battling a voice-impeding cold. He evaluated Joe "The Enforcer" Bowie's speech "Zero: The Dangerfield of Numbers". T-Bone won the best evaluator award. "Hot Sauce" Adam Scoggins, CTM with his precise form and condimented sentences evaluated Steve "The Voice" Litt, CTM who gave a tremendous speech in which he summarized his first year with Toastmasters in a speech titled "What to Expect In Your First year as a Toastmaster" On the other side of the room was Tseganesh "T.G." Gudeta, ATM-B, CL who stumped us with all of her inquisitor Table Topics questions. Given our theme of "Nicknames", she asked for noteworthy nicknames of baseball's best from, who else, "Mr. Baseball" and asked the "The Enforcer" Bowie what names inmates give to guards. As far as "The Enforcer" is concerned the only acceptable nickname for him is "Mr.". The award winning impromptu answer came from Jim "The Hittman" Stitt who told us how his nickname evolved in unison with his form- from "Jim Slim" to "Jim Bo"! The speeches came from skilled orators. Steve Litt, CTM enchanted us with his magical voice in his encapsulation of a year in Toastmasters. Even his question and answer session has handled with such organized fashion you would have thought it all scripted. Joe Bowie Jr. gave a memorable speech about the number zero! It take a powerful speaker to take a topic such as "Zero" and give an attention grabbing delivery and speech. Mark Cox gave one of the very best speeches he has ever delivered while pushing the envelope with a speech about the virtues of pursuing a trip to Mars. No dates, no facts, just a persuasive proclamation which earned him the Best Speaker and Most Improved Awards! On the west side of the room were the Three Muskateers conducting their mischief as timer, by Mr. "Hittman" Stitt, and as Grammarian/Ah Counter by "Mr. Mustang" Ken Blake and as vote counter by Eva "Count 'em" Garrick. Oh yes, "Steady Eddie" Ed Carmona took center stage as Toastmaster fopr the first time and did a great job even accomplishing what many other Toastmasters have failed to do: bring the meeting to a close on time! Even our guest Tom earned a nickname: "The Guest"! By any other name this meeting, like a rose, would smell as sweet!
Toastmaster Diana Walley ATM-G, CL had her work cut out for her as the theme for the December 4th 2003 meeting was "Political Correctness"! She did a great job even though the meeting was non-sexist, non-racist, non-sizeist, non-culturalist, non-nationalist, non-ageist, non-ethnocentrist, non-intellecualist, non-ablist, non-speciesist, non-hetropatriarchalist or non-anythingatallist! Table Topic Master Tony Betts, CTM joined in the fun with such non-bias questions as "Do the Politically Correct stifle or protect us?" and "What is the effect in the workplace of Political Correctness?" Russell Russ came up with the best answer of the evening, but much later, Ken Blake ATM-B, CL answered his question "Tell us a non-offending joke?" with a joke about a chicken crossing the road to get to a local Tex-Mex restaurant. We had three more great speeches this evening. Brian Wheeler CTM gave a speech in which he delivered awards to those in his company that had earned honors ("A Keynote Address"). Mark Coxs powerful "The Album" took us back to when music was a driving force in his life, remembering albums like The Eagles Hotel California. Hector Amezquita's wonderful speech titled "The Cause and Solution for Non-Physical Pain" explored ways to overcome fear, worry and frustration. We also had three excellent evaluators with the "two Kens" Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Ken Blake ATM-B, CL, along with Adam Scoggins, CTM. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL gave a good review of the meeting and reminded us to remember that we are friends first and not to get lost in the busy nature and business of Toastmasters. This meeting was another wonderful example of Toastmasters at its best and I am happy to say, no one was offended..
One cannot imagine a more exquisite or elegant place for a Toastmaster Club to meet than the Beautiful dinning hall of the I.W. Phillips House in Orlando at the Courtyard of Lake Luceren. Kudos go to Mark Cox who in the best tradition of Sgt. at Arms, had the room set up and ready for an extravagant evening of Toastmaster skill. Our Toastmaster for the November 20th 2003 meeting was Tony Betts who introduced the theme of the evening: Great Leaders of the Past. Area 49 Governor Richard L. Gump ATM-G, CL was on hand to present the District 47 Top 5 Area Governor Award to Area 33 Governor Ken Walley ATM-G, CL. Many wonderful things were said about ken's leadership. Speaking of great leaders, one of Club #28's great leaders, Mark Cox gave a great presentation of Table Topics complete with excellent, well thought out questions that asked us to put ourselves in the place of leaders like King, Lincoln, Churchill and Roosevelt. Our two speakers were in top form for the night starting with Dr. Ross Thomson, CTM who gave a rather lively speech ("Master Sergeant V.C.") in a "boot camp" mode about the subject of Venture Capitalism. This was Ross's 10th speech, making him our newest CTM! Dr. Ross stated that "the only thing better that a PhD. is a CTM!" Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave a very funny humorous speech ("Just A Moment of Your Time!") in which his pro-telephone solicitation speech kept getting interrupted by phone salesmen. This meeting had so many highlights you could write an entire manuscript on it, but briefly, here are some other great moments: Diana Walley ATM-G, CL was the Master Evaluator to two excellent Evaluations by Adam Scoggins CTM and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL. Joe Bowie Jr. usual excellence as timer along with his winning Table Topic answer to the question "Do we need Healing?" was another bright spot. Ava Garrick trained as AH Counter and survived her first Table Topic question! Chris Moore was also there to help tally the votes and we even had a visitor, Joe Petersen. Joe made a commitment to join our club at the next December 4th meeting! Someday we will return to this beautiful room and hopefully have another meeting as memorable as this one.
Another Classic Club #28 Toastmaster meeting was held on November 13th, 2003 with the theme of "The Great Outdoors". The toastmaster for the evening was Dr. Ross Thomson who did a great job while weaving tale of survival in the Canadian wilderness! His story included avoiding hunters on a hiking trip, waking up to frozen boots and battling snow drifts. Brian Wheeler CTM brought the Great Outdoors to the library with some excellent Table Topic questions such as "Name 3 things you would need to survive in the Jungle? (Chris Moore answered "Halle Berry, Halle Barry and Halle Barry!" Ken Walley ATM-G, CL told a ghost story when asked to tell a tale he would tell by a campfire. All of our speeches were simply excellent and very different from each other. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL started out the speech with a tough assignment: to explain the art of "Coaching". She role-played with Ross acting as a Human Resource Director while giving advice to "employee" Dr. Thomson. Mark Cox gave a very powerful and moving speech ("Think Hard and Do Not Let History Repeat Itself") on the infamous Wanessee Conference and the capture of Adolf Eichmann. Steve Litt, CTM gave a speech titled "How To Write A Book". in which he gave excellent ideas on how accomplish being an author. Steve brought along the three books he had written along with the great advice. Ed Carmona, Ken Blake, ATM-B, CL and Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL. Each gave high quality evaluations as was the evaluation of the meeting by Master Evaluator Joe Bowie. This was a great meeting and it left one with the feeling of breathing the clean, crisp fresh air on the top of a mountain overlooking the Great outdoors!
One of the greatest Toastmaster meetings in Club #28 history was held at the Orlando Public Library on November 6th 2003 with the theme of "Parenthood". One of the reasons that this meeting will be remembered for a long time to come was the absolutely fantastic effort by our Toastmaster for the night Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL. Her stories of past memories growing up and challenging her parents weaved a humorous and wonderful depiction of the pitfalls of parenthood. One example was the story she told of "hitting the gas instead of the break" and driving her mom through the front of the house. Joe Bowie Jr. added to the theme with some excellent questions on Parenthood that included questions on "First Childbirth stories", "Sibling Rivalries", "Things your parents said but you swore you would never say to your kids" and "Things they did better than us". The hardest question went to Ed Carmona who had to answer "What would it be like to lose a child?" Ed did a great job with a topic that would be beyond words for most people. We again had four great speakers and four great speeches! Chris Moore gave a wonderful Ice Breaker speech titled "Past Present and Future, Never Give Up" in which we learned that he came within "18 minutes of prison and 18 inches of death." in his quest to rise above poverty, crime and drugs to become a success. Mark Cox brought to the lectern a brilliant blow-by-blow description of the assassination of John Lennon. The third speaker was Ken Walley ATM-G, CL who gave a press conference / briefing ("Time For Reason") in which he handled some tough questions about the legalization of Marijuana. James Webb gave a humorous speech "A First Log Cabin" that REALLY brought to life the ways of the pioneers ("The sink n' the stank of the beans n' bacon!" ). He still managed to inspire us even though we were laughing. Steve Litt, CTM was on hand to serve as Master Evaluator and Dr. Ross Thomson, Ed Caroma, Brian Wheeler, CTM and Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave wonderful evaluations. Brian, while evaluating Ken Walley's pro-marijuana speech, ended his evaluation by passing a fake "joint", and the lectern, back to the Master Evaluator! Russell Russ did a great job serving for the first time as our timer. One of the best things about the meeting was when Debbe introduced anyone during the meeting she mentioned how many children they had along with their names and ages. We learned that Adam Scoggins, CTM has young children and a growing family, Diana Walley ATM-G, CL has kids born 10 years apart and Steve Litt, CTM is the father of triplets! For the third week in a row we had more than 20 people attend and that included three guests, Lee Deal, Joe Petersen and Chris Moore's lovely wife, Marie Moore. We are proud that our guests got to see Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 at it's best. I think they will be back.
This week (Oct. 30, 2003) we stepped back in our time machine and went back a little bit more into the past to the 1950's. Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL was our guide and Toastmaster for the October 30th meeting. "T.G." did a wonderful job of bringing us back to the land of hoola- hoops and coon-skin caps! Table Topics Master Diana Walley ATM-G, CL introduced us to some of the great personalities of the 1950's with another rendition of "The Central Florida Dead or Alive Show" tonight we had Tseganesh interview Dr. Ross Thomson as Groucho Marx and Brian Wheeler interview Ken Walley ATM-G, CL as Lucille Ball. Others who appeared on the show tonight were Bob Hope (played by Tony Betts CTM), Kate Hepburn (Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL) and Dean Martin (Jim Stitt). The show was another smash success. Also a smash success were the speeches! Speaker #1 was Jannine Ynchaustegui who gave her 2nd speech "My Peru" which was a heartfelt tour of her homeland. Dr. Ross Thomson was in great form with a humorous speech about earning his PhD titled "So You Want To Be A Doctor!". The humor could not hide however how much work and effort that it took to earn that degree. Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL also delivered a first rate performance with his speech "Simply the Best" about how Toastmasters can improve your life. Ed Carmona, Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL and Adam Scoggins CTM gave, in the slang of the 50's, "really swell!" evaluations. This was another fantastic meeting and it was made even better when Eva Garrick became our newest member! Again we had over 20 people attend the meeting, including 3 guests and no one was disappointed.
The 1970's came alive again thanks to Toastmaster Mark Cox, Table Topics Master Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL and Master Evaluator Diana Walley ATM-G, CL who did a lot of research in order to cram the October 23rd 2003 "1970's" themed meeting with stories, trivia, slang and memories. Mark Cox not only entertained us but kept the meeting on track, and with four speeches to accomplish, that was no small task. Table Topics included questions about the best song (Disco), Morals and Ethics, Best movie ("The French Connection"), Woman's rights and Joe Bowie Jr.'s answer about fashion ("I'll never wear shoes like that again!"). The speeches were brilliant. Steve Litt CTM said that they were "Each of International Contest Division level caliber." Russell Russ started the first of four speeches with his Ice Breaker titled "The Choices and Opportunities We Make, Make Us Who We Are". We learned that Russ has overcome many obstacles and has achieved many goals including surviving a challenging youth and the US Army. We also learned he is married with two daughters, ages 19 and 14. Russ did great on his first speech! James Webb gave another command performance with his speech titled "Shredders and Patchers") about making moral choices. Ed Carmona delivered his speech from behind a mask while speaking on the subject of adopting a self-image ("Kasam") As always his speech had many great quotes, for example" The truth does not hurt. What hurts is the lie you tell yourself." Brian Wheeler CTM returned to a theme of WWII to pay tribute to the generation that fought it. His speech, "A Great Generation" painted a heroic picture of those who came before us. The evaluators had a tough time finding ways for our speakers to improve upon these speeches but they came up with truly excellent suggestions. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL, Dr. Ross Thomson, Tony Betts and Joe Bowie Jr. gave balanced and skilful evaluations. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave another riveting Grammarian report and President Adam Scoggins ran the bell as our AH Counter. We did more in this 70's meeting than just "Stayin' Alive". It was on great night to boogie!
Club #28 was in shape for a phenomenal October 16th, 2003 meeting with the theme of "Physical Fitness". Brian Wheeler, CTM put the club through its paces as our Toastmaster as he gave us a verbal workout in a calorie-burning extravaganza! Who better than the "Mr. Universe of Words", Ken Blake ATM-B, CL to lead us as our Table Topic Master? Ken had us jogging in a fast pace towards fun. Questions such as "Would you please explain and DO a back-flip?" (Adam Scoggins, CTM handled that one) and "Tell us and show us how to watch a Jane Fonda workout video?" got our adrenalin going. Three exhilarating speeches also got the club pumped up. We starting with Laurie Heinitz's Ice Breaker speech ("Tonight is the Night!") which painted a portrait of a bright woman with a "sky's is the limit" future and a courageous spirit. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL gave a meaningful and thought-provoking speech ("Carry's Someone Else's Mat" ) which asked us to attempt to understand other people before judging them. Tony Betts CTM was also at his best with a great speech ("My Ice Breaker Revisited") on memories of how he felt the day he had to do his 1st Toastmaster speech. He reminded us of an emotional roller-coaster that we all could relate to. Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL did an extremely good job as the Master Evaluator ending with an excellent evaluation of the meeting itself. She was helped with three excellent evaluations from Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, Ed Carmona and Mark Cox. All three evaluations were helpful and encouraging and worthy of the highest toastmaster praise. Our other functionaries tonight were: Jim Stittts (timer), Darrin Koltow (Grammarian), Russell Russ (AH Counter), Greg Seibert (Vote Counter) and Chris Moore who did a great job as our Raffle Master. This meeting left us breathless and in peak condition for our next magnificent evening coming up next week!
The October 9th 2003 "surprise" themed meeting was a surprise in more ways than one. First of all, it was a surprise to find out what it was that you were to be doing for the meeting. The meeting roles were secretly assigned by VPE Tony Betts CTM and announced minutes before the meeting started! The second surprise was how great a meeting this turned out to be! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was surprised to learn that he was the Toastmaster, a position he usually prepares for in advance. Tonight however Ken rose to the occasion. Everything seemed to, for the most part anyway, fall into place. Ed Carmona as our Table Topic Master was able to ask questions on any subject including meeting tigers at your door, being changed into a bug and other off-the-wall questions that kept us on our toes. Our three speakers were not surprised however. They were well prepared with some great speeches. Brian Wheeler CTM, gave a speech that will be long remembered titled "A Night to Forget" about the night his store was robbed. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL gave a speech "Building Bridges" that she had just written that she was to deliver to a professional organization later in the week. It highlighted her excellent speech crafting abilities. Dr. Ross Thomson, nearing his CTM, created a "infomercial" ("Is That Me?") about a system that would automatically turn off cell phones and beepers in schools, movie theaters, libraries, etc. What a great idea. Joe Bowie Jr. was "hand-picked" to be our Master Evaluator and he led us through a session with three excellent evaluations by James Webb, Adam Scoggins CTM and Mark Cox. All of the evaluations sounded so polished it was as if they had been prepared for weeks ahead of time. A tip of the hat should be extended to our functionaries: Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL and Jannine Ynchaustegui were our timers; Diana Walley ATM-G, CL served as Grammarian, Laurie Heinitz was our AH Counter and Russell Russ was our Vote Counter. All of them did wonderfully in their surprise roles. It was no surprise that this night was a lot of fun and another great Club #28 meeting.
Ken Walley ATM-G, CL started off the October 2nd 2003 meeting with a promise that this meeting would " Be a fantastic meeting, one of the best ever!" He was right. There was no need to sweat the small stuff as our theme was "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" and all of the stuff of this meeting verged on greatness. Joe Bowie Jr. was absolutely excellent for his first time as our Toastmaster. He kept meeting going at a lively pace with his usual quick wit and sharp observations. We had many of our newer members take part in our meeting. Topic Master Tony Betts CTM included Russell Russ, Chris Moore and Darrin Koltow in the session. Darrin won his first White Ribbon. Both Ed Carmona as timer and Brian Wheeler, CTM as Grammarian were training new members. Our Speeches also featured a new member giving her Ice Breaker, Jannine Ynchaustegui. Jannine gave a powerful speech ("What is Important to Me") that pained the picture of a bright and courageous young woman from Peru who has come to make a great future in America. It was a wonderful homecoming for Club #28 member James Webb who gave a contest-worthy speech titled "County Fair" which compared his ups and down of life to a county fair with fun houses and roller coasters. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave a fun technical speech that taught us the inside story of how to paint a car ("Painting a Car"). Ken used props to bring home the points of his informative and interesting speech. Dr. Ross Thomson, Diana Walley ATM-G, CL and Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL all gave tremendous evaluations that made the job of Master Evaluator Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL look easy. Hector Amezquita sadly announced that he would be leaving us for another month to visit his native county of Guatemala but he said that he would be back by December. President Adam Scoggins CTM spoke for everyone when he said that this meeting was a true highlight of the week and that Club #28 was a great place to be tonight.
Our September 25th 2003 meeting had a few challenges. For starters, all of the meeting rooms at the library were booked so Club #28 had the meeting at the Piccadilly Cafeteria on Colonial Drive. Our second "challenge" was a a loud, obnoxious group meeting next door to us with a loudspeaker that we had to compete with. If you have read any of these Past Meeting notices, you will know that Club #28 overcame all adversity and ended up having a great meeting after all! The theme of the meeting was "Love" and Diana Walley ATM-G, CL put her heart and soul into her effort as Toastmaster and did a great job the entire evening. Her excellent story about "the eight cow wife" set a wonderful tone for the evening. Her husband, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL stayed with the theme as the Table Topic Master and he got new members Laurie Heinitz and Jannine Ynchaustegui involved with such questions as "What is Love?" and "Name three things that have brought you joy and why?" Joe Bowie Jr. gave a great answer to the question " Can You Love too much?" All three speeches were magnificent! Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL started off with an excellent speech about why we join toastmasters and, some reasons that may not be the best reasons. "We join Toastmasters to grow and improve ourselves, and to help others." She said. Jim Stitt gave an Icebreaker that had everything: humor, drama and even a lesson on SCUBA diving. Congratulations Jim! Hector Amezquita rose to the occasion with an uplifting speech titled "Happiness" Said Hector: "Happiness is what a person individually defines as happiness. There are 6.5 Billion definitions, the population of the earth!" Tony Betts, CTMas the Master Evaluator introduced three great evaluators who all gave excellent evaluations. Brian Wheeler, CTM, Adam Scoggins, CTM and Ed Carmona. Many thanks go out to Ken Blake ATM-B, CL, Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL and everyone else who pitched in to make this meeting a success. It will be nice to return "home" next week to out cozy, quiet library.
Dennis Gola, ATM-S, CL is getting used to coming in to a Club #28 meeting and finding out that the Toastmaster was unable to make it at the last minute, and volunteering to cover that position. What Club #28 will never get used to is how well he does it! Dennis put on a remarkable show as our Toastmaster for the September 18th 2003 "Annoying/ Excellent Co-worker" themed meeting. Also performing a role with exceptional skill was Dr. Ross Thomson who did a great job as our Table Topic Master. Toastmaster Ken Walley ATM-G, CL answered Ross's question "Tell us about an annoying boss?" with an answer about a "Boggy-man" Boss who thought he knew everything. We only had two speakers on this night but they were both excellent: Diana Walley ATM-G, CL who gave a speech about selling a self defense protection program to a realtor council called "Is It Safe to Sell a House?" and Toastmaster Ed Carmona gave a contest-quality speech about what is important in life as he pulled mementos and memories from "The Box in the Corner". Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave another awesome display as Master Evaluator and he had the support of both the other Ken and Joe Bowie Jr. who both gave tremendous reviews of the speeches. It was also brought to the attention of the club that Joe along with Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL had completed a successful Speechcraft Program at the 33rd Street Correctional Institute. Congratulations Joe and Debbe you have made not only our club and Area proud, but you set a great example for others clubs as well. It was announced that Club #28 has three new members: Jannine Ynchaustegui, who trained as Grammarian with Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL, Laurie Heinitz, who joined last week and Darrin Koltow who joined with Jannine before the meeting started. It was also announced that Steve Litt, CTM won the Area 49 Evaluation Contest for Club #28! We thank all of the people who made this meeting possible because it was a great one!
One of the best meetings that Club #28 ever had was on September 11th, 2003 even though the date marked the sad tragedy of two years ago. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was the Toastmaster for the evening for a meeting that had the theme, appropriately enough, "Life Altering Events". Ken brought up many examples of things that changed his life and memories large and small that effect all of us from major news stories to personal events. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL was on hand to present her Central Florida Dead or Alive Show for table topics which saw Thomas Edison, Martin Luther King Jr. and Helen Keller visit Club #28. Ken W. and Adam Scoggins, CTM were voted best Table Topics with a great imitation of Arnold Scwarzenager by Adam. All of our speeches tonight were all 1st rate! Brian Wheeler CTM gave a great speech which had us laughing titled "Making the Best of Bad Situation" His speech was witty, captivating and full of surprises. It was the winner of the "best speech" ribbon. Adam Scoggins CTM came through with a speech titled "Imagination" which brought to life some of the scarier parts of the 1971 movie "The Exorcist" . "Dr. Ross Thomson's excellent speech "A Good Student" was a warning about a dictator with a history of human rights violations becoming the President of the Guatemalan Government. Filling the role of the Master Evaluator for the first time was toastmaster Joe Bowie Jr. who did a great job at his new post. He introduced Ed Carmona who evaluated for the first time also. Ed evaluation of Brian's speech was excellent. Mark Cox and Tseganesh Gudeta, ATM-B, CL also excelled with great evaluations. All in all this was a meeting that will be remembered while not as a life altering event, but as a rewarding Toastmaster meeting.
Another great meeting got underway when Mark Cox called the meeting to order on September 4th 2003. The theme was "Community Involvement" which many thought might be a boring theme turned out to be a very interesting and emotional topic. Toastmaster Ken Blake ATM-B, CL added insight and numerous examples of how people help make our world a better place to live. Ed Carmona carried on the theme with another well though-out, even philosophical, table session. The questions challenged us to think about a world beyond our lives. It was a great job by Ed. Also doing excellent work this night were our three speakers. Joe Bowie Jr. gave a moving presentation "Remembering a Good Friend" which was an eulogy for the family's pet cat. Dr. Ross Thomson also gave a great speech. Diana Walley's (ATM-G, CL) speech ("Keep 'em Guessin'") showed us three ways to sell an idea, in this case, Satellite TV. The evaluations were all excellent! Tony Betts, CTM evaluation won out over two other outstanding evaluations by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL. Jim Stitt worked for the first time as our Grammarian and Brian Wheeler, CTM also did a great job wearing two hats as Invocation and AH Counter. It was also announced that Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL had just received an appointment from District Governor Margaret Wan, DTM as the new Area 33 Governor. He was given a standing ovation. Felling the pride of doing good for others was just one of the wonderful reasons to have been at this excellent toastmaster meeting.
The Good News was that the August 28th 2003 "Good News / Bad News" Themed meeting was great! The Bad News? Well, there was no bad news. The meeting started out with an excellent Invocation and pledge by Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL Our President Adam Scoggins, CTM announced that Tony Betts, CTM would be replacing James Webb, who took a job in Jacksonville last week as the Vice President of Education. Also Ken Walley ATM-G, CL has stepped down as VP of Public Relations so that he could give more time to his Assistant Area 49 Governor duties. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL will be replacing her husband in that role. The club approved the changes. We also saw new faces answer some tough questions by Topic Master Joseph Bowie Jr. including new members Greg Siebert and Rich Bomayr. All three of our speeches were excellent. Brian Wheeler's (CTM) intense re-telling of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis had his audience riveted to his every word of heroism and valor. Who but Tony Betts, CTM could come through with another great speech only one week after winning the Humorous Speech contest? His speech this night centered on how we can all make silly mistakes and even be better for it. Tony had a great line in his speech: " There are whole planets out there with entire populations who have never locked their keys in their cars while the car was running!" Mark Cox's speech "Bobby Thompson's Shot Heard Round the World!" brought to life one of the most enduring baseball legends of all time. Besides giving a great speech Mark also gave a command performance as our Toastmaster for his first time ever! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL also wore two hats. Master Evaluator and Evaluator for Brian's speech but it was Dr. Ross Thomson who beat out Ken and Adam with his fair and insightful evaluation of Mark's speech. There is more good news: we have another great meeting, like this one was, next week!
The Patio room was crowded with club members, visitors and dignitaries for the 2003 Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 Humorous Speech and Evaluation contest. Club #28 did not disappoint as both contests held this night would be two of the best ever produced, not only for the club, but for the entire Area 49 as well! Ken Blake ATM-B, CL called the meeting to order right at 7:00pm and throughout the evening Ken would help keep the contests on track with a jam-packed agenda. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was our contest master and the club was honored to have Chief Judge Jeanine Stroud ATM-B, CL with us tonight to officiate the proceedings. The judges were indeed put to the test in the first contest, the Evaluation contest. Every single contestant was a winner because the caliber of the performances were all of the very highest level. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL; Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL; Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL; Steve Litt, CTM and Dr. Ross Thomson each gave an evaluation of our guest speaker from the Let's Talk Toastmaster Club #4413. Carl Lavoie's speech "Slime From TV" was a humorous indictment of mindless television. All of the evaluators gave great advice and well placed encouragement. While the judges & vote counters were selecting the winners, Contest Master Walley asked some quick Table Topic questions on the subject of "laughter", which was the theme of the evening. Notable Toastmasters such as Amanda Johnson, ATM-B, CL and Area 49 Gov. Richard L. Gump ATM-G, CL came up with some great answers. Those who thought that the Evaluation Contest could not be topped were surprised when the Humorous Speech contest was every bit as exceptional. Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL lambasted the California governor's recall/ election/ fiasco with a brilliant, witty and downright funny speech he titled "Vote For Me!" . Steve Litt, CTM also had us laughing with his speech "Rehearsal" about preparing for a speech and getting caught by those who think you are crazy. Joseph Bowie Jr. had his natural sharp wit, perfect timing and great delivery all working with an ode to the Ball Pein Hammer. His speech, titled "What's Old is Now New, The Ball Pein Hammer and You!" brought out the many uses of the Ball Pein Hammer during a blackout. Tony Betts, CTM wowed the crowd with a speech titled "The Curse of the Toastmaster" in which he brought down a few "great speakers" to earth as he attempted to survive "A world of Ahs & Ums"! Like the evaluations, ALL of these speeches would have won other club contests, even some Area or District contests. They were simply brilliant. Club #28 paid a tribute to our Acting Division 'C' Governor Terry Ingram DTM, and Area 49 Governor Gump by asking that they announce our winners. In the Evaluation Contest Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL took the top prize and Steve Litt, CTM came in 2nd place. The Humorous Speech Contest winner was Tony Betts, CTM while Joe Bowie Jr. was the runner-up. Other heroes of the contest were vote counter Jim Stitt and timers Diana Walley ATM-G, CL and Ed Carmona. Monica Walley, FTM did a great job as our Raffle Master. The winners will now go on to compete in the Area 49 Contest on September 13th at the Center for Spiritual Living (at the corner of Edgewater and Colonial Dr.) at 10:00 AM. Come cheer them on!
Moments before we were about to start the August 14th 2003 "Technology, Advancements and A.I. (Artificial Intelligence)" themed meeting, Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL found out that he was the Toastmaster. Being overworked, with about 2 hours of sleep over the past couple of days, Dennis still did an amazing job of being our emcee for the evening. We had 5 guests and they were delighted by Dennis's sharp and witty "off the cuff" remarks throughout the evening. Members of #28 of course were not surprised at all. We have come to expect this high quality performance from Dennis. Brian Wheeler CTM was the very best Table Topic Master you could ever have had at this night's meeting. Questions like "If you were put in a time machine and delivered to a Mall 100 years from now, what would you see?" and "How has technology changed your life since the 1980's?" produced some fantastic answers. Joe Bowie's answer made us wonder if transportation advancements have made it harder to travel! We also had three very different speeches. Dr. Ross Thomson gave a wonderful speech about his child leaving the safety of pre-school and heading for the "big time" of kindergarten. His speech was both funny and poignant. It was a moving speech about children and adults as well. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL gave a speech called "A Status Report on the Club #28 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests" which was just what it purported to be. Ken told us how we were shaping up for the contest (great) and how the contest worked. Tseganesh Gudeta ATM-B, CL became our newest Advanced Toastmaster with a TV Media editorial speech about the Kobe Bryant case. Tseganesh won the blue ribbon for Best Speech and received a standing ovation. Due to technical problems, we were unable to figure out how to watch her speech on TV, but that fit in nicely with the theme of the meeting. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL was excellent as our Master Evaluator and we had three very good evaluations from Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL , Mark Cox and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL.. Mr. Cox gave his very first evaluation on his mentor Mr. Walley and Mark did a fantastic job. Ed Carmona did something refreshingly different for the Grammarian report by counting all of the sentences for the different members and their grammatical errors. For example: Mr. Gola spoke 90 sentences and had only 6 errors! This was brilliant and it illuminated just how good we are with the use of the English language. We had wonderful guest comments from our visitors and one guest said he would even join at the end of the meeting! We ran a bit overtime because of the length of the speeches but it was worth it. What a great meeting!
Although we were not large in numbers, we had a great meeting for the August 7th 2003 "Pests, Insects and Rodents!" themed meeting. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL noted that things got a little "creepy" during table topics. Here are some of the questions during the session: "If you could be a bug, what kind of bug would you be?" "How do you rid a house of a mouse?" and "How do you treat a bug bite?". Ken Blake ATM-B, CL was a scream as the Toastmaster. He brought little plastic bugs, mousetraps, and stuffed toy mice to make some of his points during the meeting. Ken had tons of interesting bug trivia ("All of the ants in the world weigh more than all of the humans!"). It was the best performance by Ken B. ever as a meeting Toastmaster. He was simply great! We only had two speakers but they were both wonderful. Brian Wheeler CTM gave his first Advanced manual speech from the Entertaining Speaker Manual titled "Very Cool" which had us laughing out loud about the time he was on the wrestling team in school. Next, Ed Carmona gave a more insightful speech ("Use A Ruler When You Speak!") about how we often cheapen the power of our language. "A HAMBURGER is not 'Awesome'! GOD is Awesome! A hamburger and GOD cannot BOTH be awesome!" said Ed. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL was both the Master Evaluator and one of the two excellent evaluators for our speakers. Dr. Ross Thomson gave the other evaluation. We had three guests and they were all impressed with our club and our meeting. One of them them seemed very interested in joining our club. Mark Cox was "awesome", oh sorry Ed, well at least "excellent" as our Grammarian and AH Counter and our President Adam Scoggins CTM did a great job as our Timer. Like little ants we work hard at building great meetings! See you next week!
Club #28 had a meeting on July 31st 2003 that most Toastmaster clubs only dream about having! The theme was "Sports and Children" and none other than Dr. Ross Thomson stepped forward to lead us as the Toastmaster for the evening. Dr. Thomson was exceptional in his first effort at the position. He flawlessly guided the meeting and kept us interested throughout. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL reprised his role as Table Topic Master from last week and asked about sports role models, the thrill of victory and what makes a good coach. All three of our speakers were good role models and delivered some great speeches. Adam Scoggins CTM did a wonderful job with a speech titled "No One Ever Died From Speaking!" He proved that point, and gave a very entertaining speech. Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL was remarkable as always. He gave an Ice Breaker speech that started with the big bang! Sam, you're not THAT old! James Webb gave a speech that he had preformed before as a video-taped presentation for a job interview. The speech showcased James ability to inspire and motivate. Steve Litt, CTM overcame some "stumbles" at the start of his part as Master Evaluator to give a great evaluation of some great evaluators: Tseganesh Gudeta CTM, CL, Tony Betts CTM and Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL. Indeed, it should be noted that the evaluation part of this meeting was one of the best in memory. All evaluators could have won an evaluation contest tonight. It was announced that Jim Stitt had joined the club and as is our tradition, VP of Membership Brian Wheeler, CTM inducted Jim into the club. Ed Carmona trained Jim as a timer. This was another great meeting a series of great meetings. The past four meetings have made me very proud to be a member of #28!
"How is it possible that a Toastmaster Club can create great meetings time after, time after time?" said the Club #28 President, the Toastmaster and the Master Evaluator for the July 24th 2003 meeting. One way to do that is to have Adam Scoggins CTM fill all of those positions.. The theme was "Toys Old and New" but this was no ordinary meeting to be played with! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL also was wearing more than one hat at tonight's meeting. His talents were put to good use as the Table Topic Master. Ken asked Joe Bowie Jr. "Were toys better in the past or are they better now?" Joe gave a great answer reasoning that the toys of the past needed more imagination such as the Superman cape he once wore. "The new electronic games might turn your brains to mush." Guest Jim Stitt also had the courage to answer the question "What makes a good toy?" After the meeting, Jim, a guest of Brian Wheeler CTM became our newest member! The speeches were just fantastic! Hector Amezquita gave his 5th speech since March titled "The Healing Power of Thought". Hector gave some fantastic examples of mind over matter and asked the question of how we can use thought power to its full potential. Tseganesh Gudeta CTM, CL who is marching towards her ATM Bronze, gave a remarkable "press conference" in which she took aim at the tobacco industry. She answered some tough questions with confidence and skill! Ed Carmona outdid everyone with a speech about Partying in Puerto Rico titled "Asanto!" In his speech he formed a "band" of musicians out of Toastmaster Walley (woodblocks), Dr. Ross (percussion) and Tony Betts CTM (bongos) while he played the accordion! It all sounded beautiful! Again we had three top-notch evaluations by the "The Ed Carmona Band": Ken, Ross and Tony. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL was on hand to perform the Grammarian duties with her usual excellence. Another guest Greg Seibert had nothing but great things to say about our meeting and our club. He looks forward to joining our club too! It looks like Brian Wheeler CTM will be busy in the near future! What a great meeting! THIS was a lot of fun!.
The July 17th 2003 Orlando Toastmaster meeting once again "raised the bar" on the quality of a great Toastmaster meeting. This meeting seemed to try to live up to it's theme of "Special Events". Toastmaster Ken Walley ATM-G, CL started off the meeting with a happy announcement that Sam and Debbe Ryan (both ATM-G, CL) were celebrating their 22nd wedding anniversary that evening! Anniversaries, Birthdays, and many other special events were at the heart of a great Table Topic session by Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL Some of the questions really tested the skills of our Toastmasters, such as: "How would you launch the good ship Lollypop?" and "What is the meaning of the Chinese sign of the sheep?" Pedro Cordovas returned to defend his Table Topic crown from last week! Tonight's meeting was also a special event because toastmasters Tony Betts CTM and Brian Wheeler CTM earned their Competent Toastmaster Awards (CTM)! Both received standing ovations from their fellow toastmasters. Tony Betts's (CTM) speech ("B4343") told the inspiring story of a survivor of Hitler's death camps who would later go on to create the 'Make A Wish Foundation' that helps thousands of children stricken with life-threatening illnesses. The second speaker, Joe Bowie Jr. who's speeches are becoming 'special events' in their own right, created a remarkable portrait of the trials of everyday life with his speech titled "The Visit: When Plans Go Bust!" Brian Wheeler's (CTM) speech was an attention grabber from the start! He told the story of Larry Walters and a helium powered lawn chair that took him 16,000 feet up in the sky! Brian also told of what drove him to success in an inspiring speech called "A Person Just Can't Sit Around" Ken Blake ATM-S, CL made the Master Evaluator role another special occasion by hosting three great evaluators: Diana Walley ATM-G, CL, Sam Ryan, ATM-G, CL and James Webb. It should be noted that Club #28 boasted the highest attendance in many months, over 20 people attended! Even better, three of our visitors gave verbal pledges to join! Can we "raise the bar" again next week? We'll try!
"Phenomenal!" said Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL, "One of the best meetings I have attended in memory." "An extraordinary meeting, full of perspicuity and meaning!" said Tseganesh Gudeta CTM, CL. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL called the July 10th 2003 Club #28 meeting "Truly excellent!". Here was a meeting that could serve as a classic example of how Toastmaster meetings are suppose to be. It started with Toastmaster Adam Scoggins CTM taking charge of a meeting for the first time as President. It was a double treat tonight because Adam was also our Toastmaster. The theme of the meeting was "Lotto, Gambling and Casinos". and it is always a safe bet that the meeting will be entertaining when Adam is running the show. Everyone who spoke during the night seemed to be "charged" with enthusiasm . "I think that there is an electrical current running though the lectern!" said Adam. Diana presided over a flawless session of Table Topics. Some of the highlights included Ken Walley's (ATM-G, CL) answer: "In life, you are "the house" and the house always wins." Dr. Ross Thompson managed to speak for two minutes on the "the number three." and our guest Pedro Cordovas won the white ribbon with his answer on how he would spend $300.00. Our first speaker Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave a presentation that featured a video with the same title of his speech, "You Can't Say You Didn't Know". He gave dramatic report on how to cash in on the Baby Boomer Generation by creating a home based business. For the second week in a row James Webb gave a speech that could have won any International Speech contest. His speech titled "Invincible" was an inspiring plea to never give into fear. "Fear is afraid," said James, "Fear is afraid of confidence!" Ed Carmona was next up with a speech that combined Philosophy, poetry, imagery and intensity to create a masterpiece. The theme of the speech was "Conflict and Control". "Conflict is not an event. Conflict is an atmosphere! Don't let conflict in!" is among the many, many quotable quotes from his great speech. As Master Evaluator Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL noted even the evaluations were on the "highest level". Dr. Ross Thomson , Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Tony Betts each gave helpful, balanced and entertaining evaluations. Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL in his grammarian report noted that he ran out of room on his paper with all of the colorful phases he had heard thought the evening! Everyone tonight was at the top of their game. I have always wondered what a meeting would be like if everyone preformed at their best. Now I know.
It was a perfect theme for a perfect meeting. "Summer Fun!" was the theme for the July 3rd meeting and that is exactly what we got. Joseph Bowie Jr. gave the Invocation and Pledge to get us started and then introduced James Webb as our acting president for the evening. James noted that in only a few short months he had already reached (temporarily) the highest office of the "Oldest Toastmaster Club east of the Rockies!" James handled his duties as president very well throughout the evening. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was our toastmaster for the evening and weaved in stories about relaxing at Daytona Beach, memories of summers at St. Augustine and advice to tourists visiting Disney World, among other things. Mark Cox also kept the theme alive with Table Topics as he attempted to work in the more thoughtful aspects of summer. Ken's answer however centered on how he tried to avoid being eaten by a shark. Dr. Ross Thomson gave a different spin on summer vacations with his speech titled "My Summer Vacation". He gave a gripping, and very funny, recounting of his sufferings from "the shingles" while far from home. He painted a vivid picture of how wrong a vacation can go. Next up was James Webb with an awesome speech called "The Trek of Leadership" where he told the story of how he followed the examples of Captains Kirk, Sisco, Picard and Janeway while being an example to his younger brother. The third speech was another good one! Hector Amezquita gave a performance doing his speech "Earthquake!" putting the audience right in the middle of a terrifying event that killed thousands of people in a span of a few seconds. His speech was exciting and riveting. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL, Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL and Tseganesh Gudeta CTM, CL all gave excellent evaluations of the speeches while Diana Walley ATM-G, CL was upbeat and charming as the Master Evaluator. Even Ed Carmona and Joe Bowie Jr. were brilliant as the functionaries. This meeting was summer fun and Joe's wife Rueban Bowie agreed. I think that everyone was glad they came to this meeting!
The Orlando Toastmaster Club #28's semi-annual Installation of Officers and the "Receiving of the Gavel" Ceremony on June 26th 2003 in the Patio Room was an evening that will be remembered and cherished for years to come. Incoming Sgt. at Arms Mark Cox called the meeting to order and gave a superb Invocation and Pledge. In his invocation, Mark asked the Lord for guidance for our new officers in order that they may lead us well. Steve Litt, CTM gave a truly wonderful performance as the Master of Ceremonies. Throughout the evening he touched upon the theme of "renewal" and how not only does our club renew its mission and energy by reviewing the past and planning the future, but so do we as individual Toastmasters. Steve not only gave us thoughts to ponder but also kept us laughing and entertained. He really helped make this evening special. Our two featured speakers for the evening were unable to attend tonight due to last minute emergencies. However as Club #28 so often does, two of our members really came though for the club and succeeded beyond all expectations. First Hector Amezquita gave a moving, thought provoking and beautifully crafted speech titled "Success". Hector stated in his speech: "When we do not enjoy life, we waste it. We do not waste time because time is an eternity. We waste precious moments of the human experience." Joseph Bowie Jr. gave an awesome speech ("Don't Call Me Jail Guard") about respect long overdue to those who redeem, and often save, lives in trouble on the other side of our justice system. Joe's speech was moving and powerful, it was also showcased his excellent use of humor to make a serious point. Outgoing President Diana J. Walley, ATM-G, CL delivered a "Farewell Address" that will be long remembered for its wonderful praise of Club 28, the inspiring call to take risks and to never stop learning and growing. Area 49 Governor Elect Richard L. Gump ATM-G, CL was on hand to administer the "Receiving of the Gavel" Ceremony and Install our new officers. New Sgt. at Arms Mark Cox, Treasurer Deborah Ryan ATM-G, CL , Secretary Tseganesh Gudeta CTM, CL, VP of Public Relations Kenneth H. Walley ATM-G, CL and President Adam Scoggins CTM were in attendance to be sworn in. Of course one of the highlights of the evening was incoming President Adam Scoggins, CTM Inaugural Address. Adam dedicated himself to the welfare of our club and promised that he would give 100% for all of our members. He stated that the focus of his administration would be upon creating a positive learning environment. It is good to see that our club will be in such capable hands for next six months. We adjourned this special evening far ahead of our usual time and the members present were able to enjoy food (provided by Adam) and conversation at the following reception. When we look back at shining moments in our club history we should not forget this night.
Rain poured and lighting flashed as the June 19th 2003 Toastmaster meeting got underway. It was the perfect setting for a meeting with the theme of "Natural Disasters and Mother Natures Fury"! The weather did keep some toastmasters away but a strong group of fearless toastmasters arrived including Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL who stepped up to be our Toastmaster at the last moment. The meeting was filled with brave stories of survival like when Hector Amezquita told of how an earthquake caused massive damage to Guatemala and when Ed Carmona told of hurricanes hitting Puerto Rico in his youth. Joe Bowie Jr. gave great advice on how to prepare for a Tornado and we also learned about fire drills and fire alarms. There were no disasters in the speeches as Adam Scoggins CTM gave his CTM graduation speech "Back Against the Wall" which inspired us to be "Motivators not intimidators" . Diana Walley ATM-G, CL besides being Table Topics Master, also delivered a speech "What's Your F.I.?" Where we learned about our Financial Intelligence. Mark Cox gave us a great speech about overcoming anxiety ("The Fear of Public Speaking and The Anxiety That Comes From It" ) and he did a great job of overcoming his anxiety while presenting it. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL served as Master Evaluator as well as one of the evaluators along with another evaluator who was wearing two hats tonight: Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL. Both Ken and Sam were outdone by James Webb who gave his first evaluation for Club #28 and won the Red Ribbon. Thanks should go out to Ken Blake ATM-S, CL who also braved the weather and Mark Cox who did a great job of setting up the room and having everything ready when we came in. Congratulations goes out to Adam for his CTM! This was a great meeting and smash success!
No two toastmaster meetings are alike and the June 12th meeting was an example of how a toastmaster meeting can be completely different from the week before. This meeting was fun and interesting and well, just a great memorable experience. As a matter of fact, the theme of tonight's meeting was "Memorable Experiences!" One great moment happened right at the start of the meeting as VP of Membership Brain Wheeler was awarded a club ribbon by Area 49 Governor-Elect Richard Gump ATM-G, CL! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was the toastmaster for a great evening of powerful memories. Ken started out the meeting with his most memorable experience: the birth of his daughter Monica. James Webb as Table Topic Master brought out fascinating memories from: Ken Blake ATM-S, CL (Giving his father's eulogy), Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL (Her brother's "15 minutes of fame") Diana Walley ATM-G, CL (Her son breaking his arm from falling out of a tree) and other club members stories. The speeches themselves were also a great memorable experience. Tony Betts gave yet another great speech for the 2nd week in a row ("Get Your Holidays Straight!") His speech reminded us that Mother's and Father's Days should not be taken lightly. Tseganesh Gudeta, CTM gave an excellent rendition of the Successful Club Series "Creating the Best Club Climate" for her first CL speech. Dr. Ross Thomson in his speech titled "Bubble Trouble" gave an excellent warning on real estate investments creating house price bubbles. Mark Cox came through for the club again as our Master Evaluator. Mark had a lot of help from three great evaluations from Steve Litt, Brian Wheeler and Adam Scoggins. Ed Carmona as our timer still had time to bring up a very sharp observation, that "Toastmasters is about listening as much as speaking." Well said Ed! Joe Bowie Jr. and Richard Gump ATM-G, CL made up the rest of what was a great group of functionaries. Our guest Sheffie Blake said that she was even glad she missed her favorite TV show to come! I hope that we made a great positive experience for her, and everyone else, who attended this wonderful meeting!.
Not all of the meetings can be our "Best Ever" meetings or "Perfect" examples of how a Toastmaster meeting should be run. We do however learn from our mistakes. As we learn in evaluating our speeches so to do we learn from our past meetings. In this meeting (June 5, 2003) we learned the importance of creating a positive learning atmosphere and that evaluations should be encouraging, positive and upbeat. This meeting however DID have some great highlights. The first of which was that our Toastmaster for the evening, Diana Walley ATM-G, CL came dressed as her version of "wonder woman" and got into the spirit of our theme "super heroes"! Also in the spirit of this theme was Toastmaster Brian Wheeler who had some fantastic questions for Table Topics. Dr. Ross Thompson gave a memorable answer about his super-powers that included "Doing Good Everywhere, for everyone at anytime." Both Joe Bowie Jr. and Mark Cox also made the world safe for Table Topics with great answers of their own. Mark showed the same courage and bravery as a super-hero by filling as a speaker at the last moment. His speech on Don McClain's Classic song "American Pie" was very interesting and packed with great facts and anecdotes. Mike Hare ATM-B gave another interesting speech, although technical in nature, had good information for creating speech presentation ideas. Tony Betts gave an incredible speech considering that his keys were locked in his car with the engine running while waiting for AAA to come. Tony's speech, also won the Best Speaker ribbon and his car was all right. Adam Scoggins gave another excellent evaluation of Mark Cox's speech to win the Red ribbon. While other problems did arise with this meeting, as toastmasters we should remember that Toastmaster clubs, like toastmasters themselves, are "works in progress". We will always take the opportunity to improve.
For the first time at Club #28 Toastmaster Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL hosted a meeting as Toastmaster for the May 29th 2003 "Theme Park" themed meeting. Sam, you have to do this more often! Toastmaster Ryan "put on a show" and another great performance that included some great theme park stories of the past and present. Mike Hare, ATM-B, incredibly not giving a speech this night, he still astounded us with a thrilling Table Topic session. Some of his questions provoked answers with subjects like "The Hulk" roller coaster, Six Flags over Georgia, Fun at Tomorrow land, Deformed freaks in formaldehyde, and being stuck on a sea bottom. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL made up a theme park ride where you jump off a building and hand-glide through a busy city! Our speeches were just as interesting. Brian Wheeler gave a moving and powerful speech to persuade ("Changing how we view prescription drug use") He speech told a tragic story to persuade us to re-think an important issue. James Webb gave a great speech ("1% More") that inspired us to be like those who gave "1% more" to achieve success. James speech was riveting and powerful. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL made a speech from the Technical Presentations Advance manual informative and interesting. her speech was titled "Building Popularity on the Web". Ken Blake ATM-S, CL did a great job as Master Evaluator in moving the meeting along because we were behind schedule. The evaluations did not suffer however as all were excellent including Tony Betts remarkable evaluation of James's speech. The "new" slate of officers was announced and completed when Mark Cox volunteered to be or next Sgt.-at Arms! All of our other officers returned for a 2nd term. In six months we plan to have all new officers in every position. It was a wonderful meeting in the true tradition of great Club #28 meetings.
When Club #28 wants a great meeting guaranteed it simply calls upon Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL to be its Toastmaster for the evening. What an awesome performance the master Toastmaster gave us for the May 22, 2003 meeting. The theme was "Inventions and Inventors" and Dennis told some great stories about the inventions of Razor Blades, Charcoal, Post-it-Notes, the Internet and Band-Aids, among others. Famous inventors were the guests on Diana Walley's (ATM-G, CL) "Central Florida Dead or Alive Show"! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was the host of Alexander Graham Bell as played by Ed Carmona. .Next, Tony Betts interviewed Leonardo da Vinci in the body of Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL. Thomas Edison made a memorable appearance as played by James Webb. He was hosted by Mike Hare ATM-B. Last, but with more money then all of them combined was Bill Gates who was convincingly played by Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL and "grilled" by Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL. The show was a great success. We had a full agenda and our speeches started off with Ed Carmona's electric speech 'On the Road to Emptiness when we should be on the Road to Fulfillment" the speech was packed with beautiful language and sharp insight. Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL delievered his second Successful Club Series speech "Going Beyond our Club" to earn his Competent Leader Award! Mike Hare ATM-B, stepped up for the 4th time in four weeks to do a speech. This time ("Thinking Inside The Box: The Scanner") he explained the scanner as a Technical Paper. Those who understood his speech should have been awarded a Master's Degree in Computer Electronics. Ken Blake ATM-S, Ken Walley and Debbe all gave excellent evaluations of our speakers. It should also be noted that Nancy Dunn performed flawlessly as a timer for her first time and she also brought her sister Jennifer to the meeting as a guest. This was quite a lot to fit into one meeting but those who were there would agree: it was worth it!
Have you ever been to a Toastmaster meeting that was so good that you could not wait to tell others about it? A meeting that was unique, interesting, informative and fun? Well if you went to the May 15th 2003, meeting of Club #28 at the Piccadilly Cafeteria with the theme of "Food! Glorious Food!", you would have encountered just such a special meeting. Due to the meeting rooms being over-booked at the library, Club #28 had a "Toastmaster feast" at the Piccadilly. Brian Wheeler gave a yummy performance as Toastmaster. He was backed up with a delicious Table Topic segment hosted by Diana Walley ATM-G, CL who asked Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL about his favorite food. Dennis proceeded to give a mouth-watering description of Crème Brelieu a French dessert. Mike Hare ATM-B is attempting to complete the Advanced Technical Presentations Manual in record time He gave his 3rd speech in three straight meetings and again proved worthy of high praise. His speech was on how to beat the odds of the roulette wheel by playing randomly picked spaces on the board. Or something like that anyway. Again he gave a highly Technical speech that commanded attention. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL jumped in to give the second speech, "How to Motivate your Managers" He gave a speech to Motivate that was full of energy and enthusiasm! Ken also served as the Master Evaluator. for a segment that featured Dr. Ross Thomson's excellent evaluation of Mike's speech. He won a "Best Evaluation" Ribbon on his first attempt! Other great delicacies from this meeting included a great AH Counter report by Sam Ryan ATM-G and a wonderful guest comment from our guest Paul Layman. What a wonderful treat!
Have No Fear the "Fear Factor!" themed meeting for May 8th 2003 was one of the best meetings ever produced by Toastmaster Club #28. This meeting had everything! For example Mike Hare ATM-B who is racing to his ATM-Silver, gave his 2nd speech in two weeks, this one "on the spur of the moment". Mike was also our Toastmaster and he proved to be powerfully proficient at both. Ed Carmona being the Table Topics Master for the first time, handled the job better than some DTM's could have. His questions on 'Fear' were insightful and fun. Toastmaster James Webb gave a "recipe" for fear and won the best Table Topic answer. All three speeches were amazing! Mike gave a Technical Briefing on Robotics, selling an idea to a group of Executives. Even though it was "spur of the moment" he came prepared with charts and graphs. Only Mike could have made this presentation so interesting. Dr. Ross Thomson made it really hard to pick a "Best Speaker" with his 2nd speech. The subject of his speech was socialized medicine. His speech ended with powerful plea to adopt a system similar to that in Canada. Brian Wheeler gave a speech that many will remember for a long time to come. He told the story of a family mystery that was solved by the chance purchase of a history book in a bookstore. It was a great story that told of heroes, courage and extraordinary coincidence. Tony Betts gave one of the best evaluations of his Toastmaster career and beat out two very good evaluators, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Ken Blake ATM-S, CL. This meeting was simply wonderful. I wish that all Toastmaster meetings could leave its members with such good feelings as this one did.
I was not there so I am writing from the information that I received secondhand about the May 1st 2003 meeting. The theme was "The Mysterious, Strange, Unexplained and Odd" . Nothing was odd about the excellent job of the toastmaster for the evening, Brian Wheeler. A little strange was the fact that 5 members, Ed Carmona, Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL Ross Thomson, Tseganesh Gudeta, CTM and James Webb ALL won for the Best Table Topic ribbon. Ken Blake ATM-S, CL did the honors asking the questions. The perfect subject for a speech in this night's meeting was "Chaos" delivered by none other than Mike Hare CTM. Another interesting subject for a speech was rendered by Tony Betts who spoke on the subject of Sleep. Both Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL and Ken Blake ATM-S, CL worked their magic with evaluations. Ken and Debbe have given hundreds of evaluations between them, they really know how to help you improve as a speaker. According to all of those who I talked with, this meeting was indeed no Mystery at all. It was a smash success.
The entire Club #28 was "In the Zone" for the April 24th 2003 meeting. Everyone was "on" tonight in an awesome display of toastmaster talent. "The Zone" was the theme and the club focused in on what came close to a truly perfect meeting. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL did the best best job ever (or at least since the last time Dennis Gola did it) as Toastmaster. She added tons of insight, interesting quotes from great speakers and fun. While tonight was Diana at her best, the same could be said for the great job of Adam Scoggins as Table Topic Master. His questions were insightful and interesting. Just ask Nancy Dunn who had to answer "Tell us about the 'Power of Thought' and the 'Power of Believing'?" Her answer won her her first white ribbon. The three speeches tonight were three of the best ever delivered at Club #28. Incredibly, two of them were Ice Breaker speeches! Joe Bowie's Ice Breaker ("My Book of Days: The Early Years") had Joe change hats as he "turned the pages on his life." His speech was done with great humor, beautiful wording and it painted a picture of a full life with some great experiences. The other Ice Breaker was Ed Carmona's riveting and brilliant speech "Words from an Introvert" which painted a different picture, one of a heart full of beautiful words looking for a way to express life. His speech was poetic and spellbinding. Every bit as captivating as Joe and Ed's speeches was Mike Hare's (ATM-B) incredible speech to uplift the spirit ("A Speech to Uplift the Spirit") it soared with encouragement for each us to embrace learning and to better ourselves. Brian Wheeler did a great job as the Master Evaluator with an excellent "meeting review". All three evaluations were excellent. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL was on target as was Adam as they reviewed the two Ice Breakers. However, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL pulled off a feat that has probably never been accomplished before in Club #28's 70 year history: he won his 4th straight Red ribbon. Another milestone was that Hector Amezquita filled the role of timer for his first time and did a perfect job. It may be a long time before we have a truly great meeting like this one, but let's hope not!
"Read all about it!" The "News" themed April 17, 2003 meeting was a great success! Many surprises were in store of us as the evening unfolded like a major news story. Adam Scoggins really put on a show as our "anchor" (Toastmaster) for the night. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL centered his Table Topic segment on Newspaper reporting and Brian Wheeler won the white ribbon with an answer about his favorite comic: "None of them" as it turns out! All of our speeches were headliners. Hector Amezquita gave his 2nd speech "off the cuff" to fill an open position. His speech "Why are we Here?" was excellent and thought-provoking. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL came through with one of his best speeches ever! Just when you thought Ken was talking about himself, you realized he was talking about auto repair!. "I've got gas and I'm starting to leak..." said Ken. The greatest surprise of the evening was when our newest member, James Webb delivered a very powerful and inspirational speech that heralded the coming of another great speaker for our club. Tseganesh Gudeta CTM stood out as our Master Evaluator making the difficult look easy with class and style. Ken Walley, Tony Betts and Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL all gave great evaluations but Ken won Best Evaluator for the 3rd week in a row. Another wonderful surprise was the return for a visit of former Club #28 member Dennis Rookwood ATM-S, CL. Robin Knight CTM, Ross Thomson and Ed Carmona were fantastic as our Functionaries for the evening. This was a great meeting because everyone pitched to make it special. What a great story!
The Patio Room was packed as we had more visitors than members for the April 10th 2003 meeting. Fourteen students from UCF speech classes visited Club #28 to get an idea of how a toastmaster club works. What the students were treated to was a meeting of the highest quality! Toastmaster Steve Litt commented that this meeting was "setting a high standard for other toastmaster clubs" It would be no surprise to find that Ken Blake ATM-B, CL was the toastmaster of a meeting that was entertaining, fun and informative. The theme was "taxes" and the table topic master was another of the Club #28 pros Mike Hare ATM-B. Mike asked some great questions interspersed with interesting facts and new Toastmaster, Ed Carmona, came away with his first Table Topic ribbon while answering the question of "Why are taxes important?" Diana Walley ATM-G, CL gave a "proposal" speech with a question and answer period afterwards. She proposed to move major felons out of county jails to more secure prisons during trails. Brian Wheeler gave his 8th speech which was a another excellent effort. Dr. Ross Thomson gave his Ice Breaker ("Four Values") a remarkable first speech that Ken Walley ATM-G, CL said in his evaluation: "It not only introduced us to you, but it made us feel like we have known you all of our lives." Besides Ken's evaluation Tseganesh Gudeta CTM and Mike Hare ATM-B also gave excellent evaluations of their own. Everyone pitched in from Hector Amezquita as Vote counter to Robin Knight CTM as Grammarian to put our best foot forward. It paid off! Toastmaster James Webb from another club, stated that he wanted to join our club and give a speech next week! "This club is something special." he said.
If "Pow! to the Moon, Alice!" or "Meathead" have any meaning to you then the April 3rd meeting of Toastmaster Club #28 Sitcom themed was the place to be. Even if you are not addicted to cheese puffs and have never had a remote control implanted in your palm- this meeting still would have had the power to keep you wide-eyed and may have even provided a few belly-laughs like an episode of "Steinfeld". What a great performance was accomplished by Mike Hare ATM-B as our toastmaster! Mike battled a tremendous cough but still produced a lively and entertaining meeting as he always does. One of the highlights of the evening was, as always, Table Topics, but tonight this segment was even more special as Dr. Ross Thomson took the lectern for the first time as Table Topic Master. Ross's questions brought about some unexpected answers. One of them, a not-completely- politically-correct answer from Diana Walley ATM-G, CL that won her the White Ribbon. More highlights were in store from our prepared speeches. Adam Scoggins, presenting his 2nd speech in two weeks led off with a strong speech to persuade ("Freedom of Most Speech") which was a anti-anti-protest speech. Our 2nd speaker was also no stranger to the lectern, Tony Betts. His speech ("The Most Important Book You'll Ever Read" ) was on the classic "How to Win Friends and Influence People". This was a speech that many of our members would remember long after this meeting was over. Our 3rd speaker was Club #28's newest member Tim Kennedy who jumped right in with his Ice Breaker speech. Among other items, Tim told of being a springboard diving champion and a financial loan officer. The evaluations were provided by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and Robin Knight CTM. This was a great meeting and a lot of fun. Let's keep the good time rolling with another great meeting next week!
Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was the Toastmaster for the March 27th 2003 meeting of Club #28 that was anything but ordinary. The theme was "Comedians!" and Ken played the part cracking corny jokes and holding a cigar a'la George Burns. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL( Ken's version of Gracie Allen) produced the "Central Florida Dead or Alive Show" this time with Charlie Chaplin played by Ken W. and interviewed by Brian Wheeler, Joan Rivers played by Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL interview by Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and also Eddie Murphy played by Robin Knight CTM who was hosted by Adam Scoggins. The speeches were no joke however as all 3 speakers gave solid presentations from the Basic manual. Steve Litt working on his 6th speech, to "work with words" gave a remarkable performance with a speech titled: "My Army" . He told how his experiences in Toastmasters gave him self-confidence and courage. Hector Amezquita delivered his Ice Breaker speech. Hector showed that he was no stranger to public speaking. His speech covered some of his passion: "thought-power" about which he has written two books! Adam Scoggins presented his 8th speech in which he used a basketball as a prop to create a dramatic flair for a speech about Michael Jordan. As if this meeting was not special enough already, we inducted 2 new members into the club: Dr. Ross Thomson and Ed Carmona! There was even more good news to come Tim Kennedy also joined our club tonight and promised to do his Ice Breaker next week! Word is catching on about Club #28!
Club #28 is growing and growing! We are going to need a bigger meeting room soon! If you were at the March 20th 2003 meeting you could see why. The theme was "encouragement" and on this night, we had a lot of that for our club. We had two more members join our club at the end of the meeting. Nancy Dunn and Ed Carmona joined the family. Any meeting with Tony Betts as the toastmaster was bound to be a great success. All through the meeting Tony encouraged us and gave us some great inspirational moments. Mike Hare ATM-B also rose to the occasion and produced a wonderfully encouraging Table Topics session. A bright spot being that new member Dr. Ross Thomson showed great promise as a speaker and won his first ribbon for Table Topics. Sam Ryan ATM-G delivered his first Competent Leader (CL) speech on the subject of Building Club Membership. He made a very difficult speech look easy and he kept it interesting as well! Brian Wheeler was at the top of his game with his speech "You're in Good Company". His speech dealt with the fear of looking foolish while speaking in public and he had many great quotes of great speakers who have many blunders themselves. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL was arrested half-way through his speech ("I'm Addicted") by fellow Toastmaster Joe Bowie for possession of pot. When it turned out to be a Harry Potter movie he was talking about, Joe let him go. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL was great as our Master Evaluator and so was Adam Scoggins with an award winning evaluation. The room was packed with old and new members. Besides the members mentioned, we also had a return to the club by Robin Knight CTM. Tim Kennedy again returned as a guest and it looks like we might have another new member next week! Ken and Diana Walley ATM-G, CL and Joe Griggs also played major parts in the meeting. It is encouraging to watch us grow as a club. Hopefully someday we will have to book out the Albertson Room for our meeting!
"Fun in the Sun" was the theme for our March 13th 2003 Toastmasters meeting but the fun was really in the Palm Room of the Orlando Public Library. This was an awesome meeting! Adam Scoggins as the Toastmaster brought to life a great subject and really took the "average" toastmaster meeting to a new level! There was nothing average about our speeches. Mike Hare ATM-B gave what many at the meeting claimed would be a winner of any Humorous Speech Contest. His speech "Flathead Shovel" was nothing short of brilliant and side-splitting funny. Brian Wheeler came through with a different kind of speech but just as impressive. His speech "Being Patient Pays Off!" told the story of how working with employees and helping them to reach there potential with worth the aggravation of the learning process. Other highlights included a tasteful and thoughtful Invocation and Pledge done for the first time by Joe Bowie Jr. Table Topics followed the theme and produced plenty of fun. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL told why walking his dog became his favorite "sport". Even the Grammarian report was impressive when given by Tseganesh Gudeta CTM. Mark Cox made the Master Evaluator job look easy but he had two great evaluations by veteran toastmasters Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL. Visitors Ed Carmona, Serena Hudgins and Nancy Dunn all responded with great enthusiasm and expressed that they thought Toastmasters could help them also! Serena paid the Club a great compliment when she said "This club is a place where I feel that the people really care. It is a nurturing atmosphere here." Thanks Serena I hope you join us because I like your way with words.
What an evening (March, 6th 2003)! The 2003 International Speech and Table Topic Contest was a giant success for Orlando Toastmaster Club #28. One of the main reasons for this great accomplishment was Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL our host and Contest Master for the evening. Debbe entertained us and set an upbeat mood for the proceedings. Somehow she managed to keep everything on track during an emotional and exciting night. Believe me when i say that orchestrating 2 contests, 5 Table Topic Contestants and 5 more International speeches (plus 50/50 raffle, timing for the judges, handing out awards and certificates, etc., etc...) was no small task! Great Job Debbe! Debbe could not have done this alone. She had a cast of hard working technical assistants who helped her to produce this "contest masterpiece": Tseganesh Gudeta, CTM and Brian Wheeler were the timers, Joe Bowie Jr. assisted the Chief Judge as the contest's official Vote Counter and Mike Hare, ATM-B and Adam Scoggins served as Sergeant at Arms. Another super-star behind the scenes was Chief Judge Richard Gump ATM-G, CL who also served as our Area Governor to help present the awards. If it were not for the hard work and the determined efforts of this group, the speakers would not have shined so brightly. And shine they did! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL won 1st place in the Table Topic Contest (the question was "My Biggest Regret") over an extremely competitive field. Dennis Gola, ATM-S, CL (who was runner-up), Mike Hare ATM-B, CL, Tony Betts, and Mark Cox (who was appearing in his first contest), all came up with excellent answers. The judges must have had a hard time picking a winner. The International Speech Contest also had five speakers who each gave extremely high quality presentations. These top-caliber speeches by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, Ken Blake ATM-B, CL Adam Scoggins, Dennis Gola, ATM-S, CL and Diana Walley ATM-G, CL were each, in and of themselves, a tremendous positive reflection of Club #28! Once again, Ken Walley, ATM-G, CL came out as the best speaker and Adam Scoggins came in a very close second. Ken's speech was a reflection upon the life of the late Fred Rogers titled "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood". "ALL of the speeches were worthy of the winner's trophy. " said Ken " It is only a shame that we could not have 5 first place winners!" Ken will represent the club at the Area Contest on March 15th. Ken would like to see every member of the club show up to cheer him, and the club, on!
The February 27th meeting was more of a celebration than a meeting as the the theme was MARI GRAS MADNESS! Toastmaster Brian Wheeler got things going by creating a festive mood. Why not? Brian was leaving the next day to go to New Orleans for the real Mari Gras! Adam Scoggins provided a giant bunt cake in celebration of Fat Tuesday and inside one of the pieces was a small doll which Joe Griggs ended up with. By tradition, if the one who finds the doll follows the directions of the one who baked the cake, then he will have good luck. Adam ordered Joe to bring a guest to the next meeting. It was another night of excellent speeches. Adam gave a speech on Hackers on the internet, Mike Hare ATM-B completed his 2nd Competent Leader speech (Being a President's Distinguished Club) and Tseganesh Gudeta CTM inspired us with a wonderful speech on Volunteering. Another highlight of the meeting was a fabulous Table Topic session highly researched and loaded with interesting facts about Mari Gras by Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL. Ken Blake ATM-B put together an excellent evaluation for Adam's award winning speech and Tony Betts came through as Master Evaluator. The club was honored by a visit from Area 49 Toastmaster Legend Gabrielle Mercier ATM-B, CL and the President of Club #129 Travis Warren CTM. It was a great turn out as Hector Amezquita, Mark Cox, Joe Bowie and Ken & Diana Walley ATM-G, CL's all played a part in the meeting! Let's Party!
The February 20th 2003 Club #28 meeting again broke new ground with the "Space Exploration" meeting. New toastmasters jumped in a took a major role in the meeting. Hector Amezquita gave the Invocation and Pledge and got the meeting off to a great start. It was his first time behind the lectern at Club #28. Joseph Bowie Jr. was also impressive with a tremendous effort as Table Topic Master. Mike Hare ATM-B spoke of childhood memories of seeing rocket launches in response to one of Joe's questions. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL fielded a question about exploring the space of a shopping mall parking place. The questions were great and Joe did a wonderful job. Three very different speeches were delivered by Brian Wheeler, Ken Walley and Tony Betts. Brian's speech recounted how Brian and his sister rolled dice for a brand new car on a game show. The speech had us on the edge of our seats. Ken's speech was more of briefing of the "State of Our Club" with a plan to win the Distinguished President's Award. Tony Betts gave an excellent speech about e-mail and and the importance of having real live communication. Sam Ryan ATM-G took the role of Master Evaluator at the last moment and presided over Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL, Adam Scoggins and Ken Blake ATM-B, CL. . All of the evaluations were helpful and had great ideas! Visiting Area 49 Gov. Lani Wynne-Hampton, ATM was able to see the progress of our new members and she was impressed. The meeting ran a bit long and the end of the meeting seemed a little rushed. Even so, We learned a lot from this meeting and the "new generation" of Club #28 played an important part.
The February 13th 2003 "Good Things Gone Bad" themed Meeting really should have been themed "A Good Thing that Got Better" because that would have been a better description of the meeting! Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was the Toastmaster for the evening and he had the pleasure of introducing two new Club #28 members: Hector Amezquita , who joined last week and Joseph Bowie Jr. who joined before the meeting started. Although the meeting was small, we did have two excellent speakers including Mark Cox who gave an brilliant speech on a classic baseball controversy ("Abolish the Designated Hitter Rule"). Adam Scoggins, who was also doing some other jobs tonight, gave a memorable speech comparing a college speech program to the Toastmasters program ("College vs. Toastmasters"). The verdict was that you can gain much more through Toastmasters. Adam was also our Table Topic Master with "Good Things gone Bad" questions, for example: "Name a person who who had good intentions but everything seemed to go bad?" Diana Walley ATM-G, CL gave a good answer with Bill Clinton.. Joe Griggs took top honors in Tables Topics with a great answer about speaking to a group of inmates while working in corrections. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL excelled with an evaluation of Adam's speech and she even did the "Adam shuffle". Steve Litt it should be noted, made an impressive debut as Grammarian and AH Counter for Club #28. This meeting showed that our newer members are stepping up and filling in the roles that make for a great meeting.
From the minute that Mike Hare ATM-B called the February 6th 2003 Club #28 meeting to order this gathering seemed special. Even though there were only a small number of members present for the meeting, everyone was at the top of their game. "Famous People" was the theme and name dropping was the name of the game. Brittany Spears, Dan Marino, President Bush, Alexander Graham Bell and many, many others found their way into the usual toastmaster banter. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL produced one of her best ever "Central Florida Dead or Alive" shows. Mike did a fantastic portrayal of FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover. Toastmaster Joseph Griggs was impressive as the great Louis Armstrong but the winner turned out to be a remarkable performance of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Adam Scoggins complete with accent and muscle flexing. Adam was interviewed by Mark Cox who referred to him as "Mr. Shiver" . Both speakers for the evening turned in exceptional efforts. Steve Litt spoke on why we should use free software ("Always Use Free Software!")and he spoke with sincerity and emotion. Tony Bett's speech was on why we are afraid to speak in front of others ("#1 Fear"). Tony's speech gave his audience a great insight as to how Toastmasters can help anyone overcome a fear of public speaking. Master Evaluator Ken Walley ATM-G, CL related some conversations he was having with famous people to help illuminate how evaluations work. We also had two great evaluations by Adam and Diana. Our guest from last week, Joe Bowie Jr.. returned and a new guest Hector Amezquita was so impressed with our meeting he insisted upon joining tonight! It was Club #28 again at our finest. As Arnold Schwarzenegger said: "I'll be Back!", those of us who were at this meeting, look forward to next Thursday.
When Ken Blake ATM-B, CL spoke the words "Simply the Best!" about Orlando Club #28, I guess he was thinking about the kind of meeting we had on January 30th 2003. The theme was "Fame and Fortune" and a few more meetings like this one and Club #28 will be famous and our members much richer. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL acted as our President, our Toastmaster and even gave a speech. Starting out the meeting Diana called upon Vice President of Membership Brian Wheeler to induct new member Joseph Griggs into the club. It was Brian's first time and he performed the swearing in ceremony extremely well. Tony Betts also performed well as Table Topic Master asking questions on Fame and Fortune. Mike Hare CTM gave his first speech towards his CL with the Successful Club Series project: "Going Beyond the Club". Mike was up to the task of making the speech interesting. Both Adam Scoggins and Diana Walley ATM-G, CL came up with "hip pocket" manual speeches. Adam's speech highlighted a poor example of sportsmanship and how it effected others. Diana's speech told of a recent auto accident and how we often take things for granted. Three great speeches received three great evaluations by Tony, Brian and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL. Tony gave his first evaluation and did a great job. Also Joe Griggs worked as Grammarian and AH Counter for the first time and he too did a first-class job. Joe even brought in a visitor, fellow corrections officer Joseph Bowie Jr.. Mr. Bowie praised our club highly at the end of the meeting. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL did an exceptional job as our timer and even gained a new nickname: "The Guru of Gab." We all became a lot richer because of this meeting!
It was a great honor to have our Area Governor Lani Wynne-Hampton ATM join us for a well attended and never boring Jan. 23rd 2003 meeting of Club #28. Adam Scoggins put his "nose to the grindstone" as our Toastmaster for a meeting with the theme of "On the job! The Workplace and Workspace". The meeting started out powerfully with an inspiring Invocation by Tseganesh Gudeta CTM. Our "hard-at-work" President Diana Walley ATM-G, CL introduced Adam who told a number of tales about being on the job. Mike Hare ATM-B also rolled up his sleeves and added insight with his Table Topic session that covered "What is the strangest thing to happen on the job?" and "What was your worst first day nightmare?" Debbe Ryan's (ATM-G, CL) answer to the last question won her the Table Topic ribbon. Steve Litt gave his Ice Breaker speech while also becoming our newest club member! Tony Betts won best speech with his speech ("Headline News" ) about how America is drifting back into a false sense of serenity in a dangerous world. Richard Gump ATM-S, CL rocked the meeting with an inspirational speech which challenged our club to grow and improve. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and Brian Wheeler both won ribbons as evaluators because they produced excellent efforts and it was just impossible to choose between them. By all accounts this meeting was simply awesome. It goes to show that hard work pays off.
Toastmaster Brian Wheeler stepped up to the plate to conduct his first meeting as a Toastmaster and he did an amazing job at the January 16th 2003 meeting! Brian not only kept the meeting running smoothly but entertained us with many antidotes about life at the "home front". This meeting was packed with great stories, and helpful hints as the theme for this night was "Domestic Life" For example President Diana Walley ATM-G, CL told us that "beer and mayonnaise make great hair conditioners" . We found out more interesting stuff during another informative Table Topic session by Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL. For example we learned from Ken Blake ATM-B, CL that it is best to wash your car from the top down. Tony Betts told us how to survive a crowded household. Our first speaker was Adam Scoggins who gave us a great speech ("How I came to Love the Red Chili Pepper") about the history, and power, of a great pepper sauce. Adam's speech sizzled, like his beloved chili peppers. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL read the classic story "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" as part of the Interpretive Reading Manual. . Ken Blake ATM-B, CL was at his best as Master Evaluator and both Mike Hare ATM-B and Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL gave insightful evaluations. There was much celebration also with the announcement that Joseph Griggs had joined our club! Joe even trained with Mark Cox as our timer! This was another meeting club #28 could be proud of.
Club #28 welcomed in the New Year in a dynamic way with the January 9th, 2003 meeting. One of our most respected Toastmasters Judy Holsclaw CTM gave Club #28 a priceless gift that she had found while trading in her car. She gave to the club two missing awards: one from 1933 that reads: "Orlando Toastmaster Club No.28, 1933: Speaker's Trophy Donated by Howard R. Rybolt" the other was a plaque that read: "Presented to Toastmaster Club #28 for Sixty Years of Continuous Service 1993". Diana Walley ATM-G, CL started off her first meeting as our President by introducing her husband, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL as the Toastmaster. The Theme was "Bumper Stickers and Slogans" and there were many bumper sticker slogans that found their way into the meeting including "Heart Attacks...God's revenge for eating His animal friends." and "If you can read this...I can slam on my brakes and sue you!" Diana was our Table Topic Master and she passed out bumper stickers and had the members comment on them! Another highlight of the meeting was the excellent Ice breaker speech by Mark Cox who mentioned working in the hotel management field, Rock and Roll and a love for Baseball history . Another great speaker was Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL who told us how to un-clutter our lives. Tseganesh Gudeta CTM gave what many consider to be her best speech ever on the Give the Kids the World Program. Adam Scoggins also added to this memorable evening with his first evaluation. It was an insightful and well presented evaluation of "T.G".'s speech. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL also gave a great performance doing three different jobs at once: AH Counter, Grammarian and Timer!
We had three guests, Lucie Castro, Steve Litt and returning guest Joseph Griggs. Joseph said that he wanted to return and join the club next week.! This was a great toastmaster evening with many laughs, many stories and great memories.
The Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 December 19th 2002 Christmas Party and Installation of Officers proved to be thought provoking, interesting, surprising, fun, humorous, moving, emotional, informative and festive! Lights and decorations set the the Christmas mood as did outgoing President Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL who brought gifts for all who attended. Tony Betts called the meeting to order and introduced Ken Walley ATM-G, CL the Toastmaster for the evening. Mike Hare ATM-B gave a reading of a work titled "Harrison Beargron". The second featured speaker of the evening was Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL who added to the Christmas festivities by performing the classic poem "A Visit from St. Nick". Sam also gave some wonderful background information on the Clement Moore masterpiece. Sam's wife Debbe gave her Farewell Speech after serving two terms as our President. Said Ken in his introduction, "If our club had a Mt. Rushmore, Debbe would be on it!" Her speech highlighted the achievements of the last year and also gave some warnings. " Sometimes I get the impression that Club #28 does not like change." she said in a challenge for us to adapt and improve. She warned against the club becoming dependent upon only a few members. She also handed out some well-earned awards. To Tony Betts for "Most Dependable" To Tseganesh Gudeta CTM the "Image" Award, to Mike Hare the "Fast Track" Award and also to Adam Scoggins and Brian Wheeler won the "Rising Star" Awards. Another Award winner, Lani Wynne-Hampton ATM, our Area 49 Governor presided over the "Passing of the Gavel" Ceremony. The highlight of all Installation of officer celebrations is the Inaugural Address of the incoming President. Diana J. Walley ATM-G, CL took over the reigns of leadership with a brilliant speech that covered a lot of club history and gave us a glimpse of the great future. Diana's speech told how this club has overcome tremendous challenges in the past. "I remember when we had five members and we almost lost our charter. Over nine years I have seen this club survive five location changes. We have an amazing ability here, we have an amazing calling here!" Her vision for this club includes reaching standards of excellence, increasing membership and creating a positive learning environment. "I'm going to do things right!" she said. I would be remiss if I did not mention some other wonderful "presents" that our club received on this great evening. Adam Scoggins invited everyone at the meeting to a dinner at the Tijuana Flats restaurant. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and his wife Sheffie Blake, donated a much needed, and very expensive, video camera to the club. Now we can film our speeches and view them later. It was a very special night and it made the Holiday season much brighter! Happy Holidays to all!
If you were lucky enough to be at the December 12th 2002 Club #28 meeting you came away with a wealth of insight as to how speeches are crafted and preformed. There were three speeches by three masters. First, Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave a "sales speech" about a health product ("You are only As Good As your Immune System") that was informative and interesting. Sam Ryan ATM-G gave a very different speech about a special moment in history. His speech, "The 1914 Christmas Truce" added to the holiday spirit. Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL gave an uplifting and humorous speech "You Have to Look Out for Yourself " which reminded us how dreams come true if you can get through the red-tape. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL did a masterful job as our Toastmaster even though she filled in at the last moment. Brian Wheeler came through with a really great Table Topics session on a tough theme: "What the World Needs Now" . Mike Hare ATM-B, also proved a good example to other toastmasters by filling in as an evaluator while also serving as our Master Evaluator. Mark Cox gave the invocation and Pledge for his first time and did a beautiful job. All who attended are to be commended for producing a first-rate, positive meeting.
I [Ken Walley ATM-G, CL] was not present for the December 5th meeting but from what I heard, this meeting had a great deal of Good Will. That is good because the theme of the meeting was "Peace on Earth and Good Will Towards Mankind." Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL started off the meeting with a confirmation of the new club officer slate as was submitted by the New Officer Selection Committee. Debbe had each new officer present speak for a moment on why they want to serve. President-elect Diana Walley ATM-G, CL stated that the leadership program in Toastmasters was a "Hands-on learning experience of organizational skills that could not be found anywhere else." Tony Betts brought Peace and Good Will to Table Topics and Brian Wheeler responded with a New Orleans 1st Christmas story with a mistaken Santa. Brian also gave an award presentation that he will have to give at a ceremony in the near future. He got an evaluation from the entire club and hopefully we helped prepare him for the task ahead. Richard Gump ATM-S, CL gave us a great speech ("My Computer") about the pros and cons of the world of the internet. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL in the words of Mr. Gump: "He gave me an insightful, uplifting and very positive evaluation!" Ken won the red ribbon. New member Mark Cox did a perfect job as timer for his first time in over a year. This was another meeting that Club #28 could be proud of!
The Saturday Nov. 23rd 2002 evening cruise across Lake Dora aboard the pontoon boat Captain Doolittle might well go down as the best Club #28 meeting ever! Captain Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL invited his fellow Toastmasters, Leads and Rotarians for the inaugural voyage of his tour boat. The evening was magical! Along the way we traveled through the beautiful Dora Canal and Ralph kept us entertained with stories, nature facts and local folklore. We had a grand dinner at the historic Lakeside Inn in Mt. Dora before huddling up together against the chilly night to return to the water. On the trip back we were treated to the O. Henry story "The Gift of the Magi" as wonderfully told to us by Sam Ryan ATM-G. This alone would have made for a great evening but it was only the start. From the middle of the lake we watched a spectacular launch of the space shuttle Endeavour. This was followed by two-minute stories by Mike Hare ATM-B (How these chain of lakes were once mentioned as a haven from nuclear attack!), Diana Walley ATM-G, CL, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL (How Ken almost sank a steamboat at Walt Disney World), Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL, Michael Joseph DTM and a Toastmaster from the Lake Mary Club. We stopped at the park by the shore in Tavares. It was lit up with thousands of thousands of Christmas lights. While we were there for a half-hour, we shopped and listened to a band play Christmas music. Also on board were Ken Blake ATM-B and his wife Sheffie Blake, former Distinguished Club #28 President Helen Joseph DTM and club President Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL. We watched the wildlife of an unspoiled Florida as if frozen in the time of the Seminole Indians and we returned through the Dora Canal in the dark of night to the dock at Travares. What a great time and what wonderful memories we will take with us. Thank you Ralph!
Toastmaster Adam Scoggins, in a hurry to earn his CTM, gave his second speech in two weeks at the Nov. 14th 2002 meeting. Adam's speech "Life is Full of Surprises" had many surprises including a story of a shocking washer & dryer. Adam was not finished for the evening he also served as our Table Topic Master and did a great job for his first time at that post. Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL answered the question: "How does being a leader improve you?" with an excellent response about giving back to the community. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL added lots of great humor with an number of bad puns about the theme of "Leadership" ("I was going to bring a few 2 liter bottles of Coke. Then I figured out the theme was LEADer not liter!") Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was interviewed by Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL who acted as a host on a "TV show" for Ken's project from the Television Communication Manual. Mike Hare CTM gave his insightful evaluation of Ken's speech to win the top evaluation honor. Also performing a role for the first time was Tony Betts who served as our Master Evaluator. Tony did a superb job. The best news of all from this meeting was that visitor and past Club #28 member Mark Cox re-joined our club.
Money was the object of our November 7th 2002 meeting and Mike Hare ATM-B, our Toastmaster for this evening, made it shine like a brand new dime. While money management was the key Topic in Debbe Ryan's (ATM-G, CL) Table Topic adventure, Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL saved up a great answer about tipping to win the ribbon. Ralph also cashed in as a winner for the "Best Evaluator" Ribbon. When it came to speeches we had two speeches that were right on the money and will be long remembered by everyone who attended this meeting. Brian Wheeler gave a very powerful speech about the birth of his son only the week before! All of us shared Brian's emotional roller-coaster as his son and wife went in and out of danger throughout the delivery. Adam Scoggins gave a fantastic speech about letting people who know what they are doing, do their jobs. It included a very impressive hand stand. Caprice Martin did a great job as our AH counter and Vote Counter. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL did a good job also wearing two hats. He was our Timer and Grammarian. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL covered two positions as Master Evaluator and Protocol Master. This meeting even had a "Family Feud" segment with the two sides of the room attempting to answer the "Survey Question" of The Four Most Popular Phrases about Money. Both of our guests were impressed, including Nancy McKee, who returned for a second time. This was one meeting so rich in encouragement and fun that you could "take it to the bank!"
It was not a dark and stormy night but, we did have our share of fright for Halloween (Oct. 31, 2002). Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL was our Master Ghost and led us through an hour and a half of Tricks and Treats. Mike Hare CTM had some scary questions for Table Topics but we answered by chasing away the goblins of public speaking. Debbe even broke "The Curse of the lost Ribbon" winning with her reply. Mike gave a speech about smoking in restaurants ("Two Butts in Every Story") which was an after dinner speech that made a plea to defeat amendment 6. As usual, his speech used wit and creativity to make his points. Sam Ryan ATM-G gave a wonderful performance of W.W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw" a frightful story that had us on the edge of our seats. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL served as our Master Evaluator and also gave a rebuttal (pardon the pun) to Mike's speech. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL won with his evaluation and played the part of Grammarian and AH counter. Tseganesh Gudeta CTM did a great job as timer and brought candy as did our guest Patti Peach. Veronika Alexander returned to us and brought a guest also! Tijuana Flats restaurant provided refreshments and even delivered it to our room thanks to Brian Wheeler and Adam Scoggins. It was a great meeting for a spooky evening.
The October 24th meeting had the theme of autumn and even though it was a lot more like summer outside, Mike Hare CTM brought the feeling of fall into the meeting as our Toastmaster. Stories of Octobers past abounded as Diana Walley ATM-G, CL led an excellent Table Topic session. Adam Scoggins told an autumn memory of how he used to scare trick-or -treaters as they came to his front door. There were also three great speeches. Paul Hagge and Tony Betts both gave excellent speeches on the same subject: The snipers who had terrorized Maryland and Virginia. After hearing them speak, you could feel the fear that the killers had created and the relief that they had been captured. Tseganesh Gudeta CTM was at her best in one of her most eloquent speeches yet about the rewards of Toastmasters. It was an uplifting and inspirational speech. Debbe Ryan, Diana and Ken Walley (all) ATM -G, CL gave evaluations that were almost as great as the speeches! Ken made the comment that he looked forward to the new members being able to give evaluations so we could hear new perspectives on the speeches. Brian Wheeler pitched in to cover as Timer and, as always, did a great job. Our autumn meeting was like the season itself: one of the best of the year.
Club #28 has always attempted to put its best foot forward and produce the best meetings that we can. The meeting of October 17th 2002 is a good example of our club succeeding in doing just that. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL led the meeting as Toastmaster. The theme of "Things Are Not As They Seem" found its way into fabric of the session throughout the evening. Paul Hagge's excellent Table Topics provoked some great responses including the winning answer from our guest Steve Shuman. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL filled in at the last minute as a speaker as well as filling in as our President. Diana's speech ("Flying by the Seat of Your Pants") brought up the importance of being ready to speak in any circumstances. Mike Hare CTM delivered another brilliant speech. This speech ("Things I saw and Heard") was about nothing! With nothing as the theme, he still weaved a speech that captivated his audience. Caprice Martin not only gave her Ice Breaker ("A Little About Caprice") but also gave a powerful and moving performance. She showed great promise and courage. Richard Gump ATM-B, CL was welcomed back and gave an excellent evaluation of his mentee Caprice. Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL did more than just give a great evaluation of Mike's speech he also invited us to have a Toastmaster meeting on his tour boat down the Lake Dora canal! Tony Betts returned as our Sergeant at Arms, Adam Scoggins did a great first-time job as Grammarian. We had fun and if you were looking for a fantastic meeting, then things were just the way they seemed to be.
Every once in a great while during a Toastmaster meeting the Toastmaster himself will put on a performance that defines the role. Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL was brilliant leading the October 10th meeting with the theme of "Travel". Dennis took us on a travelogue that included roller skates, coved wagons, skateboards and great information, trivia and stories. His performance was not only entertaining but a great example to all on how to be a great Toastmaster. The meeting was also special because of Table Topics. Tseganesh Gudeta CTM asked excellent questions and put together a session that had some great answers. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL answered with a story about calling the natives of Bimini "Bimbos". Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL also gave a memorable answer about being locked out of his hotel room on a balcony. If anything could make this meeting even better than it was it was the speeches. We had two Ice Breakers! Brian Wheeler went first with a speech ("Heating Up the World") that told of success at a young age as a restaurant owner and entrepreneur. Adam Scoggins Ice Breaker ("Ice Breaker") traced his life from a mischievous boy to a dynamic manager of a thriving business. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL for the second week in a row delivered with a speech ("A Realtor's Woes") that was one of her best efforts ever and had everyone smiling. Diana husband, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was happy about that because he had to give her evaluation. It was also nice to see Ken Blake and Mike Hare CTM give the evaluations of their "mentees" for their Ice Breakers. All did a great job. Caprice Martin trained as Grammarian with Ralph and Veronika Alexander is now a "pro" as a timer. One very impressed guest, Henry Brown said he hoped he could come back soon. Few Toastmaster meetings ever reach the beauty and perfection of this one. Very few clubs are even capable of achieving this level of excellence.
It was more Pleasure than Pain to attend the Oct. 3rd 2002 meeting with the theme of "Pain and Pleasure" We had another small meeting but it was a meeting that Club #28 could be really proud of! Diana J. Walley ATM-G, CL took center stage as our Toastmaster and inflicted both Pain and Pleasure with a plethora of jokes and funny stories throughout the evening. Diana did much more than just a great job as Toastmaster; she also gave a speech and led a "Press Conference" as well. The speech ("Pro Choice or Pro Life?") centered on abortion rights and Diana did a fantastic job of handling many tough questions from our club members. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL also gave a speech from the Television Communication Manual ("Club #28 World") Which was video-taped, played back and viewed on TV. Table Topics was handled extremely well by Toastmaster Mike Hare CTM who asked some very tough questions himself about Pain. ("what have you seen with your own eyes that has given you the most pain?") Ken Walley won by telling of how he broke two of his fingers in work accidents. Veronika Alexander was our Grammarian and AH Counter and did a super job for her first time, as did Adam Scoggins as our Timer. Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL did an excellent evaluation on Ken's speech to win best evaluator. Another nice surprise at this meeting was our guest, Brett Ryan who took part in the meeting with a great Table Topic himself and and wonderful words of encouragement for all. There was no pain, just a lot of gain in this meeting.
The theme of the September 26th 2002 meeting was: "The 'Rat Pack', Las Vegas, Casinos, Gangsters, Billionaires and enough Neon Glitter to make your head spin!" The meeting was almost as entertaining as Frank, Sammy, Dean and Joey in their heyday. Our Toastmaster for this evening was Tseganesh Gudeta CTM. She did a lot of research into the Rat Pack and came up with some great facts as the meeting progressed, for example: The "Rat Pack" got their name from Lauren Becall. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL also kept the Table Topic session on a flashy "Las Vegas" note with questions ranging from "Who is your favorite Rat Pack member?" to "What is cool?" Veronika Alexander's Ice Breaker speech was the highlight of the evening. In it she told the story of how she was unable to accept a part scholarship to an our-of-state university and instead "stayed at home" to earn her degree in Industrial Engineering at UCF. "I did not know it at the time, but it was the best thing that could have happened to me." Said Veronika. We are glad that she stayed here also. Mike Hare CTM gave a very timely speech ("The Important Thing") about being trapped in Las Vegas and unable to leave because the city had not sucked away the last of his money. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL beat out her husband, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL for best evaluator. The meeting was another great example of how themed meetings, no matter how odd the subject, can make for a very interesting evening.
Spontaneity was the theme of the September 12th 2002 meeting of Club #28 and the meeting had many different surprises. Our Toastmaster for the evening was Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL who did a magnificent job of throwing "verbal punches" on a whim that kept everyone alert. "In the spirit of spontaneity" he joked, "I am going to call for 45 minutes of silence to start the meeting." Diana Walley ATM-G, CL came through with the "Central Florida Dead or Alive Show" . Our winners were host Tony Betts and guest Veronika Alexander playing the part of Gladys Knight. Veronika even sang a little for us! Tseganesh Gudeta CTM reprised a "roast" from the Advanced Special Occasion Manual. Mike Hare CTM was at his best in a Dramatic Presentation called "Boris the Spider". Diana Walley sounded a wake-up call about bad Judges in "Why Your Vote is Important". Diana was back yet again at the lectern with an evaluation as was her husband Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Debbe Ryan ATM_G, CL. Four guest attended the meeting: Patti Peach, Nate Williams, Brian Wheeler and Adam Scott. All of them had great things to say about the meeting. The fact is that Club #28 just keeps getting better and better.
Club #28 came up "smelling like a rose" for the September 5th meeting. The theme was "Fragrances" and Diana Walley and Ken Walley (both ATM-G, CL) kept the theme in mind throughout the evening. Diana was our Toastmaster and she gave us a lesson in Aromatherapy. Ken was the Topics Master and required all the members to sample different fragrances including cherry, peppermint, suntan lotion and perfume! It was Mike Hare's (CTM) answer about a "stuffed up nose" that won the ribbon. Even though both scheduled speakers cancelled at the last minute "The Kens" came through for Club #28. Ken Walley gave a speech from the Communicating on Television manual. He produced the "Ken Walley Show" and interviewed his wife Diana. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL showed why she won a trophy at the evaluation contest with an excellent evaluation of Ken's performance. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL gave his award-winning speech (renamed: "The Loneliest Job on Earth" or, maybe "True Confessions".) The entire club gave him an evaluation to help him prepare for the Area Contest. The meeting was a wonderful experience like the smell of a clear, fresh breeze on crisp fall morning.
The Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest on August 29th 2002 was a great success for Orlando Toastmaster Club #28. Sgt.-at-Arms Tony Betts called the meeting to order and Ken Walley gave the Invocation and Pledge. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL was Contest Master and did a great job for her first time. She kept the meeting on time and added a lot of humor herself to the proceedings. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL won the Evaluation Contest after a very close contest in which Tseganesh Gudeta CTM, Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL , and Richard Gump CTM, CL all gave excellent evaluations. Debbe Ryan came in a very close second to Ken W. Amy Gump, CTM delivered an excellent Test Speech for the contest titled "There is no 'F' in Toastmasters" . Ken Blake ATM-B, CL won the Humorous Speech contest with a very funny speech about his days as a Maytag repairman. His speech titled "Is this A Lack-luster Profession, or what?" also had to beat out some very good Speeches. Ken Walley's "We're Rich!" speech and Sam Ryan's (ATM-G, CL) "Men" speech were both very well delivered and had plenty of laughs. Veronika Alexander, who joined the club this very evening, helped out as a vote counter with Caprice Martin. Robert Murphy returned from a few weeks absence to be the contest timer. Helen Joseph DTM was excellent as our Raffle Master. It was a team effort to produce such a great contest. The Central Division Governor Ed Goddard DTM was on hand to be our Chief Judge. Our other distinguished toastmasters who visited were Tom Connery and Abe Jardeneh both from Club #129. Roxie Steadman from the new Cassleberry Club #8945 was on hand for the festivities. Our Area Gov. Lani Wynne-Hampton ATM was also in attendance to present the trophies. This contest was a great deal of fun and all are to be congratulated.
"A Wonderful Experience!" would be an apt way to describe the Orlando Club #28 Toastmaster meeting of August 22nd, 2002. It was a small meeting with only six members present but it was large in talent. The meeting had a remarkable feeling of fellowship and warmth partly attributed to the theme of the meeting which was "Great Friends". Tony Betts gave a great example of how to conduct a Table Topics segment with some excellent questions about friendship. The answers ranged from the Humorous to the Poignant. Our guest this evening Eric Jones won the white ribbon for his answer about how opposites do not attract as best friends. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was the Toastmaster and Master Evaluator. This provided him a chance to accomplish his "Introduce the Speaker" project by Introducing everyone during the meeting. He even Introduced Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg and the Poet Maya Angelou. Best Speech went to Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL for her presentation on the "Lost Art of Good Service". Tseganesh Gudeta CTM came through with another excellent effort by graciously accepting an award for helping children in need. Tseganesh also was one part of three great evaluations along with Richard Gump CTM, CL and Ken Blake ATM-B, CL. Also coming (yet again!) to the rescue of Club #28 was Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL. Ralph was our Grammarian and Ah Counter which he performed with his usual flair. Everyone wore a couple of hats and the end result was another great meeting. It was a perfect example of "Friends helping friends succeed."
The August the 15th 2002, meeting was brilliant even by Club #28 standards. The theme of the meeting was, well, different. The theme was "Furry Little Animals" and the club took it and scampered with it! Mike Hare CTM was wonderful as a Toastmaster and enlightened us on the "Square-head shovel Technique" of dealing with some less-than-adorable small furry animals. Area 49 Governor Lani Wynne-Hampton ATM was on hand for our meeting and even helped out as Grammarian. Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL presented one of the most remarkable Club #28 Table Topic sessions in history. It included "Fuzzy Waszy" the Bear, otters, bats in the belfry, weasels, Ferrets and the "over rated" rabbits. Caprice Martin opened the meeting with an excellent Invocation and Pledge but that was not the only "first" for this club tonight. Tony Betts served as Sergeant-at-Arms and gave his Ice Breaker! Tony weaved a great story of his life from growing up in Miami to raising a family in Orlando, and of course, lots of golf. Tseganesh Gudeta CTM came through with another excellent speech while presenting an award to her most deserving and impressive daughter. Helen Joseph DTM had us laughing with a humorous speech ("I am Computer Challenged!") , which told of some of her recent computer woes. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL gave a dynamite evaluation of Tony's Ice Breaker and won "Best Evaluator". Tony won two ribbons for Best Speech and Best Table Topics. Tseganesh won her second "Most Improved" ribbon in a row Kevin B. McGill and Veronika Alexander were our most welcomed visitors. I wonder what other Toastmaster Club would DARE to take on a theme like "Small Furry Animals"?
The August 8th 2002 Toastmaster extravaganza was a lot of fun and great entertainment. The Theme of the meeting was "Commercials" and Toastmaster Dennis Gola ATM-S, CL weaved in everything from the Pillsbury Dough Boy to "Where's the Beef?" and many others as we went through the evening. Table Topics was "Good to the Last Drop!" as Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL served up some tough questions based on our theme. Dennis won with an answer that included singing frogs and Clydesdale Horses. We had three great speeches. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL spoke about Communication ("Why Is Communication So Important?") which turned out to be a great Public Relations speech for Toastmasters. Paul Hagge gave his 2nd basic speech, "Just Say NO!" and produced a powerful anti-drug legalization statement. Richard Gump CTM, CL returned to Club #28 in fine form with an uplifting "Speech to Uplift" speech that started with some bleak subjects such as the stock market decline and the September 11th tragedy but in the end reminded us of our many blessings. Richard won "Best Speech". Ken Walley ATM-G, CL gave a "Performance about giving a Performance" to beat out Dennis and Tseganesh Gudeta CTM for best evaluator. Tseganesh won "Most Improved". Returning as a guest this week was Delite Debolt and another of our honored guests was Amy Gump CTM. Tonight Toastmasters made us the "Best that we could be."
The August 1st 2002 meeting was the opposite of the meeting of the week before! We had a packed room and 4 guests joined us for a meeting with the theme "Opposites: Apples and Oranges" Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL was our Toastmaster for the evening that included a Table Topic session by Ken Walley ATM-G, CL that featured questions about opposite themes such as: "One man's trash is another man's Treasure." New member Tony Betts won his first white ribbon with the answer to the question "What is so bad that it is good?" His answer? His high school football team! We only had two speakers but they were both excellent. Tseganesh Gudeta CTM did one of the hardest advanced speaker assignments: "The Roast". In her roast she paid tribute to a friend of hers that succeeded overcoming cultural shock. Ken Walley's speech "We Can Go To Far!" was a Television speech about "Homeland Security" abuses. It was good to have Helen Joseph DTM return as our Master Evaluator and also Paul Hagge as our Grammarian. Ken Blake ATM-B, CL and Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL came through for the 2nd week in a row with very good evaluations. More good news was that Jonathan Keaton, Nathaniel Williams, Delite Debolt, Monica Walley and Veronika Alexander were visitors. The best news yet was that Tony Betts and Caprice Martin joined our club! Welcome to Club #28!
The July 25th 2002 meeting was not quite what Vice President of Education Diana Walley ATM-G, CL had in mind when the positions were first assigned a week ago. Incredible as it may sound, 10 different Toastmasters sent in their regrets at being unable to attend this week's meeting. Even that however was not enough to stop Club #28! Although all three scheduled speakers, and the two backup speakers, were unable to attend, Ken Walley ATM-G, CL, Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL and Ken Blake ATM-B, CL all were able to pull out "hip pocket" speeches. Ken Walley's "Orlando: The Land Where Dreams Come True" had Ken selling the City of Orlando as a place to move an industry to. Ken Blake told us why "Employees Are Not What they Used To Be". Ralph's speech: "There But For the Grace of God Go I" helped us to realize that fate plays a big part in our lives. Diana was the Toastmaster and acting President and Mike Hare CTM accounted for the rest of the members who showed up. The theme for the meeting was "Favorite Things" and the meeting was full of wonderful memories and experiences concerning those things that we hold dear. All Toastmasters wore "many hats" during the meeting and even if the meeting was a bit choppy at times, we still had a great time. Caprice Martin returned as a guest and we had Keith Smith CTM visit us from a club in South Carolina. Veronika Alexander also was a guest and said that she would return next week.
Quotes abounded! Shakespeare, Voltaire, Franklin, Lincoln, Emerson and many, many more rang out with wisdom throughout the night. The theme of the July 18th meeting was "Great Minds/Great Wisdom" and it made for one of the best meetings that we have ever had. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL was his usual "Mr. Electric" self as Toastmaster for the evening and his wife Diana Walley ATM-G, CL helped him out with an inspiring Table Topic session that included pearls of wisdom from many great minds such as Franklin and Teddy Roosevelt, Dale Carnegie, Mark Twain and others. Our speakers for the evening had a tough time following a Table Topic session like that but they rose to the occasion with three highly impressive speeches. Dennis Gola ATM-B, CL used Dr. Suess as a basis for an original poem ("How Things Are!"). It showed how you can use humor to bring across serious concepts and great wisdom. Mike Hare CTM gave a wonderful example ("The Look on His Face") of how to entertain an audience by relating a personal experience. His description of a police officer unable to look at his smashed carand the events leading up to it, kept us spellbound. He won "Best Speech". Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL came through with a wonderful "hip pocket" speech about fly fishing and a beloved Uncle Herbert. The speech, "Thanks for the Memories" left us with some great memories of our own. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL made a number of announcements concerning the officer meeting held last week including that UCF radio is going to do 10 spots a day for our club! We had three visitors, Caprice Martin, Dorothy Glover and Tony Betts who all expressed a desire to return and join our club!
Toastmaster magic was "in motion" for the July 11th meeting. Our theme was "transportation" and Toastmaster Bob Murphy kept things in high gear as we rolled towards another great evening. We had three high octane speeches including Paul Hagge's Ice Breaker ("Breaking the Ice"). Paul uncovered some "artifacts" to help us get to know him better. They were a medal (to symbolize "Pride of accomplishment"), a golf ball (to symbolize "passion"), a bowling trophy (representing "friendship") and a Nebraska Football hat (which stood for "family"). With these items we learned that Paul graduated Sum Cum Lade from UCF, hit a hole-in-one, had a best friend getting married and love to watch football with his family! It was a great speech and Paul even won "Best Speaker"! Richard Gump CTM, CL was on a mission to "Motivate the Audience". Richard chose to convince us to "Stop mowing your lawns and let someone else do it!" He gave many great reasons why we should hire a lawn-care service. Not the least of which was: "Why kill yourself in 93 degree heat?" Helen Joseph DTM gave a reading of a Maya Angelou poem and was successful at bringing the beautiful words to life. It was an uplifting performance. Our Table Topic Master was Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL who jumped on the "transportation bandwagon" and asked travel related questions. Dennis Gola ATM-B, CL gave the best answer with a description of "Spook Hill" as the scariest road he had ever been on. Diana Walley ATM-G, CL was the Master Evaluator over a very strong evaluation session. Dennis Gola, Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL and Ken Walley ATM-G, CL squared off, all giving excellent reviews of the speeches. Richard Gump's Protocol Report brought about a discussion about the proper attire for those filling the Toastmaster or Speaker roles. The club came to the conclusion that if possible professional attire is appropriate but not required and optional for Club #28. One of the reasons that the Protocol Master Position was created was so that the club could work out these type of issues. It was a great meeting worthy of any great Toastmaster Club.
The "Receiving of the Gavel" Celebration was a giant success and a night to remember by all that attended. Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL did the honors as our Toastmaster on this special night. Ralph was in great form for the occasion. His talent at hosting an event was never more evident than on this night. With traffic causing havoc with the speaking order and the Agenda, Ralph oversaw a seamless meeting that was one of the highlights of the past year for this club. Former Division Governor and Club #28 member Paul Meunier DTM gave a powerful speech ("Make Big Plans!") which stressed that our thoughts often become reality and that if we can think it we can do it in Toastmasters. Another great speech was by new member Richard Gump CTM CL who asked the question "Why Not You?" He requested that we "spread ourselves thin" to help others and that we can do great things if we apply ourselves and test our limits. New club member Pete Carrion's (ATM-S, CL) "Being an American" really made us think about how lucky we are to live in this great country. It was a moving and powerful speech. Area 49 Governor Mark Adams ATM-B CL preformed the "Receiving of the Gavel" Ceremony as our new officers were sworn in to their posts. Ken Walley ATM-G CL, Diana Walley ATM-G CL, Tseganesh Gudeta CTM, Robert Murphy and Deborah Ryan ATM-G CL all took office. Debbe Ryan's Second Inaugural Address centered on taking what we learn in Toastmasters outside of our meetings and into the "real world". "Using Toastmasters as a tool to better ourselves, and to grow in our everyday lives is more important than winning any awards." said Ryan. One of our guests Dorothy Glover commented that she learned a lot from the meeting and she wishes to return soon! It was an entertaining, thought-provoking, interesting and powerful meeting. This Celebration was a great way to start the new term.
You can never tell with a Club #28 meeting just what will happen. Opposite from last week's meeting, the June 20th meeting had a very good turn-out of members but like last week's meeting we had another fantastic time! The theme of the meeting was "Orlando" and it was a very good tribute to "The City Beautiful" Ken Walley ATM-G, CL stepped in at the last minute to fill the Toastmaster role. Ken was already the Table Topics Master and of course we had a lot of fond memories and high hopes for our city. We of course pointed to traffic as something we can improve on and worried that Orlando might turn into Miami in 20 years if bad trends keep up. Mike Hare CTM and Tseganesh Gudeta CTM gave two very different but two very good speeches. Mike's speech was a roast of a man who really liked to drink and it was hysterically funny. Tseganesh gave another good speech, this time on TV talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL came out the winner over her husband Sam Ryan ATM-G in the evaluations match up. Tonight however choosing a winner in Speeches, Table Topics and Evaluations was TOUGH! Everyone was a winner The club itself was a winner when Toastmaster Richard Gump CTM joined! Now that we have 20 members, we qualify for the President's Distinguished Award. Timing for the first time tonight was new member Paul Hagge who did a great job. Toastmaster Ralph Cowell ATM-B, CL was recognized for winning the "Lake Mary Rotarian of the Year" Award! Congratulations Ralph! It was a great night for everyone who attended!
The June 13th 2002 meeting was one of the strangest, and one of the most memorable meetings in the entire history of Orlando Toastmaster Club #28. The following members filled all of the positions: Ken Walley ATM-G CL (Acting Sgt. at Arms, Acting President, and Speaker #1); Helen Joseph DTM (Toastmaster); James Liebl (Grammarian, AH Counter, Timer and Evaluator #2); Paul Hagge (Assistant Grammarian, Timer and AH Counter); Diana Walley ATM-G, CL (Table Topics Master, Speaker #2 and Invocation and Pledge); Dennis Gola ATM-B, CL (Master Evaluator, Evaluator #1 and Protocol Master). Yet, even with this small cast we managed to hold elections (we had a quorum with the help of e-mail votes) and we enjoyed a great evening of supreme Toastmaster talent. The evening was jam-packed with brilliant wit and eloquent thoughts. Ken read a story from the book "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories" by James Finn Garner called " The Three Codependent Goats Gruff" and Ken's wife Diana earned her 2nd CTM with a speech to inspire called "A Call For Revision!" The evaluations of Dennis and James both could have won evaluation contests and our newest member, Paul Hagge did a great job with his first Grammarian report. It was another wonderful evening. With meetings like this, the room should be packed! It is a shame that more people could not have shared in the fun tonight.
We started out June with a "different" kind of Toastmaster meeting that turned out to be a lot of fun. The June 6, 2002 meeting was a "brown bag" meeting in which Toastmaster Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL had us pull our assignments from a bowl as we entered the room. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL and Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL ended up as the speakers, Mike Hare CTM became the Table Topics Master and Diana Walley ATM-G, CL drew Master Evaluator. Helen Joseph DTM reprised last week's role as Grammarian and AH Counter while Tseganesh Gudeta CTM ended up as our Timer. Tseganesh and Mike doubled as evaluators Again, even with a small group we produced a fun, high quality meeting. Mike Hare had a very funny and insightful Table Topic session in which we were asked to draw figures from shapes and make up a story as we went along. It was a blast and our only guest Paul Hagge, ended up winning the Table Topic ribbon with a "happy face" story. Ken's speech " Albert Schweitzer" was intended to uplift and was about the famous doctor. Debbie's speech "Stolen Identity" was about her nightmare-like problems when another person used her identity and how we can protect ourselves from this growing crime. Both Mike and Tseganesh gave insightful evaluations. It should be noted that the evaluations have improved in this club dramatically over the last few months. The best news yet was that Paul Hagge decided to join our club! Welcome Paul!
The May 30, 2002 meeting started out with a burst of lighting and a heavy thunderstorm that produced a light show in the windows of the Patio room worthy of a 4th of July celebration. Because of the downpour our attendance was small but we still put on a very good meeting. The theme of the meeting was "Hardware" and new Club #28 member Sam Ryan ATM-G, CL came through with a Table Topic session that was very different from any before. We were asked to make believe that we were Archaeologists 1000 years into the future and then we picked at random an object Sam had in a bag. We then attempted to describe the object and tell what it was about. Ken Walley ATM-G, CL chose a ring-like object, Debbe Ryan ATM-G, CL drew a crank-like thing, Diana Walley's (ATM-G, CL) had wires. Some of the answers were no where even close to what the objects turned out to be. Even our two guests Kristy Horth and Marl Atkins played along and everyone had a lot of fun. Helen Joseph DTM was our Grammarian, AH Counter and Timer. Helen did a great job with all three. Both speeches were excellent Diana Walley ATM-G, CL gave a warning about how not all Realtors are alike in a speech titled "A Realtor's Perspective". Mike Hare CTM was at his very best in a speech that would have won any humorous speech contest and yet still showed how dangerous a job delivering the mail can be. Even more amazing was his speech "Postal Horror Stories" was given "off the cuff" as specified by the Specialty Speeches Advanced Manual. Ken was not only the Toastmaster but Master Evaluator and along with Debbe, one of the evaluators as well. Also attending was Helen Joseph, DTM. This was a fun meeting, one of the most entertaining and despite the weather and small attendance, one of our best.
The May 23, 2002 theme was "Great Works" and there were many great works in this meeting. Mike Hare CTM gave us a perfect start to the meeting with his description of his two favorite works of art and he went on to do a masterful job as the evening's "main artist". Filling in the canvas with a masterpiece of a Table Topic session was Judith Martin. It was her first time as Topic Master and she did a great job. Helen Joseph DTM won best speech reading from "Conversati