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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 Angela'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 gre