2011 - Current

With the upcoming Presidents’ Day holiday, the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 February 16, 2012 meeting was all about honoring those “Not So Famous Presidents”. Instead of drawing attention to the Washingtons, Jeffersons and Kennedys, we learned all about lesser known, but, almost equally important historical figures. First time Toastmaster Jennifer Hensley led the meeting by discussing such Presidents as William Henry Harrison, the first President to die in office and also the President with the longest inauguration address (nearly 2 hours) and shortest tenure (30 days). John Tyler, our 10^th President, born in 1790, had fifteen children, and as of the date of this meeting still has two living grandsons! President James Garfield, our 20^th President, was assassinated and died after only 200 days in office, and after serving nine consecutive terms in the House of Representatives. The meeting began with an Invocation and Pledge led by Toastmaster Diane Hart. Table Topics Master Ken Walley ACG, CL led our session with some very thought-provoking questions that really made us look at what does it really take to be a good President. Diane Hart tackled the question of how important it is for someone who aspires to become President to have an education. In her response, Diane mentioned that there are many without a full formal education who have been successful, such as Bill Gates as well as past presidents such as Grover Cleveland and Abraham Lincoln. Education does help to a degree, and Diane referenced President John F.Kennedy. But she also discussed natural talents as well. Rodney Higgins ACB adeptly handled the question of why would you want to be President and why should you do not want to be President. Rodney stated that he would have a "boneyard of skeletons" in his closet. Also, he pointed out the thinking that if you have money backing you, then supposedly you can be a President but that isn’t always the case. Our guest, visiting Toastmaster Norma Wetsill responded to the question about whether or not she would want to be famous. Norma stated that fame is really a two-edged sword, and pointed out the recent death of Whitney Houston and how Ms. Houston had issues with drugs, alcohol and a marriage that fell apart in the public eye. Additionally, Norma stated that she wants to encourage people, and the fame she wants is to live in the hearts of other people. Toastmaster Milka Derisma discussed whether the election process actually picks the best candidate. Milka spoke about the Electoral College and how the process is really a circus-like atmosphere, where punches are thrown and the goals is to make the other person look bad. She would prefer to see a more "humble President." Visiting Orlando Conquerors Toastmaster Club #1066 member Joy Inaitari answered the question about how being a Toastmasters President is like being a United States President. Joy mentioned that each member is like a state, with many personalities. Fortunately, she feels that being a Toastmasters President was a wonderful experience, devoid of power struggles. There were two fantastic speakers this evening. Toastmaster Binh Nguyen delivered a speech entitled “The Nation’s Economy”. This very well organized, informative speech that discussed the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and current and future economic trends. He also discussed how unemployment is going down and that Ben Bernacke, the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the federal interest rates will be kept low until 2014 unless there is surprise growth in the economy. It was an impressive 2nd speech by Binh. Toastmaster Laval Brown CC earned his Competent Communicator (CC) award with an inspiring speech entitled “So What?” Laval outlined his goal of achieving his CC award, how he had a dream to be a public speaker since he was a little boy, and why some people give up on their dreams. Laval reminded us that we have a choice on how to respond when people hurt us, and that we can make different choices than ones that we are perhaps pressured into making and achieve different results. He left us with the thought of “sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn”. Congratulations Laval! Both speeches were insightful and extremely well done. These speeches were followed by two informative evaluations by Ryan Dick CC (for Bien’s speech) and James Waters ACB (for Laval’s speech). Barbara Cusack ACB, CL served as the General Evaluator and noted in her meeting evaluation just how well run this meeting had been. Far better than the administrations of some of our lesser-known presidents. This meeting could have never run as smoothly as it did without the help of our evening’s Administrative Council on Speech Operations (ACSO): Toastmaster Janet Madden kept us moving along as our Timer, Adam Heltemes served as our AH Counter, Malita Clarke CC did a wonderful job as the Grammarian and Veronica Boaz was our evening’s Vote Counter. Thanks all for your help! We had a few guests in attendance, including visiting Toastmasters Joy Inaitari from Club #1066 and Norma Wetsell from the Silver Springs Maryland Toastmasters Club. We also had tow other very welcome visitors Gerry Bryant and Jermey Kiddy. All of our guest expressed great delight in attending as well as hoping to return. ith Called for by Club #28 President Malita Clarke CC was a standing ovation in honor of Laval Brown for earning his CC award. Another strong round of applause was given to Jennifer Hensley who did a remarkable job serving as Toastmaster for her first time! It was a great meeting, and fun was had by all going into the Presidents’ Day weekend! [KHW/jch]

If you wanted to get energized, the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 "Instant Ways to Energize Your Life!" theme February 9, 2012 meeting was just the place to be! Ken "Mr. Electricity" Walley ACG, CL started off the meeting by counting down as if a missile was going to blast off and the high-energy get-together simply rocketed from there. Binh Nguyen, led us with an inspirational Invocation to start the meeting. Barbara Cusack ACB, CL got the room rockin' with some terrific ideas to get "moving and shaking" while defeating the doldrums of everyday life. Barbara gave us tips on exercise, diet and "self-psychology" so that you can do more, do it faster and with extra efficiently! By the end of the meeting, Barbara had the club so charged up that I am surprised the door did not get busted down! Mike King, one of Club #28's very best Table Topics Masters, also rose to the occasion with a powerful Table Topics session. Ken Walley ACG, CL jumped on the first question "What is one attribute for Energizing your life?" with an answer about believing in yourself as a way to becoming motivated. Binh Nguyen was lightening quick with his answer about doing something that he had done for another person without expecting anything in return. He remembered helping his brother with his wedding plans. Also Johnny-on-the-spot was our guest Danielle McKinley who gave an exciting answer about volunteering with High School students by helping them to get internships and scholarships to college when asked if there was a "passionate cause that she would volunteer for." Walk Jones ACS, CL was asked if there was something he would like to explore that he never had a chance to really do. Walk energetically expounded upon how someday he would like to learn to cook a little better and try some new things out in the kitchen. All of the Table Topics answers were truly brilliant and sharp! We had three speeches on this night, which were all so good that they "knocked the socks" off everyone who heard them! Our first speaker, Milka Derisma gave an astounding Ice Breaker speech that highlighted an immense amount of public speaking promise. Her speech, titled "What Keeps Me Standing" gave thanks to the support of her family and her foundation in her faith for being able to make her goals in life a reality as well as give back to the community. After seeing those less fortunate, it is her desire to help others as she challenges herself to reach her own dreams. Speaking second was Club #28 President Malita Clarke CC who took on a project from the advanced Interpersonal Communications Manual which required her to conduct a conversation involving the "four levels of Communication." In her project titled "Conversation 101", Malita had a conversation with Mike King as if they were standing in line for a Rush concert. The conversation went from small talk to fact disclosure, to giving view points and opinions about the upcoming concert. It was even acted out so well that everyone felt as if they were standing in line for the concert with them! Stepping up to speak third was Patti Stuart, giving her 5th speech titled "From the Voice of a Child" . Patti told the spellbinding story about a child that went missing and caused a vast amount of alarm. When Patti went looked outside to find little Scotty, she heard his voice but could not see him until she looked up and found him in a tree! "I just wanted to get nearer to Jesus" the little boy said. The rest of Patti's excellent speech was her explanation of a loving God that is all around us. Those were three truly brilliant presentations. Of course, speeches such as those demanded high quality evaluations. Tonight all three of the evaluators were able to bring to the table wonderful insights as well as praise for the speakers efforts. They were James Waters ACB (for Milka); Ken Walley ACG, CL (for Malita) and Laval Brown (for Patti). Laval also served double duty as the General Evaluator while giving an up beat meeting evaluation. The Fellowship of Listening Collaborators (FLC) should also be given high honors for their work on this evening. They were Grammarian Ryan Dick CC, AH Counter Diane Hart, first time Timer Binh Nguyen and first time Vote Counter Walk Jones ACS, CL all of whom served with distinction. Our two guests for the evening, Danielle McKinley and Cesar Sagaotume both were enthusiastic about the night when asked to comment at the end of the meeting, Both of them saying they looked forward to returning. It was hard not to get energized about a meeting like this!

Things went a little "Bananas", again, for the "Bananas 2" theme meeting of the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 on February 2, 2012 meeting. Coming in with "all new material" on Bananas, was Toastmaster Ryan Dick CC. Ryan had led a "Bananas" theme meeting last July 9th, but he left a lot to cover in this meeting! We learned that India is the #1 producer of Bananas in the world and bananas are the world's most popular fruit. We also learned that Americans consume 25 lbs of bananas per year and that the "Banana tree" is not really a tree but a giant herb... and we learned much, much more about bananas as well. Another toastmaster who went somewhat bananas on the subject was Table Topics Master Laval Brown. His first question evoked the memory of the legendary Carmen Miranda who wore great headgears made of fruit. Laval asked James Waters ACB who he thought, in the tradition of Ms. Miranda; was the most flamboyant and outrageous person in Hollywood. Jamie ignored Adam Lambert and went with Kid Rock, saying that his personality was "really over the top". The second question was directed at Ken Blake ACG, CL. Given the inquiry, "Do you think that the USA is a top 10 banana producer?" Ken said "no" because there was "not that many places to grow bananas in the United States." He did conversely tell us just how hard it is to grow Pineapples, which took him almost 2 years to cultivate! Mike King was asked if he would ever eat a baked or a boiled Banana. Mike, an organic food grower himself, told us he would try anything once. Mike also said that there were 45 different species of bananas that one could grow! Frank Adams CC was asked to tell us a "memory of a Banana Split." He remembered having his 1st at Gulf's Ice Cream parlor on Orange Blossom Trail and Parramore Street. He remembered it was a very special treat for him. Out guest, Betsy Carvajal was asked about her favorite Saturday morning cartoon show in honor of the famous "Banana Splits Show". Betsy could not name one true favorite but remembered enjoying watching cartoons. This was a delightful Table Topics session! Our two speeches where also amazing. Both of them were mini-one person theater productions! Starting with Janet Madden's excellent speech titled "My Life Has Been Somewhat Like a Lucy Show Comedy Act!" Janet told the story of a hot day, a forgotten bra and an embarrassing trip to the mall with her 90- year-old neighbor! Her speech was a hit! It was an hilarious story complete with humor that Lucille Ball would have been proud of and an audience doubled up in laughter! In a speech titled "What's is Your Midianite? How Many Fleeces?" Malita Clarke CC starred in a wonderful performance of the biblical story of Gideon (from Judges: 6-8). She brought the story to life as well as the character of Gideon, a man incredulous of believing that God had picked him to save Israel from the overwhelming Midianite oppressors. Thanks to both speakers, Club #28 had far better entertainment than anything that could have been on TV!! The evaluations were illustrious entertainment themselves with two excellent speakers as well as a very good Meeting Evaluation delivered by General Evaluator James Waters ACB. Jamie introduced Adam Heltemes (for Janet's speech) and Frank Adams CC (for Malita's speech), both of whom gave brilliant advice, feedback and tons of praise for our speakers. The Witnesses of Truth Faction (WTF) was put together with Grammarian Ken Blake ACG, CL, AH Counter Mike King, Timer Ken Walley ACG, CL and 1st time Vote Counter, our guest Milka Derisma. All of them did brilliant work. Speaking of guests, we had five visitors: Betsy Carvajal, Anne Jueng, Regina Cotton and return guests Debra Cornell and Milka Derisma. All gave wonderful testimonies of their enjoyment of the evening's events at the end of the meeting. Milka even announced that she would join next week and give her Ice Breaker Speech! Welcome to Club #28 Milka! The only missing from this meeting was a few perfectly ripe bananas for everyone to eat. One thing is for sure is that this meeting had a lot of appeal! (Get it... A-PEEL!)

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 January 26th 2012 meeting was themed "Unsolved Mysteries!" There was however no mystery as to why this was such a great meeting! The meeting began with Club #28's President Malita Clarke CC giving the night's Invocation and Pledge. The gathering's Toastmaster, Ken Walley ACG, CL was next introduced. Ken told the group about an array of unsolved mysteries. As a masterful storyteller, Ken told us about the story of the abandoned ship the Mary Celeste where the crew just seemed to evaporate and other tales such as the Bermuda Triangle where the ship the USS Cyclops and planes the Star Tiger, the Star Aerial and Flight 19 vanished. Ken covered other unknowns, among them being astronaut UFO sightings, Dark Matter, the Black Dahila murder, Jimmy Hoffa's body as well as the famous ghost photo of "The Madonna of Bachelors Cove". Toastmaster Mike King then proceeded to come in as the night's Table Topic's Master giving us some more puzzling unsolved mystery questions to ponder. Mike asked Toastmaster Jennifer Hensley what her favorite unsolved mystery would be and why. Jennifer responded that the story of Amelia Earhart is her favorite because we really do not know what happened to this great aviator. The only thing that we do know is somehow she, and her plane, fell out of the sky. Returning Toastmaster Jim Stitt was asked about his thoughts on what will happen on December 21, 2012, the oft spoken about end of the world. Jim stated that we will put that day behind us. Toastmaster Barbara Cusack ACB, CL was asked about her thoughts as to why the Federal Government and Wall Street will never let the public audit their books. Barbara believes the reason for the secret books is that all the money is in going to "Warehouse 13, which is almost like Area 51 to pay for the 'Men in Black' bunker, or something like that..." Frank Adams CC was asked about previous civilizations of great intelligence. Frank stated that indeed these probably existed but as a testament to mankind's ingenuity and not ancient aliens. After Table Topics, we were given four wonderful speeches, including fantastic Ice Breaker speeches from newer Toastmaster members Bihn Nguyen and Albert Mitterson. In his speech, entitled “Ice Breaker!”, Bien eloquently spoke about being from Vietnam and painted a vibrant word picture to describe how large Vietnam is … twice the size of the state of Florida. He also referenced three major life events: When he first came to America in 1989, when he graduated high school in 1993, and also when he started his professional career in 2001. Bihn also discussed that he is in Toastmasters to improve his public speaking, and judging from his first speech, he is definitely on his way! Toastmaster Laval Brown, in his persuasive speech named “New York, New York!”, discussed the multitude of reasons to vacation in New York. He brought up many areas to visit in the Big Apple, including Battery Park, Yankee Stadium, the United Nations and our financial epicenter, Wall Street. Laval also made us hungry for New York food, especially the New York styled warm and moist pretzels. What a great image and a wonderful speech! The third speaker of the evening, Walk Jones ACS, CL, presented an informative speech about the Jewish home and synagogue called “Important Rooms”. In this speech, Walk masterfully gave us a tour of the Jewish home. He spoke about keeping a kosher home. The word kosher means “appropriate”, “clean” and “holy”. Walk also provided other images of the Jewish home including setting the table on Friday afternoon for the Sabbath, keeping meat and dairy dishes separate, and the bookcases that can be found in the homes that symbolize studying, reading, and learning. Last but not least, the evening’s final speaker was Albert Mitterson, who gave his Ice Breaker speech entitled “Who Am I?” Albert spoke about being born in India and gave a moving testimonial about how his family helped him learn to love unconditionally, nurture relationships, and helped him grow. He recalled his schooling and the many intellectual discussions that were held at school. He also spoke of being an engineer. But he also provided insight into his thoughts, including learning that leading from the front is the only way to lead. We also learned that Albert is a “geek who loves his books too much”. Great job Bihn and Albert on your Ice Breaker speeches! Congratulations! Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL then briefly told us about other unsolved mysteries, including the Zodiac Killer and Jack the Ripper. He also mentioned some mysteries that were closer to home, including the disappearances of Trenton Duckett, Jennifer Kesse, Tracey Ocasio and Michelle Parker. General Evaluator Jennifer Hensley introduced the evening’s evaluators. Thoughtful, insightful evaluations were given by Ken Blake ACG, CL, Malita Clarke CC, Adam Heltemes and Ryan Dick CC. It was like watching an evaluation contest with some of the best commentators in Central Florida. This evening could have not progressed as smoothly as it did without our Wordsmith Brain-trust (the WB); filling those roles were Janet Madden as Grammarian, Jamie Waters ACB as Timer, Barbara Cusack ACB, CL and Frank Adams CC as the Vote Counter. An incredible operatory work was done by all! Club #28 was also joined by a few guests, including returning guests Jim Stitt, Brian Wheeler, Sean Dunn, Chris Chung and new guests Kingsley Michel, Brian Moore and Minka Derisma. Thank you for joining us tonight. It was a fantastic, memorable meeting and the only unsolved mystery is how can we top it next week? [KHW/jch]

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 Wednesday January 18, 2012 “Those 70’s Shows!” brought back many TV memories for all in attendance. Even though it was sparsely attended it was one of the most entertaining Club #28 adventures in memory. Filling in as Club #28 President and serving as Toastmaster Laval Brown led us down memory lane with his choice of themes and memories of watching All in the Family with his father, who wondered how sweet, innocent Edith could stay with that “meathead” Archie Bunker! (Actually “meathead” was Archie’s pet name for his son.) Laval brought back a ton of memories with such shows as M*A*S*H*, Three’s Company, Happy Days, Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons and many more from the golden age of TV in the 1970s. Ken Walley ACG, CL was the Table Topics Master who himself provided a gigantic share of nostalgia along with his questions. Starting by pointing out that the All in the Family Show was very controversial for it’s time. Ken asked Laval Brown to give us a retrospective. Laval thought the show was exceptional and that the characters seemed very real. He was even impressed with the show’s spins-offs, especially The Jeffersons. Ken asked Ken Blake ACG, CL what his favorite TV show from the 1970’s was. He remembered watching a number of them but fondly recalled Welcome Back, Kotter. Ken said he was often compared to John Travolita’s character “Vinnie”! Adam Heltemes was asked to compare his family to The Brady Bunch or The Partridge Family. Adam said his family was like the Partridge family, or rather the Anti-Partridge family because they were lousy singers! Patti Stuart adeptly handled the tough question about whether 70’s shows should be brought back today, like shows such as Charlie’s Angels and Hawaii Five-0 have been. Patti said that we should leave the shows alone and let us hold on to the memories of the shows as they were. Reviving these shows is not quite the same. Remembering the Carol Burnett Show as top quality entertainment during its time, Jennifer Taylor answered a question about what is considered quality TV today. She mentioned Friday Night Lights and watching hours of it through Netflix! Ken next asked the club’s newest member Veronica Boaz, not only a Club #28 guest but also our newest member, discussed how her life paralleled The Mary Tyler Moore show as a single woman trying to find her way in the world. Veronica spoke eloquently about moving from Montreal to Florida on her own, and working to create opportunities that did not depend on gender, but rather due to excellence. She discussed the glass ceiling that still seems to exist today. We had two excellent speakers in Jamie Waters ACB and Jennifer Hensley. Speaking first was James Waters ACB who gave a speech titled “The Economy”. Jamie gave a thoughtful, thought-provoking speech about the economy and how we got to this point. His speech was a perfect primer for one of the most important issues in this election year. Already giving her 8^th speech was Jennifer Hensley who gave a speech titled “Penny-pincers, Misers and Tightwads” which sang the praises of “frugal zealot” Amy Davis Decision the legendary publisher of “The Tightwad Gazette”. During the speech we learned all kinds of ways to save; such as canning, finding bargains, recycling, reusing but most importantly, keeping an eye on the details. It was an interesting, useful and fun speech! The Master Evaluator was Adam Heltemes who introduced Ken Walley ACG, CL to deliver the evaluation for James speech and Patti Stuart, who was giving her 1^st evaluation, reviewed Jennifer’s speech. Both did fabulous work as did Adam Heltemes who gave a highly positive analysis of the meeting itself. Adam also served on the Communication Improvement Committee (CIC) as the Timer along with Jennifer Hensley to cover the position. The others serving as functionaries were Grammarian and AH Counter Ken Blake ACG, CL and Vote Counter Veronica Boaz. Both of our guests had wonderful feedback about the evening at the end of the meeting. With so few members in attendance on a “special” Wednesday night meeting, it was impressive to have the club produce such a smooth running and enjoyable meeting! We even had Veronica Boaz join our club! Welcome Veronica. It was like watching one of those great TV shows from the 70’s. [KHW/jch]

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 January 12, 2012 “Growing Organic Food for Better Health!” theme meeting was a naturally good meeting. The meeting started with Diane Hart giving the Invocation and Pledge and then new Club #28 President Malita Clarke CC making announcement for upcoming events and introducing the Toastmaster for the evening, Mike King. Mike knew the subject well. Besides educating us on the many benefits of eating organically grown food, Mike also spoke about how gardening creates a sense of inner peace and well being. Mike gave an example of a township in England that had an organic food-growing program that was even shown to reduce the crime rate of the area! Also adding greatly to the subject was the Table Topics Master Frank Adams CC. Frank had some wonderful questions on the subject. Here is a list of the questions he had for the group and some of the brilliant responses: 1.) Question: If you could be an organic food item, what would it be? Answered by Ken Walley ACG, CL who, being from Florida, answered “Oranges!” Said Ken, “You can easily tell fresh squeezed OJ from the store bought.” 2.) Question: Noting that chemicals and preservatives have found their way into many food items, how would you convince a grocer to stock an organic product? Answered by Rodney Higgins ACB who stated that if you make the item sound like it would attract a certain group by placing it in the right spot on the shelf, you could make a profit from it. 3.) Question: Do you trust Science or Nature more? Answered by Ken Blake ACG, CL. Ken brought up the fact that even with all of science’s preservatives, only nature has given us a food that does not spoil: honey. 4.) Question: Have you ever thought of becoming a Vegetarian? Answered by James Waters ACB, CL who said “Yes, but then I also thought ‘Why should I deprive myself of all of this good food?’” Jamie decided against it. 5.) Question: Should there be food that is not regulated or without restrictions? Answered by Malita Clarke CC who said that she took some comfort knowing the certain foods were approved by the FDA or had a seal of approval. 6.) Question: What have you learned tonight from our discussion tonight about organic food? Answered by guest Nathan Bailey who said simply that we should always try to make good choices as to the things that we consume. All of the questions brought up insightful answers from every speaker! The Speeches for this evening were just as astute and entertaining. Starting with Adam Heltemes who was giving his 5^th speech titled “A Tale of Two Grasshoppers”. The two “grasshoppers” mentioned in the title referred to two cannons that were traded back and forth as spoils of war between the British and Colonial forces during the Revolutionary War. His speech featured a vivid description of what it was like to fight in the battles of that war. It was a thrilling, excellent speech that brought history to life. Speaking second was Ryan Dick CC who gave a speech titled “The Walls are Crumbling!” which made a convincing argument towards gay rights, Gay marriage and equal freedoms for all. The topic, which has been hotly debated during the current presidential primaries, was covered in superb detail and with a compelling argument towards protecting (and creating) equality for the gay and lesbian community. With this speech, Ryan earned his Competent Communication award! Congratulations Ryan! The third speaker tonight was Laval Brown, already giving his 8^th speech, titled “Focus!” which admonished us to not go into the New Year blindly, but with a plan and a goal to see what we are able to accomplish. Laval gave the illustration that the New Year should be like "a target in which we focus on our purpose and to totally disregard the other distractions and obstacles." He said that we should use “Focus like a magnifying glass to concentrate our energy and resources to reach success.” It was a very inspiring speech, perfect to get us charged up for the year ahead! Three of Orlando Toastmasters Club #28’s best evaluators were under the guidance of Master Evaluator Ken Walley ACG, CL and every evaluator; Rodney Higgins ACB, Diane Hart and Ken Blake ACG, CL lived up to their reputations as sage advice givers. It was an excellent evaluation segment of the meeting in which everyone gained some new communication knowledge. Another bright spot of this meeting was the work of the Dialogue Enhancement Facilitators (DEF) which assembled Grammarian James Waters ACB, AH Counter Patti Stuart, Vote Counter Malita Clarke CC and 1^st time Timer Bihn Nguyen together. All of them exceeded the highest expectations for any functionary group. Ryan Dick CC was given a standing ovation for completing his CC Award! Also attending the meeting was EJ Jones who gave the speakers encouragement throughout the meeting. At the end of the evening, our only guest, Nathan Bailey gave a memorable endorsement of the meeting. This meeting was just another example of an organically grown terrific, and typically wonderful Club #28 meeting. Yum. [KHW/jch]

The January 5, 2001 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 first meeting of the year was a perfect way to celebrate “New Beginnings!” Walk Jones ACS, CL started our meeting off with an inspiring Invocation and led us in the Pledge. In his invocation, Walk urged us to resolve to take many positive actions in the new year. Toastmaster Ken Walley ACG, CL was able to bring us together to focus on all of the new beginnings that we are afforded with each New Year. Ken reminded us that it was not as important weather or not if we succeed or fail with our "new beginnings, but it is that we keep trying to succeed that is the important thing." Table Topics Master Patti Stuart provided brilliant table topic questions that took us down memory lane with thoughts of buying our first cars, going to school for the first time, and thinking about resolutions. The question was posed regarding which New Year resolution you would like to work on. It was beautifully answered by Janet Madden. Janet said that she works on being a better person. The second question was about a memorable first day of school that was asked of Bihn Nguyen. Bihn said he had both good and troubling memories of the first day of school. Rafael Irastorza was asked to comment on his 1st car. He remembered a beauty; a 1967 Mercedes Benz! When asked what "Animal or Plant best represents the new year" Mike King noted in his table topic response that 2012 was the "Year of the Dragon" in the Chinese Zodiac, which should bring a great year for him. He hoped that it was to be a great year for all of us. There were also three amazing speeches given. Laval Brown presented his seventh speech entitled “Kidney Punches”. This speech covered the importance of the kidneys, dialysis, and an especially good explanation of homeostasis. Most remarkable was the fact that Laval knew nothing about the subject before he sat down to research his presentation and he ended up sounding as if he was a medical doctor! Steve Wood spoke about the Quantum Physics dilemma “The Twin Paradox” of why a twin on Earth would be older than her twin returning from a space flight to a far, distant planet. He gave us a lot of food for thought! Toastmaster Alan Brents ACG, GL gave his speech entitled “Resolutions: Bah Humbug, Or Maybe Not!” that provided us with ideas to take into consideration when making resolutions or setting goals. These included making specific goals, devoting the necessary resources to the project, creating specific deadlines, and not allowing setbacks to get in the way. We had three top notch evaluations from three awe-inspiring evaluators Starting with immediate past Club #28 President Ryan Dick, who is about to receive his CC award – Go Ryan! He evaluated Laval's speech. Our current Club #28 President Malita Clarke CC evaluated Steve's speech and Walk Jones ACS, CL who evaluated Alan's effort.. Jennifer Hensley served as the evening’s General Evaluator, her first time in that role and she impressed everyone with a superb meeting evaluation!. The meeting could have not have run so smoothly without the evening’s Speakers Advisory Board (SPA) which featured Area 32 Governor Ken Blake ACG, CL as Timer, Frank Adams CC as Grammarian and our newest Club #28 member Bihn Nguyen taking on the role as Vote Counter. A special thanks goes out to Adam Heltemes as the AH Counter, who could be heard squeaking away and helping us watch out for verbal miscues. Also on hand to join in the evening’s festivities were returning guests Albert Mitterson and Arzu Mustafayeva. First time guest Rafael Irastorza also visited the club and vowed to return in the near future. Thanks to our guests for attending! Here’s a toast to a New Year and a truly wonderful “New Beginning!”

The December 15, 2011 Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 Christmas Party and Installation of Officers was a festive affair with Christmas music filling the meeting room and the joyful decorations that put a skip in the step and a smile on the face of all who entered. The traditional "Ho! Ho! Ho!" from the acting Sgt. at Arms Ken Walley ACG, CL set the tone for the Holiday merriment and Barbara Cusack ACB, CL gave a holiday message of hope, goodwill and generosity towards others as the invocation. For the last time as Club #28's President Ryan Dick welcomed our guests Nat Bailey and Debra Cornell and explained that this would not be a "typical meeting". With the garlands, stockings, Christmas trees and even an iPad -generated fire that crackled and popped; I am sure that Debra and Nat figured out that this evening was special. What was special was the Master of Ceremonies, Ken Walley ACG, CL a man who has filled this role almost every Christmas for the past decade. Ken announced that just because we did not have a Table Topics Master this evening, that it did not mean that we would not be having some Table Topics questions asked. Throughout the evening asked "What makes this season special for you?" or "What is the best gift you ever received?" or "what would bring joy to you during this holiday?" to Diane Hart, Bihn Nguyen, Barbara Cusack ACB, CL, visiting Orlando Conquerors Club #1066 President Joy Inaitari and Demitri Ganoff. All of them brought a little holiday cheer with their answers. Also bringing good spirits to the room were our two featured speakers. Mike King, giving his third speech from the Basic Manual gave a "financial themed" speech titled "Sound Money" which highlighted the inconsistent history of American currency and gave reasons for a return to a "gold standard" except being in the private sector for investment, and not under strict government regulation. The speech was very well researched, interesting and made some excellent points. Speaking second was Jennifer Hensley who gave a perfect speech for a Toastmaster meeting, especially with guests present. Her speech titled "A Toastmasters Life For Me!" told about the many benefits there is to joining Toastmasters and how being in Toastmasters, even for a short time, had made a difference in her life. She used personal stories to bring to life the rewards of this great organization. Jennifer's speech was uplifting and inspiring. It would not surprise anyone if one of our guests joined the club because of her speech. The speeches were evaluated by two of Club #28's best evaluators: Natalie Mencia and Rodney Higgins ACB. Both of them left many presents of great advice, praise and wisdom for our speakers. The second part of the meeting, in which the new officers are to be inducted into office started with a "President's Farewell Speech" by outgoing President Ryan Dick. Ryan speech will be remembered as one of the most inspirational and meaningful President's messages ever delivered. In the speech Ryan spoke of the "small changes" we make in our lives and the differences that they can bring about for good. He said that he had made a pledge to say "thank you" to others at least five times a day. He thanked those who helped him through the past term and made the observation that if you "took only one photo a day, or spent time painting every day, you would achieve your dreams of becoming a photographer or an artist, you become it by doing it." His encouragement for self-improvement was clear. Ken Walley ACG, CL invited Area 32 Governor Ken Blake ACG, CL to induct the new officers with the traditional "Passing of the gavel" ceremony. Gov. Blake expertly inducted the incoming officers: Sergeant at Arms Ken Walley ACG, CL; Treasurer Janet Madden, Secretary Jennifer Hensley, Vice President of Public Relations Ryan Dick, Vice President of Membership Adam Heltemes and President Malita Clarke CC (The Vice President of Education, Laval Brown was unable to attend but was still confirmed as an officer.) After the ceremony, to loud applause and cheers, new Orlando Toastmaster Club #28 President Mailta Clarke CC approached the lectern and gave her Inaugural Address. Malita acknowledged the past presidents that have been in office since she joined noting that each had something they wanted to accomplish. "Wilner Luders [ACB, CL] wanted to motivate, inspire and have a safe place to improve; Steve Wood wanted a place to learn how to communicate intellectually, to find a way to focus and Ryan Dick encouraged us to escape our verbal crèches, give 100% and be "all in"... I want you to ask, 'Why am I here?' We have resources in this room to achieve your goals. I want to use our resources to achieve those goals that first brought us here, whatever those goals might be!" said Malita. Her speech promised a new vision for the club, a focus on individual achievement and a very bright future for it's members. All of our guests gave outstanding reviews of the time that they had spent with us. Ken brought this magical evening to a close with a wish for our members and their families, past members and our guests a very happy holiday season.

The December 8, 2011 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting should have been a destination for the rest of the world with the theme of "Tourist Attractions!" and Toastmaster Ryan Dick truly made the evening's get-together more entertaining than most of the tourist traps anywhere. Diane Hart presided over the Invocation and Pledge before giving way to Ryan who told us about some of the oddest tourists attractions on Earth. These included The "noodle soup baths" in Japan, the "Roach Hall of Fame" (where roaches are dressed up as celebrities!) and a house built completely out of newspaper, among some other very strange places to visit. Table Topics Master Ken Walley ACG, CL brought some questions for the club members to see where they have been lately as well. Ken asked Toastmaster Barbara Cusack ACB, CL "If you could afford it, where would you go for a two week vacation?" She said the country of Ecuador is where you would find her learning about the local peoples and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Guest Bihn Nguyen was asked what tourist attraction would he recommend that everyone visit. Bihn spoke highly of a visit to Japan's Mt. Fuji. Malita Clarke CC was asked what it was like to visit Disney World. She told a story from when she was a little girls and was frightened by the ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, later in life she was able to go back stage and see how the effects were created. Steve Wood was asked what his absolutely best, and his worst traveling experience would be. He said a trip into space would fulfill both of those descriptions. Having to deal with being weightless and the bad food still would not cancel out the spectacular views from outer space! Diane Hart told of what she liked best and what she liked worst about traveling. The thing she liked best about traveling was being able to discover new things and places. Adam Heltemes was asked about a tourist attraction that he had not visited but wanted to go to. Lastly, Patti Stuart was asked what she would pack for a trip to New York City. She said that she would leave space for souvenirs to bring back! These were some really great questions and Club #28, in a way, took a trip around the world with the answers This evening featured three brilliant speeches starting with Demetri Ganoff's informative speech "Web Design is Shaping the Future!" Demetri told us what the roles were of a Web Designer in the form of Builders, Engineers and Architects. He also gave examples of well designed webs like the "beautiful simplicity" of Google and poorly thought out sites like that of My Space. He made a wonderful case for web design as being the brightest future of the internet. Speaking second was Natalie Menica with a speech titled "Confessions of a Foreclosure Attorney". Noting that Foreclosure Attorneys are not the most popular people in the current financial climate, she said that she wanted to help others avoid the foreclosure fate with some simple advice. She told us how to not get into bad situations in the first place and what to do if you are in foreclosure circumstances already. Her advice was helpful and timely. Speaking last, and on a much more happy subject was Janet Madden who told us about taking an ocean trip in a speech titled "Cruising: A Fantastic Way to Travel!" She told how she convinced her husband to go on a cruise and, along the way convinced her audience to want to take a cruise as well! From the fun, food and relaxing on deck, Janet took us on a verbal voyage! The only thing were were missing was a suntan when she finished. Ken Blake ACG, CL was the General Evaluator and was given three of the best of Club #28's evaluators to help him through his part of the meeting. As expected, Laval Brown, Alan Brents ACG, CL and Walk Jones ACS, CL really put on a show as well as giving great advice along the way. The Hoot & Holler Committee (H&HC) came up with some wonderful reports thanks to Timer Jennifer Hensley, Movie Star Maker Steve Wood, AH Counter Frank Adams CC, Vote Counter Patti Stuart and Grammarian Malita Clarke CC. All of whom did superb work Our returning guest Bihn Nguyen was more impressed this week than even last week with his visit and our other guest, Naemi Chaoui, a visiting student from UCF also had some very positive remarks about the evening. With meetings like this, it is a wonder that Club #28 is not another one of the most visited places in Central Florida, move over Disney World! .

The December 1, 2011 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting started out the month with a wonderful gathering. Acting Sgt. at Arms Ken Walley ACG, CL started the meeting with the Nominations and Confirmation of the new officers for the next Toastmaster's term. Malita Clarke was voted in as the club's next president. Congratulations to all of the new officers!. Diane Hart gave the Invocation and led us in the Pledge to the Flag. Everyone was thankful that Walk Jones ACS, CL was our Toastmaster as he led us through the topic of “Being Thankful!” Noting that many of us simply passed over the chance of remembering what is truly important to us with the excitement of the Christmas holidays approaching, Walk gave us many things to contemplate that we might not have been able to do during the hectic Thanksgiving Day celebrations. Walk actually made this holiday season more significant and meaningful with his terrific performance as Toastmaster! The same can be said for some interesting and enlightening inquiries asked by Table Topics Master Ryan Dick who asked questions with the help of a list of the “10 things that Americans are most thankful for”. Noting that Americans were thankful for their technology, Ryan asked Ken Blake ACG, CL what he thought was the technology that he was most thankful for. Ken, an auto mechanic, was grateful for the diagnostic scanners for automobiles although he noted they seem to become obsolete every year when the new cars come out. Diane Hart answered the question of "What was your most patriotic moment?" as Ryan noted that Americans are thankful for their country. Diane remembered a time that she had to defend America while visiting another country. Visiting Toastmaster from Massachusetts Mike Finn DTM of the Speakeasy Toastmasters Club, was asked "What are you thankful for about your health?" Mike noted that he was thankful that he and his wife are able enjoy the health that they have thanks to diet and exercise. Ryan stated that Americans were thankful for their friends. Returning and re-joining Toastmaster Alan Brents ACG, CL was asked what his best friend's Ice Breaker speech would be like. Alan proudly told us a little about a best friend of his named Stephanie who was from England. American culture is held in high esteem by Americans, so Mike King was asked what his favorite movie was. Mike seemed torn between two classics: "Star Wars" and "Apocalypse Now". Mike noted that the critics were thankful for both of them as well. The last question went to another guest Jerven Carter, who was asked if there was a job that he was thankful that he had ever done. Jerven remembered his employment directing a daycare center at the YMCA. It was a job that brought him a lot of joy. It was apparent that our two speakers were thankful for the sport of long distance running! Janet Madden spoke about the need to prepare for the upcoming year in a speech titled “Charting Your Course for 2012!” She encouraged us to get ready for the New Year as if we were getting ready to run in a half marathon. Janet found out that with the right training, she could reach her future goals. Patti Stuart gave an inspirational and motivating speech about what it takes to be a runner titled “Born to Run”. Using her vast experience as a long-distance runner, she said we should approach life with “Perseverance, Endurance and Determination!” Both speeches were rousing and stirring! Our Master Evaluator Frank Adams CC gave a glowing meeting evaluation of the Table Topics, Speeches and the two brilliant evaluations by Laval Brown and Jennifer Hensley. Laval and Jennifer's evaluations gave helpful advice, were entertaining and gave everyone fits figuring out how to vote for "Best Evaluator". The Santa's Elves Listmakers Union (SELU) was made up of Grammarian Alan Brents ACG, CL, Timer Adam Heletmes, AH Counter Ken Walley ACG, CL and Vote Counter Ken Blake ACG, CL. They all did a magical job of helping to make this a special evening. All of those present, including our four guests, Mike Finn, DTM; Bihn Nguyen, Jerven Carter and Arzu Mustafayeva were extremely thankful that they had attended this uplifting and empowering meeting!

The November 17, 2011 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 “Secrets that Nurses Will Not Tell You!” theme meeting was a meeting that could have cured any ills. The meeting started off with an Invocation given by real-life nurse Patti Stuart based on the words of another nurse, the co-founder of the Red Cross, Clara Barton. Leading the meeting, Barbara Cusack ACB, CL excelled as Toastmaster. She gave an eye-opening view of the hidden world of nurses and some of the things we might not be aware of when seeking medical care. Barbara did a wonderful job!! Another highlight was Janet Madden as our Table Topics Master who gave a superb effort of bringing to life the fun that is Table Topics on her first time at the role! Janet's first question was given to Adam Heltemes: "What would you worry about during a hospital experience?" Adam said he worries about having a hospital experience, explaining that his mother was an Emergency Room nurse, and from her experiences, he has no interest in ever going to a hospital! Mike King was asked about comfort food to eat when you arte down and out. Mike told about how he had been brought up to eat healthy foods but he found a soft spot for cheesecake. Jennifer Hensley was ask to tell one secret she knew behind the scenes at the hospital. She said that the medical staff seemed to be more concerned about the health of her husband than her while she was in the maternity ward! Our guest Matthew Perez was asked to tell us about a positive experience that he has had with the medical profession. He told about how his mother had been treated while in the hospital that led to her recovery. The last question was directed towards Demetri Ganoff who was asked what could be done to make hospitals safer and more efficient. Demetri though that better communication between staff and better organization would make a big difference. These questions really made everyone think about how important a part that the medical community plays in our lives. Both the questions and the answers were very attention-grabbing as well as edifying. Our three speeches were all little masterpieces. They were interesting, educational, fun and great experiences to remember. Ryan Dick’s speech titled “A Garage Sale of the Mind” told how to start and succeed at an e-business. Using only $500 dollars and 20 hours he told how to create a business on the Internet that could make an impressive profit. It was a useful and timely speech for today’s economy. Laval Brown gave us a lot to think about as we go into the Thanksgiving holidays. Laval’s speech titled “A Need to be Thankful” looked at America being still “the land of opportunity”. Thankful for the values of hard work and persistence that he learned from his parents, Laval ended his speech with a powerful poem that asked the question of “how bad do you want success?” Rodney Higgins ACB told us about a remarkable part of Florida’s history in a speech titled “Motel Art!” It was a speech that brought to life the brilliance of African-American artists during the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s as they mass-produced art for the masses that often ended up in motels and is now often worth a small fortune. He also told of working for the Florida Historical Museum in Orlando and how that enriched his life. All three speeches were really awesome! Diane Hart also impressed us as our General Evaluator and she had the honor of welcoming back to the lectern Frank Adams CC, Malita Clarke CC and Natalie Mencia who was giving her first evaluation. Every evaluation was worthy of the excellence of the speeches. It should be noted that the work of the Language Rules & Stage Credentials Agency (LR&SCA) was perfect throughout the meeting. They were composed of Grammarian Alan Brents ACG, CL; AH Counter Jason Price, Cameraman Steve Wood, Timer Jennifer Hensley and Vote Counter Ken Walley ACG, CL At the end of the meeting our guests Chris Chung, Matthew Perez, Alpesh Mittal and Michael Robinson all gave positive and enthusastic feedback about the meeting, pledging to return. It was of course a very happy surprise to see the return of Alan Brents ACG, CL. who had bee away from the club for some time. 24 guests and members attended the meeting! Present this evening were Ryan Dick, Diane Hart, Demetri Ganoff, Natalie Mencia, Frank Adams CC, Malita Clarke CC, Patti Stuart, James Waters ACB, Jason Price, Steve Wood, Jennifer Hensley, Ken Walley ACG, CL, Mike King, Adam Heltemes, Michael Whisenat, Laval Brown, Rodney Higgins ACB, Barbara Cusack, EJ Jones, Area 32 Gov. Ken Blake ACG, CL Returning member Alan Brents ACG, CL and Guests Chris Chung, Albert Mitterson, Matthew Perez and Michael Robinson. What an excellent turnout! This was a blast of a meeting! It was sure lot better than a trip to the emergency room to find out about those secrets that the nurses don’t want tell you!

The Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 November 10, 2011 “Favorite Cartoon Characters!” theme meeting had Adam Heltemes come to the rescue, like Underdog, as our Toastmaster leading a super-charged meeting. Adam reminisced about watching his most beloved ‘toons and reminded us that a multi-billion dollar corporation named the "Walt Disney World Company; was started by an animated drawing!" He also assigned cartoon names to match the functionaries! It was a wild, funny and wacky toastmasters evening! Diane Hart, of course, played her part with some fabulous questions as our Table Topics Master! Her first question was a good example asked of Barbara Cusack ACB, CL: "What was the the grossest cartoon that you ever saw?" Barbara remembered an Australian film she saw that was completely offensive. Ken Blake ACG, CL was asked about "cartoons with a message." Ken told the story of how his parents would only let him watch 'The Flintstones." He said that cars they paddled with their feet inspired him to become a mechanic and that he still sees some "Flintstonemobiles" with their bottoms rusted out in his shop! Walk Jones ACS, CL answered a question about political cartoons. he said he loved political cartoons because they often get to the heart of an issues with few words. he remembered one at the time of the death of Elvis Presley while he was living in Memphis, Tenn. which showed the large boots left by Elvis that could never be filled. Te last question was asked of Malita Clarke CC. She was asked what her favorite cartoon was. She answered that it was "The Smurfs" because she could always relate to being a "smurfette" as she grew up in a family surrounded by brothers. We had two brilliant speeches, starting with Stokely Gittens CC who gave a speech titled “Start Your Business Now!” Stokely made the point that the time to make your own ideas a reality is now and not at some time in the future! “Why make somebody else’s dreams come true when you have plans of your own?” said Stokely. It was a especially inspiring presentation. Speaking second, was Laval Brown who gave a “hip pocket” speech when called upon to cover a sudden speech opening. He delivered a heartfelt tribute to his girlfriend Jenna who encourages him to be “the best motivational speaker in the world!” Said Laval, “Olympic Athletes do not train for decades to win a bronze medal! To be a great motivational speaker, you have to be committed and put in the time but it helps to have a place to go where there is devoted support!” Speaking of encouragement, Laval Brown also served as the General Evaluator and introduced two evaluators who gave out generous praise and confidence-building advice to our speakers. Ken Blake ACG, CL and Frank Adams gave superb efforts as the evaluators! Adding to the mirth of the night was our "ACME Specialist Table" comprising of, and along with, their cartoon names bequeathed to them by Adam: Grammarian Mike "Snagglepuss" King, AH Counter Walk "Foghorn Leghorn" Jones ACS, CL; Timer Barbara "Papa Smurf" Cusack ACB, CL; Film Editor Steve "Dexter" Wood and first time Vote Counter Jason "Captain America" Price. James Waters ACB was also on hand to start the meeting with the Invocation and Pledge. Club #28 President Ryan Dick also had the pleasure of welcoming three visitors, Victor Walters and Chris Chung who also brought his mother Mayling Chung. At the end of the meeting, our guests were excited about returning to future meetings. We look forward to seeing them again! Ken Walley ACG, CL told our guests that this meeting was typical of our weekly gatherings and that "next week's meeting will even be better!" This was a first- rate meeting that impressed members and visitors alike, I could go on forever but, as Porky the Pig said… “Tttthat’s Alllll Folks!”

The sky was the limit for the November 3, 2011 Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 meeting last week with the theme “The Sky and Things That Fall From It!” The meeting started with an invocation by Demetri Ganoff with a quote from the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung. It was Demetri's first time leading the club in the invocation and Pledge to the flag. He got the meeting off to a good start. Ken Walley ACG, CL was the Toastmaster and told about how the sky effects our world and told some personal memories involving falling objects… including a story about golf balls that flew into his Pizza Delivery truck when he was working his way through college. Patti Stuart had some fantastic questions for Table Topics and did a wonderful job in her first time in the Table Topics Master role! Janet Madden was their first to be asked a question: "How would you get rid of falling 'space junk'?" Janet said that she always seems to be ducking stuff falling from the sky! Noting that "rains" of frogs, fishes and even spiders have been reported, Patti asked Jennifer Hensley "What strange or weird types of rain have you experienced?" Jennifer said that she had no "odd rain stories" but instead told a story of how she was loaned an umbrella to get to her car but got soaked returning it. Diane Hart was asked what she would do to divert an asteroid from hitting the earth, if it was coming to close. Diane said that she did not have a clue and we were pretty much doomed if left to her. Steve Wood was given the question "Is there really a dark side of the moon" Steve explained that the moon's surface, not facing the Earth is the "dark side" but because the moon rotates, one side is not always hidden from the Earth's view. Our guest Elisabeth Douberley, answered the question of what would she do if money fell from the sky. She gave a number of wonderful ideas for putting "money from heaven" to good use. There were some very interesting answers during this excellent Table Topics session! We also had three awesome speeches including Jason Price’s impressive Ice Breaker speech titled "The Journey of Jason Price"! Jason told about a life in which he was always trying to escape boredom. After playing the cello, becoming a percussionist, mastering tennis and construction work, among many other things… he developed a lifetime obsession with self-improvement. What an amazing first speech! Congratulations Jason!! Adam Heltemes’s speech titled “Planning for an Emergency” told us how to survive a future invasion of Zombies. His speech was full of great ideas on how to make the best of “living among the living dead.” Barbara Cusack ACB, CL was at her best with a wonderfully delightful speech titled “What Goes Around Comes Around” in which “payback time” came 20 years later to a “bragging boyfriend” from her High School years. It was another super-performance by Barbara. It was hard voting for "Best Speaker" because all of the speeches were simply exquisite. Natalie Mencia was another 1^st time success as our General Evaluator. She introduced three remarkable evaluations by Ryan Dick, James Waters ACB and Jennifer Hensley. Each evaluator had their own style of giving advice but everyone was encouraging and upbeat about the speeches while giving practical suggestions. The Speech Direction and Accountability Wizards (SDAW) was constituted of Grammarian Laval Brown, AH Counter Mike King, Timer Michael Whisenant, Video Production Director Steve Wood and Vote Counter Demetri Ganoff Because of them, the meeting ran smoothly and on time. Club #28 was blessed with two visitors, Rahul "Sidd" Kamath and Elisabeth Douberley. Both of our guests were extremely generous in their praise when asked to comment at the end of the meeting. It is rare when a meeting this good just seems to just “fall out of the sky.”

The scariest thing about the Orlando Toastmasters Club #28 October 26, 2011 annual “Halloween” theme meeting was just how good it was. Steve Wood was a scream as our Toastmaster! He provided us with some of the best Halloween history and spooky trivia ever! Steve did a monster of a job leading the meeting! Because we had four speeches that were to die for, Steve re-adjusted the agenda order so that we did not have to “fear” getting the speeches and evaluations accomplished in time. Starting with the prepared speeches, Steve introduced a very special presentation by Belinda Brown who was giving her Ice Breaker. She gave a wonderful speech titled “The Only Constant in My life is Change” in which she told about a life of travel, adventure and learning. Belinda said the thing that seemed to worry her the most was not being able to adapt to new situations and grow. It was a memorable 1^st speech that left everyone looking forward to more from Belinda. Speaking second was Natalie Mencia who gave another wonderful performance (Her third in less than two months!) with a speech titled "The College Fairy Doesn't Exist" about the true value of a college education. Natalie made a brilliant argument that a college degree was undervalued while life-experience is not given enough value. Laval Brown gave a clinic on how to use word pictures and vocal inflection while producing dynamic speeches in his presentation titled “If I Understand You Correctly.” Speaking fourth in the order was one of Club #28’s most remarkable speakers, Rodney Higgins ACB. Rodney put together a speech on the spur of the moment that truly reflected Rodney’s excellence in storytelling. His speech, titled “Master Storyteller” was a tribute about a real master storyteller: the late, great Ray Hicks. Four awesome speeches, every one had the audience mesmerized! The same could be said for the four polished evaluations from four of Club #28’s most seasoned speakers: James Waters ACB, Ken Walley ACG, CL; Barbara Cusack CC, CL; and Ken Blake ACG, CL! General Evaluator Ryan Dick noted that it was a unique occasion that a Toastmasters club could be able to showcase so many accomplished teachers to give such sage advice at the same meeting. Table Topics Master James Waters ACB even had time to ask a few Table Topics questions at the end of the meeting. His first question was about "treats" directed towards our returning guest Marie Loeffler: "What's is the biggest cooking experience that you have had concerning Halloween?" Marie answered that she did not cook much but has wonderful memories of eating herself sick on Halloween candy!" James second question was for Demetri Ganoff who was asked to answer if he had had any experiences with Zombies or cannibalism? Demetri could not think of any experiences and was very glad of that . The third Table Topics question was directed towards Janet Madden who was asked if “Souls of the dead are scheduled to pay you a visit?” She said that “You never know when the dead will visit, but none are scheduled to do so.” The last question was asked of Steve Wood “What were you dressed as during your first Halloween?” Steve could not remember the exact costume but remember that he was very good in collecting candy! All of the answers to the Table Topics question were simply other worldly in their skill. Of course without the help of the “Ghosts of Wayward Time and Syntax” (GWT&S) we never would have finished the meeting. Those who deserve the credit were: Grammarian Janet Madden, Timer Demetri Ganoff, AH Counter Marie Leoffler and Vote Counter Barbara Cusack ACB. Steve Wood managed to be both the Cameraman as well as doing his duties as the Toastmaster! Everyone did a sensational job. This meeting went beyond the usual Club #28 meeting excellence. This Halloween meeting treat from Club #28, will be haunting all those poor souls who missed it! Happy Halloween!

Editor's Note due to the inability of adding to the "Past Meetings 2006-2011" Page, we were unable to include a recap of the September 1st 2011 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests. Although out of it's proper timeline, the article is included here: