December 16, 2010 Theme: Christmas is a Feeling

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

At our annual Linguists of Listowel's Christmas Potluck dinner/meeting, we enjoyed great food and had lots of laughs with our theme of "Christmas is a Feeling". We had 13 members in attendance and 3 guests. Keith Stoltz called the meeting to order with a great introduction of chair Richard Boertien. Rich opened the meeting by explaining to us how "Christmas is a Feeling" and told us the history of St. Nick.

The joke of the day was done by Keith McCluskie, who had us all laughing. Jane Stoltz was our Toast and Timer, who gave a toast to the spirit and feeling of Christmas in Canada. George Stevers gave the Grace.

After the great meal that we all enjoyed, we had some very special entertainment. Leo and Holly Brisebois showed us their dance moves by demonstrating the Cha Cha. The Grammarian role was done by myself and I picked the word "Yen" to challenge everyone to use. It was used 13 times. Next, Heidi Menzi for the role of Literary Corner shared some personal Christmas stories and memories.

Marie McCutcheon did the Table Topics/Gift Exchange. She had a couple of elves give out all the presents. Then through her instructions, we were passing the gifts back and forth till we finally ended up with a gift in front us. With that gift, we had to explain to everyone who had re-gifted the gift and had brought it to the meeting for the exchange. It was a lot of fun and filled with many laughs.

George Nichol tested all our listening skills with Quizmaster and Audrey Orth shared a very interesting story for the Inspirational Message.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hope to see you all at our next meeting on Thursday January 7th.

Brent

Dates to remember:

Jan. 7th - Sports night

December 9, 2010 - Theme: Secrets of Speaking

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

At this past Linguists of Listowel's meeting, we had lots of laughs and a very informative meeting with our theme of "Secrets of Speaking". We had 13 members in attendance. Sharon Diehl called the meeting to order with a great introduction of chair for the meeting that included a quote from Dale Carnegie. Richard Boertien was our chair for the evening and he opened the meeting by giving us all some excellent tips on improving our speaking.

The joke of the day was done by Leo Brisebois, who gave us a very funny joke involving President Obama. Keith Stoltz was our Toast and Timer, who gave a toast to Canada and our opportunities to be able to speak in public. The Grammarian role was done by Keith McCluskie and he picked the very fun word "Humdinger" to challenge everyone to use during the meeting that was used a whopping 15 times. Next, Diane Bender explained her role for Literary Corner and read a story from Albert Cuthery called "Future Tells of Christmas Eve".

When our first speaker wasn't able to make it to the meeting, Wayne Stoltz stepped up and gave a very funny off the cuff speech about his Uncle Willy's adventure of trying make a salami sandwich late one night. Next George Nichol did his first speech out of the Special Occasion Manual where he gave a great wedding toast to his son and daughter in law which included personal stories and excellent humour. George's speech was evaluated by Leo Brisebois, where he gave great feedback.

I did Table Topics with the theme of "Secrets of Speaking", I gave everyone a chance to work on their toasting. Everyone gave an instant toast to whatever they picked out of the envelope. Some were serious toasts and some not so much. Everyone did a good job with it and the winner of table topics was Leo Brisebois. Marie McCutcheon took on the role of general evaluator, where she gave us all some help on how to evaluate a meeting and a speaker. She asked for some our newer members to come to the front and help evaluate the meeting.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting and our Christmas Potluck. Everyone is to bring something for the potluck, their plates and cutlery, a gift for the always fun gift exchange. This year we have decided to bring some food to support our local food bank. You can also bring a guest to our always enjoyable Christmas meeting.

Brent

Dates to remember:

Dec. 16th - Christmas Potluck - Christmas is a Feeling. Bring a guest, plates and cutlery, a gift for the exchange and some food for the food bank.

Jan. 7th - Sports night

December 2, 2010 - Theme: What's Your Best Ideas for Someone Who Has Everything

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

On Thursday night, we had very fun and enjoyable meeting with our theme of "What's Your Best Ideas for Someone Who Has Everything". Keith McCluskie called the meeting to order with an introduction of myself as chair and he told everyone what he would get me for Christmas. I opened the meeting by going over how hard it is to find that gift for some people and I was going to give them some ideas throughout the meeting.

Keith McCluskie was our Toast and Timer, who gave a timely toast to Canada. The Grammarian role was done by Richard Boertien and he picked the word "Expropriate" to challenge everyone to use during the meeting. Next, I presented Leo Brisebois with an award for getting his Advanced Communicator Bronze and he used it to do his Accepting Award speech.

Our first speaker was Diane Bender and she gave us a very informative and entertaining speech called "Where's the Cache". It was about Geocaching. Then Heidi Menzi did her speech out of the Interpretive Reading Manual where she read a poem from Archibald Lampman called "In November". The Speeches were evaluated by the round table format where everyone gave great feedback to our speakers. Leo Brisebois for Point of View spoke about the always increasing price of electricity and Richard Boertien had to Counter the Point.

Lorna Vanderploeg presented a very enjoyable Table Topics where she gave everyone an object that she had in her gift bag and we had to try to sell it to another toastmaster. Everyone did a good job with it and the winner of table topics was Keith McCluskie. Sharon Diehl filled the role as Quizmaster and challenged our listening skills. Keith Stoltz took on the role of general evaluator and he gave a review of a recent Education module that Marie McCutcheon did on Toastmaster etiquette. He went over some of the ways that we can improve our etiquette during the meeting. After the meeting, everyone enjoyed refreshments provided by Heidi Menzi.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting.

Brent

Dates to remember:

Dec. 9th - Secrets of Speaking

Dec. 16th - Christmas Potluck - Christmas is a Feeling

Jan. 7th - Sports night

November 23, 2010 - Theme: A Novel Profession

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

On Thursday night, we had yet another great meeting with our theme of "A Novel Profession". We had excellent attendance with 17 members and even a guest (Paul Stevers who is George's brother). Sharon Diehl called the meeting to order with a very good introduction of Keith McCluskie as chairperson. Keith opened the meeting by going over what his thoughts were on the theme for the meeting. He made the meeting very fun and had great introductions for everyone by describing what he thought their "Novel Profession" would be. He also explained everyone’s roles for our new members and our guest.

For Joke of the Day, I read a joke about Sherlock Holmes and Watson on a camping trip. Lucy D'Arcey was our Toast and Timer, who gave a timely toast to Canada and our freedom to be in any kind of profession. The Grammarian role was done by Keith Stoltz and he always picks a fun word to challenge everyone to use during the meeting. The word was "Bamboozle" which means to deceive or to get the better of someone by trickery or flattery.

Our first speaker was Leo Brisebois and he was completing his final speech for his Advanced Communicator Bronze. His speech was out of the Management Manual and was called "Controversial Issues at Breeze Comforts" then he had a question/answer period. Then Lorna Vanderploeg did her second speech in the CC Manual which was called "An Honourable Profession" where she described her profession as a Municipal Bylaw Officer and Animal Control Officer. The Speeches were evaluated by Diane Bender and Sharon D'Arcey, who gave great feedback to our speakers.

George Nichol did a very enjoyable Table Topics session where he had everyone pick a profession out of an envelope and describe their Novel Profession. Marilyn Miller filled the role as Quizmaster and Audrey Orth was our Laugh Counter and she recorded 94 laughs. Richard Boertien took on the role of general evaluator and he gave a review of how the meeting went and some grow points on how to improve our meeting. For Anything for the Good of Toastmasters, some of the members who attended the Fall Conference described what a great time they had at the conference. After the meeting, everyone enjoyed refreshments provided by Diane Bender.

Happy first year anniversary to Sharon Diehl, Richard Boertien and Sharon D’Arcey!

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting.

Brent

Dates to remember:

Dec. 2nd - Theme - What's Your Best Ideas for Someone Who Has Everything

Dec. 9th - Secrets of Speaking

Dec. 16th - Christmas Potluck - Christmas is a Feeling

November 18, 2010 - Theme: go, Go, GO!

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

On Thursday night, we had a very fun and enthusiastic meeting with our theme of "Enthusiasm, go Go, GO!" There were 11 members in attendance. Keith McCluskie called the meeting to order with a very enthusiastic introduction of myself as chair. I opened the meeting by going over what my first thoughts were when I saw the theme for the meeting and then I went over the history of the word enthusiasm.

For Joke of the Day, Richard Boertien gave us a very funny re-enactment of his visit to the gym. Wayne Stoltz was our Toast and Timer, who gave a timely toast to Canada and kept accurate time for the meeting. The Grammarian role was filled by George Nichol and he challenged everyone to use the word "Rigmarole" which means confused, foolish and an elaborate or complicated procedure. It was used 5 times.

Our first speaker for the evening was Lorna VanderPloeg and she was speaking for her first time with her Icebreaker speech called "All About Me". She did a great job telling us about a scary time in her life. George Stevers presented his 3rd speech from the CC Manual and gave us a very informative speech which was entitled "Genetically Engineered Food". Marilyn Miller delivered her 8th speech from the CC Manual on Getting Comfortable with Visual Aids which was called "Keys". The speeches were evaluated by Richard Boertien, Keith McCluskie and Audrey Orth, who all gave great feedback to our speakers. Jane Stoltz presented an Educational Session giving us some background on the "Meeting Roles and Responsibilities" of a Toastmaster Club.

Keith Stoltz filled the role of Table Topics and had everyone pick a picture out of the envelope. The picture that we picked was an early Christmas gift from Keith and we had to show how enthusiastic we were about getting the gift. The winner of Table Topics was our newest member, Lorna VanderPloeg. Sharon D'Arcey took on the role of General Evaluator for her first time and she gave a review of how the meeting went along with some grow points about how to improve our meeting. One idea that she had was for us to try was to write the word of the night on the chalk board. After the meeting, we enjoyed refreshments provided by Audrey Orth.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting with the theme of "A Novel Profession".

Brent

Dates to remember:

Dec. 2nd - Theme - What's Your Best Ideas for Someone Who Has Everything

Dec. 9th - Secrets of Speaking

Dec. 16th - Christmas Potluck - Christmas is a Feeling

November 11, 2010 - Sixth Speech Milestone

Sharon D'Arcey completed her sixth speech from the Competent Communicator manual and received her certificate of achievement from Brent Jemmett (President of the Linguists of Listowel).

November 11, 2010 - Theme: Remembrance, Take Time to Pause

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

On Thursday night, we had a great meeting with our theme of Remembrance, Take Time to Pause. There were 12 members in attendance and our newest member Lorna VanderPloeg brought a guest, her daughter (Natasha McCoy). I chaired the meeting and I opened the meeting by going over the history of Remembrance Day. I also read the poem "In Flanders Field" and I used many quotes throughout the meeting.

Keith McCluskie was our Toast and Timer, who gave a timely toast to Remembrance Day in Canada and kept us on time throughout the meeting. The Grammarian role was being done for her first time by Lorna VanderPloeg and she challenged everyone to use the word "Obviate" which means to prevent the occurrence, rid of or eliminate. The role of Literary Corner was filled by Lucy D'Arcey who read a very touching Remembrance Day poem.

Our first speaker was Marilyn Miller and she gave her thoughts on Remembrance Day with her speech called "What Would it Cost You!” It was a very informative and touching speech. Richard Boertien gave a very funny speech presentation which was called "Summer Holidays". He relived a childhood memory of having to play jump rope with his sister and next door neighbour. The Speeches were evaluated by Leo Brisebois and George Nichol.

We had another member recently reach a milestone; Sharon D'Arcey received her 6th speech certificate.

Marie McCutcheon was the Table Topics Master. She started a story then we had to continue on with the story. The winner of table topics was Lucy D'Arcey.

Audrey Orth as Quizmaster tested our listening skills with some phrases from the night. Jane Stoltz was the general evaluator and she gave a review of how the meeting went and some grow points on how to improve our meeting. Lucy D'Arcey for the Inspirational Thought had a very good story of a teacher telling her students that they owe a lot to those fought for our freedom. After the meeting, we enjoyed refreshments provided by Sharon D'Arcey.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting.

Brent

Dates to remember:

Nov. 18 - Enthusiasm, go, Go, GO!

Nov. 19-21 District Toastmaster Fall Conference in Niagara Falls

November 4, 2010 Speechcraft Coordinator Achievement

Richard Boertien took on the role and responsibility of Speechcraft Coordinator during the Fall 2010 Speechcraft session.

Left to Right: Richard Boertien (Sergeant at Arms) is presented with a certificate of achievement from Brent Jemmett (President of the Linguists of Listowel).

November 4, 2010 - Gold Pin Accomplishment

Right: Keith Stoltz (District 86 Area Governor) was awarded the gold pin to signify achieving his ACG (Advanced Communicator Gold) status.
Left: Brent Jemmett (President of the Linguists of Listowel) is shown congratulating Keith Stoltz on his accomplishment.

November 4, 2010 - Sixth Speech Milestone

Marilyn Miller had completed her 6th speech from the Competent Communicator manual and was awarded a certificate of accomplishment from Brent Jemmett (President of the Linguists of Listowel).

November 4, 2010 - Speechcraft Graduation Night

November 4th was the Speechcraft graduation evening for Diane and Doug.
The 6 week course was completed with both of them presenting 5 speech presentations each.

Shown left to right; Diane Schalk (Speechcrafter), Richard Boertien (Speechcraft Coordinator) and Doug Culbert (Speechcrafter).

October 4, 2010 - Theme: The Best Is Yet To Come.

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

On Thursday night, we had Graduation night for our Speechcrafters (Diane Schalk and Doug Culbert). There were 11 members in attendance and we even had a guest from the Haliburton Toastmaster Club (Jim Lawr). He is working in the area and decided to come out to one of our meetings. Our chairperson for the night was Richard Boertien and he opened the meeting by going over some of the benefits of joining Toastmasters.

Keith McCluskie got the laughs started with a very funny joke of the day. Our Toast and Timer was Sharon D'Arcey who gave a timely toast to Canada. The Grammarian role was filled by Marilyn Miller and she challenged everyone to use the word "Augment" which means to grow or to intensify. It was used 10 times. Our newest member, Lorna Vanderploeg filled the role of Literary Corner. She read a passage from one of her favorite books (Personal Power - "Wisdom from Around the World").

Next our speechcrafters Diane Schalk and Doug Culbert gave their final speeches and did a great job with evaluating of each other. Afterwards, Keith McCluskie discussed Toastmaster membership. Richard Boertien presented our Speechcrafters with their certificates for completing the workshop. I presented Richard with a certificate for all his hard work being the Speechcraft Coordinator. Also, other members were recognized for recent milestones. Marilyn Miller received her 6th speech certificate and Keith Stoltz with his Advanced Communicator Gold pin.

I filled the role of Table Topics and had everyone pick a fortune cookie. They had to tell the fortune, describe it and explain how the best is yet to come. The winner of table topics was our Speechcrafter Diane Schalk. Jane Stoltz, as Quizmaster, tested our listening skills with some phrases from the night. Brian Camacho was the general evaluator and he gave a review of how the meeting went and some grow points on how to improve our meeting. One grow point was that the speakers need to make sure they have prepared introductions and a glow point was the great job of the newsletter that was done by Sharon D'Arcey. After the meeting, we had some very tasty apple crisp and ice cream provided by Jane Stoltz.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting with the theme of Remembrance. Don't forget to wear your poppy!

Brent

Dates to remember:

Nov. 11 - Remembrance

Nov. 18 - Enthusiasm, go, Go, GO!

Nov. 19-21 District Toastmaster Fall Conference in Niagara Falls

2010 - 2011 Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster Executives with Area Governor

Back Row (left to right): Keith Stoltz - District 86 Area Governor, Keith McCluskie - V. P. of Membership, George Nichol - Treasurer, Richard Boertien - Sergeant at Arms and Brent Jemmett - President.
Front Row (left to right): Jane Stoltz - V. P. of Education, Sharon D'Arcey - V. P. of Public Relations and Marilyn Miller - Secretary.

2010 - 2011 Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster Executives

Back Row (left to right): Jane Stoltz - V. P. of Education, Keith McCluskie - V. P. of Membership, George Nichol - Treasurer, Richard Boertien - Sergeant at Arms and Brent Jemmett - President.
Front Row (left to right); Sharon D'Arcey - V. P. of Public Relations and Marilyn Miller - Secretary.

October 29, 2010 - Division W Table Topics Contest

Congratulations to Jane Stoltz for placing second in the Division W Table Topics Contest held at the University of Waterloo, Arts Lecture Theatre!
Jane is the V.P. of Education at the Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster's club.

October 28, 2010, Meaning of Halloween

Trick or Treat!
Marilyn Miller was in the Halloween spirit for the evening as she is shown with a wide assortment of her Halloween decorations. Marilyn had lots of Halloween displays, historical information and personal stories to share with the group.
Marilyn was also the Table Topics Master for the evening and invited everyone to share their most memorable Halloween experience or memory of their favourite Halloween costume.

October 21, 2010 - New Member Lorna Vanderploeg

October 21, 2010, Lorna Vanderploeg was inducted as a new member of the Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster Club.
Lorna is welcomed into the club by the V.P. of Membership - Keith McCluskie.






Lorna is shown below with her assigned mentor, President of the Linguists of Listowel - Brent Jemmett.

October 21, 2010 - Sample Speech: Show What You Mean

Therapist Leo Brisebois counsels patient Katherine about her fear of being buried alive in a box. He prides himself on being able to provide all of the advice and direction needed in 5 minutes or less during a sample speech of the Speechcraft project "Show What You Mean".

October 28, 2010 - Theme: Trick or Treat

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

This past Thursday, we had week 5 of our Speechcraft program with our two participants (Diane Schalk and Doug Culbert). There were 11 members in attendance. The theme for the night was “Trick or Treat” and our chairperson for the night was Richard Boertien. He shared the history of Halloween with us and even had a mask on for most of the meeting.

The very funny joke of the day was given by George Stevers. Our Toast and Timer was Diane Bender who gave a good description of her role and a great timely toast to Halloween in Canada. The Grammarian role was filled by Leo Brisebois and he challenged everyone to use the word "Vitiate" which means reduce the value or impair the quality.

We had 4 speakers for the night. Lucy D'Arcey did a great job with her first speech (Icebreaker) which was called "First Star I Saw Tonight". Next our speechcrafter Diane Schalk did her speech with no notes or lectern. It was called "Appreciate The Day" which was a story of a scary time in her life. Doug Culbert's Show What You Mean speech was called "Working In The Caribbean" which was very interesting and humorous. Marilyn Miller did her Vocal Variety Speech which was called "History of Halloween". She had lots of great props and it was well researched. Our evaluators were Keith McCluskie, George Nichol and our two speechcrafters did a great job with their first evaluations of each other’s speech.

Heidi Menzi gave a very informative Educational Session on “Vocal Variety”. Sharon D'Arcey gave the sample speech which was called “An Angel Among Us” where she didn't use the lectern or any notes.

Marilyn Miller filled the role of Table Topics and had everyone tell about their favourite Halloween costume or memory. The winner of table topics was Heidi Menzi.

I was the general evaluator who gave a review of how the meeting went and some grow points on how to improve our meeting. After the meeting, we had some refreshments provided by Lucy D'Arcey.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting and graduation of our Speechcrafters.

Brent

Dates to remember:

Nov. 4 Speechcraft #6 - The Best Is Yet To Come, Gradutation Time

Nov. 11 - Remembrance

Nov. 18 - Enthusiasm, go, Go, GO!

Nov. 19-21 District Toastmaster Fall Conference in Niagara Falls

October 21, 2010 - Theme: Acronyms

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

Our Thursday night's meeting had the theme of Acronyms which is one our Chair's (Rich Boertien) favourite things to talk about but doesn't like them used in life. Rich had lots of great examples of acronyms like OK (was from the war and meant zero killed). He even created some new ones like L.C. (literary corner) and W.G. (word giver) for the role of Grammarian. We had week 4 of our Speechcraft workshop with our two participants (Diane Schalk and Doug Culbert). There was great attendance of 14 members and that included our newest members Lucy D'Arcey and Lorna Vanderploeg. We had an induction ceremony for our newest member Lorna.

Our TNT or (Toast and Timer) was Lorna Vanderploeg, who tackled the role for her first time. She did a good job of keeping times of the meeting, gave a good description of her role and a great toast to Canada's new Saint. The W.G. or Grammarian role was filled by Sharon D'Arcey and she challenged everyone to use the word "Discombobulate" which means to throw into confusion and it was used 10 times. The role of L.C. (Literary Corner) was done by Marilyn Miller. She read a story she found at the library from the "Book of Best American Short Stories".

Next our Speechcrafters both did great jobs introducing each other for their speeches. Diane Schalk's speech on was called "Exercising For Life" which was well researched and told everyone to shake that booty. Doug Culbert's speech was called "A Reason for Project Development" which was very well done and informative. Our evaluators were Audrey Orth and Brent Jemmett, who gave our speakers some great glow points and some grow points. Chairperson, Richard Boertien, spoke to the Speechcrafters about "Show What You Mean". George Nichol did a very informative job with the Educational Session on “Gestures in Speaking”. Leo Brisebois gave the sample speech that included lots of gestures and laughs with his co-star (Katherine). He played Dr. Newhart and dealt with Katherine's fear of being buried alive in a box.

George Stevers was the Table Topics Master and had everyone come to the front, pull a picture and had to explain about the picture. The winner of table topics was Sharon D'Arcey. Keith McClucskie challenged everyone's memory and listening skills with Quizmaster. Keith Stoltz as general evaluator gave us a good review of how the meeting went and some grow points on how to improve our meeting. One grow point was getting someone to set up the speaker's area before the speaker is introduced. After the meeting, we had some refreshments provided by Jane Stoltz.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting with the theme of "Trick or Treat". I would like to have a quick Executive Meeting after our meeting for those on the Executive.

Brent

Dates to remember:

Friday October 29th: Division W Humorours Speech and Table Topics Contest, 7:00 p.m., registration at 6:30 p.m. at the University of Waterloo, Arts Lecture Theatre, Room 116, Cost if $5.00/person plus $3.00 for parking.

Thursday Nov 4: Speechcraft Graduation, Theme: The Best is Yet to Come

Thursday Nov 11: Regular Meeting, Theme: Rememberance

Friday thru Sunday Nov 19 - 21: District Toastmaster Fall Conference at the beautiful Sheraton on the Falls in Niagara Falls

October 20, 2010

Chairperson Keith Stoltz presents Humorous Trophy to Gregory C. N. Smith

Humorous Contest Winners: Diana Snowden 3rd, Gregory C. N. Smith 1st, Jafar Mirjalali 2nd.

Table topics contest: Keith McCluskie 3rd, Tammara Hodgins 2nd, Jane Stoltz 1st, Chairperson Keith Stoltz

Chairperson Keith Stoltz planned an excellent contest. He offered a prize to the club with the highest attendance. It was a tie between Mount Forest Motivators and Linguists of Listowel.

Table Topics Contestants

Irma Devries, Jane Stoltz, Tammara Hodgins, Ron Hills, Audrey Orth, Caroline Beren,

Gregory C. N. Smith, Keith McCluskie

Humorous Speech Contestants

Audrey Orth, Rich Boertien, Dorothy Reid, Brent Jemmett, Diana Snowden, Gregory C N Smith, Caroline Beren, Jafar Mirjalali

Area 66 Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest

October 20, 2010

Ah Moments

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

This past Thursday, we had week 3 of our Speechcraft workshop with our two participants (Diane Schalk and Doug Culbert). There were 12 members in attendance and that included our newest member Lorna Vanderploeg. The theme for the night was “Ah Moments” and our chairperson for the night was Richard Boertien. He had lots of great examples of "Ah Moments" like when you speed past a cop car then look into the rear view mirror to see that they didn't turn around with their lights on.

Our Toast and Timer was Audrey Orth who gave a good description of her role and a great toast to Canada. The Grammarian role was filled by George Stevers and he challenged everyone to use the word "Respite" which means looking back or reprive.

Next our Speechcrafters both did great jobs introducing each other for their speeches. Diane Schalk's second speech on speaking in earnest was called "Eating Healthy" which was well researched and full of great facts. Doug Culbert's speech was called "Applications of GIS" which was very informative. Our evaluators were Keith Stoltz and Sharon D'Arcey, who gave our speakers some great glow points and some grow points.

Chairperson Richard Boertien spoke to the Speechcrafters about Evaluating the Speaker. I did the Educational Session on “Organizing Your Speech” and Keith McCluskie gave the sample speech which was called “In Search of the Ultimate Rush”.

Jane Stoltz filled the role of Table TopicsMaster and had everyone pull a newspaper headline and each person had to expand on the rest of the story . The winner of Table Topics was our chairperson, Richard Boertien. Leo Brisebois, as general evaluator, gave us a good review of how the meeting went and some grow points on how to improve our meeting. The glow points were that we were on time and everyone did a great job explaining their roles. The grow points were that need to continue to clap until the speaker sits down and for the speaker to wait to leave till the chair comes to the lecturn. After the meeting, we enjoyed some refreshments and fellowship.

Hope to see you all on Wednesday at the Area's Humorous/Table Topics contest in Harriston and on Thursday for our next meeting with the theme of "Acronyms".

Brent

Dates to remember:

Oct. 20th is the Area Contest in Harriston

Oct. 21st Speechcraft #4 - Acronyms

Oct. 29th the District Contest in Waterloo.

Nov. 19-21 District Toastmaster Fall Conference in Niagara Falls

Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest Winners

September 23, 2010
Shown are the winners of the Linguists of Listowel Humorous speech contest and Table Topics contest.
Starting from left to right;
Richard Boertien - 2nd place in Humorous speech.
Brent Jemmett - 1st place in Humorous speech.
Jane Stoltz - 1st place in Table Topics.
Keith McCluskie - 2nd place in Table Topics.

Speechcraft Member - Diane Schalk

September 30, 2010
Jane Stoltz is shown here with one of our Speechcraft members, Diane Schalk.

Newest Speechcraft Member - Doug Culbert

October 7, 2010
Audrey Orth is shown here with our newest Speechcraft member, Doug Culbert.

Richard Boertien During Theme Night - Hats

September 30, 2010
Richard Boertien is the chairperson of the night to kick off the fall Speechcraft program.
Richard is shown here wearing one of his many hats that he brought along for the theme of the meeting: Hats

Newest member Lucy D'Arcey with mentor Diane Bender

October 7, 2010
Lucy D'Arcey was inducted as a new member of the Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster Club. Lucy is welcomed into the club by her mentor, past president - Diane Bender.

Best Country Fair

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

This past Thursday, we had week 2 of our Speechcraft workshop with two participants (Diane Schalk and Doug Culbert). We had very good attendance with 13 members including our newest member Lucy D`Arcey-Curran and our special guest Lorna Vanderplog. The theme for the night was ``Best Country Fairs`` where we heard alot of good memories of going to the fair.

The chairperson for the meeting and for our Speechcraft program is Richard Boertien. He was well prepared and did a great job with our theme. Keith McCluskie performed the induction ceremony of our newest member (Lucy D'Arcey-Curran) and I presented new name badges to our newest Competent Communicators (Richard Boertien and Heidi Menzi)

Our Toast and Timer was George Stevers who gave a toast to Canada and going to the Country Fair. The Grammarian role was filled by Brent Jemmett and I challenged everyone to use the word "Haste" which means swiftness of motion, or speed. It was used 9 times. Sharon D'Arcey did the role of Literary Corner where she read an interesting story that she helped put the book together for about some Listowel residents at a pie auction and buy $100 pies.

Our evaluators were Jane Stoltz, Audrey Orth, and Lucy D'Arcey, who all gave great feedback to our speakers.

Our Speechcrafters both did great jobs going up for the first time with their Ice Breakers. Diane Schalk's was called "Growing Up In Carthage" and Doug Culbert's was called "What Brought Me To Toastmasters".. Marilyn Miller did speech #5 (Body Language) called "Its A Small World", where she entertained us with her speech and her singing voice.

Next our chairperson Richard Boertien spoke to the Speechcrafters about Speaking with Conviction. Keith Stoltz did the Educational Session on ``Introducing the Speaker`` and Keith McCluskie gave the sample "Being Earnest" speech which was called ``Shorter Work Week``.

Heidi Menzi for Table Topicsmaster had a bag of goodies where we had to choose from and describe how we won or got it at the Country Fair. We ended up with a tie for the winner between Keith McCluskie and our Speechcrafter - Doug Culbert. Marilyn Miller challenged us with Quizmaster and George Nichol as general evaluator gave us a good review of how the meeting went and some grow points on how to improve our meeting.

After the meeting, we enjoyed refreshments provided by Heidi Menzi.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting and week 3 of Speechcraft with the theme of "Ah" Moments.

Brent

Dates to remember:

Oct. 14th Speechcraft #3 - "Ah" Moments

Oct. 20th is the Area Contest in Harriston

Oct. 21st Speechcraft #4 - Acronyms

Oct. 29th the District Contest in Waterloo.

Nov. 19-21 District Toastmaster Fall Conference in Niagara Falls

Start of Speech Crafter Program Sept. 30, 2010

On Thursday Sept 30th, we started our Speechcraft workshop with two participants (Diane Schalk and Joan Dietrich). We had very good attendance with 13 members including our newest member Lucy D'Arcey-Curran. The theme for the night was "Hats" and pretty well everyone either was wearing or brought their favourite hat.

The chairperson for the meeting and for our Speechcraft program is Richard Boertien. He was well prepared and had lots of fun with the theme. When he was introducing everyone, he had a special hat for that person.

Our Toast and Timer was Marilyn Miller who was performing the role for her first time. She did a great job with her toast to Canada and included our theme. The Grammarian role was filled by Heidi Menzi and she challenged us to use the word "Onamonapia". George Nichol did the role of Literary Corner where he read an interesting story about a dog called "Tip".

Next our chairperson Richard Boertien spoke to the Speechcrafters the Importance of Public Speaking. Diane Bender did the Educational Session on "Selecting Your Topic" and I gave the sample Icebreaker speech which was called "My Time at Campbell`s Soup". Keith McCluskie did a great job evaluating the speech by giving some great glow points speech and showing the speechcrafters how we give instant feedback.

Jane Stoltz had everyone describe why they picked the hat they did for Table Topics. We ended up with a 3 way tie for the winner (George Nichol, Audrey Orth and Diane Bender). Audrey Orth as general evaluator gave us a good review of how the meeting went and some grow points on how to improve our meeting.

Humorous and table topics contest

Contestants: Heidi, Rich, Sharon, Brent, Marie, Keith M, Jane.

Humorouos Contest Winners: First Place Brent Jemmett, Second Place Rich Boertien

Table Topics Contest Winners: First Place Jane Stoltz, Second Place Keith McCluskie

Speakers for the evening: Audrey and Heidi.

Sharon and George welcome Lisa to a Toastmasters meeting September 9,2010


Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,
On Thursday the Linguists of Listowel held their Humorous and Table Topics contests. We had great attendance and lots of guests. We had guests from other Toastmaster Clubs in our Area, who helped being judges and counters. Our guests were Karen Bott, from the Mt. Forest Club (Dorothy Denis and her husband, Dorothy Bell and Pauline), from the Hanover Club (Trudy Baran, Denise and her husband).

Our Area Govenor, Keith Stoltz did a great job chairing the Humourous contest where we had 5 participants that had everyone laughing with their funny speeches. The particpants were:

Marie McCutcheon - "One Size Fits All"
Sharon D'Arcey - "Family Dynamics"
Heidi Menzi - "Holiday Impressions"
Brent Jemmett - "Funny Things My Dad Said and Did"
Rich Boertien - "Man's Best Friend"

The order the judges determined were Brent Jemmett (1st), Rich Boertien (2nd), and Mari McCutcheon (3rd).

Marie McCutcheon did a great job chairing the table topics contest where we had 5 particpants. The participants were challenged to speak about the word "SUNSET" for at least one minute to a maximum of 2 minutes.

The participants were Rich Boertien, Keith McCluskie, Jane Stoltz, Brent Jemmett and Heidi Menzi. The order the judges determined were Jane Stoltz (1st), Keith McCluskie (2nd) and Brent Jemmett (3rd).

Diane Bender was the Chief Judge for both contests and Keith Stoltz was Sargent of Arms for the Table Topics Contest. Audrey Orth and Marilyn Miller were our timers for both contests. Rich Boertien, Brent Jemmett, Jane Stoltz, and Sharon D'Arcey provided snacks for our intermission and after the meeting.

The first and second place contestants will be heading to the Area Contest on Oct. 20th at Harriston's Community Living Building.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting and the start of our Speechcraft program, so spread the word.

Brent
President

Dates to remember:
Sept. 27th Hanover Contest
Sept 30th Speechcraft....Hats
Oct. 5th Mt. Forest Contest
Oct. 20th is the Area Contest in Harriston
Oct. 29th the District Contest in Waterloo.

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,
What another great meeting! We had great attendance and the meeting was full of many laughs that were too numerous to count. The theme for the night was "Fact or Fiction".

Audrey Orth called the meeting to order right on time and introduced myself as the Chairperson. Throughtout the meeting I challenged everyone with a quiz that I found on the Myth Busters website. We had 3 members tie for the most correct answers with 6.

Next Sharon Diehl as our Toast and Timer gave a great toast to Canada and kept accurate times of all the roles. The Grammarian role was filled by George Nichol and he challenged us to use the word "Prevaricate" which means to act or speak misleadly. "Prevaricate" was used 9 times. Keith McCluskie did the role of Literary Corner where he read an interesting story out of a Country Woman article called "The time the ice cream tasted salty".

We had a business meeting conducted by Diane Bender to address the vacant secretary role and we elected Marilyn Miller. Then our Area Govenor, Keith Stoltz inducted Marilyn into the role. Next we had a ribbon ceremony where Diane Bender put our President's Distinguished ribbon on our banner and Keith Stoltz put the ribbon of "Home of the Area Govenour" on the banner.

We had one speaker for the night. Richard Boertien completed his second speech out of the "Speaking to Inform" manual. His speech was called "Milwaukee Iron" where he told us the story of how the motorcycle Harley Davidson came to be and how it is the great motorcycle with his great sound effects.

Sharon D'Arcey did a great job evaluating Rich's speech by giving some great glow points speech.

Marie McCutcheon had a very interesting challenge for everyone with Table Topics where we partnered up, had to speak for 3 minutes and had to tell everyone about the new item that we are going to sell . The partners that won were Audrey Orth/Richard Boertien who all had us wanting to buy an electronic typewritter.

Heidi Menzi challenged with quizmaster and Keith Stoltz as general evaluator gave us a good review of how the meeting went.

Afterwards, we enjoyed snacks provided by Audrey and Sharon D'Arcey.

Hope to see you all on Thursday for our next meeting and our Humourous/Table Topics Contest.

Brent

Dates to remember:

Sept 23rd Linguists of Listowel's Humourous and Table Topics Contest.
Oct. 20th is the Area Contest in Harriston
Oct. 29th the District Contest in Waterloo.

July 22, The best about summer Holidays
Chairperson: Brent Jemmett
Loyal Toast & Timer: Audrey Orth
Grammarian:
Table Topics #1: Keith McCluskie
Award for Best Table Topics
Point of View: Jane Stoltz
Counter Point of View:
Table Topics #2: Keith Stoltz
General Evaluator: Rich Boertien
Reports
Award for Best Table Topics
Anything for the Good of Toastmaster
Snacks: Jane Stoltz


Dates to Mark on Your Calendar


August 5: Tall Tales Contest
August 19: Show & Tell

July 8, 2010

President Brent congratulates Heidi on her Interpretive Reading.

Linguists of Listowel – LISTEN, LAUGH, LEARN & LEAD
Area 66 – District 86 – Western Division – Region VI – Club #9016
Linguistsoflistowel.blogspot.com & toastmasters86.org
Area Governor: Keith Stoltz
Division Governor: Melanee Jessup
Date: Thurs July 8, 2010 Theme: Mind Games


7:15 p.m. Call meeting to order: Diane Bender, ACG CL
(3-4 min) Chairperson’s Opening Remarks Brent Jemmett, CC
(1-2 min) Joke of the Day: Diane Bender, ACG CL
(1-2 min) Loyal Toast & Timer: George Stevers
(5-7 min) Speaker #1: Interpretive Reading #1 Heidi Menzi, CC

(20 min) Table Topics: Rich Boertien, CC

(3-4 min) Evaluator #1: Audrey Orth, ACG
(20 min) Press Conference Activity Brent Jemmett, CC

(5 min) Anything for the Good of Toastmasters:
(July 22 agenda review,)
(1 min) Award for Best Table Topics Rich Boertien, CC
(1 min) Award for Attendance given to Keith McCluskie Diane Bender, ACG CL

(1min) Report from Timer: George Stevers
(2 min) Quizmaster: Keith McCluskie
(5 min) General Evaluator: Brian Camacho
(2 min) Chairperson’s Closing Remarks: Brent Jemmett
9:00 p.m. Adjournment
Snacks: Diane Bender, ACG CL


Dates to Mark on Your Calendar
July 22: The Best About Summer Holidays
Aug 5: Take My Word for It
Aug 19: Show & Tell

June 24, 2010

Leo Brisebois presents the Brenda Karges Memorial Toastmaster of the Year Award to Diane Bender

Gregory C N Smith presented his new contest speech "ALMOST". Area governor Diana Snowden and President Diane Bender wish him well in the International speech contest in California in August.

Audrey chats with George and Mary Stevers

Potluck Oscar Evening in Listowel on Thursday June 24th
6:45 pm Call to Order: George Stevers introduced chairperson Diane Bender
Welcoming Remarks: As our Toastmaster year draws to a close, I wish you all, the very best. I hope that you have achieved your goals, learned, had some fun and made a difference.
Listen, Laugh, Learn and Lead has been our theme this year. What fun we have had! What a pleasure to finish with this Oscar awards evening.
As 2009-10 comes to a close, I am thrilled with the enthusiasm and accomplishments of the members of the Linguists of Listowel. Let’s continue to step out of our comfort zones and learn to speak and lead with confidence.
Loyal Toast & Timer: Keith Stoltz
Grace: Audrey Orth
We are honored to have so many guests here for our gala awards evening. Please introduce your guest if you have brought someone and visitors please share your name and how you heard about this toastmasters evening. There were 12 members and 11 guests present.
(35 min) Potluck Supper
7:30 Call the meeting back to order.
In toastmasters we experience fun, frolic and spontaneity and it gives us motivation to attend regularly. Marilyn enjoys sharing funny stories and life experiences - please welcome Marilyn Miller.

Grammarian: Leo Brisebois challenged everyone to use the word VERISIMILAR throughout the meeting. It is an adjective and means appearing to be true, likely or probable.

(7 min) Speaker #1: Rich Boertien gave his first speech from his new advanced manual Speaking to Inform. “My Last 50 Years” Evaluated by Brent Jemmett
(7 min) Speaker #2: Jane Stoltz Humorous Manual #5 "A Toast to Keith" Evaluated by Audrey Orth.
Keynote Speaker Gregory C.N. Smith presented his new competition speech which he is preparing for the International Speech Contest in California in August.
Speech Title “Almost”.

Rhea joined Linguists of Listowel in February and has already earned her CC designation. She is always enthusiastic and cheerful. We will miss her when she goes off to school to further her education. She has been an inspiration and taught us a lot.
(20 min)Table Topics: Rhea Longman-------- Winner: Pauline Boertien

(10 min) Induction Ceremony by Diana Snowden Area 66 Governor
President: Brent Jemmett
VP of Education: Jane Stoltz
VP of Public Relations: Sharon D'Arcey (absent)
VP of Membership: Keith McCluskie
Treasurer: George Nichol (absent)
Secretary: Jessica Kelly (absent)
Sargeant of Arms: Rich Boertien

Awards:
(1 min)Attendance: Diane Bender presented the certificate to Audrey Orth
(1 min) Brenda Karges Memorial Toastmaster of the year Award was presented by Leo Brisebois to Diane Bender.

Acceptance Speech
Thankyou Leo. I am honoured to accept the Brenda Karges Memorial Award. Thankyou everyone!
Brenda Karges Distinguished Toast Master said at a meeting “Where is everyone? If they are home watching television they are really missing out.” On the blog site I was impressed that she wrote “Come and laugh and learn with us next week. I expanded that for my theme for this year to be Listen, Laugh, Learn and Lead. “It was with enthusiastic members like her that our Toastmasters club grew. We used to meet at the Ford Dealership, for free, but she recognized that we were really too cramped to make new members feel comfortable. We moved here to the Lutheran Church Hall and have enjoyed the extra space –We can be as creative as we want. We can step out of our comfort zones and learn in a relaxed environment. Brenda was my mentor when I joined and continued to mentor me through my Toastmasters Journey. I am honored to accept this award.

(1 min) Membership: Keith McCluskie
Keith has been VP membership. He attended executive training and took the time to sort out the best way to induct new members. He devised a welcome package for new members so they would not be overwhelmed with rules and regulations and fees. I would say he has streamlined the work of vp membership. I would like to present Keith with this Toastmasters pin “The Courage to Conquer.”
Quizmaster: Keith McCluskie
(5 min) Anything for the Good of Toastmasters

(9 pm) Chairperson's Closing Remarks: Diane Bender
My goal this year was to make sure that everyone got what they were looking for out of their Toastmaster experience. I know that I am proud of each of you. You are wonderful inspiring people and I enjoyed every meeting. We have learned together, and worked together as a team.
Your executive was always willing to take on a leadership role and participated at executive meetings to make decisions that would benefit the Linguists of Listowel. Through your hard work we have earned the Presidents Distinguished Club ribbon for our Banner for 2009-10. I would like to Thank Area Governor Diana Snowden for her leadership. She set a goal for Area 66 and inspired us to do our best for toastmasters.
I wish our new executive a wonderful year.


July 8: Mind Games
July 22: The Best Thing About Summer
August 5: Tall Tales Contest
August 19: Show & Tell
Sept 9: Regular Meeting
Sept 23: Club Contest
Sept 30: Speechcraft Begins???
Oct 13: Area Contest??
Oct 22: Division Contest??
Nov 13-15: Fall Conference

Enjoy your summer holidays!











VP Ed Jane Stoltz organized the evening and did an awesome job with the decorations.

Rhea Longman and her friend enjoy Toastmasters Night at the Oscars.