November 29, 2012 Theme: If I Had A Billion Dollars

Tonight’s theme was "If I Had A Billion Dollars..." and the meeting was called to order on time by Tony.  Tony gave us a top 10 list of the richest Billionaires in the world.  Next, Tony introduced Keith S., our chair for this evening.  In his opening remarks, Keith gave some information on Canadian Billionaires and what they are worth.

The only agenda change for this evening was that Apryl would be the Grammarian and Laugh Counter.

Keith M. was then introduced to do the Joke of the Day.  Keith had two short jokes, both of which were related to the theme.

Audrey was the Toast and Timer and led us into the Toast to Canada.

The word of the evening was "wealth", a noun with several meanings, one of which is abundant worldly possessions.  Apryl's choice of word was fitting to the theme.

Literary corner was next with John reading and article titled "The Dying Art of Conversation".

Speeches were next and tonight there were two.  Vern was first with his speech "Old Age".  His evaluator John read the speech objectives. The speech was about what it means to grow old and how does one know when you are old.  He was followed by Val and her speech "The Art of Gathering", a way on how to keep teenagers fed on a budget.  Val's evaluator was Apryl who also read the speech objectives.  Both speeches were well done and a minute for written evaluations followed each speaker.

Table Topics was done by Brent.  He had everyone write down how they had earned a Billion dollars on a slip of paper.  When done the papers were passed to the left.  When it came time to speak, the member could look at the slip of paper passed to them and then begin to tell the other members how they had earned the Billions based on what the other person had written.  Like usual, a wealth of laughs were heard.

Tony was up again as the General Evaluator.  He first asked for the speech evaluations to be done for Vern and Val.  John was first to evaluate Vern's speech followed by Apryl's evaluation of Val's speech.  Next, Tony asked for the general reports.  Audrey gave her report as the Toast and Timer, followed by Apryl who gave her Grammarian report.  The word of the evening had been used seven times and Apryl had also recorded 60 laughs.  Last, Brent gave his report for Table Topics.  This week the winner was John.  Tony concluded this section by giving his General Evaluation of the meeting.

The last section before the Chairperson concluded the meeting was the Quizmaster Report.  This was done by Apryl, and she challenged our memory on various things that members had said throughout the night.

Keith S. then took control of the meeting again for the final few items.  Anything for the Good of Toastmasters was discussed, as well as the assigning of roles for next week's meeting.  Keith then gave his closing remarks and brought the meeting to an end.

November 22, 2012 Theme: Historical Events

Heidi started the evening off with the Call to Order and introduced our Chairperson for the evening, Apryl. 

Apryl took the lectern and with her opening remarks, as well as every time she spoke, gave us historical highlights on events that happened on November 22nd.  There were two agenda changes, the first is that Heidi would do the Joke of the Day and, second, John would be the Ah and Laugh counter.

Val led us into the traditional toast as the Toast and Timer for the evening.  She gave us the history behind the toast, fitting for the theme of the evening.

Leo was next with the Literary Corner.  He read a short story on the history of the first Canadian railway. 

This evening Tony did his speech using visual aids.  His topic this evening was his progression of footwear throughout his life.  He had a variety of footwear on display and explained how he had obtained and what he liked about them.  One minute for Written Evaluations followed.

Keith S. was out Table Topics Master.  He changed the rules a bit by making it two minutes in length instead of the customary one.  He had each member give him a number between one and twelve.  He then gave the member the associated question to that number.  Keith kept the Table Topics related to the theme and all the questions were historical events that the member had to relate to in their impromptu speaking.

Leo was up again as the General Evaluator.  He first asked for the reports to be given.  Keith M. was first with his evaluation of Tony's speech.  Val was next with her Toast and Timer report, followed by John with his report as Ah and Laugh Counter.   Last, Keith S. gave his report by announcing the winner for Table Topics.  Leo then gave his General Evaluator report.

The Quiz Master's Report was next.  Tonight this role was filled by Vern and he challenged our memory with various things said by members throughout the evening.

There were a few things discussed in Anything For The Good of Toastmasters.  One of them being the upcoming Christmas Meal and Gift Exchange on December 20th.  It was decided to have this evening catered.  Val then asked for volunteers to fill the roles for next week's meeting.

Apryl finished the evening by giving her closing remarks, ending another evening of fun and laughter.

November 20, 2012 Mount Forest Motivators Tenth Anniversary

Members of the Mount Forest Motivators hold the 10th anniversary cake.

Members of the Mount Forest Motivators Toastmaster's club with Area 65 Governor, Division Governor and District Governor.

November 15, 2012 Theme: Famous People

It was an exciting part of the meeting as Tracy D'Arcey was being inducted into the Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster club as our newest member by
Tony Galvao (V.P. of Membership).

Shown from left to right; Apryl Browning (mentor for Tracy), Tracy D'Arcey (newest club member) and Tony Galvao (V.P. of Membership).

November 15, 2012 Theme: Famous People

Brent Jemmett called the meeting to order and introduced Val Hummel as the chairperson for the meeting. Brent went on to explain that Val is a famous person because her picture as "Madame Clair Voyant" appeared in the Listowel Banner and Snap Perth local newspapers.
Val's opening remarks reflected on famous people's characteristics verses the characteristics of a "typical" average person. Val compared each of the members to famous people in the world.
Val introduced our Toast and Timer, Vern Noseworthy, as Dr. Doolittle because he is the proud owner of a hobby farm with many animals that he talks to regularly.
Vern explained his role and provided a patriotic toast to Canada. Vern had done some research and found that a famous person, Fidel Castro (President of Cuba), had once given a speech that was 4 hours and 29 minutes and another speech to the Communist Party that lasted 7 hours and 10 minutes.
Audrey Orth was the Grammarian and Laugh Counter for the meeting. Audrey introduced us to four different words; Celebrate - verb, Celebrated - adjective, Celebration - noun and Celebrity - noun. She challenged everyone to use these words during the evening and they were used 6 times during the meeting. There were also 42 good laughs during the meeting.
Tony Galvao took on the role of Literary Corner and introduced his role and the purpose. Tony provided the members with a reading from the Small Farm Canada magazine. Dan Needles was the author of the story "Art of the Supper Table and Endless Talk."
Heidi Menzi presented an Oratorical Speech - Project # 5 from the Interpretive Reading Manual. The speech was entitled " The Lipizzaner Stallions". Heidi achieved her ACB (Advanced Communicator Bronze) award with the completion of this speech. Congratulations Heidi!
Apryl Browning presented an Educational Module entitled "Gestures: Let Your Body Speak". This was done in the form of a Power Point presentation and verbal presentation with lots of good examples.
Tony Galvao (V.P. of Membership) conducted an induction ceremony for our newest Linguist of Listowel club member, Tracy D'Arcey. Tracy was welcomed into the club by all members.
Diane Bender was our Table Topics Master for the evening. Each member had to select, from an envelope, a picture of a famous Canadian. Each member had the responsibility of introducing this famous person to the rest of the members, use gestures and explain why these people should join Toastmasters.
Keith McCluskie evaluated Heidi's speech presentation with glow and grow points.
Apryl Browning was the General Evaluator for the meeting and provided her views of how the meeting went and asked for reports for the evening.
Tony Galvao was the Table Topics winner for the evening.
Brent Jemmett was the Quiz Master for the meeting and challenged our listening skills by asking us who said what phrase during the meeting. Brent caught us with two phrases that we couldn't figure out who said them.
Anything for the good of Toastmasters included discussions about the new Stratford club starting up and how we can help out, praise and congratulations to Brent Jemmett (V.P. of Public Relations) for lots of good exposure and recognition of our club in the local papers and media, discussions about the upcoming Christmas potluck meal and the 10th anniversary of the Mount Forest Motivator's club on November 20th.
Keith Stoltz practiced a Toast for the weekend's ceremonies. Apryl provided her closing remarks and adjourned the meeting. Snacks and refreshments were provided by Val and Apryl and enjoyed by all.

November 8, 2012 Theme: Remembrance Day

Vern called the meeting to order and introduced our Chairperson for the evening, Tony.  Tony welcomed everyone, with special mention to our guests from the Palmerston Legion and Army Cadets for coming out on our Remembrance Day evening.

Guests:  Cheryl Thomson, Josh Wakeford, a member of the Norwell 1943 Army Cadets and from the Palmerston Legion, Branch 409, Chris Wakeford, Liz and Jeff Lambier.

Guest introductions were made and there were no agenda changes.

Toast and Timer was Apryl.  For this evening the time given to this role was extended.  Before doing the toast, Apryl read the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae.

Grammarian and Laugh Counter was John.  The word for this special evening was Commemorate.  George took on the role of Literary Corner.  He first read a poem called "Final Inspection", author unknown, and then read a story on the appearance of the old veteran on the $10 bill.

Up next was Keith S with his speech "What Would You Like to Know".  This is Keith's 3rd time through the CC manual and this was the icebreaker speech.  Doing it impromptu, he asked for questions on what people wanted to know and then did his speech based on answering those questions.  He did avoid one question which was why he thinks Jane needs another cat.  A minute for written evaluations followed.

Table Topics was done by Val.  She had everyone draw a number and then drew a matching set of numbers herself to determine the speaking order.  The theme for TT was what you did to recognize Remembrance Day.  Most of our guests participated as well. 

Brent was the General Evaluator this evening.  He first asked for Keith M. to do his speech evaluation on Keith S., followed by asking for the various reports.  Apryl gave her Timer report, followed by John with his Grammarian report.  Val was next with her Table Topics report.  The winner this evening was our young guests for the Army Cadets, Josh.  I must admit a lot of the Toastmasters were in awe at the way he stood up and spoke with such confidence.  Brent then gave his General Evaluator report.

Leo was up next with his Quizmaster's Report; our guests participated in this with enthusiasm.  Tony again took the lectern as the evening drew to a close.  There were a few items for Anything For the Good of Toastmasters, followed by Roles and Themes for the next few weeks.  Before Tony officially called the meeting to an end, our guests then had a chance to share their views of the meeting.

November 1, 2012 Theme: Francophone Traditions

Francophone Traditions

Wayne called the evening to order and introduced our chair for the evening, Leo.  With the theme of the evening being Francophone Traditions, Leo's Chairperson's Welcome delighted everyone.  He said several quotes and slogans in French and translated them in English, as well as telling some interesting and fun facts about Quebec and growing up in Cornwall.

For agenda changes, Wayne volunteered to be the laugh counter and Vern took on the role of Table Topics.  Our guest, and newest member by the end of the evening, Tracy, introduced herself and told everyone why she was joining Toastmasters.

Joke of the day was done by John.  Toast and Timer this evening was Keith S. and Heidi filled the role of Literary Corner.  From Heidi's reading came an interesting quote/saying, "Laughter is like manure, it works best if it is spread around...”

Tony was next with his speech titled "I am Canadian".  Tony ended his speech with having the members stand and join him in singing our national anthem.  A minute was taken for written evaluations.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, this was the theme for Table Topics.  Vern did an excellent job of explaining how this worked and demonstrating it by going firsts.  Pick a random topic and give both some thumbs up and some thumbs down points.  All members participated.

Keith M. was next as the General Evaluator.  He first asked for Apryl to do Tony's speech evaluation.  Tony had asked her to be extra critical so he can grow his speaking skills.  Next up was the reports.  Keith S. gave his Timer report, Wayne his Laugh Counter report (there were 27 laughs so far), And Vern his Table Topics report.  Wayne was this evening's winner for Table Topics.  Keith M. then gave his report on the meeting itself.

The next part of the meeting was given to a review of the Executive Meeting from last week.  This was followed by Anything for the Good of Toastmasters.  Marg was next with her Quizmaster's Report. 

The evening concluded with seeking a Chairperson for next week's meeting, Guest comments and the closing remarks given by Leo.

October 25, 2012 Theme: Spooky Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster Club

October 25, 2012 Theme: Spooky Halloween

SPOOKY HALLOWEEN

With over half of those in attendance sporting fantastic Halloween costumes, the Linguists of Listowel got together for another fun filled evening.

The meeting was called to order by one of our witches for the evening, Marie.  With potions brewing and spell casting, she welcomed everyone and introduced our chair for the evening, Apryl.   While the smoke from the cauldron slowly rose to the ceiling, I wondered if the smoke alarm was going to go off.

Apryl gave her opening remarks on the theme for the evening which was "Spooky Halloween".  It is worth noting that this is the first time that I have heard a Mime speak.  Guest Introductions were done and Agenda Changes made.  There was only one change and that was the addition of Marie as speech evaluator.

To officially kick of the rest of the evening, everyone in costume paraded around the room.  Ballots were then filled out by everyone to vote on the best costume.  The results would be announced later that evening.

Our Ghost of Crossing Guards Past, Val, was next with the joke of the day.  Our Terminator look-a-like, (I am hoping that I have this correct) Keith, was next as our Toast and Timer.  Wearing a dress and a little heavy on the eye shadow, Tony, the Grammarian and Laugh Counter, gave us the word of the evening.  This evening, the word was "petrify", to frighten someone so that they are unable to move.  The Literary Corner role was filled by John.

We had two speeches this evening.  Up first was Heidi who read/performed a play titled "Sandra on Sports".  The Cast in the Hat, Jill was next with her speech "Tips on Public Speaking".  Written evaluations were done after each speech.

Brent dressed up as Allan from the movie "The Hangover" was this evening's Table Topics master.  He also could have passed as Al Borland from the TV series Home Improvements.  When it was their turn, Brent had each person take a slip of paper from an envelope with a Halloween related question.  Like usual, Table Topics is always full of laughs.

Audrey, AKA Dolly Dingling, was our general evaluator.  She first asked for the witches to give their evaluations on the speeches.  The first witch, Jane, evaluated Heidi while the second witch, Marie, evaluated Jill.  Next, Audrey asked for the general reports from the Timer, Grammarian and Table Topics.  The word of the evening was used five times.  As well, there were 68 laughs, 7 Xeroxes (repetitions) and 16 um's and ah's.  The winner for Table Topics was our guest Tracey.  Audrey finished her section by giving her general report on the meeting.

Next, the prize was awarded for the best costume.  Audrey was the winner.   Drawing to a close, Anything for the Good of Toastmasters was next.  Afterwards we asked our guest for any comments of what she thought of the meeting.  Sharon provided us with her Quiz Master's Report.

Apryl officially ended the meeting with a few closing remarks.

October 21, 2012 - Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre in Holstein

The Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster club presented a second performance of the 20th anniversary murder mystery dinner theater "Murder Under the Big Top" in the Egremont Community Centre in Holstein, Ontario.
The cast members were;
Bo Derelict - Tony Galvao
Madame Clair Voyant - Val Hummel
Scarlet O'Roara - Marie McCutcheon
Tip Wilson - Vern Noseworthy
Mustang Sally Wilson-Pickett - Apryl Browning
Alfred Snitchcock - Brent Jemmett
Justice Law- Keith McCluskie
Dolly Dingling - female audience participant

It was an evening full of fun and audience interaction as the events unfolded and each table had to present their findings and guess who the murderer was that killed Big Ben.

October 19, 2012 Area 65 Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest

Left: Area 65 Governor Keith Stoltz (Linguists of Listowel) congratulates Jafar Mirjalali (Mount Forest Motivators) for winning the Humorous Speech contest at Grace United Church in Hanover.
Brent Jemmett (Linguists of Listowel) holds the prize trophy for the winner and second place winner Tony Galvao (Linguists of Listowel) looks on.

 Jafar Mirjalali (Mount Forest Motivators) displays the first place trophy for winning the Humorous Speech competition.

 Table Topics contest participants in the Area 65 competition at Grace United Church in Hanover.
Left: Area 65 Governor Keith Stoltz, Sylvie Tibben, David Haggett, Tony Galvao and Trudy Baran.

Left to right is Area 65 Governor - Keith Stoltz, Table Topics Winner - Trudy Baran and Jason Walters who presented the trophy.

Gemma Mendez-Smith (Table Topics Chairperson) and Area 65 Governor - Keith Stoltz both congratulate Tony Galvao for placing second in the Table Topics competition.

 Merri Macartney looks on as Keith Stoltz congratulates Tony Galvao and presents him with a second place certificate in the Humorous speech contest. Brent Jemmett holds the first prize trophy.

Trudy Baran (president of the Saugeen Toastmasters) is the first place winner of the Table Topics competition in the Hanover Area contest.

Humorous Speech Competition participants.
From left to right; Area 65 Governor - Keith Stoltz, Tammy Hunt, Harold Tuck, Tony Galvao and Jafar Mirjalali.

October 18, 2012 Theme: Harvest Time

V.P. of Education (Val Hummel) congratulatesVern Noseworthy with a certificate for completing his 6th speech from the Toastmaster Competent Communicator manual.

 V.P. of Membership (Tony Galvao) is the Table Topics Master for the meeting.
Club members had to speak for one minute about three random topics (one topic from each paper bag).

 Val Hummel waits for her three Table Topics.

October 18, 2012 Theme: Harvest Time

Another fun filled evening filled with laughs for the Listowel Toastmaster's.

The meeting was called to order by Heidi.  With a brief introduction, she handed the lectern over to the Chairperson for this evening Keith McCluskie.  This evening's theme was Harvest Time.  A fitting choice for this time of year.  You can hardly take a drive out into the country without seeing the farmers busy at work in the fields.

There were no guests and no agenda changes this evening.

Joke of the day was done by Brent.  It turned out that the joke was linked to the theme which, according to Brent, was by coincidence.  Toast and Timer was Keith Stoltz.  After saying a few words in regards to how technology has changed farming.  Machinery, with the use of satellite, can virtually drive themselves up and down the fields.   The Toastmasters then raised their glasses for the ritual Toast to Canada. 

Audrey was the grammarian for the evening.  The word she chose was "reap", a verb meaning to harvest.  Literary corner was next with Jane reading a harvest related story from "Country Women".  Although a USA magazine, the article itself was written by a lady from Guelph by the name of Theresa Pitman.

Vern was next with his sixth speech from the CC manual.  The title of this speech was "Growing Up On Welfare" with Vern doing an excellent job of describing his childhood years.  A minute was taken for written evaluations after the speech.

Val was up next and presented Vern with his 6th Speech Certificate from the CC manual.

A roundtable discussion on the Murder Mystery Evening was next.  The evening had been a huge success with many compliments.  There were many glow points, as well as several grow points.  However, the glow points far outweighed the grow points.  The cast has been asked to perform again by Brent's mother at another function in Holstein.

Leo did an Educational Corner titled "Keeping the Commitment".  Using a projector and handouts, Leo went over point of the Toastmaster's Promise and the Club Members Pledge.

Tony added a twist to the ever popular Table Topics.  For this evening, he had 3 bags, one containing slips of paper with names, one a food item and the third as random item.  As each Toastmasters turn came, Tony would pick one slip of paper from each bag and you had to use all three in your speech.  The added challenge to this is that, while you waited your turn, there was no chance to think of what to say since you had no idea what was coming your way.

Val was the General Evaluator for this evening.  She first introduced Apryl who gave her evaluation of Vern's speech.  Next, Val asked for the reports from the Timer, the Grammarian and fro the Table Topics Master.  There was a tie this evening between Val and Jane for the Table Topics challenge.  Val then proceeded to give her report on the meeting.

Drawing to a close, Heidi was next with the Quiz Master's Report.  Following this was Anything for the Good of Toastmasters and assigning roles for the next meeting.  Keith officially ended the meeting with a few closing remarks.

October 13, 2012 Twentieth Anniversary Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre

Bo Derelict (Tony Galvao) - Circus Clown

Alfred Snitchcock (Brent Jemmett) - Circus Manager

Mustang Sally Wilson-Pickett (Diane Bender) - Star Equestrian

Madame Clair Voyant (Val Hummel) - See all, know all, palm and card reader

Tip Wilson (Vern Noseworthy) - Tight Rope Walker and Aerialist

Dolly Dingling (Audrey Orth) - Big Top Circus Owner/Operator

Scarlet O'Roara (Marie McCutcheon) - Lion Tamer

Justice Law (Keith McCluskie) - Attorney for the Big Top Circus

Master of Ceremonies (Keith Stoltz) - Toastmasters Area 65 Governor

October 13, 2012 Twentieth Anniversary Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre

Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre guests and performers.
Located at the Listowel Golf and Country Club Clubhouse.

Also in attendance were three of the original Linguist of Listowel Toastmaster members.

October 13, 2012 Twentieth Anniversary Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre

Bo Derelict and Scarlet O'Roara prepare balloons before the show.

Scarlet O'Roara and Bo Derelict work on balloon preparation and Alfred Snitchcock and Keith Stoltz greet guests while Jane Stoltz works at the registration table all at the Listowel Golf and Country Club Clubhouse.

Tip Wilson, guest greeter.

October 11, 2012 Theme: Grab Bag Meeting

The Linguists of Listowel held a "Grab Bag" meeting where everyone picked a slip of paper and opened it to find what role they were handling.

Val called the meeting to order and, much to his surprise, Brent chaired the meeting.  
Jane provided the Joke of the Day that Brent had brought to the meeting.   
Diane was Grammarian and presented the word "impromptu".   
Keith McCluskie read an educational piece for Literary Corner on the importance of breathing deeply to calm nerves.   
Vern led the Loyal Toast and timed the meeting.   
Marie gave an excellent impromptu speech with a topic suggested by other members; she spoke of good things to see and do in Vicoria, British Columbia.   
Keith Stoltz led a 30-minute impromptu Table Topics session, leading the group in several icebreaker exercises, and burned nicknames for each member into Val's memory for eternity.    
Tony was the General Evaluator and had Val evaluate Marie's speech. He also called for reports.  Roles for the October 18th meeting were filled.   
Keith reminded members of the upcoming Area Contest that Tony will be participating in.   
Brent closed the laugh-filled meeting at approximately 8:20 pm

October 4, 2012 Theme: Humorous and Table Topics Contest

Guests for the evening, including members from the Saugeen Toastmasters and the Mount forest Motivators, were Dorothy, Marge S, Dorothy D and her husband Gordon, Teresa D, Trudy B, Jason W, Greg S, Gemma and Hank.

This evening was the Humorous speech and Table Topics Contest.

The meeting was called to order in time by Vern, our Sergeant at Arms for the evening, and introduced the chair for this evening, Keith Stoltz.

Keith welcomed everyone to this exciting evening with a few words and witty comments.  He then had our guests introduce another guest sitting beside them.

Up first was the Humorous Speech Contest, Keith asked for the rules to be read by Audrey, our Chief Judge for the evening.

The contestants were Vern, Tony, Apryl and Brent.  Apryl went first with her speech title "Till boating or death do us part", a fun account of her and her husbands' boating experience over the years of marriage.  A new word learned was "onefootitus".....a nautical term referring to the need to always upgrade your boat to a bigger size.  Next up was Vern with his "Animal Antics" speech.  Always full of humor, Vern's facial expressions and animal mimics had the audience laughing throughout his speech.  "Size Does Matter", the title of Tony's speech, was next.  An excellent explanation, with real life examples, that it is the smaller creatures of the animal kingdom that can strike fear in people.  Up last, but not least, was Brent with his speech "I Cannot Take It Anymore".  A fun tale about the trails and tribulations of being a Toronto Maple Leaf's fan.  Not to worry this year Brent.  Like you said in the end, with the NHL strike, the Leaf's may actually tie for first place (with all the other teams).

After the contestants were finished, the judges completed their ballots, which in turn were collected by the Chief Judge and assistants.  In closed quarters the ballots were reviewed.  All the ballots had been filled in correctly and signed.  As well, there were no time disqualifications.

While the Chief Judge and the assistants were working, the contestants were interviewed.  

A fifteen minute refreshment break was taken before the second half of the evening.

Next up was the Table Topics contest.  The rules for this were outlined by Audrey. Contestants for this event were Jane, Tony, Apryl, Keith M and Brent.  The contestants were taken out of the room and one by one were brought in when it was their turn to speak.  The topic for this event was "I Wish I Could" and each contestant did a wonderful job speaking on the topic.

The ballots were collected again, as with the speeches, all ballots were signed and there were no time disqualifications.  The contestants were interviewed again while the ballots were tallied.

Finally, the results.  For the humorous speech Tony came in first and Brent came in second.  For the Table Topics it was Tony again for first, Apryl in second and Keith M in third.

Keith S asked if there was anything for the good of Toastmasters, after which he officially ended the evening.