March 22, 2012, Theme: Spring

Keith McCluskie called the meeting to order at 7:18 p.m. and introduced Chairperson Jane Stoltz.  

Jane welcomed members and spoke of the warm spring weather that Ontario has enjoyed for the past week with above-average temperatures.  She spoke of the things that people do in spring such as spring cleaning, washing windows, hanging laundry outside, planting tulips, and putting away winter garments.  She said spring is nature’s way of saying “Let’s Party!”

The members of the Executive marched the new Club Banner into the room, took pictures to commemorate the event, and proudly hung the banner up on the wall.

Guest Tina was introduced by Val, and Toastmasters gave Tina a warm welcome.

Val Hummel provided the Joke of the Day.  She noted that the joke was supposed to be related to the theme of spring but she could not find one, so her joke was about the next best thing - a hamster.  Heidi was Toast and Timer for the evening and she led members in a toast to Canada and the green goodness of spring.  Audrey was Ah Counter and outlined her role to count the number of times each member used “ah” as a filler word.  George provided members with an amusing reading from a James Herriot book called “Tricky, a Triumph of Surgery” for Literary Corner.

The speakers of the night were Vern, Brent and Leo.  Vern bravely gave his Ice Breaker speech titled “It’s All About Me” and members enjoyed hearing about his adventures while growing up in Newfoundland.   Brent gave a speech entitled “The Day I Thought Would Never Happen” about the moment of devastation he endured when he learned that Wayne Gretzy had been traded to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988.   Leo provided an educational module to give members tips on how to evaluate and motivate speakers.  He said evaluators should not use humour when evaluating because it takes away from the speaker.  He reminded members to evaluate the speech, not the speaker.  Members received a handout on tips for evaluating speakers.

Lorna deftly handled Table Topics.  She had each member pull an item out of a bag and describe how it was related to the meeting theme of “spring”.

Jane called each of the speech evaluators to the lectern to provide their evaluations of the speakers.  Keith McCluskie evaluated Vern, Val evaluated Brent, and Keith Stoltz provided comments as general evaluator.  When introducing a speaker, Keith asked members to include a member’s role on the executive.  He noted that the room was warm and windows could have been opened.  He reminded members that the goals and objectives of a speech should be read before calling the speaker up.  He also noted that the agenda should list the reports before the General Evaluator.

Heidi provided a Timer’s Report.  Audrey educated members with her Ah Counter’s report and advised each member of how many times they used the “ah” crutch.  Lorna declared Jane the winner of Table Topics for her one-minute speech on combing her cat.  The upcoming Speech Contest in Mount Forest on March 24^th was noted.  Guest Tina stated that she enjoyed observing the meeting as a guest. 

Jane adjourned the meeting early at approximately 8:45 p.m.

Chairperson, Jane Stoltz is shown here holding the new club banner for the Linguists of Listowel. 

                  

Shown left are most of the members of the club executive officers with the new club banner; 

Left to Right; Keith McCluskie (V.P. of Public Relations), Val Hummel (Club Secretary), Brent Jemmett (Sergeant at Arms), George Nichol (Club Treasurer), Jane Stoltz (past V.P. of Education), Leo Brisebois (Club President) and Lorna VanderPloeg (V.P. of Membership).