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.