March 15, 2012, Theme: Luck of the Irish

The meeting’s theme was “Luck of the Irish” and many Toastmasters sported green in celebration of upcoming St. Patrick’s Day.  Vern started things off by calling the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m.  He introduced Lorna who was chairing the meeting for the first time.  Lorna welcomed everyone and ensured the guests were properly introduced.  Each Toastmaster also introduced themselves for the benefit of the guests.  

Leo presented the Joke of the Day.  In his joke, an armed robber robbed the Bank of Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day.  Anyone who saw his face was promptly dispatched.  When he called out to see if there was anyone else who had seen his face, an elderly Irish gent slowly raised his hand and advised that his wife may have caught a glimpse.  

George took on the role of Toast and Timer and his toast was about Irish immigrants to Canada who settled in this area and how they named many towns in Ontario after towns in Ireland, including Listowel.  

Jane was the evening’s Grammarian with the word “shenanigans” which means devious tricks or questionable conduct.  The word “shenanigans” was used 21 times during the evening.

Diane provided us with a fable for Literary Corner that highlighted the saying “Blessings are won by a good deed done!”

Keith was the lone wolf speaker for the evening with a speech about his and Jane’s recent 28-hour flight to New Zealand.  He provided us with advice for how to have a good trip:  relax, arrive early, treat the airport staff with courtesy, go with the flow, and be friendly with everyone.  He spoke of the thrill of flying First Class on the way there, and how he and Jane were relegated to “cattle class” on the way home.  A positive attitude helped make the flight home relaxing too. 

The Toastmasters enjoyed hearing Marie’s point of view on how Paddyfest in Listowel could make money without having to rely on alcohol.  She suggested that participants could enjoy power shakes made with leafy greens, or drink green tea or limeade.  Jane countered with her point of view that a better moneymaking idea would be to serve haggis.  Many Toastmasters turned green at the thought of both points of view.

Val took over the Table Topics portion of the meeting and had members finish the sentence, “I must be Irish because...”.  

Brent served as General Evaluator and reminded members to be sure to wear their name tags to meetings.  He had Audrey evaluate Keith’s speech.  George gave the Timer’s report, and Wayne was declared the Table Topics winner of the evening with George and Miranda tied for second place. 

Members were reminded that their dues must be paid before the end of March.  Payment should be submitted to George.  Miranda offered positive guest comments on the meeting stating that she enjoyed participating.  Lorna brought the meeting to a close and thanked everyone for attending.  

The next regular meeting of the Linguists of Listowel is March 22nd.