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