May 19, 2011 - Theme: Backwards Meeting in Time

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

Thursday's Linguists of Listowel meeting was our annual "Reverse Meeting" where we had a very fun meeting that was filled with lots of laughs. This is a unique meeting whereby we start at the end of the meeting agenda and work towards the beginning of the meeting agenda at the end of the night. The first people, in speaking roles, somewhat dictate or foreshadow what will be said or done by the speakers to follow next (power of suggestion). This makes for a very unpredictable series of events.

There were 11 members in attendance. Our Inspirational Thoughts for the night was "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards" and never look backwards or you'll fall down the stairs". I was the Chairperson for the meeting and gave the Closing Remarks by reviewing how well the meeting went and some thoughts on things being backwards.

We then discussed our Summer Meeting schedule and how are booth worked at the Home and Lifestyle show. Then George Nichol as General Evaluator, evaluated our evaluators and went over what we did well and some grow points during the meeting. Keith Stoltz as Table Topics Master gave the award to Keith McCluskie where he told us why his kids don't have friends over. For table topics, Keith Stoltz had us all speak about whatever we wanted first and then he told us what our topic was.

George Nichol introduced our evaluators. Heidi Menzi evaluated Lorna's speech and we did a round table to evaluate Leo's speech. Lorna VanderPloeg's speech "A Day in My Feathers" was very entertaining as she told us what her pet bird (Stella), who is a Caique, sees everyday. Next Leo Brisebois showed us some Negotiating skills in his very informative speech.

Jane Stoltz held the role of Grammarian and she challenged us to use the word "Gobbledy-gook" which means jargon and she went over the history of the word. It was used by everyone at least twice and Wayne Stoltz used it a whopping 55 times. Keith McCluskie held the role of Toast and Timer and he gave our toast to Canada.

I had Lorna VanderPloeg introduce her guest Stella. Then for the Chairperson's Opening Remarks, I told everyone some of my favourite things that are backwards like one of my all time favourite movies (Back to the Future). Sharon Diehl did a great job introducing the theme of the meeting and the chairperson for the evening.

Hope to see everyone at our next regular meeting on Thursday.

Brent

May 13, 2011 - Home and Life Styles Show (Artisan's Home)

Shown above is the Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster Booth at the Listowel Home and Life Styles Show (Artisan's Home) held at the Parkview Gardens in Listowel.
The event ran from May 13th to May 14th. It was a good opportunity for the general public to learn about Toastmasters and speak to the members about any questions they had or how to go about attending a meeting or possibly joining the club.

May 12, 2011 - Theme: Home and Garden

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

At this past Thursday's Linguists of Listowel, we had a very fun meeting. There were 12 members in attendance. Jane Stoltz called the meeting to order with a funny joke and a great introduction of our Chairperson. Heidi Menzi took on the role of Chairperson for the meeting for her very first time and did a great job. Heidi introduced our theme for the evening of "Home and Garden".

Keith McCluskie started the laughs going with a very funny joke for Joke of the Day. Richard Boertien held the role of Toast and Timer and he gave toast to Canada and all our service clubs. George Nichol held the role of Grammarian and he challenged us to use the word "Captious" which means a having inclination to find fault, especially of a trivial nature. The word "Captious" was used 8 times during the meeting. For Literary Corner, Karen Bott read a very funny and interesting story called "Grueling Garden".

Our first speaker was Lorna VanderPloeg with Speech #4 out of her CC called "My List of Likes". Our second speaker was Diane Bender and gave a very informative and interesting speech called "The Auction Sale" about all her work organizing an auction sale. Next, Audrey Orth did an Educational Corner that was very informative about the mentoring program at Toastmasters.

Jane Stoltz took on the role of Table Topics Master and she had us all pick a type of garden out of the bucket and exaggerate the topic. The winner was a George Nichol with his Shade Garden. I took on the role of general evaluator, where I introduced our evaluators and went over what we did well and some grow points during the meeting. Keith McCluskie evaluated Lorna's speech and Keith McCluskie evaluated Diane's speech. We also had a short discussion on the upcoming Home and Lifestyle Show about our booth.

Hope to see everyone at our next regular meeting on Thursday with our always fun "Reverse Meeting".

Brent

Linguists of Listowel Executive Officers for 2011-2012

Back Row (left to right): Brent (Sergeant at Arms elect), Leo (President elect), George (Treasurer), Keith (V.P. of Public Relations elect).

Front Row (left to right): Marilyn (Secretary), Jane (V.P. of Education) and Lorna (V.P. of Membership elect).

May 5, 2011 - Elections Meeting

Keith Stoltz (Area Governor) was the Table Topics Master for the evening.

















Audrey Orth was the elections ballot counter during the voting in of the new executive officers.
Audrey was also the winner of Table Topics.

















Brent Jemmett (Club President) was the chairperson of the meeting and ran the election of executive officers.

















Heidi Menzi was the General Evaluator of the meeting.

May 5, 2011 - Theme: Elections

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

At this past Thursday's Linguists of Listowel meeting, we had our annual Elections night where we voted in our new executive officers. We had 12 members in attendance. Marilyn Miller called the meeting to order and I was our chair for the meeting. I introduced the theme of Elections for the night and went over what elections means to me. Also, throughout the meeting I shared with everyone some funny campaign slogans.

Jane Stoltz held the role of Toast and Timer and she gave our toast to Canada. Diane Bender held the role of Grammarian and she challenged us to use the word "Loquacious" which means talkative or chatty. It was used 10 times.

Here our results from our Election for our new executive (2011/2012)

• Club President - Leo Brisebois
• Vice President of Education - Jane Stoltz
• Vice President of Membership - Lorna VanderPloeg
• Vice President of Public Relations - Keith McCluskie
• Club Treasurer - George Nichol
• Club Secretary - Marilyn Miller
• Sergeant at Arms - Brent Jemmett

Keith Stoltz took on the role of Table Topics Master and had us all explain to everyone in attendance why they shouldn't vote for each speaker if they were to run for a MP (Member of Parliament). The winner was Audrey Orth. Heidi Menzi took on the role of general evaluator, where she went over what we did well and some grow points during the meeting.

Hope to see everyone at our next regular meeting on Thursday.

Brent

April 28, 2011 Theme: Proverbs and Myths

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

At this past Thursday's Linguists of Listowel, we had yet another great meeting. We had 14 members in attendance. Keith McCluskie called the meeting to order and Richard Boertien was our chair for the meeting. Rich introduced our theme for the evening of "Proverbs & Myths" by telling us what proverbs and myths are. Throughout the meeting he shared with us some very interesting and funny examples.

Lorna VanderPloeg held the role of Toast and Timer and she gave our toast to Canada. Rich also held the role of Grammarian and he challenged us to use the word "Pecker-wood" which means a rural white southerner. It was used 7 times. For Literary Corner, Jane Stoltz read some happiness proverbs and myths that she found on the internet.

Our first speaker was Sharon D'Arcey with her speech called "Listowel is Leading the Way" and it was very informative in persuading us to shop locally. Our second speaker was Audrey Orth and gave a very informative and interesting speech called "Cellulitis" which was about her battle with it. Next, Jane Stoltz did an HPL Report about how she went about setting up the Area's International Speech and Evaluation contest.

Diane Bender took on the role of Table Topic Master and had us all pick a proverb or myth out of the envelope. Then we had to determine if it was fact or fiction and defend our decision. The winner was a 3 way tie between Keith Stoltz, Keith McCluskie and Rich Boertien. Lucy D'Arcey took on the role of general evaluator, where she introduced our evaluators and went over what we did well and some grow points during the meeting. I evaluated Sharon's speech, Leo Brisebois evaluated Audrey's speech and George Stevers evaluated Jane's speech.

Hope to see everyone at our next regular meeting on Thursday which is our "Election" night for our next year's executive, so have all your campaign speeches ready.

Brent

April 28, 2011 Proverbs and Myths

Diane Bender (past president) was the Table Topics Master for the evening.

Audrey Orth presented an inspirational and informative speech about cellulitis.

Jane Stoltz (V.P. of Education) presented the results of her High Performance Leadership Assignment of organizing the March 9, 2011 International Speech and Evaluation contest for the Linguists of Listowel.

Sharon D'Arcey (V.P. of Public Relations) presented her 9th speech from the Competent Communicator manual. It was named "Leading the Way". A speech about the benefits of shopping locally.

Lucy D'Arcey was the general evaluator of the meeting. She introduced the speakers, evaluated the evaluators and the general meeting itself.

April 28, 2011 Theme: Proverbs and Myths

Richard Boertien (Sergeant at Arms) was the chairperson for the evening.

Thursday, April 21, 2011- Theme: Earthquakes

Hello fellow Linguist of Listowel members and friends,

Our meeting last Thursday evening was held at Perth Meadows (The Meadows) located in the southwest corner of Listowel.

At 7:00 pm, we had a PowerPoint presentation from Norm McLennan and Susan James. We learned about the pricing of the rooms in the facility ($154,000.00 for a one-bedroom and $194,000.00 for a two-bedroom). We were shown the 3rd and 4th phases of additional assisted care building and a nursing home building. No projected date for building it though. We had a tour of the 36 unit facility from Carol McCracken and Susan James.

We started our regular meeting at approximately 7:50 pm with 8 members in attendance and 1 guest (Holly Brisebois).

Call to Order: Jane Stoltz - She welcomed everyone and explained her thoughts on the meaning of Earthquakes (Disturbance that can be extremely disruptive or a disorderly outburst.
Chairperson's Welcome, Welcoming of Guests, Agenda Review: Jane Stoltz - she welcomed Holly Brisebois as a guest.
Loyal Toast and Timer: Karen Bott (first time at this role) - Toast to Canada and the fact that we only have small tremors instead of full scale earthquakes.
Grammarian: Jane Stoltz - Word of the day "Shock" (noun - sudden or violent blow or collision). Jane explained various meanings and ways to use the word in a sentence. Eleven earthquakes occur around the world each day. The word of the Day “Shock” was used 19 times during the meeting.
Literary Corner: Leo Brisebois - Spring Flyer of attractions across the country. Leo did a comparison of the tourist attractions he had while living in Cornwall, Ontario and Listowel, Ontario. Cornwall was 5 minutes from the USA border and he went over 3 or 4 times per week (gasoline and shopping). Now his wife Holly gets on a bus with other women and goes to the USA for a whole weekend to shop.
Listowel is close to Sauble beach, Wasaga beach, Elora Gorge, St. Jacobs shops.
Speaker # 1: Marie McCutcheon - Speech title "When I Retire".
Marie asked each person in attendance provide her with a speech topic on a piece of paper in advance. She quickly read them over and went to the front to present a speech without the use of notes. The speech presentation included information that we learned from the tour of the facility and how she could retire at "The Meadows". The speech presentation also included mention of all of the written topics provided to her from each person in attendance.
Table Topics: Keith McCluskie - Keith asked each person in attendance to write down their own table topic on a slip of paper and then hand it to the person on their right (twice). There was a variety of topics and it was quite humorous as each person was called to the lectern to present table topics.
Evaluator # 1: We all provided Marie with written notes for her evaluation.
Report from Timer: Karen Bott – All speakers stayed fairly close or better than their alloted times for speaking.
Best Table Topic Award: Keith McCluskie - Winner was Diane Bender.
General Evaluator: Sharon D'Arcey - Provided glow and grow points for the meeting. (New facility with 4 large tables put together with chairs all around made a cozy meeting. Fun meeting that went well with a small group in attendance).
Suggested that a full minute of silence be provided while written evaluations were provided to the speaker.
Anything for the Good of Toastmasters: Diane Bender discussed the upcoming elections for new club officer roles and asked who would be running and what positions. Diane asked for assistance with the chair of the nomination committee.
Chairperson's closing remarks: Jane Stoltz - good meeting and very nice facilities. Next meeting at the regular time and place.

Call to Order: Jane Stoltz - She welcomed everyone and explained her thoughts on the meaning of Earthquakes (Disturbance that can be extremely disruptive or a disorderly outburst.
Chairperson's Welcome, Welcoming of Guests, Agenda Review: Jane Stoltz - she welcomed Holly Brisebois as a guest.
Loyal Toast and Timer: Karen Bott (first time at this role) - Toast to Canada and the fact that we only have small tremors instead of full scale earthquakes.
Grammarian: Jane Stoltz - Word of the day "Shock" (noun - sudden or violent blow or collision). Jane explained various meanings and ways to use the word in a sentence. Eleven earthquakes occur around the world each day. The word of the Day “Shock” was used 19 times during the meeting.
Literary Corner: Leo Brisebois - Spring Flyer of attractions across the country. Leo did a comparison of the tourist attractions he had while living in Cornwall, Ontario and Listowel, Ontario. Cornwall was 5 minutes from the USA border and he went over 3 or 4 times per week (gasoline and shopping). Now his wife Holly gets on a bus with other women and goes to the USA for a whole weekend to shop.
Listowel is close to Sauble beach, Wasaga beach, Elora Gorge, St. Jacobs shops.
Speaker # 1: Marie McCutcheon - Speech title "When I Retire".
Marie asked each person in attendance provide her with a speech topic on a piece of paper in advance. She quickly read them over and went to the front to present a speech without the use of notes. The speech presentation included information that we learned from the tour of the facility and how she could retire at "The Meadows". The speech presentation also included mention of all of the written topics provided to her from each person in attendance.
Table Topics: Keith McCluskie - Keith asked each person in attendance to write down their own table topic on a slip of paper and then hand it to the person on their right (twice). There was a variety of topics and it was quite humorous as each person was called to the lectern to present table topics.
Evaluator # 1: We all provided Marie with written notes for her evaluation.
Report from Timer: Karen Bott – All speakers stayed fairly close or better than their alloted times for speaking.
Best Table Topic Award: Keith McCluskie - Winner was Diane Bender.
General Evaluator: Sharon D'Arcey - Provided glow and grow points for the meeting. (New facility with 4 large tables put together with chairs all around made a cozy meeting. Fun meeting that went well with a small group in attendance).
Suggested that a full minute of silence be provided while written evaluations were provided to the speaker.
Anything for the Good of Toastmasters: Diane Bender discussed the upcoming elections for new club officer roles and asked who would be running and what positions. Diane asked for assistance with the chair of the nomination committee.
Chairperson's closing remarks: Jane Stoltz - good meeting and very nice facilities. Next meeting at the regular time and place.

April 14, 2011, Theme: Boost Your Hometown

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

On Thursday, we had a great time at our meeting with the theme of “Boost Your Hometown”. There were 10 members in attendance. Audrey Orth called the meeting to order by introducing myself as the chair for the meeting. I boosted the home towns that I have lived in and discussed why everyone should boost their home town.

Rich Boertien took on the role of Joke of the Day and got the laughs going by telling a couple of really funny jokes. Wayne Stoltz filled in for the role of Toast and Timer and he gave our toast to Canada and our home town of Listowel. George Stevers took on the role of Literary Corner and read a very interesting story from The Book of Virtues by Wayne J. Bennet.

Our first speaker was Marie McCutcheon with her speech presentation "You can make a story out of nothing”. We all got to hear about her very interesting trip getting to the Spring Conference in Toronto. Next, Jane Stoltz filled the role of Educational Corner and taught us the basics of parliamentary procedures. We will be using parliamentary procedures in our upcoming Officer Election in May.

Rich Boertien took on the role of Point of View where he explained the importance of clean living and taking care of yourself. Then Wayne Stoltz had to counter his Point of View.

Keith McCluskie for the role of Table Topic master and had us all pick an Easter egg out of the basket. Inside the egg was a topic or method of how we would each boost our home town. The winner was Marie McCutcheon. Keith Stoltz took on the role of general evaluator, where he introduced our evaluators and went over what we did well and some grow points during the meeting. Leo evaluated Marie’s speech.

Remember that our next regular meeting on Thursday with our theme "Earthquakes" will be at a different location. The Meadows which is at 710 Nelson St. in Listowel (behind Zellers) and the meeting is at different time (7pm).

Brent

April 7, 2011 Social Media

Left: General Evaluator - Heidi Menzi












Below: Quizmaster - Brent Jemmett

April 7, 2011, Social Media

Left: Chairperson - Sharon D'Arcey
Speaking about social media.

















Left: Karen Bott presented her first Ice Breaker speech.










Left: Richard Boertien, speaking about his new house.









Bottom Left: Karen Bott being congratulated by club president Brent Jemmett for presenting her Ice Breaker speech "All About Me".

April 7, 2011, Theme: Social Media

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

At this past Thursday's Linguists of Listowel, we had a very enjoyable meeting. There were 9 members in attendance. Keith McCluskie called the meeting to order by introducing Sharon D'Arcey as our chairperson for the meeting. Sharon introduced our theme for the evening of "Social Media" by telling us what social media is and how it is used in today's society.

I took on the role of Joke of the Day by telling a couple of jokes about Facebook. George Stevers held the role of Toast and Timer and he gave our toast to Canada. Keith Stoltz for the role of Literary Corner read a story from Gold Wing Magazine about a trip that some Americans took on their motorcycles through Western Canada.

Our first speaker was our newest member, Karen Bott's Icebreaker speech called "All About Me" and we all got to know more about her. Our second speaker was Rich Boertien had a very entertaining and informative speech called "Reduce the Stress in Your Life".

Sharon D'Arcey also filled in for the role of Table Topic master and had us all speak about the pros and cons of social media. The winner was Leo Brisebois.

I tested everyone's listening skills as Quizmaster and Heidi Menzi took on the role of general evaluator, where she introduced our evaluators and went over what we did well and some grow points during the meeting. Keith evaluated Karen's speech and Leo evaluated Rich's speech.

Hope to see you all at our next regular meeting on Thursday with our theme "Boost your Hometown".

Also, remember Tuesday is Mt. Forest's workshop on "Be An Exceptional Presenter!" by Gary Mull.

Brent

March 31, 2011, Theme: Great Leaders

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

At Thursday meeting, we had a fun time with the theme of “Great Leaders”. There were 12 members in attendance and two guests (Dorothy Reid and Caroline Beren from the Mt. Forest Motivators). Sharon D'Arcey called the meeting to order by introducing myself as the chair for the meeting. I went over what makes a great leader and some the people that I considered a Great Leader.

Keith Stoltz took on the role of Joke of the Day and got the laughs going by telling a really funny joke. Lorna Vanderploeg took on the role of Toast and Timer and she gave our toast to Canada. Rich Boertien was the Grammarian and he challenged us to use the word "Great" throughout the meeting. Heidi Menzi took on the role of Literary Corner and read a very interesting story about medieval times.

Our first speaker was George Stevers with a very informative speech that was titled "Winston Churchill". Rich Boertien was our second speaker and he had a very entertaining speech entitled "Our House" and his experiences about the building of his new home. Next, Jane Stoltz for an Educational Corner went over the role of General Evaluator and the new way that we are using the role at our meetings.

Marie McCutcheon for the role of Table Topic Master had us all write down a great leader. Then we had to pick a quirk out of the envelope and act out that great leader with a quirk (Example; Itchy/scratchy feeling, loud voice, whispering while talking, run-on sentences, etc.). The winner was Richard Boertien.

Keith McCluskie took on the role of general evaluator, where he introduced our evaluators and went over what we did well and some grow points during the meeting. Jane evaluated George's speech and Marilyn evaluated Rich's speech.

Hope to see you all at our next meeting on Thursday

Brent

March 24, 2011 - Table Topics Theme: Blizzard Stories

Table Topics participants adding their personal experiences to the on-going blizzard story started by Table Topics Master, Karen Bott.

Keith Stoltz (top left)

Richard Boertien (bottom left).

March 24, 2011 - Table Topics Theme: Blizzard Stories

More Table Topics participants adding their experiences to the on-going blizzard story.

Marilyn Miller (top right)

Lorna Vanderploeg and Table Topics Master, Karen Bott (next right)

Leo Brisebois (middle)

Jane Stoltz (next right)

Marshall McCoy and Table Topics Master Karen Bott (bottom right)

March 24, 2011 - Table Topics Theme: Blizzard Stories

Even more Table Topics participants add their personal past experiences to an on-going blizzard story.
George Stevers (left)

George Nichol (second left)

Brent Jemmett (next left)

Audrey Orth (next left) shown with Table Topics Master, Karen Bott

Heidi Menzi (bottom left)

Thursday, March 24, 2011 - Theme: Blizzard Stories

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

At this past Thursday's Linguists of Listowel, we had lots of fun with the theme of Blizzard Stories. There was 13 members and 1 guest (Lorna's son - Marshall) in attendance. Marilyn Miller called the meeting to order with a minute of silence for the fallen firefighters and then she introduced our chair for the meeting. Audrey Orth was chair for the evening and she told some blizzard stories. She also told us how the community came together with volunteers to help organize the funeral for the firefighters (Raymond Walters and Ken Rea).

Rich Boertien started the laughs going with the role of Joke of the Day by telling a couple of jokes. Keith Stoltz held the role of Toast and Timer and he gave a toast to the fallen heroes (Ken and Raymond). The Grammarian role was done by George Nichol and he challenged everyone to use the word "Obfuscate".

Our first speaker was Lorna Vanderploeg and she gave us a very entertaining speech about some personal blizzard stories. Our second speaker was Heidi Menzi and she told us about the time she visited Victoria Island, British Columbia with all their beautiful gardens (Butchart Gardens). I did the role of Point of View and told the points of why people should join Toastmasters. Then Leo Brisebois had to counter those points with reasons why not.

Karen Bott took on the role of Table Topics Master and had us all continue a story that she started by using some props that she brought. The winner was Audrey Orth. Keith McCluskie tested our listening skills with the role of Quiz Master and Jane Stoltz took on the role of general evaluator, where she introduced our evaluators and went over what we did well and some grow points during the meeting. Marilyn evaluated Lorna's speech and Keith McCluskie evaluated Heidi's speech.

Hope to see you all at our next regular meeting on Thursday. There will be a short business meeting to follow our regular meeting for the club executive officers.

Brent

Thursday, March 17, 2011 - Theme: St. Patrick's Day Celebrations in Listowel

Hello Fellow Linguists of Listowel and Friends,

This past Thursday's Linguists of Listowel's meeting was an extremely enjoyable meeting filled with many laughs. We had 13 members in attendance and one guest (Marilyn Miller's sister - Georgina Salter). The theme for the night was "'St. Patrick's Day Celebrations in Listowel" and Keith McCluskie called the meeting to order by introducing Sharon O'D'Arcey who was our chair for the night. She went over the history of St. Patrick's day and what the day means to her.

Audrey Orth started the laughs going with the role of Joke of the Day by telling three Irish jokes. Lorna Vanderploeg took on the role of Literary Corner where she shared some facts about St. Patrick's day. I held the role of Toast and Timer where I gave a toast to Canada where we are able to celebrate all different cultures. The Grammarian role was done by Jane Stoltz and she challenged everyone to use the phrase "Luck of the Irish" . It was used 19 times and Jane counted 93 laughs.

Our first speaker was George Nichol and did an interpretive reading of the monodrama from a George Bernard Shaw play entitled "Getting Married". Our second speaker was Marie McCutcheon and she gave us a very informative speech and discussion about the dangers of microwaving food. Next Jane Stoltz did an Educational Corner on the different levels at Toastmasters. Keith McCluskie evaluated George's speech.

Keith Stoltz did a great job as Table Topic Master and asked us all questions dealing with St. Patrick's Day. The winner was Keith McCluskie. Marilyn Miller took on the role of general evaluator, where she explained her role very well and gave us feedback on the overall meeting.

Hope to see you all at our next regular meeting on Thursday.

Brent

Toastmaster Calendar Dates

Thurs March 24: Linguists of Listowel, Blizzard Stories

Thurs March 31: Linguists of Listowel, Great Leaders

Contest Dates

Division W Contest Friday March 25th