August 7, 2012 Mount Forest Tall Tales Contest

Four members of the Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster Club attended and enjoyed the Mount Forest Tall Tales Contest on August 7th.
Starting from left to right; Diane Bender, Tony Galvao, Audrey Orth and Keith McCluskie.
 Tony Galvao entertained the Mount Forest club contest attendees with his Tall Tales Humdinger entitled "Grand River - River Monsters". Tony did a great job with his speech presentation!

The Mount Forest Motivators had four Tall Tales Contest participants. Irma Devries placed first with her funny speech entitled "A Love Letter". Paula Nunes-Haggett placed second with her very entertaining speech entitled "Potty Dance". Congratulations to all of the contest participants on their speech presentations. Jafar Mirjalali also did a fine job as chairman of the meeting and contest.

July 12, 2012 Theme: Farm Animals

Tony Galvao was the chairman of the meeting.
In keeping with the theme of the meeting, Tony had his coveralls on and was ready to help out with the chores if necessary.

Diane Bender was the Grammarian for the meeting and provided us with a new word to use during the meeting and the rest of the week.
The word was "Mewl" meaning a little cry.

Jane Stoltz filled the Literary Corner role and provided all in attendance with the story of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse.

Left to right; Diane, Wayne and Keith S.
Diane played the role of the interviewer and Wayne played the role of Vern who was being interviewed about his choice of farm, location, animals and what challenges he faced daily.

July 12, 2012 Theme: Farm Animals

Keith Stoltz conducting the interactive Table Topics Session

Left to right; Jane, Vern and Keith S.
Jane and Vern were listening to the rules of the Table Topics session before Jane interviewed Vern about why he enjoys living on his farm.







 

Left to right; Marg and Audrey.
Marg played the role of the interviewer and Audrey (aka Vern) answered the questions that Marg presented her with about what she likes about living on this farm.

  Left to right; Leo, John and Keith S. Leo interviewed John (aka Vern) about the animals he has on the farm and why he choose this location for his farm.

John was the General Evaluator of the meeting and provided his glow points and one grow point.
It was a great meeting in a very comfortable environment. Special thanks to Vern and Harriet for hosting the meeting.

July 12, 2012 Theme: Farm Animals

Location:  At the home of Vern and Harriet Noseworthy

Theme:  Farm Animals

This being the first meeting with the newly elected executive in place, it turned out to be a wonderful evening of fun and laughter.

In attendance were 15 people, in no particular order; Vern,Tony, Keith and Jane, Marg, Keith M, Audrey, Val, Heidi, Diane, Leo, Wayne, John and guests Holly and Hank.

First, special thanks to Vern and Harriet for hosting the evening.  Vern had placed the Toastmasters meeting sign at the end of the lane way so finding the location was a breeze.

As well, Vern had transformed his garage into a meeting room that closely resembled our regular location.  There was ample seating room, as well as the Toastmaster banner and improv lecturn.

The evening itself started on time with Vern calling the meeting to order.  Our newly appointed VP of Membership Tony was the Chairperson for the evening.  A job well done, including dressing the part of a farmer with a pair of coveralls.  With the heat, though, the coveralls did not last long.

Joke of the day was done by Vern and brought scores of laughter.  Next, our toast and timer for the evening, Leo, gave the Toast to Canada.

Our grammarian for the evening, Diane, gave us the word of the evening "Mewl" meaning to whimper or cry weakly. 

Next, Literary corner was done by Jane.  She read a fun poem entitled "Country Mouse and City Mouse" from the book "100 Famous Animal Poems".  Sorry, I did not catch the name of the book's author.

Next on the Agenda was Table Topics.  Keith Stoltz had done an excellent job of preparing for this.  Everyone was involved and lots of laughs were shared.  There were three sections to the Table Topics.  The first was that everyone got to explain what the liked about Vern and Harriet's farm, with the answers varing greatly.  Next, everyone got to pick and write down a farm animal.  Next, your answer was passed to the left with that person having to explain why they liked being that animal on the farm.  The last portion had pairs of people going to the front, one being a reporter, the other being the person being interviewed - always named Vern.  Random topics were picked with the two having to conduct an interview on that topic.  In the first round Vern got to play Vern.

Next up was the general evaluator, John, who called for the reports from the Timer, Grammarian and Table Topic Master. 

Next, Heidi probed everyone's memory with the quizmaster report.  This was followed by the report from the General Evaluator.

Last, the Chairperson, Tony, called for anything for the good of Toastmasters, followed by the closing remarks.

Tickets for the upcoming murder mstery were also distributed by Keith Stoltz before and after the meeting.

Refreshments were provided by Vern and Harriet.  The evening ended with a fun social and a guided tour of the farm.

Next meeting location and theme are to be determined.

June 28, 2012 Tall Tales Contest

Tall Tales Speech Participants

 Back Row (left to right); Audrey Orth, Leo Brisebois, Vern Noseworthy, Brent Jemmett.
Front Row (left to right); Area Governor Gregory C.N. Smith, Tony Galvao.

Tall Tales Contest Winner 2012

The winner of the Tall Tales speech contest was Tony Galvao with his speech entitled "River Monsters".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brenda Karges Trophy Recipient

 Right; Brent Jemmett (Sergeant at Arms) presents Leo Brisebois (President) with the Brenda Karges trophy for the work done and accomplishments made by the club for the year.

June 28, 2012 Theme: Tall Tales Contest

Thursday, June 28th was our "year end" pot luck/pizza party and also the night for our annual Tall Tales Contest.
Guests in attendance were; Dorothy Reid, Dorothy Dennis, Marge Seawright (all from the Mount Forest Motivators), Holly Brisebois, Harriet Noseworthy and our Area Governor Gregory C.N. Smith.
Our meeting was called to order at 6:35 pm by our chairperson, Keith Stoltz. An invocation was given by Jane Stoltz and all in attendance enjoyed the potluck/pizza meal.
The Tall Tales Contest began at 7:20 pm with chief judge, Diane Bender reading the rules of the contest to all in attendance. Five members were entered in the contest and the contestants were; Leo Brisebois, Tony Galvao, Brent Jemmett, Vern Noseworthy and Audrey Orth.
We heard five excellent speech presentations and they were all very well done! The judges had a difficult time making a decision for the top three speakers.

The winners of the hilarious Tall Tales Contest were;
First place: Tony Galvao
Second place: Vern Noseworthy
Third place: Brent Jemmett

The winner, Tony Galvao, will be presenting his winning speech at the Mount Forest Motivator's Tall Tales Contest as well.

An induction ceremony was held by Area Governor, Gregory C.N. Smith. Firstly, Gregory dismissed all current club executive members from their roles and duties effective midnight on June 30, 2012.
Gregory C.N. Smith also inducted each of the new club executive members into their roles effective July 1, 2012.

The 2012-2013 Executive Officers are; 
President:  Keith McCluskie
Vice-President of Education: Val Hummel
Vice-President of Membership:  Tony Galvao
Vice-President of Public Relations:  Brent Jemmett
Secretary:  John Van Meeteren
Treasurer:  Jane Stoltz
Sergeant-at-Arms:  Vern Noseworthy

The Brenda Karges award was presented by Sergeant-At-Arms, Brent Jemmett to the club president, Leo Brisebois for his hard work and club accomplishments during the 2011-2012 term.

Anything for the Good of Toastmasters;
Area Governor, Gregory C.N. Smith announced that effective July 1, 2012, Area 66 will be dissolved and all clubs that were part of that area will now become part of Area 65.
With the start of our summer time schedule, Linguists of Listowel meetings will be held every second week during the summer. There is opportunity for the meetings to be held at club members residences if they wish or the meetings will be held at the regular church meeting room.
The next Linguists of Listowel meeting will be Thursday, July 12th at the residence of Vern and Harriet Noseworthy. Watch for details to follow.

Meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm.

June 21, 2012 Theme: Music To Our Ears

The meeting was called to order at 7:21 p.m.  Sharon was Chairperson for the evening and talked about the different types of sounds that are music to our ears.  Sharon also provided the Joke of the Day with a joke about a Bag piper who gave a fitting tribute to the burial of a septic tank.  Brent handled Literary Corner and read an amusing excerpt from the autobiography of comedian Russell Peters.  Leo was Toast and Timer and led the group in a toast to Canada.

Four speeches were presented.  Marg confidently gave her Ice Breaker speech and completed Project 1 of the Competent Communicator Manual.  Congratulations Marg!!!  Jill had a touching speech called “Bringing our Daughter Home” and completed Project 3 of the Manual.  Heidi completed a monologue called Horticultural Operation and completed an assignment in an advanced manual.  Keith Stoltz educated members on the Responsibilities of Being an M.C. for Project 7 of the Manual.  He also received an award and a round of applause for completing all 10 speeches in the Competent Communicator Manual a second time.

Sharon filled the role of Table Topics Master and had members describe sounds that are music to their ears.  Many different types of sounds were described.  Evaluations were next with Jane evaluating Marg, Vern evaluating Jill, George evaluating Heidi and Keith McCluskie evaluating Keith Stoltz.  This provided the people who gave speeches with immediate feedback on their presentation.

Reports were next:  Leo gave his Timer’s Report.  Vern was declared the winner of Table Topics for his description of the sound that a casino slot machine makes when it gives a rather large payout.  Audrey was General Evaluator for the evening and provided comments on the meeting.  She reminded members who are giving speeches to write an introduction for their speech and give it to the Chairperson before the meeting starts.  Things for the good of Toastmasters were announced including the bad news that the Club’s new banner had gone missing (it was later found by Bloodhound Brent).  Val advised there was a sign-up sheet in the kitchen for the June 28^th Tall Tales Contest and Potluck contributions.  Brent reminded members that the Stratford VON was looking for a speaker for July 18^th and the topic is “speaking to seniors”.  Keith Stoltz also advised that the poster for the Club’s 20^th Anniversary Murder Mystery event was available for review by members before it goes to print.  Since there was nothing else, Sharon adjourned the meeting.

Submitted by Val Hummel, Club Secretary

June 14, 2012 Tenth Speech Completion

Marie McCutcheon (left) presents Val Hummel with a certificate of completion after Val presented her tenth speech from the Competent Communicator manual.
Congratulations Val!

June 14, 2012 Theme: Generation Differences

The meeting was called to order at 7:15 p.m.  Marie was Chairperson for the night and talked about the different types of generations:  Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X and the Millennials.  She said people blame their parents for the first half of their lives, and their children for the second half.  Heidi then provided Joke of the Day about a $300 payment to a pizza delivery person.  Vern was in charge of Literary Corner and read an article about paradoxes that was creatively written by comedian George Carlin.  Brent was Toast and Timer and led us in a toast to Canada.

Two speeches were presented.  Val gave a speech titled “Just Like Sally Field”.  It was her 10th speech and Marie presented Val with a Certificate of Achievement.  Jane gave a speech called “Shake Rattle and Roll” and called upon members to save their pennies and donate them to cancer research.  Keith Stoltz was Table Topics Master and he had half the members act like teenagers and the other half act like grandparents.  There was good back and forth comments between the generations! Next were evaluations which provide the speech givers with immediate feedback.  Tony evaluated Val’s speech and Audrey evaluated Jane’s speech.  Leo was General Evaluator and commented on how the meeting ran smoothly.  Reports were next.    Keith Stoltz announced Keith “Gramps” McCluskie as the winner of Table Topics.  Brent gave his Timer’s Report and Keith McCluskie announced there were 90 laughs during the meeting!

For the good of Toastmasters:

Resolution regarding Tall Tales/End of Year Celebration:

MOVED BY Leo Brisbois

SECONDED BY Keith Stoltz

THAT Club funds be used to purchase pizza for the End of Year celebration and Tall Tales Contest scheduled for June 28, 2012.

…CARRIED

Manual Exchange

Members were reminded to always bring their Competent Communicator manuals to each meeting and to get someone to evaluate them on tasks completed.  Tony suggested it become part of the meeting agenda to have members pass their CL manuals to someone else for evaluation.

Meeting adjourned at 8:48 p.m.

Submitted by Val Hummel, Club Secretary

June 7, 2012 Award and New Sign

Tony Galvao (left) completed his sixth speech from the Competent Communicator manual and was presented with a certificate of achievement from Jane Stoltz.
Congratulations Tony!













The Linguists of Listowel purchased a new Toastmaster sign and it was placed out in front of St. Paul's Lutheran church for the first time on June 7th.

June 7, 2012 Theme: Summer Holidays

Leo called the meeting to order at 7:17 p.m. and introduced Jane as Chairperson.  Jane spoke of all the delightful things we associate with summer including barbeques, going barefoot, backyard parties, beaches, boating and camping.  She introduced Keith McCluskie who got the meeting off to a fun start with Joke of the Day.  Keith’s joke was about Age-Related Attention Deficit Disorder and a full day spent being active without any progress.  Marg then provided Literary Corner and shared a fun poem called “Grandma’s Shoes”.   Jill was Toast and Timer for the evening and led us in a toast to Canada.  Keith McCluskie was Grammarian and Laugh Counter.  The word that he asked members to use as many times as possible during the meeting was “bosh”.  Bosh is a noun meaning absurd or foolish talk. 

Speeches were next.  Tony handled Project 7 and researched his topic for a speech called “The Great Outdoors” about how nature deficit disorder can be cured with camping.  Members learned many things about camping including the importance of always taking a lot of water with them when riding bikes on the trails:  you never know when you’ll have to share it!  Keith Stoltz also did Project 7 and his speech was called “Summer Weather”.  He had everyone thinking hard about why it gets warm in the summer and cold in the winter.  The answers are not always as obvious as one would think!

There was one presentation to be given out, and an induction ceremony.  Tony received a Certificate of Achievement for doing 6 speeches from the Competent Communicator manual.  Marg was inducted as the newest official member of the Linguists of Listowel.  Welcome Marg!  Jane will be acting as Marg’s mentor.

Val managed Table Topics and had everyone describe the sights they would see if they were given money for a 2-week all-expenses-paid summer vacation.  Evaluations were next with Sharon evaluating Tony’s speech and Audrey evaluating Keith’s speech.

Reports were up next.  Keith McCluskie counted 81 laughs in the meeting and the word “bosh” was used 10 times.  Jill gave her Timer’s Report and Val announced Tony as the winner of Table Topics for his description of travelling to eastern Canada and eating lots of lobster.  Vern was General Evaluator and provided some overall commentary on the well-run meeting.

Jane then asked if there was anything for the good of Toastmasters and the following items were noted:

·         Members were asked to think about getting their RSVP’s for the Tall Tales Event and Potluck to be held on June 28^th.  Members wishing to participate in Tall Tales should be prepared to speak for 3-5 minutes. 

·         On behalf of the club, Jane expressed appreciation to Sharon for all the work Sharon did for the club’s booth at the Home and Lifestyles Show held recently.  Thanks Sharon!!! 

·         Jane noted that Officer Training will be held in Guelph on June 9 and in Hanover on June 16. 

·         Appreciation was expressed to Vern for the sidewalk sign he had made for the club.  It will sit out at the sidewalk in front of the church each Thursday meeting and catches attention by announcing that the meeting starts at 7:14 p.m.  Thanks Vern!!

·         A meeting of the Executive will be held following the June 14^th regular meeting.

With all business complete, Jane adjourned the meeting with a whack of the gavel at 9:02 p.m.

May 31, 2012 Theme: Acronyms

George called the meeting to order at 7:16 p.m. and introduced Leo as Chairperson.  Leo spoke on the proliferation of acronyms in our lives and also explained what word truncations are.  They are shortened words such as Tues. and Wed.  Tony provided Joke of the Day and it was a story about the acronym T.G.I.F. (Thank Goodness It's Friday!).  Brent carried out the role of Toast and Timer, noting the many acronyms used in the world of baseball.  Audrey was Grammarian for the evening and used T.G.I.F. as the acronym of the evening. 

Speeches were next.  John gave a speech called “It Could Have Been Worse” which was about his experience hitting his father’s horse with his car.  Luckily, both horse and driver survived.  The car was not so lucky, and the horse wouldn’t come near John for months.  It was Project #4 for him.  Then Jill gave Speech 2 titled “Dog Gone” and told us a stirring story about the family dog that went missing for 4 days and how Jill searched for it.  Faint barking was finally heard and the dramatic discovery of the dog at the bottom of a 6 foot catch basin was the happy ending.  Val gave her ninth speech called “Pumped About Pompeii” and described Pompeii, Italy as the titillating highlight of a recent Mediterranean Cruise.  Leo provided an interesting educational module that involved a review the roles that members fill at each meeting and also of each position on the executive.

Vern managed the meeting as Table Topics Master and had everyone present use their last names as acronyms and assign a word to each letter of the name.  It was harder than expected but everyone rose to the challenge!

Next were evaluations which provide the speech givers with immediate feedback.  Keith McCluskie evaluated John, Sharon evaluated Jill and Keith Stoltz evaluated Val.  Everyone did a great job according to the evaluators.  Brent gave the Timer’s Report and Audrey gave the Grammarian’s report noting that T.G.I.F. was used several times during the meeting.  John even incorporated it into his speech twice!  Audrey said there were very few ums and ahs during the meeting.  Tony gave the Laugh Counter’s report and stated it was a busy night for him:  he counted 91 chuckles, laughs and giggles during the meeting.  There were no guffaws.  Vern declared Audrey as the winner of Table Topics and presented her with a bright and shiny trophy.

Jane was Quiz Master and quizzed members’ listening skills by sharing interesting quotes from members.  Heidi was General Evaluator and noted that there was a full house at this meeting.  She encouraged everyone to learn the role of Timer and she also thanked everyone for helping to make a successful meeting by coming out and filling all of the roles.  Chairperson Leo concluded the meeting and adjourned at 9:15 p.m. 

Submitted by Val Hummel, Club Secretary

May 24, 2012 Theme: Garage Sales

Jill called the meeting to order and introduced Chairperson Keith Stoltz.  In Keith's Chairperson's Welcome, he shared the secrets to getting good deals at garage sales and the dangers of garage sale parking.  Val provided the Joke of the Day with a list of 5 fun but mean things to do at garage sales.  Tony was the Toast and Timer for the evening and led members in a toast to Canada before settling down to time speakers.  Heidi was Grammarian and Ah Counter and her word of the evening was "exorbitant" which is an adjective meaning "goes beyond the limit" or "excessive". 
Speeches were next with Jill giving a touching Icebreaker speech called "I Am A Country Girl".  Vern was next and smoothly presented Speech 4 titled "Useful But Annoying" and had members laughing with his thoughts about his wife's overloaded keychain, paperclips and straws.   
Jane handled Table Topics and had each member pick a garage sale item out of a box and then explain why it would be perfect for the person sitting next to them.  Evaluations were next with Jane evaluating Jill, and Val evaluating Vern.  Reports were next with Tony giving the Timer's report; everyone did well with their time limits.  Heidi gave the Grammarian's Report and said the word of the evening was used 4 times.  Val reported there were 22 laughs at the meeting.  Jane announced a tie in the Table Topics competition and announced Tony and Keith McCluskie as the joint winners.  Marg was Quiz Master and tested members on their listening skills by having them identify who said certain phrases during the meeting.  Keith McCluskie acted as General Evaluator and provided comments on the overall operation of the meeting.   
With the majority of the meeting completed, Keith Stoltz asked if there was anything else for the good of Toastmasters and Vern provided an estimate for the cost of a sidewalk sign that can be placed outside at the front of the church on Thursdays to let people know when Toastmaster meetings are to be held.
MOVED BY Val Hummel, SECONDED by Keith McCluskie that the Linguists of Listowel purchase a sidewalk sign from Burrows Signs in Elmira.
Discussion on the motion:  Members fully supported the purchase of the sign and provided some input on sign content.  However, members were comfortable leaving the final decision on wording up to the members involved with the purchase. MOTION CARRIED
  
With the sign purchase discussion finished, Jane filled some roles for the next meeting (although some roles are still up for grabs!) and Keith adjourned the meeting at 8:51 p.m.
 
Submitted by Val Hummel, Club Secretary

May 17, 2012 Theme: Positive Thinking

The meeting was called to order by Keith Stoltz at 7:15 pm for a group of 12 people in attendance. Keith introduced Tony Galvao as the chairman of the meeting. This was Tony's first time taking on the role of chairman. Tony gave his opening remarks on the theme of positive thinking, reviewed the agenda and welcomed our newest member Marg VanDonkersgoed and her husband Hank as a guest.
Brent Jemmett provided the Joke of the Day and filled the role of Laugh Counter. Keith McCluskie provided the loyal toast to Canada as part of the role of Toast and Timer.
John Van Meeteren filled the role of Literary Corner and read a poem about positive thinking. Vern Noseworthy was the Grammarian and Ah Counter. Vern provided the group with a new word of the day "Collusion" which means a secret agreement between 2 or more parties to commit illegal dealings or stealing.
Heidi Menzi was the Table Topics master and tested our speaking ability with the theme of sales of products (the products to sell were given to each member by Heidi).
Jane Stoltz introduced a new agenda item to the meeting named "3 Minutes" which is a form of Table Topics. Two teams of 3 people each were formed and the first, second and third speaker had to be selected. Each team had to speak constantly for 3 full minutes. The opposing team was to look for faults such as "um's", "ah's", pauses that were too long, repetitive phrases and/or change the topic completely. If this occurred, the opposing team would challenge that speaker and that speaker couldn't speak again during that 3 minute segment. Once a team was challenged, the speaking role was passed over to the other team to speak for a 3 minute segment. The team with the most speakers remaining won or the team that was successful in speaking for the full 3 minute segment was the winner.
Keith McCluskie provided reports from the timer. Vern stated that the word "collusion" was used 4 times during the meeting. Brent Jemmett reported that there were 33 laughs during the general meeting and 25 laughs during the "3 Minute" agenda segment. Heidi Menzi reported that Marg VanDonkersgoed won Table Topics with her 1 minutes sales speech. Marg was presented with a gift of an umbrella that was donated by Val Hummel.
George Nichol was the General Evaluator. George liked how everyone introduced themselves to our newest member Marg. George also liked the new agenda item "3 minutes" and felt that we should add this to the agenda again.
Closing remarks were given by Tony Galvao who did a great job being the chairperson of the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.

May 10, 2012 Theme: May Day

Jill Wagemans called the meeting to order right on time and welcomed Leo Brisebois as our chairperson for the meeting. We welcomed our three guests; Marg and Hank Van Donkersgoed and Barry Heinmiller to the meeting as well as 12 of our regular members and our Area Governor Gregory C.N. Smith.
Vern Noseworthy got the laughs started with Joke of the Day. Audrey Orth gave a patriotic toast to Canada and kept the meeting on time by filling the role of Toast and Timer.
Jane Stoltz was the Grammarian and provided us with a great new word "Esoteric" to use during the meeting and throughout the following week. Esoteric is a word meaning "beyond the understanding of the average mind".
Heidi Menzi delivered a speech from the Storytelling manual and did a great job. Keith Stoltz delivered a voice variation speech from the Competent Communicator manual and also did a great job by using props and lots of laughter.
An induction ceremony was conducted to induct both John Van Meeteren and Tony Galvao as our newest members to the Linguists of Listowel.
George Nichol provided us with the Table Topics portion of the meeting. Jane Stoltz and Marie McCutcheon were the speech evaluators and did a good job providing the speakers with glow points and a grow point.
Reports for the evening resulted in the word "Esoteric" being used three times during the evening, grammar and proper use of the English language was very good for the evening. Hank Van Donkersgoed was the winner of Table Topics.
Tony Galvao was the General Evaluator and did a great job for his first time filling this role!
Area Governor, Gregory C.N. Smith announced that after June 30, 2012, Area 66 will change to become Area 65. This change will now include the following clubs into one area; Listowel, Mount Forest, Hanover, Owen Sound and Kincardine.
Next meeting will include a business meeting to discuss more details about the upcoming anniversary in the autumn.
Leo adjourned the meeting on time and everyone enjoyed snacks and fellowship afterwards.

May 5, 2012 Listowel Home and Life Styles Show

Lorna VanderPloeg at the Listowel Home and Life Styles Booth.

May 3, 2012 Theme: Elections

The meeting was called to order at 7:20 p.m. Brent introduced Chairperson Heidi who welcomed everyone and received agenda changes.  Tony provided the Joke of the Day and Lorna led members in a Toast to Canada.  Leo handled Literary Corner with a reading from the Book of Numbers. 
Vern gave his speech called "Soup Sundays" and was then evaluated by Jane.
 
Keith Stoltz managed the election of the new Executive.  Members appointed to Executive positions will take over as of July 1, 2012.  Training will be available before that date.

The 2012-2013 Executive Officers are; 
President:  Keith McCluskie
Vice-President of Education: Val Hummel
Vice-President of Membership:  Tony Galvao
Vice-President of Public Relations:  Brent Jemmett
Secretary:  John Van Meeteren
Treasurer:  Jane Stoltz
Sergeant-at-Arms:  Vern Noseworthy


With elections over, the meeting continued with Val hosting Table Topics. 
Brent was announced as the winner of Table Topics with his detailed instructions on how to care for an ingrown toenail.
Audrey served as General Evaluator. Some of the grow points she offered included advice to speakers to avoid fiddling with pens when speaking at the lectern and also speakers should not start off with an apology if they feel unprepared. Just wing it!
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.

April 26, 2012 Theme: Everything Backwards

 A lot of fun and sustained laughter was had at this meeting as a result of the backwards theme. One member even had his shirt on backwards. Chairperson Keith McCluskie adjourned the meeting promptly at 7:15 p.m.  Heidi was General Evaluator and noted that tonight's speakers all spoke with confidence and lots of descriptive words.  Jill gave the Timers Report and noted that some of roles took hours to complete!  Audrey provided the Grammarian's Report and advised that members used the word of the evening a record 83 times.  Keith Stoltz announced that Val was the winner of Table Topics, much to Val's surprise.  Vern provided the Inspirational Quote for the evening and read a touching poem called "Crabby Old Man".
 
George evaluated Leo's speech, noting that Leo started out very quiet but ended up loud and aggressive.  He commented on the dance steps that Leo did on the way back to his seat after his speech.  Jane evaluated Tony's speech and said it was a very serious speech and she noted that he tripped on the way up to the lectern.  She said he used lots of exaggerated gestures he also used the word of the day too many times in his speech.  Jane was surprised that Tony sang "Tip Toe Through The Tulips" on his way back to his seat.  Sharon evaluated Val's speech stating that Val walked around the room and grabbed at the shirts of members of the audience while speaking.  She noted that Val had lots of sustained eye contact and had to keep her notes in her hand when speaking.
 
Keith Stoltz handled Table Topics and let each member speak for one minute on any topic they chose.  Then he told them what their assigned topic was.  Needless to say, the speeches varied greatly from the topics assigned by Keith.
 
Leo presented his Educational Module called Asserting Yourself Effectively and provided a handout.  Audrey assisted him with role-playing and Leo tried to assertively work with Audrey to fix a problem but ended up telling her she was going to do things his way!  Tony did his 5th speech on gestures.  It was called Sign Language and he demonstrated many of the common day-to-day signs that people use.  He tripped on the way up to the lectern and fell into Keith McCluskie's arms.  Tony also demonstrated awesome singing skills on his way back to his seat.  Val did her 8th speech with the goal being to persuade the audience to agree with her point of view.  Her speech was titled It's Time To Take a Stand and she did her speech backwards starting with the conclusion and ending with the introduction.
 
Jill provided the Toast to Canada and toasted all of the farmers who are now waiting for rain.  John read "The Backwards Poem" both backwards and forwards. Audrey said the word of the evening was "And" and "DNA".  She said "and" is a conjunction which is a connecting word between two sentences.  She told members what "DNA" stands for but no one could repeat it.  Jill accurately recorded the laughs for the evening at an astounding 159 laughs.  George provided Joke of the Day about an e-mail that a husband sent to his wife that went to the wrong address and was received by a widow who was astonished at what she thought was an e-mail from her dead husband.  Keith handled agenda changes.  New member inductions were postponed until May 10th.  Keith provided his Chairman's Welcome and then Sharon called the meeting to order at approximately 9:00 p.m.

April 19, 2012 Theme: Staying Fit

Val Hummel called the meeting to order and introduced Chairperson Leo.  

Leo spoke of ways to keep fit and have fun while doing it through exercise and diet.  

John gave us the joke of the day about a treadmill being left as an inheritance in a will.  Brent was Toast and Timer and led us in a Toast to springtime in Canada.  

Val was Grammarian for the evening and explained the meaning of the word "blatant".  It is an adjective that can be used to describe something visually loud like a bright colour or something that is offensively noisy or something that is obtrusive in a way that offends.  

Keith Stoltz handled Literary Corner and read the Obituary of the Penny.  He explained that the penny was "born" in 1858 and will come to the end of its "life" at the end of this month.  It will be withdrawn from circulation later this year.  

Vern gave a speech entitled "Senses" which described the five senses.  He concluded with a description of how his mother's homemade bread was enjoyed by all five senses and left everyone craving bread and butter.  

Tony chaired Table Topics and distributed pennies to each member.  Each person read the date on their penny and explained something important that had happened to them in that year.  John was Table Topics winner for his description of the first car he ever bought which happened when he went into a car dealership to ask for directions.  

George evaluated Vern's speech and gave lots of grow points stating it was an interesting speech with smooth transitions and good hand gestures.   

Heidi was general evaluator for the evening and commented on the great job everyone did with their roles.  

Brent gave the Timer's Report, and Val gave the Grammarian's Report.  The word "blatant" was only used about 4 times so it was blatantly clear that Val should have given a better explanation of the meaning of the word.  In preparation for the upcoming election of Executive members, Leo read the responsibilities of each role and asked who was interested in each role.  Some roles had interest but only the crickets chirped when Leo asked who was interested in VP of Public Relations!  Elections will occur at the May 3^rd meeting and interested candidates will give 2-3 minute "fun" speeches outlining reasons why they are interested in a role.  The roles for next week were mostly filled although some opportunities for participation still exist.  A fun meeting was had by all with lots of laughs, and Leo adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m.

Submitted by:

Val Hummel,

Club Secretary.

April 12, 2012, Theme: Friday the 13th

The meeting was called to order by Sharon D'Arcey and she introduced Marie McCutcheon as the chairperson of the meeting.
Marie discussed the theme of the meeting and how Friday the 13th was deemed to be unlucky. Marie provided interesting facts about how 13 was an unwanted number because there were 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 months in a year, a dozen is 12 and in years past it was stated that a table was considered full with 12 people. If there was ever 13 people invited for a meal, the hosts used to hire another person to attend the meal so that there wasn't 13 people at the table (it was noted that there were 12 members in attendance at the meeting). High rise buildings don't have a 13th floor and hospitals don't have a room 13.
Another interesting fact is that there are three Friday the 13th's in 2012 and they are 13 weeks apart.
Sharon D'Arcey was the Toast and Timer for the meeting and provided a toast to Canada. Tony Galvao was the Grammarian and Ah Counter. Tony described his roles and provided the members with the word of the day "Disambiguate" which means "make clear and more comprehendible".
John VanMeeteren filled the role of Literary Corner. John provided one of the club members with a difficult word to pronounce and asked for the word to be pronounced aloud so that John could use this word as part of his literary reading about the origins of Friday the 13th. John read aloud how both Fridays and the number 13 have been unlucky throughout history.
Speaker # 1 was Keith Stoltz. He was presenting Project # 9 from the Competent Communicator manual with his speech entitled "Bed and Breakfast". The speech described the various bed and breakfast locations that he and Jane have stayed at during their travels to various places around the world. He also described how the people that run them are very accommodating and it is a great opportunity to meet people from various parts of the world as well.
Vern Noseworthy provided a speech presentation with Point of View. His speech was about how more coal fired plants should be built to produce electricity, create more jobs and use some of the natural resources that are available to us.
Keith McCluskie provided a Counter Point of View and debated the points that Vern made in his speech presentation.
Table Topics was done by Jane Stoltz. Each member was provided two slips of paper with phrases about a specific superstition. Each member spoke for a minute about the topic and there were lots of laughs.
Leo Brisebois was the speech evaluator for Keith Stoltz's speech presentation. Leo gave lots of glow points and one grow point.
The Timer's Report was presented by Sharon D'Arcey and she highlighted 3 time offenders that went over the allotted time for their vocal presentations.
Tony Galvao provided the Grammarian and Ah Counter reports. The word "Disambiguate" was used 9 times during the meeting. There were 33 - Um's, Ah's and Oh's used during the meeting. The words And, But and So were misused 3 times each.
Jane Stoltz provided the Table Topics report - Keith McCluskie won Table Topics.
Brent Jemmett was the Quiz Master and challenged all of us with remembering who said what phrases during the meeting.
General Evaluation was done by a round table method with each member providing a glow and grow point of the meeting. Suggestions were made such as; add a laugh counter to the agenda as a role to be filled, ensure Joke of the Day is on the agenda as a role to be filled, the table arrangements were done well and the double doors being closed helps eliminate distractions.
Anything for the good of Toastmasters prompted reminders of the following; Friday the 13th is the Division contest at the Manulife building, the Home and Lifestyle Show is May 4th and 5th - volunteers needed to run the booth, Executive role selection next meeting - club officers to prepare a speech about their roles in preparation for the upcoming elections, 20th anniversary in September 2012 - planning a murder mystery supper theater.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm. Members enjoyed fellowship and refreshments.