January 17, 2013 Theme: Speech Craft

Meeting attendees were; Heidi Menzi, Jane Stoltz, Val Hummel, Tony Galvao, Vern Noseworthy, Brent Jemmett, Leo Brisebois, Keith McCluskie, Keith Stoltz, Audrey Orth, and Apryl Browning.

Speech craft participants were; Horst Dankewitz and Daniela Tremlin.

Vern Noseworthy called the meeting to order.  Tony Galvao welcomed everyone and had everyone participate in introductions.  Audrey Orth served as Toast and Timer for the evening.  She explained her role then read a short story from a Chicken Soup for the Soul book before her toast to Canada.  Brent explained his role as Grammarian and identified the word of the evening as “Tenuous”.  Tony provided a short session on the importance of public speaking in everyday life.  Jane gave an education module called “Selecting Your Topic” for the benefit of the Speechcrafters and as a refresher for regular members.  She encouraged attendees to talk about what they know, and identified many potential speech subjects including hobbies, jobs, trips, health, pets, home renovations, social activities and TV shows.  Speech topics can be found in everyday life, you can Google topics, and use books and magazines for inspiration.  Religion and politics are to be avoided.

Apryl and Vern gave demonstration ice breaker speeches.  Table topics followed with Apryl starting the group off with a story and each person added to the story.  The final outcome was humorous.

Speech evaluations were next with Leo evaluating Apryl and Val evaluating Vern.  Tony then gave the Speechcrafters their assignments for January 24^th.  They must read Chapters 1-3 in the Speech craft manual and prepare a short ice breaker speech for next week.

Keith Stoltz was the general evaluator.  He noted that the Speech craft participants will need mentors assigned.  He suggested the introductions be repeated at the next meeting but with people introducing someone different.  He encouraged members to help out with the Speech craft program as much as possible.

Submitted by,

Val Hummel

January 10, 2013 Theme: Favourite Sports Teams

Meeting attendees: Apryl Browning, Audrey Orth, Jane Stoltz, Tony Galvao, Vern Noseworthy, Leo Brisebois, Keith McCluskie, Wayne Stoltz, Brent Jemmett and George Nichol.

Wayne called the meeting to order and introduced Keith Stoltz as the chairperson of the meeting. Keith asked for each person in attendance to stand, introduce themselves and explain the importance of the sports clothing that they were wearing and the significance of them to everyone else.
Brent provided us with the Joke of the day (a funny joke about Habs fans). Vern provided the loyal toast to Canada, described his role and told a very funny story about his hockey experiences in his younger years. Jane was the grammarian/laugh counter for the evening and she provided us with the word of the day "Assertive". Assertive means to become very determined, to write down your goals and achieve them.
Literary corner was presented by Apryl who read a great baseball poem entitled "Casey at the Bat".
George Nichol presented a eulogy praising the life of a long term friend/co-worker/mentor named John. This was project # 2 - Speaking in Praise from an advanced manual.
Keith Stoltz presented the results from his High Performance Leadership project - Area 65 Humorous speech and Table Topics contest in Hanover, Ontario on October 19, 2012. He highlighted the pro's and con's of the project and reflected on some suggestions for improvements if he does it again.
Table Topics master was Jane. She provided an envelope containing strips of paper with names of hockey teams and an explanation of how they received their name. Each member was encouraged to use the word of the day in their Table Topics presentation as well as use an opening, a body and a conclusion.
Leo evaluated George's speech, Apryl evaluated Keith's presentation and each evaluator provided glow and grow points to the presenters.
The word assertive was used 6 times during the meeting. Table Topics winner was Keith McCluskie.
Tony was the general evaluator and provided his thanks and comments of parts of the meeting that went well and suggestions for improvements for the next meeting. Brent Jemmett has us all thinking/remembering as he provided us with snip-its of phrases and conversations spoken during the meeting.
Keith provided his closing remarks, anything for the good of toastmasters (club officer training coming up, speech craft program starting next week, roles for the next week's meeting required) and adjourned the meeting announcing snacks and social time for the members.

December 20, 2012 Theme: Christmas

Meeting attendees (club members); Vern Noseworthy, Heidi Menzi, John Van Meeteren, Marie McCutcheon, Brent Jemmett, Keith McCluskie, George Nichol, Keith and Jane Stoltz, Valrie Hummel, Marg Van Donkersgoed, Audrey Orth, Leo Brisebois, Jill Wagemans.
(Guests); Ralph and Jane Dwarika, Harriet Noseworthy, Marilyn Nichol, Hank Van Donkersgoed, Holly Brisebois, Andrew Wagemans.

The meeting was called to order by Keith McCluskie and he introduced Tony Galvao as the chairperson of the meeting. Tony welcomed all of the guests and members to the Christmas meeting. George Nichol provided us with the loyal toast to Canada and kept the timing for the meeting. Pastor Ralph Dwarika provided the invocation for the meeting and catered meal by Thyme & Again with Andrea.
Audrey provided us with an interpretive reading. Vern presented his speech entitled "A New Beginning".
Lots of fun and laughter resulted from the gift exchange/Table Topics portion of the meeting. Marie McCutcheon was the Table Topics master and had three male "elves" sit in chairs by the Christmas tree. Each person had to receive a gift from one of the elves or Marie and then sit on the elf's knee to open the gift. If the person choose not to keep their gift, they could "exchange" their gift with someone else that had opened theirs and wanted to keep it. With all of the gifts opened up, a second round of gift exchanges occurred and most everyone that picked a gift they wanted originally went home with a different gift due to someone exchanging theirs for someone else's (Note: gifts were limited to a $10.00 value ....and re-gifting of last year's presents for exchange was encouraged as well).
Reports for the meeting were heard and anything for the good of Toastmasters was discussed.
A very big thank-you to the caterer's, the decorating committee (Jane and Heidi), and Heidi for the gifts of poinsettia's and glass ornaments for all.
Tony Galvao provided closing remarks and wished everyone a merry Christmas and happy holiday season.

December 13, 2012 Theme: Dr. Seuss Quotes and Stories

"Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened."

In attendance:  Heidi, Marie, Leo, Tony, Brent, Audrey, Vern, Keith Stoltz, Marg and John.

Heidi brought the meeting to order, with what promised to be another evening filled with fun and laughter.

Marie, our Chairperson for this evening, gave her opening remarks.  Following this, she then went around the room and gave her "Dr. Seuss" to everyone present and finished this segment with a history on Dr. Seuss.

Agenda changes were next and the agenda was adopted.

Joke of the Day was done by Leo, followed by Tony who was our Toast and Timer.  Tony gave a compelling short statement on the rights that we have as a free country.  These rights include the privilege on reading books such as Dr. Seuss stories.

Marg was our Grammarian and Laugh Counter.  The word she chose for this evening was "imaginative", a fitting choice for the theme.

Literary Corner was done by John who read a short narrative called "Dr Seuss explains a computer".

There were no speeches this evening but the next part done by Keith.  It was called a Fun Break and he had the members come up in pairs to the front.  Once there, one would be an adult Santa and the other member would tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.  Something new to a lot of the members but a lot of fun was had in this portion of the evening.

Brent led the next section which was Table Topics.  Each member got a slip of paper with the title of a  Dr. Seuss book.  When it was their turn, each member got to speak at a "press conference" on the release of their new book.  The twist was that the other members then got to ask questions about the book.  Kudos to Audrey for handling all of the questions asked of her so well. 

Vern was the General Evaluator this evening.  He first called for the reports.  Tony gave his timer report, followed by Marg with the Grammarian report.  The word of the evening had been used 12 times and Marg had counted 51 laughs.  Brent was next with his Table Topics report.  The winner this evening was Audrey.  Vern then gave his General Evaluator remarks on the evening.

Wrapping up, Anything For the Good of Toastmasters was next, followed by assigning roles for the next week.  Marie then gave her closing remarks and ended the meeting for this evening.

December 6, 2012 Theme: Adventures of a Lifetime

Meeting attendees were; George Nichol, Vern Noseworthy, Audrey Orth, Leo Brisebois, Keith McCluskie, Brent Jemmett, Jill Wagemans, Marg Van Donkersgoed, Val Hummel, Tracy D'Arcey and Heidi Menzi.

Vern called the meeting to order and introduced our chairperson Heidi Menzi. Heidi provided opening remarks and reviewed agenda changes. Jill provided the joke of the day and Brent provided the loyal toast to Canada and kept time during the meeting.

Keith was the grammarian and provided the word of the day "adventurous" which was used 17 times during the meeting. Marg kept track of the number of laughs during the meeting which totaled 30 good laughs in all. Keith had the role of literary corner and read an article about a young boy's struggles waiting for a kidney transplant.

Tracy did a great job presenting her first speech (The Ice Breaker speech) which was entitled "Just About Me". Vern practiced a toast that he was going to present during a lunch celebration for 25 years of success in business.

Leo presented an educational module about finding new members for your club. Val was the Table Topics master and she kept everyone on their toes in anticipation as she called out their number and the corresponding topic that they had to speak for 1 minute about.

Vern evaluated Tracy's speech and reflected on what she did well during her presentation. Audrey was the general evaluator and reflected on what went well with the meeting and some suggestions for improvements for the next meeting. Audrey also happened to be the winner of Table Topics.

George had us all thinking/remembering as he provided us with snip-its of conversations during the meeting with his role as Quiz Master. Heidi had her closing remarks and adjourned the meeting with an invitation to enjoy snacks and some social time following the meeting.

November 29, 2012 Theme: If I Had A Billion Dollars

Tonight’s theme was "If I Had A Billion Dollars..." and the meeting was called to order on time by Tony.  Tony gave us a top 10 list of the richest Billionaires in the world.  Next, Tony introduced Keith S., our chair for this evening.  In his opening remarks, Keith gave some information on Canadian Billionaires and what they are worth.

The only agenda change for this evening was that Apryl would be the Grammarian and Laugh Counter.

Keith M. was then introduced to do the Joke of the Day.  Keith had two short jokes, both of which were related to the theme.

Audrey was the Toast and Timer and led us into the Toast to Canada.

The word of the evening was "wealth", a noun with several meanings, one of which is abundant worldly possessions.  Apryl's choice of word was fitting to the theme.

Literary corner was next with John reading and article titled "The Dying Art of Conversation".

Speeches were next and tonight there were two.  Vern was first with his speech "Old Age".  His evaluator John read the speech objectives. The speech was about what it means to grow old and how does one know when you are old.  He was followed by Val and her speech "The Art of Gathering", a way on how to keep teenagers fed on a budget.  Val's evaluator was Apryl who also read the speech objectives.  Both speeches were well done and a minute for written evaluations followed each speaker.

Table Topics was done by Brent.  He had everyone write down how they had earned a Billion dollars on a slip of paper.  When done the papers were passed to the left.  When it came time to speak, the member could look at the slip of paper passed to them and then begin to tell the other members how they had earned the Billions based on what the other person had written.  Like usual, a wealth of laughs were heard.

Tony was up again as the General Evaluator.  He first asked for the speech evaluations to be done for Vern and Val.  John was first to evaluate Vern's speech followed by Apryl's evaluation of Val's speech.  Next, Tony asked for the general reports.  Audrey gave her report as the Toast and Timer, followed by Apryl who gave her Grammarian report.  The word of the evening had been used seven times and Apryl had also recorded 60 laughs.  Last, Brent gave his report for Table Topics.  This week the winner was John.  Tony concluded this section by giving his General Evaluation of the meeting.

The last section before the Chairperson concluded the meeting was the Quizmaster Report.  This was done by Apryl, and she challenged our memory on various things that members had said throughout the night.

Keith S. then took control of the meeting again for the final few items.  Anything for the Good of Toastmasters was discussed, as well as the assigning of roles for next week's meeting.  Keith then gave his closing remarks and brought the meeting to an end.

November 22, 2012 Theme: Historical Events

Heidi started the evening off with the Call to Order and introduced our Chairperson for the evening, Apryl. 

Apryl took the lectern and with her opening remarks, as well as every time she spoke, gave us historical highlights on events that happened on November 22nd.  There were two agenda changes, the first is that Heidi would do the Joke of the Day and, second, John would be the Ah and Laugh counter.

Val led us into the traditional toast as the Toast and Timer for the evening.  She gave us the history behind the toast, fitting for the theme of the evening.

Leo was next with the Literary Corner.  He read a short story on the history of the first Canadian railway. 

This evening Tony did his speech using visual aids.  His topic this evening was his progression of footwear throughout his life.  He had a variety of footwear on display and explained how he had obtained and what he liked about them.  One minute for Written Evaluations followed.

Keith S. was out Table Topics Master.  He changed the rules a bit by making it two minutes in length instead of the customary one.  He had each member give him a number between one and twelve.  He then gave the member the associated question to that number.  Keith kept the Table Topics related to the theme and all the questions were historical events that the member had to relate to in their impromptu speaking.

Leo was up again as the General Evaluator.  He first asked for the reports to be given.  Keith M. was first with his evaluation of Tony's speech.  Val was next with her Toast and Timer report, followed by John with his report as Ah and Laugh Counter.   Last, Keith S. gave his report by announcing the winner for Table Topics.  Leo then gave his General Evaluator report.

The Quiz Master's Report was next.  Tonight this role was filled by Vern and he challenged our memory with various things said by members throughout the evening.

There were a few things discussed in Anything For The Good of Toastmasters.  One of them being the upcoming Christmas Meal and Gift Exchange on December 20th.  It was decided to have this evening catered.  Val then asked for volunteers to fill the roles for next week's meeting.

Apryl finished the evening by giving her closing remarks, ending another evening of fun and laughter.

November 20, 2012 Mount Forest Motivators Tenth Anniversary

Members of the Mount Forest Motivators hold the 10th anniversary cake.

Members of the Mount Forest Motivators Toastmaster's club with Area 65 Governor, Division Governor and District Governor.

November 15, 2012 Theme: Famous People

It was an exciting part of the meeting as Tracy D'Arcey was being inducted into the Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster club as our newest member by
Tony Galvao (V.P. of Membership).

Shown from left to right; Apryl Browning (mentor for Tracy), Tracy D'Arcey (newest club member) and Tony Galvao (V.P. of Membership).

November 15, 2012 Theme: Famous People

Brent Jemmett called the meeting to order and introduced Val Hummel as the chairperson for the meeting. Brent went on to explain that Val is a famous person because her picture as "Madame Clair Voyant" appeared in the Listowel Banner and Snap Perth local newspapers.
Val's opening remarks reflected on famous people's characteristics verses the characteristics of a "typical" average person. Val compared each of the members to famous people in the world.
Val introduced our Toast and Timer, Vern Noseworthy, as Dr. Doolittle because he is the proud owner of a hobby farm with many animals that he talks to regularly.
Vern explained his role and provided a patriotic toast to Canada. Vern had done some research and found that a famous person, Fidel Castro (President of Cuba), had once given a speech that was 4 hours and 29 minutes and another speech to the Communist Party that lasted 7 hours and 10 minutes.
Audrey Orth was the Grammarian and Laugh Counter for the meeting. Audrey introduced us to four different words; Celebrate - verb, Celebrated - adjective, Celebration - noun and Celebrity - noun. She challenged everyone to use these words during the evening and they were used 6 times during the meeting. There were also 42 good laughs during the meeting.
Tony Galvao took on the role of Literary Corner and introduced his role and the purpose. Tony provided the members with a reading from the Small Farm Canada magazine. Dan Needles was the author of the story "Art of the Supper Table and Endless Talk."
Heidi Menzi presented an Oratorical Speech - Project # 5 from the Interpretive Reading Manual. The speech was entitled " The Lipizzaner Stallions". Heidi achieved her ACB (Advanced Communicator Bronze) award with the completion of this speech. Congratulations Heidi!
Apryl Browning presented an Educational Module entitled "Gestures: Let Your Body Speak". This was done in the form of a Power Point presentation and verbal presentation with lots of good examples.
Tony Galvao (V.P. of Membership) conducted an induction ceremony for our newest Linguist of Listowel club member, Tracy D'Arcey. Tracy was welcomed into the club by all members.
Diane Bender was our Table Topics Master for the evening. Each member had to select, from an envelope, a picture of a famous Canadian. Each member had the responsibility of introducing this famous person to the rest of the members, use gestures and explain why these people should join Toastmasters.
Keith McCluskie evaluated Heidi's speech presentation with glow and grow points.
Apryl Browning was the General Evaluator for the meeting and provided her views of how the meeting went and asked for reports for the evening.
Tony Galvao was the Table Topics winner for the evening.
Brent Jemmett was the Quiz Master for the meeting and challenged our listening skills by asking us who said what phrase during the meeting. Brent caught us with two phrases that we couldn't figure out who said them.
Anything for the good of Toastmasters included discussions about the new Stratford club starting up and how we can help out, praise and congratulations to Brent Jemmett (V.P. of Public Relations) for lots of good exposure and recognition of our club in the local papers and media, discussions about the upcoming Christmas potluck meal and the 10th anniversary of the Mount Forest Motivator's club on November 20th.
Keith Stoltz practiced a Toast for the weekend's ceremonies. Apryl provided her closing remarks and adjourned the meeting. Snacks and refreshments were provided by Val and Apryl and enjoyed by all.

November 8, 2012 Theme: Remembrance Day

Vern called the meeting to order and introduced our Chairperson for the evening, Tony.  Tony welcomed everyone, with special mention to our guests from the Palmerston Legion and Army Cadets for coming out on our Remembrance Day evening.

Guests:  Cheryl Thomson, Josh Wakeford, a member of the Norwell 1943 Army Cadets and from the Palmerston Legion, Branch 409, Chris Wakeford, Liz and Jeff Lambier.

Guest introductions were made and there were no agenda changes.

Toast and Timer was Apryl.  For this evening the time given to this role was extended.  Before doing the toast, Apryl read the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae.

Grammarian and Laugh Counter was John.  The word for this special evening was Commemorate.  George took on the role of Literary Corner.  He first read a poem called "Final Inspection", author unknown, and then read a story on the appearance of the old veteran on the $10 bill.

Up next was Keith S with his speech "What Would You Like to Know".  This is Keith's 3rd time through the CC manual and this was the icebreaker speech.  Doing it impromptu, he asked for questions on what people wanted to know and then did his speech based on answering those questions.  He did avoid one question which was why he thinks Jane needs another cat.  A minute for written evaluations followed.

Table Topics was done by Val.  She had everyone draw a number and then drew a matching set of numbers herself to determine the speaking order.  The theme for TT was what you did to recognize Remembrance Day.  Most of our guests participated as well. 

Brent was the General Evaluator this evening.  He first asked for Keith M. to do his speech evaluation on Keith S., followed by asking for the various reports.  Apryl gave her Timer report, followed by John with his Grammarian report.  Val was next with her Table Topics report.  The winner this evening was our young guests for the Army Cadets, Josh.  I must admit a lot of the Toastmasters were in awe at the way he stood up and spoke with such confidence.  Brent then gave his General Evaluator report.

Leo was up next with his Quizmaster's Report; our guests participated in this with enthusiasm.  Tony again took the lectern as the evening drew to a close.  There were a few items for Anything For the Good of Toastmasters, followed by Roles and Themes for the next few weeks.  Before Tony officially called the meeting to an end, our guests then had a chance to share their views of the meeting.

November 1, 2012 Theme: Francophone Traditions

Francophone Traditions

Wayne called the evening to order and introduced our chair for the evening, Leo.  With the theme of the evening being Francophone Traditions, Leo's Chairperson's Welcome delighted everyone.  He said several quotes and slogans in French and translated them in English, as well as telling some interesting and fun facts about Quebec and growing up in Cornwall.

For agenda changes, Wayne volunteered to be the laugh counter and Vern took on the role of Table Topics.  Our guest, and newest member by the end of the evening, Tracy, introduced herself and told everyone why she was joining Toastmasters.

Joke of the day was done by John.  Toast and Timer this evening was Keith S. and Heidi filled the role of Literary Corner.  From Heidi's reading came an interesting quote/saying, "Laughter is like manure, it works best if it is spread around...”

Tony was next with his speech titled "I am Canadian".  Tony ended his speech with having the members stand and join him in singing our national anthem.  A minute was taken for written evaluations.

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, this was the theme for Table Topics.  Vern did an excellent job of explaining how this worked and demonstrating it by going firsts.  Pick a random topic and give both some thumbs up and some thumbs down points.  All members participated.

Keith M. was next as the General Evaluator.  He first asked for Apryl to do Tony's speech evaluation.  Tony had asked her to be extra critical so he can grow his speaking skills.  Next up was the reports.  Keith S. gave his Timer report, Wayne his Laugh Counter report (there were 27 laughs so far), And Vern his Table Topics report.  Wayne was this evening's winner for Table Topics.  Keith M. then gave his report on the meeting itself.

The next part of the meeting was given to a review of the Executive Meeting from last week.  This was followed by Anything for the Good of Toastmasters.  Marg was next with her Quizmaster's Report. 

The evening concluded with seeking a Chairperson for next week's meeting, Guest comments and the closing remarks given by Leo.

October 25, 2012 Theme: Spooky Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster Club

October 25, 2012 Theme: Spooky Halloween

SPOOKY HALLOWEEN

With over half of those in attendance sporting fantastic Halloween costumes, the Linguists of Listowel got together for another fun filled evening.

The meeting was called to order by one of our witches for the evening, Marie.  With potions brewing and spell casting, she welcomed everyone and introduced our chair for the evening, Apryl.   While the smoke from the cauldron slowly rose to the ceiling, I wondered if the smoke alarm was going to go off.

Apryl gave her opening remarks on the theme for the evening which was "Spooky Halloween".  It is worth noting that this is the first time that I have heard a Mime speak.  Guest Introductions were done and Agenda Changes made.  There was only one change and that was the addition of Marie as speech evaluator.

To officially kick of the rest of the evening, everyone in costume paraded around the room.  Ballots were then filled out by everyone to vote on the best costume.  The results would be announced later that evening.

Our Ghost of Crossing Guards Past, Val, was next with the joke of the day.  Our Terminator look-a-like, (I am hoping that I have this correct) Keith, was next as our Toast and Timer.  Wearing a dress and a little heavy on the eye shadow, Tony, the Grammarian and Laugh Counter, gave us the word of the evening.  This evening, the word was "petrify", to frighten someone so that they are unable to move.  The Literary Corner role was filled by John.

We had two speeches this evening.  Up first was Heidi who read/performed a play titled "Sandra on Sports".  The Cast in the Hat, Jill was next with her speech "Tips on Public Speaking".  Written evaluations were done after each speech.

Brent dressed up as Allan from the movie "The Hangover" was this evening's Table Topics master.  He also could have passed as Al Borland from the TV series Home Improvements.  When it was their turn, Brent had each person take a slip of paper from an envelope with a Halloween related question.  Like usual, Table Topics is always full of laughs.

Audrey, AKA Dolly Dingling, was our general evaluator.  She first asked for the witches to give their evaluations on the speeches.  The first witch, Jane, evaluated Heidi while the second witch, Marie, evaluated Jill.  Next, Audrey asked for the general reports from the Timer, Grammarian and Table Topics.  The word of the evening was used five times.  As well, there were 68 laughs, 7 Xeroxes (repetitions) and 16 um's and ah's.  The winner for Table Topics was our guest Tracey.  Audrey finished her section by giving her general report on the meeting.

Next, the prize was awarded for the best costume.  Audrey was the winner.   Drawing to a close, Anything for the Good of Toastmasters was next.  Afterwards we asked our guest for any comments of what she thought of the meeting.  Sharon provided us with her Quiz Master's Report.

Apryl officially ended the meeting with a few closing remarks.

October 21, 2012 - Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre in Holstein

The Linguists of Listowel Toastmaster club presented a second performance of the 20th anniversary murder mystery dinner theater "Murder Under the Big Top" in the Egremont Community Centre in Holstein, Ontario.
The cast members were;
Bo Derelict - Tony Galvao
Madame Clair Voyant - Val Hummel
Scarlet O'Roara - Marie McCutcheon
Tip Wilson - Vern Noseworthy
Mustang Sally Wilson-Pickett - Apryl Browning
Alfred Snitchcock - Brent Jemmett
Justice Law- Keith McCluskie
Dolly Dingling - female audience participant

It was an evening full of fun and audience interaction as the events unfolded and each table had to present their findings and guess who the murderer was that killed Big Ben.

October 19, 2012 Area 65 Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest

Left: Area 65 Governor Keith Stoltz (Linguists of Listowel) congratulates Jafar Mirjalali (Mount Forest Motivators) for winning the Humorous Speech contest at Grace United Church in Hanover.
Brent Jemmett (Linguists of Listowel) holds the prize trophy for the winner and second place winner Tony Galvao (Linguists of Listowel) looks on.

 Jafar Mirjalali (Mount Forest Motivators) displays the first place trophy for winning the Humorous Speech competition.

 Table Topics contest participants in the Area 65 competition at Grace United Church in Hanover.
Left: Area 65 Governor Keith Stoltz, Sylvie Tibben, David Haggett, Tony Galvao and Trudy Baran.

Left to right is Area 65 Governor - Keith Stoltz, Table Topics Winner - Trudy Baran and Jason Walters who presented the trophy.

Gemma Mendez-Smith (Table Topics Chairperson) and Area 65 Governor - Keith Stoltz both congratulate Tony Galvao for placing second in the Table Topics competition.

 Merri Macartney looks on as Keith Stoltz congratulates Tony Galvao and presents him with a second place certificate in the Humorous speech contest. Brent Jemmett holds the first prize trophy.

Trudy Baran (president of the Saugeen Toastmasters) is the first place winner of the Table Topics competition in the Hanover Area contest.

Humorous Speech Competition participants.
From left to right; Area 65 Governor - Keith Stoltz, Tammy Hunt, Harold Tuck, Tony Galvao and Jafar Mirjalali.

October 18, 2012 Theme: Harvest Time

V.P. of Education (Val Hummel) congratulatesVern Noseworthy with a certificate for completing his 6th speech from the Toastmaster Competent Communicator manual.

 V.P. of Membership (Tony Galvao) is the Table Topics Master for the meeting.
Club members had to speak for one minute about three random topics (one topic from each paper bag).

 Val Hummel waits for her three Table Topics.

October 18, 2012 Theme: Harvest Time

Another fun filled evening filled with laughs for the Listowel Toastmaster's.

The meeting was called to order by Heidi.  With a brief introduction, she handed the lectern over to the Chairperson for this evening Keith McCluskie.  This evening's theme was Harvest Time.  A fitting choice for this time of year.  You can hardly take a drive out into the country without seeing the farmers busy at work in the fields.

There were no guests and no agenda changes this evening.

Joke of the day was done by Brent.  It turned out that the joke was linked to the theme which, according to Brent, was by coincidence.  Toast and Timer was Keith Stoltz.  After saying a few words in regards to how technology has changed farming.  Machinery, with the use of satellite, can virtually drive themselves up and down the fields.   The Toastmasters then raised their glasses for the ritual Toast to Canada. 

Audrey was the grammarian for the evening.  The word she chose was "reap", a verb meaning to harvest.  Literary corner was next with Jane reading a harvest related story from "Country Women".  Although a USA magazine, the article itself was written by a lady from Guelph by the name of Theresa Pitman.

Vern was next with his sixth speech from the CC manual.  The title of this speech was "Growing Up On Welfare" with Vern doing an excellent job of describing his childhood years.  A minute was taken for written evaluations after the speech.

Val was up next and presented Vern with his 6th Speech Certificate from the CC manual.

A roundtable discussion on the Murder Mystery Evening was next.  The evening had been a huge success with many compliments.  There were many glow points, as well as several grow points.  However, the glow points far outweighed the grow points.  The cast has been asked to perform again by Brent's mother at another function in Holstein.

Leo did an Educational Corner titled "Keeping the Commitment".  Using a projector and handouts, Leo went over point of the Toastmaster's Promise and the Club Members Pledge.

Tony added a twist to the ever popular Table Topics.  For this evening, he had 3 bags, one containing slips of paper with names, one a food item and the third as random item.  As each Toastmasters turn came, Tony would pick one slip of paper from each bag and you had to use all three in your speech.  The added challenge to this is that, while you waited your turn, there was no chance to think of what to say since you had no idea what was coming your way.

Val was the General Evaluator for this evening.  She first introduced Apryl who gave her evaluation of Vern's speech.  Next, Val asked for the reports from the Timer, the Grammarian and fro the Table Topics Master.  There was a tie this evening between Val and Jane for the Table Topics challenge.  Val then proceeded to give her report on the meeting.

Drawing to a close, Heidi was next with the Quiz Master's Report.  Following this was Anything for the Good of Toastmasters and assigning roles for the next meeting.  Keith officially ended the meeting with a few closing remarks.

October 13, 2012 Twentieth Anniversary Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre

Bo Derelict (Tony Galvao) - Circus Clown

Alfred Snitchcock (Brent Jemmett) - Circus Manager

Mustang Sally Wilson-Pickett (Diane Bender) - Star Equestrian

Madame Clair Voyant (Val Hummel) - See all, know all, palm and card reader

Tip Wilson (Vern Noseworthy) - Tight Rope Walker and Aerialist

Dolly Dingling (Audrey Orth) - Big Top Circus Owner/Operator

Scarlet O'Roara (Marie McCutcheon) - Lion Tamer

Justice Law (Keith McCluskie) - Attorney for the Big Top Circus

Master of Ceremonies (Keith Stoltz) - Toastmasters Area 65 Governor