Thursday, November 7, 2013

Meeting Minutes November 5, 2013



Cromwell Community Toastmasters
Club 5908 ~ District 53
November 5, 2013

“Go Big or Go Home”

Attendees:    members attended:, Tom Alvord ACB, ALB, Bo Bogart, Micheal Brillas, Robert Dalo, Miroslav Grajewski, Charlie Hubert, Elizabeth Landeen, Cheryl Mason DTM, Phil Mason CC, Donald Ostertag, Catherine Rose, Hollie Rose CC, William Sullivan ACB,ALB, Brian Terry, Heather Turner ACS,  and Andrew Watt


Guests: John Hart, Jeff Naples, Robin Thompson and Carmen Jenkins


Business Meeting:
The meeting was called to order by Sergeant at Arms Charlie Hubert.  (Welcome back Charlie!) Vice President of Education – Elizabeth Landeen gave opening remarks and invited Rob Dalo to talk about the recent Division Contest held Oct. 16 at Northeast utilities in Berlin, CT.  Rob won 3rd place in the Speech Evaluation Contest!  Congratulations Rob! Heather Turner spoke about the enthusiasm and encouragement found at Toastmaster meetings.  She explained how Toastmasters helps develop public speaking and leadership skills, and that members work at their own pace.


Meeting Roles:

Toastmaster: Brian Terry

Invocation: Phil Mason – Phil shared a number of inspiring quotes from Teddy Roosevelt. Two of the quotes were “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care” and “Keep your eyes to the stars and your feet on the ground.”

Word Master:  Catherine Rose
Word - of - the - Day:  Superfluous – being more than is sufficient or required, excessive, unnecessary or needless

Table Topics Master:  Heather Turner ACS
Theme:  Dining in the Dark – Heather had been to a dinner where the diners were blindfolded.  She brought a box full of objects and had the Table Topic speakers choose and discuss their object while blindfolded.  Andrew Watt described an object with a ball joint, plastic protuberances and an empty battery case.   He deduced it was a radio or walkie talkie. Charlie Hubert described a glass paperweight, he embellished saying it might be the type with a snowstorm and snowman or maybe Jesus.  Rob was fortunate to choose the device he most needed in his life.  He discussed how the hand sized, pillow shaped object was a great stress reliever; he could squeeze it when technology wasn’t working the way he would have liked.  Don Ostertag pulled a slinky from the box.  He reminisced about having one as a child and playing with it on the stairs.  Robin Thompson enthusiastically told us how much she liked the little odd shaped brush that she had pulled from the box and she described the unusual shape of its handle.

Speaker # 1:  Elizabeth Landeen
Manual/Project: Competent Communicator/Project 4  How to Say It 
Title:  Start Now, Don’t Wait        
Elizabeth described to us how she plans to spend her next birthday – doing the Tough Mudder obstacle course.  She has already started training for the 10 - 12 mile race held in VT.  She showed slides and described different obstacles in the race including the: Arctic Enema; Cage Crawl; Funky Monkey; Electric Shock Therapy; Wall Climb and Firewalk

 Speaker # 2:   Micheal Brillas
Manual/Project: Competent Communicator/Project 2  Organize Your Speech 
Title:  Transitions    
Subscribing to 5 year plans – after returning from a trip Micheal started life from scratch. He had a well paying job but hated it, he found the money was superfluous and he convinced himself that he had 5 years left to live. He was a dedicated non breeder wanting his life to unfold in a way that could happen only if he didn’t have a family.  He lived life and had a great time, remembering about his 5 year cut off only the night before he originally thought he would die. Living through the day, he appreciated many things and now celebrates every November 3rd.  Because of the angle from which Micheal views the world he feels he can help others overcome their fears.


 Speaker # 3:  William Sullivan ACB,ALB
Manual/Project:  Successful Club Series/ Project Evaluate to Motivate 
Title:  Evaluate to Motivate  
Bill told us that evaluations can be harder than speeches; they are incorporated in every aspect of our lives, and are composed of opinions and honest reactions.  An evaluation style called the Sandwich Method involves saying something positive, suggesting an improvement and noting some other positive aspect. Some pointers for giving evaluations include focusing on a few key points, evaluating the speech not the person, mentioning how the speech made you feel, and promoting the speaker’s self esteem.


General Evaluator: Rob Dalo

Evaluator # 1:  Cheryl Mason DTM
Evaluator # 2:   Andrew Watt
Evaluator # 3:  Tom Alvord, ACB,ALB

Functionary Reports:
Ah Counter:  Bo Bogart
Grammarian:  Micheal Brillas
Timer:  Don Ostertag

In closing Elizabeth asked our guests for comments.  John said he enjoyed the meeting; Jeff had thought it would be intimidating with spotlights and people making him speak, but he found it was all calm.  Robin and Carmen decided to join our club.  Welcome Robin! Welcome Carmen!
Rob Dalo suggested we all have name tags. Charlie thanked everyone for their cards and good wishes.  Hollie announced that she was selected for an Ambassador position with Toastmasters International's Revitalized Education Program.  Congratulations Hollie!


Next meeting: November 19th 2013.

Respectfully submitted by
Bo Bogart, Secretary

[Posted, with minor corrections, by Hollie Rose, CC]

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