October 30, 2007 by Deborah.

Hello,

Getting the meeting started tonight was no exiguous task. Our Toastmaster was lost and Paul Johnson took over and started the show as the stand-in Toastmaster. Our guest Raj acted as SAA and Pat Schmalzreid greeted us and welcomed Paul. Paul quickly introduced our impromptu team and the path we were on.

We had 10 members present, and 4 guests (one who is now a member).
Our contributors tonight were:
GE: Paul Johnson
GR: Pat Schmalzreid
Timer: Donna Satchell
Camera Person: Jon Schwartz

Our speakers were:
Jon Schwartz: We learned how to be funny tonight and laughed our way through our lesson. John started us off with the most popular joke of 2002 (?) and ended with the second one. I’d tell them, but I’d just mess it up. You had to be there. He told us why we laugh, how healthy it is and convinced us that we need to do it often.

Iris Grim: In her speech entitled, “Opinions and Flavors” we heard a humorous tale about how taste trials are run. We then learned the truth behind the quote by Napolean Hill, “If you depend on other’s opinions, you will never have your own desires.”

Kelly Vandever: In her Ice Breaker we learned what it’s like to be famous and who we need to be famous with – our loved ones and friends. We also learned that Kelly has gone from being a lieutenant to being a grandmother. She also loves doing Ice Breakers and did a great job on this one, her third.

It was little pastry day today, with mini cupcakes and donut holes. . . and carrots. After the break Keith wowed us with a real, live game show - complete with sounding board, music and prizes. It was a blast. Deborah (me) won unfairly, since we were out of time. I’ve decided to share my blinking cup with the other contestants (Donna and Pat). Your days are Tuesdays and Fridays.

Kelly Vandever was voted in as our latest member. Congratulation, Kelly!

We started late and ended just 2 minutes late. Everyone was within their speech time limits tonight!

Paul Johnson will be acting as President for November and December, standing in for Pat.

Happy Halloween.

My Best,
Deborah Hill
Secretary

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October 22, 2007 by Deborah.

Hello,

It was an auspicious night tonight, as we moved efficiently and effectively through a long list of exciting agenda items.

Our SAA, Keith Schroeder welcomed us a tad late and we pledged our allegiance. We had 12 members present. Pat Schmalzreid spoke briefly and welcomed our three guests (two of whom had applications to join in hand). Pat introduced our Toastmaster, Dave Flach. His theme tonight was to not have a theme, so he could stay on time. Dave cleverly and creatively introduced his staff and speakers. Our contributors tonight were:
GE: Bill Hoskins
GR: Deborah Hill
Timer: Pat Schmalzreid
Camera Person: Mike Himmelstein

Our speakers were:
Keith Schroeder: Keith took us on a journey through the skies, complete with audio, video and fun talking. He told us of his recent journey to Tampa in his speech entitled: “I Went Sky Diving. I Went Rocky Mountain Climbing.” Sky diving was the focus for his inspiring talk about how important it is to “live like you’re dying.”

Peter Gibson: Peter spoke in eloquent Australian for a quippy beginning to his speech entitled, “Why Would a Wombat Do That?” We learned a great deal about Wombats and their importance in the world (especially the Australian world). Peter then told us a story about Wanda and Willie Wombat, and the the overweight intruder, Harry Plotter. Through the creative story we learned that it’s best to not let others influence how you eat.

Claudia Brogan: We had a wonderful talk tonight, lead by Claudia. We all discussed why we joined our club and what we wanted to see continue and change. It was well organized and well needed. We all learned a lot and it was helpful to keep our club on target with our member’s needs.

Our break was well stocked with all sorts of goodies, from chicken and vegetables to danishes.

It was confirmed that our party will be held at Vicki Willard’s home on Dec. 16 at 5:30 pm. It will be a potluck to save Vicki the trouble and the club the expense. Plus, we get to taste more of each other’s great cooking.

We ended just 2 minutes late and everyone pitched in on the clean-up.

See you next week, and get you to the church on time.

My Best,
Deborah Hill
Secretary

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October 16, 2007 by Deborah.

We did it again . . . Great but Late!

Hello from the Secretary,

It was a fun and informative evening filled with sagacity. However, as secretary I have to take some editorial license here. We were sadly over verbose. We’re again falling into the pattern of giving ourselves excuses for running over, and making everyone stay over. We heard quotes like, “I know I’m already overtime, but I’m going to read this page and a half out loud anyway.” And, “I know I’m late, but this is too good to pass up, so I’m going to continue on.” Every speaker was a minimum of 4 minutes over their mark. Sorry folks. They were wonderful words and stories, but part of giving a great speech is being able to stick to your alloted time. It’s not only professional but considerate of the audience to not take up more time than they’ve given you.

OK, enough (or more than) said.

We had 13 present - 10 members and 3 guests (two of whom were Poodts)

Mike Himmelstein acted as SAA, and Claudia Brogan stood in for our President.

Paul Johnson was our Toastmaster tonight. His theme was “famous last words” and we were given quotes throughout the night and were asked to give credit to the author. We weren’t very good at this game, but we enjoyed it immensely.

Our speakers presented the following:

Paul Poodt graced us with another wonderful ice breaker. Visions of the Netherlands and Catholic churches still dance in my head. Great storytelling!

Claudia Brogan inspired us and instructed us in how to give people a positive example of how to grow. No longer will we chide others. We will tell them how to improve. For example, don’t just count “ahs”, tell people what to do instead of saying them.

Bill Kovach took us back to Buffalo NY and made our mouths water with his tales of food of his youth.

(you can find the fabulous “Beef on Wick” sandwiches at Galla’s two locations:
Main location – 4849 Peachtree Road – Chamblee, GA 30341 – 770-500-3184
Satellite (take-out only) location – 2986 Johnson Ferry Road [at Shallowford] - Atlanta, GA 30062 – 770-642-0777 )

We ate cookies and candy.

We were happy but tired, and our Toastmaster was great but a little frazzled trying to keep our meeting on time.

We were so full of awe we ended 10 minutes late.

See you next week at the church.

Peace,
Deborah

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October 12, 2007 by Paul Johnson.

Toastmaster: Paul Johnson

Speakers:
1) Paul Poodt
2) Christina Poodt
3) Claudia Brogan

General Evaluator: Linda Love
Timer: David Flach
Camera Person: Bill Hosken
Grammarian: Deborah Hill-Flach

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October 12, 2007 by Paul Johnson.

Copy the template below and paste it into a new post, then fill in the names of the folks who will make up your agenda.

Title: Speakers Roundtable Agenda for MM/DD/YY

Toastmaster:

Speakers:
1)
2)
3)

General Evaluator:
Timer:
Camera Person:
Grammarian:

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