Chilling, Relaxing and having Fun with Friends

Dear Eagles,
After a long long time we did not have any guests at our meeting, but then it allowed us to chill, it allowed us to relax, it allowed us to take actions on the bucket list of items that were being postponed.

Today, it goes with out saying, we had fun. We had Richard as table topics master surprised all the table topics volunteers by asking them to bridge their favorite activity with phrases like why "do the people below equator roll down", "sals alarm clock", "large families like of Van Gogh's with weird names". It was absolute fun, but the volunteers did a fantastic job.

We had 5 excellent speeches ranging from the value of free enterprise read by Tom Corrigan, Help Willy's Friends - a non profit organization for pets narrated by Robin, Be There for the orphanage kids - an experience shared by Ute, Winter Wonderland - a picturesque description of all kinds of winter activities described by Lucy and then the Magic Bus - a tale of struggles of a poor student reminded by Andrew. All the speeches were excellent.

Today, as a group, we decided to buy the projector for the club. Is there anyone tech savvy who wants help us in the selection process? That would be most appreciated. We will get this by end of March if not sooner. Today we decided to extend the meetup membership this year. It costs us $144 per year. We have money now, but for a small club like ours, we cannot afford $144 every year. It is not sustainable. Our Treasurer to look into possible solutions.

Club level spring international speech contest and table topics contest will be held on March 18th. I highly encourage everyone to participate. Speech contest will be 5-7 min and the table topics from 2-3 min. We need contest chair, judges, timers etc etc.... Please let me know if you are interested in taking any of the roles.

Last year we benefited from conducting a workshop. This year we will have it on April 1st. Lucy to  check the room availability for 1st. Let us all be involved and make the workshop a resounding success. This workshop is open for guests and members as well. If you want to volunteer and contribute, please let us know.

As I said earlier, today we had fun, we relaxed and we chilled. Please sign up for the roles.

Goodnight and see you all in 2 weeks on March 4th.

Chandra

Eagle Achieved Select Distinguished Status

Dear All,

When the temperature reads 27 F on the car dash board and we still have a room full at our meeting, then we are doing something right, something special as a club; when we have 9 guests at the meeting and we still have the same amount of fun, if not more, then we gel together well and make everyone feel warm and comfortable; when we attain Select Distinguished Status with 5 more months still to go, then we are clearly on our path to success of reaching the ultimate goal of President's Distinguished for the 12th year in a row. This is incredible and thanks to all of you for your participation, for your commitment and for your contributions.

Today we had another great meeting with 4 very good speeches including an icebreaker. Kate gave a speech on "Love or Lunacy", where she described her road trip ordeal from east coast to west coast with her son. Kate, with couple of minor modifications, your speech will be a very good contender for International Speech contest.

Daya gave his second speech on "Technology in the classroom," where, though he is a proponent of technology, reminded us that technology should assist in finding a solution and not become the solution. Great message Daya.

Susanne gave her icebreaker on "Dancing to Perfection," where she told eloquently about her grandparents, parents, friends, daughter and even her career assisted with pictures. That was great and looking forward for your next speech.

I chipped in for Joe and read the text of Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech given in 2005 titled "you've got to find what you love." Stay Hungry and Stay Foolish is the message. Please listen online if interested. I highly recommend this speech.

All in all, we had a fantastic meeting. We laughed, we mingled and we had fun. Thanks.

Please sign up for the roles for our next meeting on Feb 18th.

Happy Valentines to all of you.

Goodnight and see you all in 2 weeks.

Chandra

Minutes of January 21, 2013-Speech-a-thon

Sgt at Arms: 

President Chandra:  We used this meeting for a Speech-a-thon, as there were 6 speeches.  We also needed to sub roles, as 12 members showed up despite the snow and poor weather.

Toastmaster:  Uta very capably allowed the meeting to carry on as if all was planned.

Table Topics:  Ian allowed members to speak about their enjoyment of the “cold”—quite appropriate for those of us who ventured into the night under these winter weather conditions.

Speaker 1:  Joe—Storytelling #1 The Folktale; 7-9 minutes.  “Gold Tree and Silver Tree”

Joe shared an old Celtic Folk Tale passed down by oral tradition.  He entertained us by speaking without notes.  He captivated our attention by creating quite a gory scenario, as typical of many ancient stories.  The best part was the triumph of good over evil despite what appeared to be a lost cause.

               

Speaker 2:  Tom P. Interpretive Poetry, 6-8 minutes; “The Mad Gardner’s Song”

Tom spoke about Lewis Carroll and his Life, as well as about his Poem.  Carroll was a Logician, Anglican Deacon, Photographer, and Inventor, as well as an author.  He was known for his ability at word play, logic, and fantasy.  Tom brought out his use of the “rule of three” used in memorable speeches:  ex. Friends, Romans, and Countrymen (Shakespeare); Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (Jefferson); The Few, The Proud, The Marines (USMC).  Toastmasters also encourages the use of 3 main points in speeches.

The poem allowed Tom to picture the mad gardener walking around shouting at inanimate objects, and people thinking them to be entirely different things.  His thought-provoking statement was, “Some days I feel like the Mad Gardener myself”. 

Speaker #3: Jay—CC  #7–“Get to the Point”; 5-7 minutes; “Gun Violence”

                Jay spoke about the human, media, and gun control aspect of gun violence.  He spoke about military strength.  He about how the media promotes violence, with video games, Hollywood, and high tech TV shows inciting watchers to take action.  His plea:  Take action now—allow your children to have real life experiences so they know that the real world is not all violence, media, and Hollywood.

Speaker #4:  Rich—CC—“Research Your Topic”; 5-7 minutes; “Stents, A Small Medical Marvel”

                Rich relayed interesting information about how stents saved the life of a friend with 4 blockages. 

Previously, this person had no time or ability to exercise.  There is technology out there to help people.  Physicians inserted the stents with a balloon, so that the metal stents expand and become part of the artery.  Now, this person makes time to exercise and is able to do so without numbness and leg cramps.

Speaker #5:  Hyunsoo:  CC #3 “Get to the Point”, 5-7 minutes; “Protect Yourself from Flu Epidemic

                Hyunsoo gave a very timely and informative talk on what we can do to protect ourselves from the flu.  There are now 2500 confirmed flu cases in Connecticut, making the epidemic bigger than the previous 2 years.  One is highly contagious, especially 1 day before developing symptoms and 5-7 days after becoming ill.  The Center for Disease Control has 3 guidelines for prevention:

1.        Get the flu vaccine each year:  3 types of flu can be prevented with one shot.  The shot has a 50-70 per cent success rate.  It is not too late to get one at the local drug stores.

2.       Take action to prevent the spread:  Wash hands with soap and water, scrubbing the back, between fingers, and under nails; rinse with running water for 20 seconds (you can sing “Happy Birthday” to make the time go faster”; use tissue for coughing—then dispose of it.

3.       If you think you have fever, cough, sore throat, headache, body ache, and tiredness, anti-viral medicines can help if you take them within 2 days; also, one must eat right and exercise to strengthen the immune system.

Speech #6:  Chandra—Specialty Speeches, Uplift the Spirit, 8-10 minutes, “Look into the Mirror”

                Chandra gave the speech he will deliver at the District Jan Jam.  He reminded us that we are mirrors that reflect what we are.   Our personality, character, and core beliefs change with time.  The important constant in whatever we do is love.  Love is the oil for the engine that runs the planet. We should enjoy life, treasure our experiences (learning from the negative; gaining pleasure from successes), and have fun.    Chandra hit on the reason we come to TM even in the dead of winter.

General Evaluator:  Ian

Evaluator #1:  Elaine for Joe

                Joe’s delivery allowed us to hang on every word, as he attracted our attention by the phrase:  “eating the heart and liver of Gold Tree”.  We realized that violence in stories goes back to ancient times.  However, “good triumphs over evil” and “jealously brings self-destruction” come out as positive themes. 

Evaluator #2:  Joe for Tom P—Tom gave us insight into the author, as well as his poetry.  The rhythm and language of the poem enhanced the delivery.

Evaluator #3:  Chandra for Jay—Jay cleverly did not take a position, but encouraged us to act the way we feel would be most beneficial.  He was well organized, using the rule of three.

Evaluator #4:  Daya for Rich—Daya performed his first evaluation, complimenting Rich for his supportive research and clear purpose.

Evaluator #5:  Ian for Hyunsoo—Ian complimented Hyunsoo for coming across as a well-organized professional, with an effective, conversational delivery.

Evaluator #6:  Rachel for Chandra—Rachel solicited support from the group in agreeing that Chandra encouraged us by very effectively bringing out his main points in story-form.

Ah-Counter:  Ian

Timer:  Rachel

Guest Comments:  Though half the membership did not attend because of weather, those present pulled together an effective meeting.  Our guest gained knowledge, while being entertained and appreciated the value of evaluation.

President’s Remarks:  Everyone spoke, as only 12 were present.  He reminded officers and members to attend the Officer Workshop on Jan. 30. 

Our first Speech-a-Thon of the year

Dear Eagles,
Today we had our first speech-a-thon for the year and we were treated with 6 fabulous speeches covering a wide range of topics. We covered folk tale of Silver tree and Gold Tree, we heard the Mad Gardner Song by Lewis Caroll, we were made to think and take action on Gun Violence, we were provided great details on Stents, we were encouraged to take flu shots to protect ourselves and finally we were asked to Look into the Mirror of our character. That was awesome.

Today, considering the snow and the cold, we had a good turn out of 12 members. We even signed up Susanne as our newest member. Not only that, Susanne has committed to jump right in to give an icebreaker at our next meeting. That is fabulous and please join me in welcoming Susanne.

Today, many of the members could not come due to the weather, due to the not-so-safe driving conditions, due to other personal reasons, but then we showed our improvisation skills, we showed our adaptability, we showed our relentless commitment. Susanne, our guest, even played a cameo Sargent-at-Arms role - special thanks to Susanne and everyone who stepped forward. That is something to be proud of.

Today was one of the meetings where everyone of the member present had a chance to speak, not once, but multiple times. Always there is a brighter side.....another example for "less is more", it just depends on the perspective :). That is always something to aim for (everyone speaking, improving and developing the skills).

Remember the following dates: Jan Jam on 26th, TLI training on Jan 30th and Feb 20th.Please contact me or Rachel (area governor) for details.

Thanks again to all of you for coming and making it into a great and fun meeting. See you all in two weeks on Feb 4th and please sign up for the roles.

Goodnight.

Chandra