August 7th Meeting

Hi Eagles!

Although our August 7^th meeting was sparsely attended, everyone there stepped up to fill roles and make the evening an enjoyable one.

There were 8 members and 4 guests – two of whom joined as members by the end of the meeting!

Stephen McGirr banged the gavel to start the meeting, and Tony Centorino served as Toastmaster.

Sandra Centorino humored us with a joke about an old married couple – in honor of her and Tony’s recent wedding anniversary. I wonder how many dolls Sandra has crocheted over the years?

Stephen McGirr stepped up to give a quote from Jim Rohn about the significance of self-education.

Tony Centorino - in one of his many roles that night – led Table Topics with a travel theme.  We got to hear how our fellow Toastmasters have set off alarms at customs and security thanks to contraband items such as untreated wood and full water bottles. Kate shared a truly cringe-worthy story of how her suitcase was critically battered by the baggage handling system and had to be delivered to her in a giant trash bag.

Tony Centorino switched hats from Table Topics Master to Toastmaster to Speaker #1 (can you keep up?) and delivered speech #3 from the Competent Communicator Manual: Get to the Point.  Tony spoke about his journey through Toastmasters, from the day he and Sandra discussed it over coffee at Dunkin Donuts, to joining Eagle in June 2014, and progressing as a speaker and a club officer – taking on roles such as Club President, VP of Membership and Secretary. Today Tony is Area Director and he concluded his speech by outlining his goals for mentoring the clubs in our area.

Ute Brinkmann delivered speech #8 from the Competent Communicator Manual: Get Comfortable with Visual Aids.  A Humble Wooden Stick was our opportunity to take a good look at a violin bow. Ute brought enough for everyone! After she handed out the bows, she explained what they are made of – wood from Brazil, horse hair from Mongolia, a “frog” with mother of pearl inlay from Germany. We were surprised to learn that high-quality bows such as the ones Ute had entrusted us to hold were worth $15 - $17,000!

Kate Kelly wrapped up the evening as General Evaluator as well as speech evaluator for Tony. I evaluated Ute’s speech.

Other functionaries were Stephen McGirr: Ah-Counter, Fred Swiderski: Grammarian, and guest-turned-member Nilani Shankar, who stepped up and took on her first role as timer

Our next meeting is August 21^st, which is just around the corner! Sign up for a role today to help make it another successful night.

See you then!

Heather McKelvie

Eagle Secretary