March 26 Eagle Toastmaster Virtual Meeting

Quaroutine – A sequence of actions regularly followed during a period of temporary isolation

Eagles,

Last night 13 enthusiastic Eagles combined the routine of having a Toastmaster meeting with the temporary state of isolation!

Sandra Centorino, our Virtual Sergeant at Arms opened up the Zoom link at 6:45 as our members filed in on their computers. The meeting started at 7:04 as a few technologically challenged stragglers “entered the room”.

Sandra introduced our President, Christine Austin, who then introduced Toastmaster, Sandra Centorino!

Kat Calhoun, Speaker #1, gave a speech from the Strategic Relationships path. Kat stood before a red curtain background dressed in stunning garb appropriate for the occasion. She accepted the Ray of Sunshine Award. She accepted her award gracefully….and gratefully. During her speech, she told us to stop and smell the flowers. Apt advice for Eagle’s first Ray of Sunshine recipient!

Speaker #2, Christine Austin, spoke from the Motivational Strategies path on the topic of mentoring. Christine engaged the audience by asking them if they’ve ever had or wanted a mentor. As a self-proclaimed “Go with the Flow Person”, Christine shared how a mentor encouraged her to improve her public speaking confidence by joining Toastmasters in 2018.

While our evaluators were completing their evaluation forms, Sandra Centorino served up Table Topics to everybody in the club. Sandra’s topics included some hard hitting topics such as “water, toilet paper, or chocolate”, “new quaroutines”, and “what do you like about virtual”.

Diana and Ross Grippen tag-teamed their Table Topic, and Danette Fitzgerald regaled us with the exciting moments of her day during these unusual times (dropping off trash in the dumpster and picking up her mail). Danette – if you are getting the same kind of mail Sandra and I get, I hope you are going to the mailbox first so you can promptly deposit it in the dumpster! Thank you to Chan, Markus, Maryanne, and Omar for participating in Table Topics as well!

Thank you to our dignitaries for serving in functional roles not mentioned above….Tony Centorino as General Evaluator and Ah Counter, Ian Brooks and Markus Shumacher as Speech Evaluators, Deep Tawari as Timer (armed with his green paper plate).

A couple of announcements:

Pathways Seminar – Our Pathways Seminar will take place virtually on March 30^th at 7:00 PM. The agenda and meeting links can be found on our Eagle Toastmaster site. I will send you at least one more reminder between now and then.

Dues – Our Dues Due Date has been extended to April 30^th. If you received a personal email from our Treasurer, Maryanne, it is not because she’s asking you to send money to Nigeria so you can get rich quick……Maryanne offers several ways to pay your dues. You can pay old school (by check, like I did) or you can pay online via Venmo. Please work out the arrangements with Maryanne.

Our next meeting will be on the first Monday of April (April 6^th). This will be a Virtual Meeting. An agenda to sign up will be available over the weekend……Please sign up for a role!

Be safe and healthy!

Tony Centorino

Eagle Toastmasters Secretary

Eagle Toastmasters March 2nd Meeting

Eagles,

Our March 2^nd meeting included 20 members, 4 speeches, and many firsts packed in 90 minutes of fun!

Our new Sergeant at Arms, Ann McGuire, banged the gavel at 7:15 sharp. Omar Ghannam, one of our newer members, led us on his maiden voyage as a first time Toastmaster. Omar also reported some good news…..he found his wallet!

As our Humorist, Robin Corrigan taught us a new word…..”intaxification” – the feeling one gets when they receive a tax refund.

Deep Tawani, another one of our newer Eagles gave us his first quote of the day. He was followed by another Eagle’s first….Table Topics. Danette Fitzgerald led a creative Table Topics where our impromptu speakers accepted awards ranging from Dream Profession to the winner of the Mundane. As the Cashier from Aldi’s was not present, Michelle Madeaux accepted the award on her behalf.

Maryanne Shirshac, Speaker #1, gave us an interesting spin on Toastmasters Mentoring. Maryanne taught us that mentors may be hidden in plain sight. In Maryanne’s case, it was her neighbor Judy.

Ian Brooks stepped in as Speaker #2. Ian gave an impromptu speech about how justice was served for a young nursing student.

Erik Krausz, Speaker #3, gave a speech about Routines. Erik is a big fan of personal development books and provided us a unique perspective on the importance and benefits of creating a routine.

Tony Centorino (that’s me) was Speaker #4, giving a demonstration of how to buy a quality dress shirt. Tony’s speech contemplated life’s most critical issues ranging from stitch count, crinkle tests, and well-constructed yokes. As Ann McGuire said during her evaluation….”Who knew?”.

Tony also gave a Pathways moment about how to sign up and claim credit for your Toastmaster meeting role. If you are reading this blog post, then maybe you read the attachment provided with our meeting notes!

General Evaluator, Ian Brooks, ran the second half of the meeting….finishing exactly on time! Our Evaluators included Lauren Bruno, Tom Corrigan, Ian Brooks, and Ann McGuire. Tom Corrigan served as our Grammarian, Sandra Centorino served as our Ah Counter, and Michelle Madeaux as our Timer.

Some Announcements……

Virtual Meeting – Our next Virtual Meeting will take place on Thursday March 26^th from 7:00-8:00 PM…..just show up! If you would like to join us, please click on the following link to register and place a meeting reminder in your calendar. https://calendly.com/sandracentorino/toastmasters-virtual-meeting

Pathways Seminar – On March 30^th at 7:15, we will hold a Pathways Seminar. This event will include speakers, “how to” presentations, and lots of carbs! Our Seminar will take place at the usual Eagle Toastmasters meeting room. Please join us! Please invite Toastmasters from other clubs…..If you know somebody that is considering Toastmasters, invite them too! A perfect occasion to learn along with us!

Our next meeting will be on Monday March 16^th…….We are looking for a Toastmaster among other choice roles. As Omar can attest, if you sign up as our Toastmaster, good things will happen!

Tony Centorino

Eagle Toastmasters Secretary