April 6th Eagle Toastmasters Meeting

Eagles,

Our April 4^th meeting featured 14 enthusiastic members, including one new member, and three speeches!

First things first…..A warm welcome to Debbie Herget, our newest Eagle Toastmasters. Although we didn’t have an official quote of the day, Debbie summarized our meeting with her quote at the end when she said that our meeting was “very very very cool”.

For those of you wondering what a virtual meeting looks like, please tune into our YouTube channel……

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCfKW3ANHtI4VcdXRXruwfw

What was particularly remarkable was that our meeting started and ended on time….7:00 PM to 8:00 PM. This is a testament to Sandra Centorino who served as our Toastmaster for the evening.

Let’s get to the speakers.

Joseph Oddie was Speaker #1. Tonight was Joseph’s first meeting since coming back to Connecticut on March 1^st entitled “Just for Today”. Joseph shared a story about a parolee he recently worked with and shared three simple words of advice: Sit, Walk, and Reach Out. Joseph’s words of wisdom are particularly useful during our current pandemic. I encourage you to listen to his speech on YouTube.

Ross Grippen, Speaker #2, told us a story of an unsung Revolutionary War Hero Joshua Mersereau. Joshua and his brother, Justin, accomplished many things during their life. Not least of which was providing General George Washington intelligence that saved him and his troops. Perhaps the most interesting fact is that the Mersereaus were Ross’s ancestors.

Last but not least was Speaker #3, Sandra Centorino. Sandra’s speech, I’m not for Everyone, was about the communication style that she learned from a Toastmaster quiz…..something each one of us Pathwayers do early in our Pathways journey. Sandra shared three challenges she learned from the quiz and from her recent diagnosis of having ADHD. She shared some simple solutions that helps her cope with her weaknesses while leveraging her strengths.

Special thanks to our dignitaries without whom our meeting would not be possible….Ian Brooks, General Evaluator and Evaluator. Chris Scoppetta and Joseph Oddie,  Evaluators. Tony Centorino, Ah Counter and Grammarian and Christine Austin, Timer.

Our next meeting is scheduled for April 20^th and will be another virtual experience. The agenda will be up shortly….Please considering signing up for something!

Please embrace Sandra’s challenge to invite one Toastmaster (can be Eagle, can be from another club) to join us on April 20^th!

Tony Centorino

Eagle Toastmasters Secretary