Eagle Toastmasters June 15 2020 Meeting

Eagles,

Our June 15^th meeting included 14 members and 1 guest. Tom Corrigan, Eagle Toastmaster’s most seasoned member made his debut as the virtual Toastmaster. After a brief roll call and acknowledgment of John Bates, a Cheshire Toastmaster who was technically a guest, we dived (or is that dove) into the meeting.

Speaker number 1 was Alexis Kozmon, with her Icebreaker speech. Alexis told us that she joined Toastmasters to gain skills that will help her give presentations to audiences and her leadership at Bridgeport Hospital. Alexis shared her anxiety about public speaking….Her Icebreaker was an auspicious beginning to her Toastmaster journey! We also learned that she has 2,385 days until retirement (I think it’s 2380 now).

Christine Austin, Speaker #2, who is working on her Motivational Strategy Path, gave a speech about “The COVID Coaster”. Her project was about understanding her emotional intelligence. She shared observations about how being cooped up at home 24X7 has been affecting her. To accomplish this project, Christine journaled her feelings and observations.

Chan Myae Kyi was our Table Topic Master. Chan encouraged our members to speak out on such hard hitting issues as “what 3 wishes would you make of your genie” (Michelle Madeaux) and “what will the world be like in 2030” (John Bates). Diana Grippen shared a story about her favorite book and Sandra Centorino talked about what would be her favorite day. (This day involved your Eagle Toastmaster Secretary doing dishes….so I can assure you, that would not be my favorite day). Debbie Herget offered a movie recommendation as a non sequitur (Miss Congeniality). Debbie…I know you did more than that but my notes are unreadable.

Speaking of books and non sequiturs….Fellow Eagle, B.W. “Brad” Leete, just published a book about his experience of not speaking for 30 days. The title is “30 Days of Silence”. Brad ended his silence at an Eagle Toastmaster meeting last year.  It is available on Amazon……spoiler alert…he speaks at the end. (or not…I haven’t read it yet.)

Thanks to all of the dignitaries not mentioned above that made our meeting another fun night in. Robin Corrigan, General Evaluator….Speech Evaluators Tony Centorino and Sandra Centorino. Grammarian Ross Grippen and Ah Counter, Markus Schumacher. Last but not least….Maryanne Shirshac our Timer.

As for “dived” versus “dove” either word is acceptable…..both are used in American and British English…”dove” tends to be used more in America. (Ian Brooks, what say you on this subject?)

Our next meeting is scheduled for July 6^th. The agenda for the next 4 meetings are up on www.Eagletoastmasters.com. Please sign up for a role!

Tony Centorino

Eagle Toastmaster Secretary

Eagle Toastmasters June 1, 2020 Meeting

Eagles,

Tonight's meeting featured 15 members, 2 speeches, and many Table Topic speakers. We also got a glimpse into what our new Toastmaster year will be looking like.

Ian Brooks served as our Toastmaster and got the ball rolling by introducing Deep Tawari as Speaker #1. Deep's speech was a follow on to his Ice Breaker from our last meeting where he shared his sense of curiosity with the club.

Kat Calhoun, Speaker #2, gave a speech about Reading to Learn. Kat spoke about the academic experiences and triumphs of children in grade school. 

Sandra Centorino, our Table Topics Master, exhorted our members to give reviews of the most random things. In case you were wondering....Danette Fitzgerald gave Heaven a thumbs down, Robin Corrigan gave Tullamore Dew Whiskey 5 cups, Ann McGuire gave the porta potty a -10. Ross, Alexis, and Jaime shared their insights on the steam room, Whole Foods, and Zumba respectively.

Special thanks to the dignitaries not mentioned above that ensured a fulfilling meeting....Yours Truly as General Evaluator and Grammarian, Diana Grippen and Christine Austin as Evaluators. Tom Corrigan as Ah Counter...and Robin Corrigan as Timer.

President Christine announced our new slate of officers for next year, once again highlighting Eagle's deep bench of dedicated and capable members. Drum roll please.....

President - Christine Austin

VP Education - Ute Brinkmann

VP Membership - Chan Kyi

VP Public Relations - Ann McGuire

Sergeant at Arms - Deep Tawari

Secretary - Ian Brooks

Treasurer - MaryAnne Shirshac

Congratulations to all of our new officers....Deep and Chan are "officer newbies" with Christine and Ann heading into their first full year in the officer ranks. We are blessed to have Ute and Ian, a couple of very experienced officers, as part of the team!

Our next meeting will take place on June 15th as a virtual meeting. An agenda for us to sign up will be put up shortly.

Finally....for those of you who interested in participating in an early morning bilingual experience, where you'll find Ahs and Ums to be the universal language of filler words, please consider attending the Bi Lingual Toastmasters meeting. Please reach out to Kat Calhoun (Kat_Calhoun@yahoo.com) for the details!

Tony Centorino

Eagle Toastmasters Secretary