August 21st Meeting

Hi Eagles!

I arrived at our August 21^st meeting expecting another small group. Boy was I wrong! We ended up with a total of 22 people – 8 of whom were guests.

Jaime Fisher was back to bang the gavel and begin the night. I (Heather McKelvie) served as Toastmaster.

As Humorist, Tom Piekarski told a risqué joke about a nun giving two priests an eyeful while on vacation.

Paula Erardi gave a quote from Frederick Lewis Donaldson about the seven social sins.

Following in Tony’s footsteps from last week, I also served as Topicsmaster. I brought in a grab bag of items and asked people to come up, randomly choose an item and then speak about it for 2 minutes. Sandra and Steve both found sunglasses and talked about their experiences with the solar eclipse. Jaime, inspired by a stuffed giraffe, told us about her struggles as a minimalist parent with children who hoard stuffed animals. Chris found a “clock man” in the bag and spoke about how it was a super hero action figure. He convinced us that it was a valuable collector’s item. One of the guests, Sarah, gave it a whirl and impressed us with her thoughts about pearls.

Then it was time for the main event – the speeches!

T Poirer gave the first of the three icebreaker speeches of the evening. She spoke about her nervousness and shared a poem she wrote about the nervousness and fear. As Sandra would later emphasize, T took the energy from her fear and turned it into courage!

Nilani Shankar’s icebreaker was inspired by the Jim Rohn quote from the previous meeting. She spoke briefly about her 22 years of formal education and then dove into her self-education. She discovered that self-hypnosis could help her memorize 25 pages of piano music, and has gone on to study how hypnosis can be used to help others.

In her icebreaker, Anne Lee started off by telling us how her family moved from Korea to Bangkok, where she learned English in an American school, only really taking it seriously once the math problems became word problems and she had to rely on probability to get the answers right. Anne came to the US for high school and college. She wanted a practical career, so she became a doctor and practiced radiology for 20 years. She then tried her hand at house-flipping, developed interested in real estate and became a broker! She says that when you want something in life, opportunities will come to you, and that America really is the best place to make that happen.

Amy Demas then gave a speech from the Advanced Manual – Special Occasion Speeches, Speaking in Praise, called “Thank you, Light” Amy praised light for three of it’s greatest characteristics – Radiance, Energy & Momentum and Guidance.  She concluded by reminding us that we can empower and motivate, just like the sun. 

Jaime Fisher wrapped up the evening as General Evaluator. Speech evaluators were Sandra Centorino, Amy Demas, Steve McGirr and Jaime Fisher.

Other functionaries were Paula Erardi: Ah-Counter, Nilani Shankar: Grammarian, and Richard Freeman: Timer.

Our next meeting is September 11^th. Ute suggested that the theme for the evening be National Day of Remembrance.

See you then!

Heather McKelvie

Eagle Secretary

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

July 17th Meeting

Hi Eagles!

Last night was another great meeting. There were 14 members and 5 guests – one of whom became a member by the end of the evening. Please join me in welcoming Kimberly Lewis as our newest Eagle!

Jaime Fisher took on the role of Toastmaster and made the job look easy. She’s a natural and not once became nonplussed by the responsibility.

Fred Swiderski was the humorist, and amused us with a joke about aquatic predators. Maryanne Shirshac shared a quote from her favorite children’s book, The Little Prince.

Sandra Centorino handled the Table Topics portion of the evening and integrated a game called Sparked. Each contestant – er, table topics speaker – spun a wheel to determine their question category and then Sandra chose a relevant question from that category. A lot of people got involved – Maryanne, Amy, Steve, Tony, myself and Jaime all participated.

For the speech portion of the evening, Tony Centorino gave an after-dinner speech, from the Advanced Communication Manual, The Entertaining Speech. Tony told a humorous story about a visit to a movie theater in Vermont where just one employee was running the whole operation. He tied this in to how the Eagle Toastmasters club has pulled through the years - sometimes relying on very few members to take on multiple roles in order to get the job done.  He shared with us the 3 P’s – Product, Process and People. Without our members (people) doing their part (process) we would not have the successful club (product) that we do!

Kate Kelly then revisited the Competent Communicator Manual and gave an Icebreaker speech called Why I don’t have a Tattoo. Kate took us on a journey through significant moments in her life and how she might have marked these memories with tattoos – that is, if she wasn’t afraid of needles and the permanency of tattoos.

The third and final speech of the night was given by me - Heather McKelvie. It was from the Advanced Communication Manual, Storytelling. Go Fly a Kite was the story of my childhood kite-flying experience gone wrong. My hubris lead me to not only lose my brand new kite, but to cause a power outage to the entire neighborhood!

Amy Demas performed as General Evaluator and evaluated Tony’s speech, while Fred Swiderski and Tony Centorino evaluated Kate and Heather. 

Other functionaries tonight were Richard Freeman: Ah-Counter; Stephen McGirr: Grammarian; Chris Gaffney: Timer

Our next meeting is August 7^th. It will be here before you know it! Sign up for a role today to help make it another successful night.

See you then!

Heather McKelvie

Eagle Secretary

July 10th Meeting

Hello Eagles!

Our meeting tonight was well-attended for a summer evening. We had 12 members and two guests – one of whom became a member by the end of the evening. We welcomed Jaime’s friend Theresa as a guest, and Tom and Robin’s friend Lou, who is now our newest Eagle!

Jaime Fisher banged the gavel for the first time as Sergeant at Arms. Ute Brinkmann kicked off the meeting with a Presidential Welcome that included a summary of the TLI training that was held this past Saturday in Hamden. All 7 officers attended, as well as one enigmatic member who also serves as an officer in another club.

Ute mentioned new ideas she will be implementing this year, such as the presidential welcome letter which will be handed out to guests. On the back of this letter is the new member form - to encourage guests to sign up as soon as the spirit moves them.

She also introduced “The 15-Minute Speech Preparation Plan – A 12-Step Worksheet” to serve as a handy guide for generating a speech in a quick and orderly fashion. I intend to give this plan a whirl in planning my next speech.

Fred Swiderski served as our Toastmaster for the evening. He was also the humorist, and had everyone laughing with his clever “walk into a bar” jokes. Sandra Centorino inspired us with a quote from Jay Danzi reminding us that our smile, personality and affect are personal business tools that we carry with us all the time.

As Table Topics Master, Paula Erardi had some thought-provoking questions on the theme of time. Tom P., Lou, Sandra and Theresa all gave interesting and timely responses.

Jaime Fisher was the first speaker tonight, which started off with a hilarious Q&A session wherein she demonstrated the dramatic reactions her children have had to simple requests she has made of them. As the audience, we were to try and guess what she had asked of them to elicit such responses.

Ute Brinkmann then gave her speech, “V for Volunteer” where she shared how she bakes cookies every week for the merchant marines, and how she has learned that when you put your heart and soul into something and treat as more than just a task, you will flourish and grow. You get out what you put in.

Kate Kelly was the final speaker for the evening, and she gave a toast (complete with real wine!) to the best Toastmasters club (that’s us!). She gave credit to the outgoing officers who served for the past year, and mentioned the incoming officers. Most important of all are the members themselves – we pick each other up and have made great friendships along the way.

Thank you to the evaluators – some who stepped up at the very last minute! Stephen McGirr was the General evaluator, and speech evaluators Chris Gaffney, Tom Piekarski and Robin Corrigan.

Other functionaries tonight were Tom Corrigan: Ah-Counter, Robin Corrigan: Grammarian, Heather McKelvie: Timer

Last, but not least, some of our new officers made announcements at the end of the meeting. As Sergeant at Arms, Jaime asked that we each take a turn giving her a hand setting up and taking down the Toastmaster swag at each meeting. Stay tuned for more from Jaime on how to sign up for this role.

Paula, VP of Public Relations has big plans for promoting our club through social media. She’s also happy to hear any ideas or suggestions from the club, so don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with her.

Our next meeting is only one week away, on July 17^th. Be sure to log in to the site and sign up for a role.

See you then!

Heather McKelvie

Eagle Secretary

June 19th Year End Meeting

Eagles,

The last meeting of our 2016-17 Toastmaster year took place started at the Parks and Rec and concluded at Joseph Oddie’s home…..Lots to report!

Congratulations to our new officers….and thank you to our outgoing officers!

President Amy Demas opened up the meeting by leading the election process of our new officers.

	Incoming 2017-18 Officers	Outgoing 2016-17 Officers
President	Ute Brinkmann	Amy Demas
VP Education	Kate Kelly	Tom Piekarski
VP Membership	Ian Brooks	Ian Brooks
VP Public Relations	Paula Erardi	Ute Brinkmann
Treasurer	Meghan Palumbo	Maryanne Shirshac
Secretary	Heather McKelvie	Tony Centorino
Sergeant at Arms	Jaime Fisher	Richard Freeman

Our officers officially begin their term on July 1^st.

Toastmaster Sandra Centorino led an action packed meeting with 20 members and 2 guests. The meeting started with three speakers and ended with Table Topics around the faux camp fire at the Oddie residence, surrounded by the small of oven baked smores! Let’s get to it…..

Steve McGirr, was our first Speaker, giving a speech about his views of friendship…..a memorable and apt speech given our meeting celebrated the old and new friendships we’ve all made at Eagle.

Maryanne Shirshac followed with her speech about the importance, and challenge, of getting a good night’s sleep……During a break, several people approached Maryanne sharing their thoughts on the subject…..This is one of the many reasons Toastmaster meetings are so enjoyable.

Tom Corrigan, Speaker number 3, gave a speech about how he has “given up” in his gardening pursuit fed the critters! Tom had expostulated the local wildlife from helping themselves to his garden, but it was a losing battle.

Thank you to all of our evaluators: General Evaluator, Tony Centorino, Speech Evaluators Robin Corrigan, Steve McGirr, and Kate Kelly.

….and Thank you to our Technicians…..Grammarian Jaime Fisher, Timer Richard Freeman, and Ah Counter Kate Kelly.

Table Topic Master, Steve McGirr, led a Fire Side Chat edition of Table Topics at the Oddie residence. Our participants were aided by fellow Eagles and adult beverages!

Thank you, Joseph and Donna Oddie for welcoming us in your home for an evening of friendship and celebration. It was a delight to enjoy each other’s company “off campus”.

Our next meeting will take place on July 10^th, followed by another meeting on July 17^th. Note that we will NOT meet the first Monday of July. There are many agenda items open so please log onto www.EagleToastmasters.com and sign up for something!

Tony Centorino

Eagle Secretary

May 15th Meeting

Eagles,

Last night’s meeting was a full house, attended by 19 committed members and 5 interested guests!

Tom Corrigan stepped in as Toastmaster, leading a meeting that included three Speakers. As Humorist, Tom channeled his inner Mark Twain, sharing numerous humorous observations.

MaryAnne Shrishac’s quote of the day helped us understand the difference between interest and commitment. Jaime Fisher led Table Topics, providing members and guests an opportunity to share their thoughts on vacation spots. Our members and guests showed not one iota of reluctance to share their favorite destinations.

Our first Speaker, Fred Swiderski, gave his Icebreaker…..Fred shared his passion for learning with the club. Fred was followed by Steve McGirr, Speaker #2. Steve gave his second speech, sharing his passion about fitness. Steve explained how he transitioned from his (previously) favorite food groups of candy, meat, and potatoes to his new favorites of fruits and vegetables. He also gave Ian Brooks a run for his money as Grammarian by teaching all of us a new word – “tsunamic”.

Kate Kelly was Speaker #3, giving a speech about Emma “Grandma” Gatewood, who hiked the 1258 mile Appalachian Trail three times! Kate’s speech was based on the book “Grandma Gatewood’s Walk”. For those of you that are looking for speech ideas, think about a book or magazine article you recently read as they are tremendous sources for ideas!

Thanks to all of you that participated, including the functionaries not mentioned above: Stephen McGirr (Timer), Brad Leete (Ah Counter), Robin Corrigan (General Evaluator), Tony Centorino, Heather McKelvie, and Paula Erardi (Evaluators).

Club News

The District 53 Spring Conference takes place this Saturday, May 20^th…….Jaime Fisher will be competing in Table Topics, and Sandra Centorino will be leading an educational session. Please click on the below link for more information.

http://d53.toastmastersdistricts.org/District53Conferences.html

We are heading into the home stretch of our 2016/17 year with two meetings left (June 5^th and 19^th). Following our June 19^th meeting, we will meet for a social gathering (more information to follow). Our last order of club business will be to determine our officers for the upcoming 2017/18 year that begins on July 1^st. These roles are open to anybody that is interested……Ute provided a newsletter that summarizes the roles. If you are interested, please reach out to Amy Demas (abcdemas@gmail.com), or any of the club officers.

See you all on June 5^th!

Tony Centorino

Eagle Secretary 

May 1st Meeting - May Day! May Day!

Eagles,

Our May 1st meeting, with Yours Truly, serving as Toastmaster, featured an Ice Breaker, a Labor Day Lesson, and a History Tour Double Feature!

Fred Swiderski served as our Humorist, telling us a story about where the parrot found the Frenchman. He was followed by Brad Leete, who provided us a quote from the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.....Brad broke the Eagle Toastmaster record for longest memorized quote from a movie!

Ian Brooks served as our Table Topic Master where he called 6 Toastmasters to the lectern. For those of you that could use a "Red Book Project", and did not absquatulate when called up, seek out an Eagle that saw you give your TT for Project 1 credit.

Bernard Bostic gave his Ice Breaker where he offered several life lessons such as "you're either growing or going backwards". Bernard took a big step forward by giving a well organized story of his life, while stumping Ah Counter, Steve McGirr with 0.0 ah's and ums!

Tom Corrigan took us for a tour at the Museum of the American Revolution. bought us lunch, and then gave an after lunch speech where he finished the tour. A vivid way of sharing his love of American history and teaching us a few things!

In between Tom's speeches, Ute Brinkmann, shared a fascinating account of how Labor Day came to be in her speech "Just Another Day".

A word of thanks to the functionaries not mentioned above.....Heather McKelvie (Grammarian), Richard Freeman (Timer), and Kate Kelly (General Evaluator). Our Speech Evaluators included Joseph Oddie, Brad Leete, Fred Swiderski, and Sandra Centorino.

Other News

We are heading into the home stretch of our 2016-17 TM year (it ends on June 30th). Amy Demas led a discussion on what Eagle's officers do and Ute Brinkmann provided descriptions of each role in the news letter. 

If you are interested in increasing your participation in Toastmasters, please consider any of the 7 officer roles. Feel free to reach out Amy (abcdemas@gmail.com) or any of the officers to learn more. 

Note that each year, several officers change so if you are at all interested, please reach out! Also know that the President has a 1 year term limit, so that office is definitely open!

Also....Congratulations to Sandra Centorino. Sandra has been selected to be an educational speaker at the upcoming District 53 Conference in Bloomfield CT on May 20th. Sandra presented a trial run of "Heroes don't look like they used to"......Thanks to the inputs from our club, she is in the process of adapting her speech to a 40 minute version!

Our next meeting is on May 15th, with Joseph Oddie serving as our Toastmaster.....Please sign up for something! 

And bring your Red Book so you can check off another project!

Tony Centorino

Eagle Secretary