Our first meeting for the year was held on Australia Day. so of course the theme was "Australia Day."
Although it was a public holiday, 15 members turned up, several looking sunburned after a day at the beach. We also had 2 guests, Kate and June.
Our usual meeting room was not available, so we held our meeting upstairs in the boardroom, which was only just large enough to accommodate everyone. It was a hot night, but a lovely sea breeze coming in through the outside doors kept us cool.
Robert presented an amusing speech, titled "How to be Brisbane's Best Racing Commentator," in which he wove a fanciful story about some of our members. No one really believed that he calls races - or that I have ridden a race horse!
Trish delivered a powerful talk on "The Forgotten Element," about keeping a balance between giving speeches and taking on Toastmaster roles and responsibilities.
I am working on the Interpretive Reading Manual, so I read the poem "The Man from Snowy River."
I learned an unexpected lesson. Because it was breezy, I put the pages I had to read from into the plastic sleeves of my folder so they wouldn't blow away. I hadn't got far into the poem, when I realised the light overhead was shining on the plastic & I couldn't read the words. So I took out the pages and had to hold on to them in the breeze. At one stage, I let go and one of them blew onto the floor. In future, I will make sure my speech is clipped or pasted onto firm cardboard or something.
One of our guests, Kate won the raffle, supplied by Dave. It was a beautiful bag that Dave's wife Sandy had made. Michael won the second prize, a book.
Don't forget, Metro Division Training Day is next Saturday, 6th February at Spring Hill or Monday 8th February at Chermside.
