Christmas Break Up

Our last meeting for the year was a Christmas Break Up Dinner.  It was a great night, with plenty of  fun table topics, a Secret Santa Swap, Celebrity Antlers and good food.  I'll let the photos tell the story.
Click on the photos for a larger size.

Merry Christmas to all. 
We will be in recess until the 22nd January. 

Register for Club Officer Training

Toastmasters conducts Club Officer Training Days twice a year. These are a must for any of the Club Executive Officers, but they are also open to any members who are interested. You will find it helpful if you are thinking of taking on an executive role in the future. As well as sessions on Club Officer roles, there will be other sessions that will interest any Toastmaster.

The main Training Day will be held on Saturday, 9th February, from 8.15 am to 3.30 pm in the New Education Centre, Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside.

If more convenient you can attending an Club Officer Training evening on Tuesday 12th February, at the Telstra Building in the city.  5pm - 9pm. (No extra sessions at this venue.)

Our club usually pays for members who attend but we need to know who is going so Nicole can make a group booking. It will be cheaper if we can book early.

Meeting 890 "Summertime"

35 years in Toastmasters!

Ranjeet & Denise congratulate Annette

Metropolitan Division Governor, Ranjeet and Area Governor Denise attended our meeting and presented Annette with her 35 year badge - and a bottle of wine to celebrate.

Other guests were Natasha, who is visiting from Canada, and Peter.

Rhys was Toastmaster and he kept us entertained during the evening with some interesting facts about summer, some tips for keeping cool and even some jokes.

June's Table Topics were very creative. She asked Annette to make up a story from some selected words on a card. Robert was asked to speak about a summer thunder storm, Maureen was given a picture to make a story from and Dave had to speak about a summertime activity.

Table Topics Evaluator John S, commended all speakers and suggested that they all could have been improved with more animation. John also mentioned that it is a long time since he received a table topic. (Future Table Topic Masters, please note - and don't make them too easy!)

Jennine's speech, which was her 5th project from the CC manual, was "Three Quotes for Life."  The quotes she spoke of were "Be Where You Are,"  "Kill Them with Kindness," and "Don't Regret the Things You Have Done, but Those You Did Not Do." which she wove into an inspiring speech.

Spellbound audience

Ralph presented his Icebreaker speech, titled "My Place in the Sun." He told a little of the history of his homeland, The Philippines, his personal life journey and how he came to Australia and found his own "Place in the Sun." It was a very moving speech and Ralph received a standing ovation.




Nicole's speech (her 6th) was "A Tablet for Everyone," which was not about a panacea for all, but a fascinating speech about the iPad.

 Evaluators Liz, Dave and Amanda gave some encouraging comments. Amanda is new at evaluating, but she gave a very well constructed evaluation, with commendations, a point for improvement and a summary.

The time keeper (me) was engrossed in the speeches and forgot to check the time.
Luckily, Leesa arrived during the supper break and took over the timing for the rest of the meeting.

Rhys & Robert

Ranjeet & June

The business session proved to be good practice in moving motions and amendments as we decided  on the price limit for the secret Santa gifts at our break up. It will be $10 this year. Everyone is also to bring a grocery item for our Christmas Hamper raffle.

Annette evaluated the business session and commended Jonathon for his perfomance as chairman and for stepping into the role at the last minute.

Raffle Master John T had a treat for us. He had brought along 6 books that he had read but were still in pristine condition. The lucky winners were June, Amanda, Robert, Annette, Marlene & Ralph.

General Evaluator Del had some encouraging comments for all.

Awards for the evening went to Jennine (Best Speech,) Ralph (Personal Best,) Liz (Best Evaluator,) Maureen & Dave (Best Table Topic, tie,) and Rhys (Best Contribution.

This was the final regular meeting for 2012. Remember, if you are coming to our Break Up Dinner on the 11th, you will need to pay by Monday 3rd December.