Meeting 894 "Rain"

Del

Toastmaster Del had chosen the topic "Rain," which was very appropriate because it had rained all week. In spite of the weather, we almost had a full house, and had to add extra tables. (Which made us a bit late starting the meeting.) We also welcomed 8 guests - Ron, Peter, Jim. Nick, Bev, Shane, Christiane, & Joel.

We were thrilled to hear that one of our members is having a baby in August - and another member is going to have a Jack Russell pup at the end of April.

VPE Marlene was happy to report there were no programme changes, as everyone on the programme had turned up.

June proposed a toast to "Rain."

Round Robin Master John S asked us to tell us of an experience we'd had with rain. This resulted in many stories of rain, floods and storms.

Terry

Terry's Table Topics were "Why did Noah take two mosquitoes into the ark." (That's something I had always wondered, but Annette informed us that they slipped in by riding on the elephant's back.)  "At what stage does rain become a pain," (answered by Harry,) and "Why are they called apartments when they are stuck together. (answered by Leesa.)

Liz We

 John T's topics were "How do you spend a rainy day?" "How do you go through life without letting things rain on your parade?" and "Are our weather patterns changing?" These were answered by Liz We, Maureen and John S.

Liz Wo

Amanda

Liz Wo and Amanda evaluated the Table Topics.

Harry

Harry presented his 7th speech, "Clever Corvus," He gave us some fascinating information about crows, how they like to have fun, the way they use tools and how they can be trained.

Marlene and Robert shared the role of evaluator for Harry's speech.

Nicole

Maureen

Nicole also presented her 7th speech, which was about "Childhood Heart Disease." Nicole's little boy has recently had heart surgery, so she was familiar with the topic.

Nicole's speech was evaluated by Maureen. This was Maureen's first evaluation and she was a credit to her mentor Sharyn.

Annette presented an inspiring speech about volunteering. It was the 10th project in the Competent Communicator Manual.
It was evaluated by Leesa.

Annette

Leesa

Inspired Audience

June

June's raffle was a book to curl up with on a rainy day and an umbrella.

 It was won by one of our guests, Bev. 

John S read a poem that he had written. (John has recently had a cochlear implant.)

"HEARING

Like darkness slowly descending

The creeping loss of hearing extending

To the point of silently pretending

All words and conversations comprehending.

With assessments made and cochlear impending

Can we hope for complete understanding?

John S

With cochlear correctly implanted

We approach switch on day still tormented.

But under Karen’s guidance all questions answered

Overcoming the need for words repeated 

Six months on we remain elated

Professor Clarke you must be congratulated."

Liz Wo revealed herself as the Mystery Toastmaster. 

Time keepers Jennine and Inge advised that we were running late, so Rhys and Monica generously offered to forego their short segments. 

Dave gave  encouragement and suggestions in his General Evaluation.

Dave

The evening's awards went to Harry (Best Speech,) Liz Wo (Best Evaluation,) Amanda (Personal Best,) Del (Best Contribution,) and Annette (Best Table Topic.)

Award winners

Don't forget, if you are attending the Metro Division Conference, You will need to send your payment to Nicole as soon as possible.

And Semi Annual fees will need to be paid either next meeting or the meeting after.