Meeting 1068 - Memories of Sydney Olympics

 Sergeant at Arms Dan once again opened the Meeting, and gave a vote of thanks to the Full Moon Hotel for obliging with the Meeting Room. President Leanne, duly attired in Green and Gold, welcomed Members, then presented J.P. in person with his Membership badge.

Leesa and Leanne

 

JP and Leanne

Toastmaster Leesa set the theme with her Green and Gold outfit, including Gold Medal (borrowed from her Son). She led the Room with an "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oh Oh Oh" and those on Zoom joined in. Leesa asked John T to introduce Guest Peter. Another guest was Philomena, who has attended previous meetings.

The Toast by Liz We. was about being Competitive.

Liz We.

WordMaster JP gave us "Blaze", and this word was used by many throughout the segments all night.

JP

Liz Wo. started the Round Robin with the question - Tell about your most vivid memory of the Opening or Closing Ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. There were many and varied responses, including Jonathon who did not recall one single thing about the event, as he was off trekking in Nepal.

Liz Wo.

Speeches:

Speech 1 by Marlene, entitled "The Water Thief" was evaluated by Carmy.

Marlene

Carmy

Chris H.

Speech 2 by Chris H, entitled "Who doesn't love the Granite Belt" was evaluated by Liz We.

Chris D.

Chris D. provided an update on the times very efficiently.

Table Topics by Gail were all "Olympic Games" themed - Dan told of the Olympic Rings, Trish about the Torch Relay, Paul commented on the Medal Ceremony, Peter gave his theory on the motto "Faster, Higher, Stronger", Leanne told us about the Importance of Participation and JP spoke of the Mascot.

Gail

Dan

Peter

These topics were evaluated by Christiane and Jonathon.

Christiane

Jonathon

The Raffle was provided by Trish, one of her Books, which I am sure is not as blurry to read as the cover, and was won by Leesa.

Trish

Speech 3 by Hazel titled "The Manipulative Strategies and Tactics of Real Estate Agents", was evaluated by Trevor.

Hazel

Trevor

Speech 4 by John T. "Weapons" was evaluated by Paul.

John T.

Listening Quiz was short and sharp by Peter, as time was the enemy.

Leanne presented the Grammarian segment, noting highlights like Weird Wide Web, and areas to improve, noting the correct pronunciation of Granite.

The General Evaluation by Darryl gave a good wrap up of the proceedings, again condensed owing to time limits.

Darryl

Awards:

Best Speech Hazel, Best Evaluator Paul, Best Table Topic Trish, and Most Improved Chris D.

Chris D. and Paul and Leanne

Before closing the Meeting, JP wished to advise that he will be leaving the Club, we wish him well whatever he pursues in the future.

Meeting 1067 - Contests

Unfortunately, the original blog post with details of this meeting  has mysteriously disappeared.

It was a hybrid meeting, thanks to The Full Moon Hotel, who allowed us to conduct the contest in their room, since our new meeting place is currently in lockdown. The contestants attended onsite with the rest of the club attending online. 

Darryl won the Evaluation Contest and John won the Humorous Speech Contest. Here are a few salvaged photos.

Welcome - Covid style

Gokul and J.P.

S.A.A. Dan

V.P.E Gail

President Leanne

Contest Chairman John with winners of Evaluation Contest

Meeting 1066 - Springtime

After an Introduction by Sargeant at Arms Dan, President Leanne welcomed guest Joy and Area Director Kirsty. As this Meeting had to change to a total Zoom format, it was pleasing to see 25 attendees.

Dan

Leanne

Guest Joy

As Toastmaster for the evening Trevor promised a slick packed program and kept everything moving along.

Trevor

Word Master Chris H. gave us the word SALUBRIOUS, with the explanation as "favourable to or promoting well being". More than half the Members used it in correct context and JP even used it in his speech.

Chris H.

Round Robin by Hazel asked "What comes to mind when you hear Springtime". There were some uplifting and inspiring responses.

Hazel

Carmy

Set Speeches - Carmy presented "Communication is the Key" and was evaluated by Leesa.

Leesa

JP presented "The Philosophy of Life" which was evaluated by Jonathon.

Jonathon

Trish's speech was entitled "Are you Listening" and the evaluator was Dan.

Trish

Raffle Master Monica gave us a "virtual" Bonsai Tree with instructions, and the winner was JP.

Monica

As Table Topics Master, Casey was inspired by the Springtime theme and gave topics to Chris D, Liz Wo, Hazel, Leanne, Gail and Darryl (this last one had a twist - "Do you prefer a spring mattress or latex". 

Casey

Chris D

Liz Wo.

Gail

Darryl

The Speakers were evaluated by Paul and Peter.

Paul

Peter

The Business Meeting was chaired by John T, and required an extension of time to finalise important matters and motions.

John T.

Area Director Kirsty in her first official visit, offered support as always and praised our Club's ability to adjust to the current restrictions.

Timer Christiane had a novel way of displaying the timing lights - by changing the colour of her Tshirt to indicate the times. Well done Christiane.

Christiane

Grammarian Liz We. gave a very good wrap up of the word usage, like triplets and alliteration, and reminded everyone to avoid the ums and ahs by using pause.

Christiane

General Evaluator Gokul was comprehensive in his report on the whole evening's agenda. Congratulations for listening so well.

Gokul

Awards: Best Speech, JP, Best Evaluator, Jonathon, Best Table Topic, Leanne, and Most Improved was a tie with Carmy and Dan.

Next Meeting is a Contest night, fingers crossed it will be in a real meeting format. Apologies for missing photos of Toastmasters.

Meeting 1065 - Enid Blyton

After President Leanne opening the Meeting and welcoming guests Eric, Callum, Zakk and visiting Toastmaster Philomena, control was handed to Toastmaster for the evening, Christiane. Joe from India, who is the Area Governor for D98, also joined the Meeting on Zoom.

Peter was called upon for the Toast - to Children's Stories.

Trevor presented the Word - Efficacy - which can be rather hard to pronounce, however it was used several times and the most appropriate user was Christiane.

Round Robin by Jakob asked everyone to describe their favourite book.

Speech 1 - Gail - Evaluated by Liz Wo. It was a Pathways Social Speech, and Gail chose a Eulogy to her Aunt, Ida Betts.

Speech 2 - Jonathon - Evaluated by Liz We. The title was “Leaders - Born or Made”.

The Raffle Master was John, who enticed us with a set of coffee mugs and bottle of wine. The winner was Leanne.

Timer Dan provided accurate records of all speeches and evaluations and kept the meeting running on time.

Table Topics presented by Leesa involved an Enid Blyton story. Speakers were John, Annette, Gokul, Carmy, Philomena, Chris D, Trevor and Jakob.

Table Topics Evaluators Leanne and Darryl gave supportive encouragement to all participants.

Annette provided feedback in her role as Grammarian. She particularly commented on the number of ums.

Marlene provided the General Evaluation, commenting that the sound did prove difficult for the Zoom participants, however it is all a learning curve.

Awards:

Best Speech - Jonathon. Best Evaluation - Leanne. Best Table Topic - Philomena. Most Improved - Jakob.