Meeting 1076 - Books

 The Meeting was opened by acting Sargent-at-Arms Chris H. and control was handed to President Leanne.

Leanne

Toastmaster Trish then welcomed all Members and guest Josh.

Trish

The Wordmaster Hazel gave a thorough explanation of the word "Narrative" and its derivatives for use throughout the Meeting. Liz We. was a champion in this task.

Hazel

A Toast to "A Passion for Books" was presented by Liz Wo.

Liz 

Gail introduced the Round Robin with the theme "Name a Book that changed your Life".

Gail then presented her set Speech from Pathways for - Present a Proposal. She was introduced by Evaluator Monica, and the title was "Own your Path".

Gail

Monica

Speech 2 was by John T. from Pathways with the objective - to Connect with your Audience. He was introduced by Evaluator Chris H. with the speech entitled "Shopping Strive with my Wife".

John T.

Chris H.

Timer Liz We. on Zoom did an excellent job of providing Speech times.

Liz We.

An Educational on Evaluations followed presented by Jonathon. Even though this was via Zoom, he had thoughtfully provided hand-outs to the physical Meeting to assist. 

Jonathon

The Raffle was presented by Marlene, naturally it was a collection of books, together with Chocolates to enjoy whilst reading! The winner was Gokul.

Marlene

Supper was delicious healthy food provided by Hazel. 

Table Topics were delivered by Gokul, who chose topics which were related to books and were very effective for impromptu speaking.  Liz We. - Talk about a childhood book you loved, Marlene - Which character in a book would you become, Hazel - Don't judge a book by its cover, Chris D - If I wrote a book, Chris H - If you were left on an island which book would you take, and guest Josh also participated with the topic "This is my favourite book". Congratulations on stepping up to take your first role.

Gokul

Josh

The Table Topics were evaluated by Darryl and Marlene.

Darryl

An extremely brisk Business Meeting followed, chaired by John T. Such efficiency was well received as the Meeting was running behind time.

Leanne then outlined her role on the Executive and urged Members to consider taking on the President role from July this year.

Grammarian Chris D gave inciteful information about use of words and phrases for all Members to consider at future Meetings.

Chris D.

Trevor gave a most informative General Evaluation, filled with humour and valuable feedback.

Trevor

Awards:

Best Speech, John T, Best Evaluator, Darryl, Best Table Topic, Chris H, and Most Improved Chris D.

Chris D, John T, Chris H, Darryl

Meeting 1075 - Australia Day

Welcome to the 2021 Toastmasters Year.

President Leanne welcomed Members and guest Alvaro to our hybrid Meeting, and promised us a year of fun.

Leanne

Gail

 After program changes were announced by Gail, Toastmaster Hazel (in this role for the first time) took control. During the night Hazel provided interesting facts about the origins of Australia Day and also about the First Fleet's arrival on our shores.

Hazel

Darryl proposed the Toast - to Great Leadership - and cited both Amanda Gorman and Grace Tame as true leaders in their field.

Darryl

The Round Robin was lead by Christiane and the topic was "What was your Best Australia Day".

Christiane

First Speech was delivered by Trevor, with the title "We Don't Know Vaccine". The speech was evaluated by Peter.

Trevor

Peter

The first set of Table Topics were by Leanne, who had a mystery bag of items. As a Member's name was drawn, she selected an item from the bag for their topic. 

Leanne

The participants were - Christiane, a toilet role; Trish, slippers; Darryl, a BBQ Mate; Liz We, Vegemite; Peter, a teddy bear; and Liz Wo, a pair of thongs.

During the break a delicious Australia Day themed supper was provided by Leanne.

Timer Jonathon worked tirelessly via Zoom to provide Members with timing reports.

Jonathon

Second set speech was presented by Trish, entitled "Terra Australis", giving the very early origins of this continent we call Australia. The speech was evaluated by Gokul.

Trish

Gokul

The second set of Table Topics were presented by Liz Wo. 

Participants were Marlene (The Lucky Country), Trevor (The Black Stump), Jonathon (What item should the First Fleet have brought) and Hazel (describe your favourite Australian Food).

Liz Wo.

 General Evaluation was presented by Marlene with helpful suggestions for future meetings.

Marlene

Grammarian Liz We. gave valid comments on the effectivness of good word usage, repetition and the power of three. She gave examples of these to reinforce her message.

Liz We.

Awards: Best Speech, Trish; Best Evaluator, Gokul; Best Table Topic, Jonathon; and Most Improved award to Hazel.

Hazel, Trish and Gokul

Meeting 1074 - It's Christmas

 It was like old times with a Meeting at the Full Moon Hotel. The room glowed with Christmas decorations to get us in the spirit, and some Members dressed up for the occasion.

Peter and Trish 

Sergeant-at-Arms Dan opened the Meeting with a tried and true Christmas joke.

Dan

Gail advised of program changes.

Gail

President Leanne welcomed Members and handed control to Toastmaster Chris H.

Chris H.

The Toast to "All Families and Christmas" was presented by Carmy.

Carmy

John T introduced the Round Robin which was themed "What are you looking forward to in the New Year".

A delicious Dinner was then served, followed by dessert.

Leanne conducted the Table Topics session. This was followed by the favourite part of the Meeting - Secret Santa Game by Marlene. Much "swapping" of presents was all done in good spirit.

Gokul

John T.

Paul

Annette

A Christmas Quiz was presented by Hazel and included a power point Question and Answer format. John T took out first prize, and after a play off the second prize went to Trish and Gail won third prize.

Hazel

The Raffle of hampers by Leesa and Monica saw winners Carmy, Paul and Hazel take home the goodies.

Santa's elfs Monica and Leesa

The highlight of the evening would have to be Leanne wishing us all the best for the Season with her musical rendition of "I'm dreaming of a Bright New Year". Brilliant!

Leanne

A reminder that the first Meeting for 2021 (a hybrid) will be at the Brighton Wellness Hub on Tuesday 26 January (yes, Australia Day).