Meeting 1146 "Eye of the Tiger"

Put on the spotlight: What we connect with "Eye of the Tiger" might be different for all of us, but Toastmaster Elizabeth chose the theme because it reminded her of having courage and grit to achieve anything if you set your mind to it.

The word "Adversity" was also brought in as reflection of the song.

Sergeant at Arms Helen called the meeting to order, welcomed our returning guests Tracey and George as well as Area Director Suzanne. She also read us the mission statement.

Gail Horne opened the meeting by reminding us of the upcoming events as well as congratulating our executive for attending the Club Officer Meeting. Having 5 executives attend, meant that we have received another point towards our Distinguished Club Program and saw us achieving six out of ten points.

Toastmaster Elizabeth started her segment with music playing - yes, "Eye of the Tiger" -  and also had some boxing moves ready for us.

Vice President of Education Liz gave us the programme changes.

Carmy had two consecutive roles: First, she toasted to "All Toastmasters over the world" because those display courage and grit. Secondly, she also gave us the word of the evening "focus" - to be used as noun or verb.

Liz gave us all a chance to aim our attention towards "focus" when she asked us to share "How determined are you?"

Peter started by sharing that he is resolutely working towards retirement.

Other members mentioned getting their life affairs in order (including super and weight loss), needing a report card to motivate them (if people tell you you can't, just do it!) and spoken in general about personal development.

You might call it stubborn or single-minded, but there was even mention of aligning grand-babies in the same way as your own babies - for a collage. (Good luck we say!)

 

 

The prepared speeches were next:

1.  Shaun's target with his speech "Feeding the Monster" (Visionary Communication, Level 1, project 3: Introduction to Vocal Variety and Body Language) was for us to consider what our hobbies and addictions might cost us. Since he brought a multitude of examples and props for those, see if you can see yourself in some of them. Arun evaluated Shaun's speech.

2. In her speech "Theresa killed the radio" (Persuasive Influence, Level 3, project 1: Understanding Conflict Resolution), Christiane concentrated to share how she is growing in personal conflict situations. It was evaluated by Helen who suggested to have a stronger call-to-action.

It was time for Liz to give us an update on the Pathways development: Toastmasters International will reduce the different paths to six (the most popular ones). Their focal point is easy access, so they are trying to make Basecamp (the website for us accessing Pathways) mobile friendly as well as possible to share straight to social media.

Watch this space: The launch is expected to be in 2024.

Since we hadn't seen enough of Liz yet, her next segment was the raffle, where she sold us on garden items and a bottle of wine to relax after the yard activities.

Timekeeper Peter kept the meeting running smoothly and reported that we were running ahead of time for the first half.

This allowed for a longer break: We were able to buy raffle tickets, sample the treats which Rosie and Christiane had provided, inquire about membership, catch up and yes, pose for the camera person.

 

The second half started off with Table Topics. Table Topic Master Narelle called on:

1. Paul with "Is the 'Eye of the Tiger' a good song to bang out in the car? Why or why not?" - It's an oldie, but a goldie and has great lyrics.
   
2. Rosie with "Have you ever injured your eye?" - Yes, if you count laser surgery.
   
3. Marlene with "What's the best eye colour?" - First was jealous of brave cousins brown eyes, then met "somebody" (special) with blue eyes; nowadays it is her cats' green eyes.
   
4. Arun with "Tigers, love them or hate them?" - LOVE, if they are in a cage or seen on a safari (i.e. he is not in danger)
   
5. Trish with "When have you been described as a 'Tiger'"? - Her husband has seen her transformation from pussy cat to tiger (but still prefers unicorns).
   
6. Tracey with "What's your favourite big cat (lions, tigers, cheetahs, pumas)?" - Tiger since she used to have a small cat with similar patterns.
   
7. Carmy with "Is overcoming adversity important?" - YES, every little step is: leaving the house, attending Toastmaster meetings regularly...
   
8. Suzanne with "Is overcoming adversity in reality TV shows too commercialised?" - YES, only other real people in your life help you overcome adversity. Her 5-year-old granddaughter is an inspiring example to her.
   

The Table Topics were evaluated by Gail W and Gail H - it was going to happen that both Gails got subsequent and similar tasks. We just had to focus, focus, focus...

While Helen collected the votes, Toastmaster Elizabeth called for jokes. Both George and Shaun rose to the occasion.

Even though it had been a while that Sandgate Toastmasters had a business meeting, Paul chaired the business meeting expertly through four motions.

Carmy congratulated all attendants of concentrating through the evening to use "focus" at least once. Helen became runner-up to Trish's 22 times.

It was on Trish to give us the general evaluation, in which she gave us excellent feedback: 

• Helen's calling to attention and her use of a strong voice has everybody paying attention

• For evaluations:

• Don't take pens to the lectern

• Don't introduce new points in the conclusion

• When trying to be persuasive, be really careful of the words used ("I suppose" supposingly doesn't cut it)

• Trish explained the significance of the gavel in the business meeting: it shows who is in control of the meeting

Liz asked guest George to draw the raffle and Helen could take the gardening items home.

Peter's final timers report showed we were running overtime, so Gail's closing was short and sweet. She asked our guests for feedback and both decided to join us as members.

The awards went to:

• Most Improved - Carmy

• Best Table Topic - Trish

• Best Speech - Shaun

• Best Evaluation - Helen

After the meeting was finished, hard work was made light by many hands: Sandgate Toastmasters and (last time) guests were bringing the RSL Club back to order.

Our next meeting is on March 12.

Meeting 1145 "Expectations"

"The secret to happiness is having low expectations." (Warren Buffett) was the first quote our Toastmaster gave us.

We knew we could anticipate for a great meeting since we had a great bunch of members lined up.

Before the official start of the meeting, photographer Bruce had been efficiently organised by John to take an amazeballs group photo for the Sandgate Guide.

Stunning Sergeant at Arms Helen called the meeting to order and read us the mission statement.

Phenomenal President Gail H opened the meeting and welcomed our returning guests Amy, Russell, Tracey and George.

Gail H presented Elizabeth with her membership badge. She also shared some news events including:

• Our Vice President Education was returning from England and will be present at our next meeting
• Club Officer Training this coming Saturday February 17
• Moreton District Conference on March 10 (Suzanne was looking for grid volunteers as well as garden raffle prizes - John offered his unbelievable weeds)
• 50th anniversary dinner invitation for April 30
• District Conference on the first weekend in May

Gail H then announced a few program changes.

Tremendous Toastmaster Gail W gave us three examples of expectations: party, last ever date and "Wait till your father gets home". (notice her expression!)

She called on prodigious Peter to give us the toast for the evening which went to "Realistic Expectations" after he spoke about some personal experiences.

With Shaun as the wonderful Word Master, we could envisage a challenging word, but wouldn't have dreamed about "amazeballs". Such a positive word encouraged us all to make the meeting tots amazeballs.

Members and guests had the perfect opportunity during Round Robin to use the word of the evening when Round Robin Master Chris asked us to share "our amazeballs expectations for 2024". 

As timer, he was in a great position to keep this segment flowing fabulously.

Answers ranged from 

• Jonathon sharing about his understandable happiness of his daughter changing TAFE course
• travelling more (including Japan and South America trip)
• seeing family more
• four people mentioning seeing their fascinating house reno (and a shed fits in there too) finally coming to its finish
• finishing university thesis
• less doctor appointments
• birthday parties
• running experience
• awesome Valentines Day tomorrow
• changes (?) in politics
• Shaun finishing the round with his startling plan to going back to uni (and resigning from his job for some time off).

It was time for the remarkable speeches to be presented:

1. Elizabeth gave her Icebreaker speech "Great Expectations" (Persuasive Influence path, Level 1, project 1) in which she encouraged all of us to celebrate micro achievements every day and being grateful. Evaluator Paul had forecasted a marvelous speech and wasn't disappointed. He reminded us though to get straight into our speech without preamble.
2. Trish' speech titled "Are you wandering into the wilderness?" was of educational nature encouraging us to always have a call to action regardless if our speech is to inspire, inform or instruct. It was evaluated briefly by Jonathon during the general evaluation at the end of the meeting.
3. Narelle defined mentor and mentee as well as how a Toastmaster mentor is appointed in her speech aptly titled "Mentors" (Presentation Mastery path, Level 2, project 3). The speech was evaluated by Trevor who was dumb-founded on Narelle's improvement in presenting starting off with questions to get the audience engagement from the start, but also with such a clear structured speech.
4. Christiane finished her series of her job experience with "The Countdown" reliving the last 17 hours in the office. Her compelling evaluator Gail gave a word of caution not to overdo the humour/ voices in a more serious speech, but provided a long list of strong points.
   

Stunning Timer Chris was able to give a proficient timers report when he was called on to give the various timings and his bell during the Round Robin kept this segment running up a deposit in the minute bank.

Spellbinding Raffle Master Narelle sold us all on the idea to provide for our significant other at the upcoming Valentine's Day by supplying a full package: red rose, corny mug, dinner setting (including toothpicks), a packet of more Roses (chocolate) and a variety of alcohol to cover all our likings. She was kept busy in the subsequent supper break selling raffle tickets.

 

The anticipated scrumptious supper was provided by Carmy and Peter and allowed us to sample goodies, bites of conversations and advice.

The second half started with contemplating Table topics presented by ravishing John. He called the following members to speak of the cuff:

1. Carmy with "What are your expectations for 2024 and beyond?" animatedly discussed her survival swimming classes.

2. Shaun with "Valentine's Day: an important occasion for romance or a commercial rip-off?" strongly favoured the rip-off since he is dreading the day, even though he doesn't spent $50 (or more) on presents.
   

3. Trevor with "Is there such a thing as love at first sight?" explained why it could work; however his feelings were never returned.
   

4. Helen with "Has your life turned out the way you expected?" reflected that she hadn't expected it this way, but made it the way it is now for good reasons.
   

5. Jonathon with "What is the most romantic thing you have ever done or experienced?" dived into his kindergarten memories to recount picking a bouquet for his love of his life aka 5-year-old Fiona. Although the flowers were not appreciated, he has since received many romantic moments with his wife.
   

6. Peter with "When didn't the reality match the expectations?" spoke about his trip to an animal shelter in Fiji and how his volunteering involved walking the dogs, but also long hours of standing around.
   

The Table topics were brilliantly evaluated by Marlene and Paul, pointing out that making the audience laugh is the best plan to answer a Table Topic as well as to give lots of examples.

While Sergeant at Arms Helen selected the votes, Gail W gave us some dad jokes as well as some more quotes about expectations.

Word Master Shaun held our attention by revealing that the second place was a very close spot (with Narelle using amazeballs once more than Helen), however it was forecasted that Trish would win hands down (doubling second place).

Jonathon pointed out three highlights to take away: how to frame a successful raffle with a theme, how to pop an evaluation by pointing out the (achieved) purpose of a speech and how brilliantly the little snippets of introductions of the next speaker was delivered by our Toastmaster Gail W.

As speech evaluator, he commended Trish for selecting such a fitting title since it engages with the content from the get-go.

Chris' final dazzling timers report revealed that we were running behind from the Table Topic segment (after all the topics were too good and had members speaking at length).

Enticing Narelle had our guest Tracey pick the winner of the raffle. Trevor can celebrate Valentine's Day in style - although it might be hard with his wife in Thailand.

Delightful President Gail H presented the awards to:

Best Evaluation - Paul

Best Speech - Narelle

Most Improved - Elizabeth

Best Table Topic - Jonathon

In closing, we received very positive feedback since three guests intend to join our club.

It was a great finish to a tots amazeballs meeting.

We are looking forward to more laughter, learning and life lessons on February 27.

Thank you to Marlene and George for helping me with the photos.

Meeting 1144 "Daring Greatly"

It might have been the first meeting for 2024 after six weeks with no meetings, but we came back to a challenge: Toastmaster Jonathon asked us to be "Daring Greatly" and explained on the evening that the theme was selected in honour of Brené Brown who had written the book "Daring Greatly - How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead" reflecting on the famous speech by Roosevelt. Jonathon wanted us to venture out of our comfort zone in 2024 and be bold.

Narelle was our stand-in Sergeant at Arms and not only welcomed us all to the meeting and went through housekeeping, but also read us the mission statement.

President Gail H opened the meeting and was kept busy with a list of tasks: she firstly welcomed the three first-time visitors Amy, Russell and Tracey. She then passed on congratulation wishes from Area Director Suzanne that we have qualified as Distinguished Club (reaching five out of ten goals). Afterwards, she had the privilege to present Will with his badge before reminding us of the upcoming events and conferences. Before handing over, she also gave us the changes as stand-in Vice President of Education.

Jonathon braved the task of a changed program well and called on Marlene to give us the Toast. Marlene reflected on her first visit and how daunting it was, so she toasted to our courageous "First time visitors".

Word Master Narelle followed provoking us to not just use, but also show "vulnerability" since Brené Brown talks about this and shame quite frequently.

Round Robin Master Peter led us into a confronting discussion to the statement "There is nothing good about living in Brisbane during summer." He had many followers agreeing with him (escaping the heat to Dunedin, camping or Melbourne or simply the aircon in the office or car as well as reminding us of the mosquitos); yet a few disagreed and brought up arguments of chilling temperatures in Canada or still doing yard work. The topic was a hot discussion point since all three visitors felt inclined to give their opinion as well.

It was time for the (prepared) speeches:

1. Christiane presented the fifth speech of a six part series on her job experience with a certain company titled "The straw that broke the camel's back". The speech was evaluated by John.

2. Trevor's speech was an impromptu speech with Peter giving him his title literally seconds before he came up to deliver it: "What I would do if I were the prime minister of Australia". This lead to some strong statements and Trevor's mission in life to wake the world up ever since the flu vaccinations. Peter evaluated the speech appraisingly, however, marveled on the word pictures which Trevor drew.

As the Raffle Master, Marlene enticed us with the opening line of "something that you've never seen before." And she was right as we admired a moving safari book. She also included a public speaking book as well as chocolate in the raffle.

Gail W undertook the task of being our time keeper and squared off the changed program by keeping us running smoothly.

In the supper break, we not only bought raffle tickets, but also sampled the goodies provided by Gail H and Narelle. It was also the time to find out more about our visitors as well as catch up on 6 weeks of news.

The second half saw Will as Table Topic Master inviting eight speakers to speak off the cuff.

1. Christiane with "What is a daring decision you've made in your life, and how did it shape your character?" spoke about her move to Australia from Germany.

2. Peter with "Imagine you are facing a fear that holds you back. How would daring greatly in that situation impact your personal growth?" disclosed details about his tandem parachute experience.

3. Marlene with "Share a story of someone you admire who exemplifies the concept of daring greatly. What qualities make them inspiring?" told us about her mother's courage to stand in front of Charlie, the bull to save young Marlene and her relatives.

4. Narelle with "In the spirit of daring greatly, describe a time when you took a calculated risk that led to unexpected positive outcomes." revealed firstly her move to the western suburbs of Sydney (from the country), then her move to the UK for work.

5. Paul H with "How can embracing vulnerability contribute to the success of a daring endeavor, and have you experienced this in your own life?" confronted our excuse of possible failing with the argument that in the long-term we have a learning experience when trying something new.

6. Trevor with "Discuss a situation where daring greatly meant challenging societal norms. What can we learn from such instances?" continued his speech, calling himself a conspiratorial theorist.

7. John with "Share a personal experience of overcoming self-doubt to achieve something you initially thought was beyond your capabilities." displayed susceptibility by explaining about his balance difficulties and how Flinders Peak was a scramble encounter for him.

8. Visitor Amy mustered enough courage to answer "If you could encourage others to embrace daring greatly, what advice or insights would you offer to inspire them?". She summarised her mini-speech by a quote she lives by "You can't expect different outcomes if you always do the same."

The Table Topics were evaluated by Rosie and Carmy.

While Narelle collected the votes, Jonathon was able to share more about his own knowledge of comfort zone and self-growth.

Word Master Narelle reported on the usage of "vulneraibility" and congratulated all to have used the word often, however it was called a tie between Jonathon (having a slight advantage being Toastmaster) and combined efforts of our visitors Amy and Russell.

Paul H conducted the general evaluation and congratulated John for using an attention-grabbing introduction to Christiane's speech. He reminded all evaluators to only repeat speech segments if they demonstrated a point you made beforehand.

 

Raffle Master Marlene asked visitor Tracey to drew the winning ticket - and a very happy Rosie was able to take the safari book and the other treats home.

In closing, Gail H asked our visitors for feedback and then presented awards to:

• Best Evaluator - Rosie

• Most Improved - Will 

• Best Table Topic - John

• Best Speech - Christiane

With January having five weeks, please be reminded, that our next meeting is on February 13.

(P.S.: The photographer apologises that 6 weeks off were long enough to forget to take acceptable photos and will endeavour to improve in the next meeting.)

Meeting 1143 "Happy Holidays"

Oh what fun is to come together for a meal with fellow Toastmasters and their partners. Paul H had kindly organised the venue and invitation.

Chris was Toastmaster of the evening and kept us entertained with his wife's purchase, showing us the alternative, but most of all leading us confidently with a voice as big as the sea through the program.

After Gail H, Chris and his wife Carlene decorated the table and the side tables for the Secret Santa and the hampers had filled quickly, our Christmas meeting with the theme "Happy Holidays" could begin.

Sergeant At Arms Helen called the meeting to order and took great care to explain the proceedings to our three guests (Colin - Helen's husband, Carlene - Chris' wife, Peter S - Trish's husband). She then read the mission statement.

It was Gail H's turn as President to open the meeting and introduce Chris as Toastmaster. He called on Jonathon to give us the toast.

Jonathon spoke about the different tag line when he first joined Toastmasters and why it attracted him. He toasted to "Embracing growth and Toastmasters".

The Round Robin was led by Arun who gave us a hard task deciding to share the most memorable or exciting Christmas experience (Oh what to choose). It was a revelation to see where Toastmasters had spent their Christmases before (India, Japan, Latvia, UK, Austria, Germany, on a cruise to New Zealand) and why music, snow prints for the kids, a tornado, knee stuck in a chair, grandma playing Santa, receiving the wrong present from Santa, choir practising at an old church, extremely hot Christmases and a 9 month pregnancy at the hot Christmas made lifelong impressions.

Afterwards we were served a very yummy dinner of ham, turkey, veggies and roasted potatoes - you just need to believe us that it was yummy and very well presented because it smelled so delicious that we all just dug in (without a single of our photographers taking a photo).

To digest the dinner better, Christmas Trivia Quiz Master Trish got us to our feet and deciding head or tail. She was quite disappointed with our lack of knowledge because she only got half down the first page, but had three pages prepared, before John was declared winner with Jonathon a close runner-up.

 

Since we were made aware that no photo of our dinner existed, many of us took photos of the dessert: alternate drops of steamed pudding with cream or pavlova.

 

 

 

Marlene and Rosie had prepared and distributed the cards which gave us the order for the Secret Santa. Rosie reminded us of the rules before Arun with number one could start us off by unwrapping a present.

And so it continued both day and night (ok, not that long, just 18 presents to unwrap). The following participants were able to choose not to unbox but steal an already revealed present and as such you might see the "unlucky" person unpack yet another present.

Arun unwrapped a set of mugs. 

Carmy unpacked Lindt chocolates and coffee.

Jonathon got a bottle of Merlot and a joke book for the dunny.

Rosie unboxed a glass candle holder and a Christmas pudding.

Chris took out a cup with a Santa koala, different teas and coffee assortments.

Carlene got a set of Naughty/ Nice glasses.

Colin revealed a stack of T2 tea.

Ben received a serving platter - making it clear he had already several.

Daniel unwrapped a set of mugs.

Since Christiane fancied the chocolate/coffee duo, Carmy unwrapped a cocktail fish bowl.

Marlene liked the chocolate/coffee duo as well, so Christiane was able to steal the cocktail fish bowl, so Carmy was yet again called to the front and unwrapped a big box of chocolates and Lebkuchen.

Somebody (Trish?) stole Ben's platter, so he was able to unpack another present: he got three games challenging his humming and pronunciation.

Somebody (Peter D?) stole Chris' bag of goodies, so he unboxed what he first thought was a kettle set. We clarified that it was a creamer/sugar assortment.

John got a star platter.

Even though Trish tried to convince her husband to steal the creamer/saucer combo, Peter S went straight to the front and took the wine bottle gift bag - no time wasted opening it.

Hazel untied a wind chime in the form of a lady beetle.

Gail H unboxed four margarita glasses.

Helen had a hard time deciding to steal either the margarita glasses or the creamer and sugar container combo - in the end, she decided for the former (hence, you see Gail H twice in a row.) 

Gail H unwrapped a set of Christmas lights.

We ended up with presents for everybody of comfort and joy.

You might ask what the gladsome tidings be: The next segment was a visit by The Amazing Toppo.

Not only were Jonathon, Christiane and Carlene in tears of laugther (at least they were captured on camera), but even The Sands staff came over to look which card trick John was performing. (At the start he didn't want to look at the card, so he went behind the curtain - we thought first it was a vanishing act).

Before the card trick, The Amazing Toppo was able to tell us which number Carmy selected and then was able to repeat the sounding joy with Arun.

The next performance was an addition which brought even more laughter. His last quick act was an in your head calculating game.

It was a hard segment to follow on from, but Marlene's Christmas Memories also brought laughter when she recited her kids setting the song sheet on fire, expertly deploying a balloon to land in the music teacher's cleavage and lastly the story of her son's bike falling apart, so walking to the shopping centre and the bike lock ending up on the roof.

No Toastmasters meeting is complete without Table Topics, so Chris asked Helen what she found to be the hardest part to buy a Secret Santa present. Her answer was that the 10 dollar amount doesn't buy a nice present anymore, so she was glad to see that she wasn't the only one that disregarded the amount and just bought something nice.

It was Helen's turn to ask Daniel (who deferred to Hazel) what he/she tried, but would never do again. Hazel was so conditioned by Helen's present of margarita glasses that she recalled a night overseas where she drunk too many of those.

Hazel queried Peter D to tell us which three foods he would be happy with for the rest of his life. He recalled his standard lunch of toast and Portuguese sardines and then weighed up which fruit to choose: I let you judge how lasagne fits in.

Peter D requested Gail H to tell us where in the world she would like to celebrate Christmas. Somewhere cold was the quick answer, but she did confess that Ireland didn't work some years ago and Canada is still to be tried.

Gail H challenged Jonathon to report on his worst Christmas. He recalled a not completely cooked through chicken which was a present that kept giving well past Boxing Day (unlike Jonathon splattering on this occasion, please notice Rosie in the photo spluttering with laughter).

Jonathon wanted to know the pros and cons of New Years resolutions from Trish. Only on cruises is she for New Years resolutions (what happens on the cruise, stays on the cruise), but otherwise, she rather people attend her planning goals for 2024 event on January 6.

Christiane and Hazel were responsible for a fair raffle draw, so Hazel asked Colin to draw the first raffle: Hazel won. Subsequent winners were Helen and John.

After a group photo, President Gail H closed the 2023 meetings.

Sandgate Toastmasters would like to thank its members and blog readers for the support in 2023. The next meeting is on January 23, 2024. Until then we wish you  a Merry Christmas, a strong start into 2024 and some relaxation in-between.

Thank you to Marlene and Ben for providing photos for the blog.

Meeting 1142 "Honouring Our Veterans"

 The RSL hall was a fitting place for our meeting with the theme "Honouring Our Veterans." The theme was chosen by Helen, who kept the evening running smoothly. 

Helen

Gail presented some new members JP, Shaun and Paul with their membership badges and welcomed our guests Ben, who is joining our club (Yippee!) and George.  It was good to see Chris back and recovering from his accident.

A badge for Paul (and Shaun & J.P.)

Carmy

Arun

Carmy told us about her father's and grandfather's participation in the Armed Forces and proposed a
toast to our veterans.  She also gave us the word for the evening, "Respect."

The Round Robin warm up session was conducted by Arun  who asked  us what attribute we live by.

Some of the answers were "Integrity," "Honesty," "Others first" etc. (Toastmasters are nice people!)

Some Round Robin Participants

Round Robin

The first prepared speech was new member J.P.'s Icebreaker.  He gave us an interesting insight into what his job entails. His evaluator Trish commented on the outstanding structure of his speech.

J.P.

Trish

John's speech was also an Icebreaker - but not his first one! John is an accomplished speaker beginning a new path in the Pathways programme that we use. His entertaining speech "You're Only Young Twice" was evaluated by Gokul who had some helpful comments.

John

Gokul

Raffle Master Gail had brought some useful items from the "Be Uplifted" charity which she supports, as well as a box of Variety chocolates.   It was won by Marlene. (Yay!)

Time Keeper Paul informed us that we were running slightly ahead of time which allowed us to take a slightly longer supper break. Food was provided by Paul and Gokul.

Gail

Paul B (and Ben)

Gail selling raffle tickets

Supper provided by Paul and Gokul

Arun with Shaun , J.P. & George in background.

Gokul & Ben

Marlene had some challenging Table Topics for Carmy, Gail, Chris, Trish, Gokul, Ben, J.P., Shaun, who all managed to deliver an impromptu 1-2 minute speech.

Carmy

Chris

Gail

Ben

Shaun

J.P.

Gokul

    

Trish

The topics were wartime song titles:

1.Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye
2.Kiss Me Goodnight Sergeant Major
3. Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag
4. The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
5. Ma, I Miss your Apple Pie
6. Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning
7. It’s a Long Way to Tipperary
8. It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow

Evaluator Arun gave some tips on answering Table Topics and Shaun had some commendations and points for improvement.

Arun

Shaun

Carmy reported that Trish had skilfully used the word "Respect" 31 times during the meeting. (But she didn't get Helen's joke about the soldier who wasn't seen at camouflage training!)

General Evaluator Paul H summed up the meeting with a detailed report and some suggestions.

Paul H

The evenings awards went to Carmy (Best Table Topic,) Trish (Best Evaluation) and J.P. (Best Speech and Most Improved.

Award winners 28 Nov 2023

This was the last meeting before our Break Up Dinner at a different venue. Please contact us if you want details of the Break Up. Replies and Payment for the dinner need to be received by the 4th December. And don't forget to bring a Secret Santa gift and an item for our Christmas hamper raffle.

Our meetings will resume on Tuesday, 23rd January 2024.