This is a “Two in One” report, due to technical difficulties on
the writer’s part (not the webmaster’s).
The meeting on March 6th had the timely theme of “Hollywood and
the Glitter”, following the Academy Awards which had been held
the night before. Compliments flowed
Hosting this memorable event, in snazzy suspenders and red tie,
was Chairman Dave Stewart. His bridging between speakers was
often remarkable, and remarkably complimentary. Many of the
quotations you will see are his. Dave had just returned from a
weekend in Las Vegas, where he had had an epiphany. What really
struck him there was that ‘in reality, there are many more
people like you and me who live in Las Vegas and Hollywood. It
is a distortion of the glitter to believe that when you think of
these cities they are mainly inhabited by incredibly rich,
glamorous people.”
Word of the Week, ‘Glamour,’ of course fit the theme like a
glove. Anne Marie Deluise, who already is a star, played the
role of Wordsmith like a pro. Dave ushered her from the lectern
with “A good looker and a good listener!”
Many thanks to Mahmoud Moazami. This was the first meeting he
has attended as a member in many years and he hasn’t forgotten a
thing. His introduction to the Chairman was excellent (even
describing Dave as ‘a very handsome man’). He diligently
performed his last minute fill-in role as our Timer and was
later praised by the General Evaluator for his “thorough and
comprehensive report”. Well done, Mahmoud.
Andrea had no doubts that her role as Wizard of Ahs was
glamorous indeed; seconded by Dave who strengthened her
declaration further with “I’m sure she will bring a little
glamour to what is normally an unglamorous role.” And, of
course, she did! emphasizing the number of members who actually
had more credits than debits to their credit!!
The focus of Omar Hung’s Inspiration was George Clooney’s
acceptance speech at the Academy Awards. He praised the Academy
for acknowledging and encouraging public awareness of world
problems such as those in Syriana, and talked about AIDS and
civil rights before they were ‘popular’. He praised the Academy
“for giving an award to a black woman, Hattie MacDonald, at a
time when the black people still had to sit at the back of the
theater. Only care and action for social and environmental
situations can make a difference and it is important that we all
reflect on this”.
There were three jokes for the Open Mike. Neville Cohen’s were
funny from the start, but the audience was visibly worried about
where Pam Elliott’s was going – they, like the wife, were
‘waiting for the teeth’!
Joanne Renfer, dressed glamorously for the occasion, did a
superior job as Table Topics Master. You would never have known
this was her first time. The General Evaluator told her what a
marvelous job she had done: “The whole session went very
smoothly.” “Everyone warmed to the topics and found them fertile
ground”.
Pam Elliott took “a good, constructive approach to the role of
Table Topics Evaluator”.
The very successful Table Topics Session was followed by a very
successful second half! Neville Cohen toasted the glitter of our
own ‘Hollywood North’, before introducing a most interesting
speech, “Family Rumours”. Veronica Marshall has passionately
delved into her family tree, and from it has discovered ‘a
window into another world’. After the meeting Veronica had a
bevy of members crowded around her asking how they, too, can
climb through this window.
Veronica’s speech project was ‘Research Your Topic’. She had
done this well, and so had her evaluator, Jim Sinclair. Jim
always comes well prepared, and he was exceptionally prepared to
give his very first formal speech evaluation. He “pulled on his
GLOVE” and dove right in. Jim had heard about the GLOVE
evaluation method at a speech contest last year and been very
impressed. Using Gestures, Language, Organization, Vocal
Variety, Eye contact, he had an automatic frame for his
evaluation. You might want to talk to Jim before trying this
yourself – he had some good suggestions on how it might be used
even more effectively.
Stuart Manning gave a very good General Evaluation. Summed up,
it was Great
Following the above “Great Meeting” was our
Spring Contest Night on March 13th.
The job of Chairing a Contest can seem daunting, especially to
someone doing it for the first time. Omar Hung asked the right
questions, did his homework, and by contest time he had the role
down pat. He is to be admired for the well run meeting he
chaired with apparent ease.
Toastmasters has 4 contests – two in the fall (Humorous Speech
Contest and Table Topics Contest), and two in the spring
(International Speech Contest and Evaluation Contest). This was
the latter.
The Test Speaker was Judith Gordon, a new Toastmaster none of
the competitors had yet heard. In her speech, about her
experiences and travels in Africa, she painted such riveting
descriptions that we felt we were in Africa with her. Through
anecdotes, antics, suspense, and humour we were richly
entertained. The five Evaluation Contestants: Dave, Gerhard,
Joanne, Neville, and Stuart, all listened to the Test Speech and
then each gave their evaluation on how they felt she had
performed. The Winner of this contest was Neville Cohen (a South
African, himself!), followed by Dave Stewart in Second Place.
Then we were treated to three speeches which had been spiffed up
and recycled for the International Speech Contest. Back by
popular request were: Li Ying, Neville,
and Veronica. Li Ying encouraged us to get away from the rat
race and travel solo; Neville regaled us with food for thought;
and Veronica once again took us through a window into another
world. The Winner of this contest was Li Ying Kao, who is hoping
that the next contest and her next solo trip (to Italy) won’t
coincide because she would really like to do both!
Many Thanks go to Don Ekroth, who stepped in as Chief Judge at
the last minute; and to his helpers: Timers Jill McCormick and
Wendy Trusler, and Counters:
Andrea Clarke and Ana-Maria Lovrich. A Big Thank You to the
Judges from other clubs who volunteered to help us: Gillian Muir
and Carl Scheck.
Congratulations to all of the contestants – Every one of them
has gained something special for having had this experience
Next week, Monday March 20th will be a regular meeting. We are
looking forward to seeing all of you then, and hopefully we will
have some guests come to join us in another evening of learning
through fun and friendship.
Club 1085
