Our last formal meeting (June 19th) until the fall
excelled all expectations – we polished this year off on a High
With just an
agenda for a script and a few quickly obtained introductory
notes, Pam Elliott had more fun than ever before as the Chair.
As Wendy Trusler said in her ‘Introduction of the Chairman’,
“Pam is pinch hitting at the last minute, which means that we
will be forgiving if she makes a few mistakes.” This set her
up, and the audience, as well. Since we had no major
expectations, we simply relaxed and enjoyed ourselves as the
evening unfolded. This was an evening of excellence. Every
single person in the room was a major participant, and every
single person in the room should be commended for the high
levels they achieved in performing their roles.
Busy with
business trips and baby, we had missed Wendy Trusler for a
while. What a treat to have her back! She was quickly
recruited into a role, knowing even after an absence she would
step comfortably and competently into whatever ‘pair of shoes’
we gave her.
Dave Stewart
added yet another well earned Best Evaluator ribbon to his
growing collection. The General Evaluation he gave to us was so
good that it is liberally quoted throughout this recap. We
could put quotation marks around everything he said, but if we
did then most of this newsletter would be one big quote!
Two
inter-related themes ran through the meeting – an unusual
situation that proved to work very well. Reaching for the Top
blended nicely with Sports and
Leisure, as members described the ways in which they excel.
Excel
has already popped up several times here. This well chosen Word
of the Week put a positive spin on both themes, inspiring
everyone to focus on their upsides. We have Jill McCormick to
thank for this J
It was remarked that retirement seems to have made this
well-experienced member / mentor even more relaxed and
comfortable with an audience. She bubbled this evening,
thoroughly enjoying her double role of Grammarian / Counter of
Ahs. Her genuinely appreciative comments and entertaining
thoughts were well-received reminders of a meeting chock-a-block
full of rich word pictures and phrases.
Karen Arnold
is getting a reputation for delivering very thought-provoking
Inspirations. Many of us find this one of the most difficult
roles, but maybe if we emulated Karen, who took it on with an
analytical approach, we might find this an easier task. The
message Karen was inspiring us with this night was all about
stress and how to banish it. Stress is another name for fear.
It is a fearful reaction to life’s constant changes. If we ask
“What is scaring us?” and then we face it, our stress will be
enormously reduced. “Letting go” is the best way to decrease
the stress or fear we bring into our lives. It always involves
something we are unsure about or things that we have worked out
in our minds that are going to happen. Our bodies react the
same way to “good” stress and to “bad stress” so why not fill
our bodies with great things instead of all the “what ifs”; the
‘what ifs’ keep us stuck. Because no movement equals
stagnation, this eventually leads to health problems. Let’s put
a positive spin on stress by facing it and getting on with the
good things in our lives!
Neville Cohen,
a man prepared for any situation, stepped up to the Open Mike
with a good joke about a man who gratefully misunderstood his
doctor’s advice … what he ‘thought’ he heard was a lot more
fun!!
As usual,
Mahmoud Moazami was right on top of his job as Timer. Dave
pointed out to us all that since we have a more ‘relaxed’ agenda
ie only one formal speech and no other extras (ie business
meeting, induction, etc.) the Timer has the luxury of giving a
little extra ‘time allowance’ to some of the more loquacious
participants by leaving the red light on but stalling a bit
before ringing the bell.
Parvaneh
Bahrami absolutely mastered the protocol – quite a feat for her
very first time as Table Topics Master! Some of her topics made
us really think about ourselves: our dreams; our goals, while
some topics were more focused on how we spend our leisure time.
All of the topics opened the speakers to tell us a little bit
more about themselves; revelations which further secure the bond
of friendship and understanding among us.
We all
benefited from Neville Cohen’s insightful comments for the Table
Topic speakers. He was very good at demonstrating his
suggestions when he could: The “fishy gestures” he modeled for
Jim were the highlight!
We actually
had two ‘first timers’ in key roles this time, the second
being Jim Sinclair as our Toastmaster. Like Parvaneh, he did an
excellent job – his infectious energy rubbed off on the rest of
us, bringing an extra surge to the second half of the meeting.
He began with an enlightening Toast which touched on how Sport
is the catalyst for so many great things, followed by an
Introduction to the Speaker in which his exceptional use of
vocal variety even made the Objectives sound more than just
interesting!
“Who Moved My
Cheese??” This is the book that Omar Hung based his very
personal, sometimes quite humorous speech as he lead us through
the trials and tribulations he has experienced from career to
career. His evaluator, Michele Menzies, described so well how
“he excelled by continuing to repeat the theme all through the
speech, which never seemed obvious or contrived, but which added
a charming touch to it.” It is remarkable that he is so good
humored about the many difficulties he has mastered – it shows
the strength of the man. Hopefully all of the experiences he
has had so far have broadened and prepared him for the CMA for
which he is currently reaching. “He goes for one big challenge
and then another and another – an inspiration for all of us.”
Michele has
not evaluated a speech for a very long time but she is still as
good as ever. This one was a classic! She was analytical and
encouraging, beginning by demonstrating his physical strengths,
and used vivid descriptions for us to better understand her
thoughts. Omar inspired us, and she inspired him.
Yes, at this
meeting we did polish this year off on a high
And then it got even better!!
The finishing
touch to our September – June year was our Wind-Up Party on the
26th. This year it was held in North
Vancouver at Pam Elliott’s – a Pot Luck BBQ in the
back yard. The Highlights were being able to meet some of the
families of our members, and an impromptu little concert by
Mahmoud Moazami, who introduced us to and entertained us with
his Persian instrument called a duff
Members
wishing to ‘keep the rust off’ over the summer will be sent the
information about clubs that will be happy to have them boost
their July and August numbers. Anyone else who wishes this
information can feel free to contact Neville Cohen to fill them
in. Neville Cohen.
Meanwhile … we
will be getting together the third Monday of July and August at
John Lawson Park if the weather is fine, or perhaps someone’s
home if it is not. Neville will be in touch with us closer to
these dates.
Wishing you
all a very happy summer, and looking forward to seeing you at
our first regular meeting on the Monday after Labour Day,
September 11th. Guests are always most welcome to
come to the meetings, and to the summer get-togethers.
If
you have any questions regarding the first meeting please
contact Pam at Pam Elliott
(604-986-1025)
Club 1085
