What an interesting meeting! Most of the members who used the
theme of Science and Evolution to enhance their roles favored
incorporating variations of ‘evolution’, leaving ‘science’ for
another time.
Dave Stewart immediately set the tone for the evening in his
opening commentary on evolution. We knew we were in for a
fun-filled, more-relaxed-than-usual evening. He cinched it when
he theatrically used his magical “mental telepathetic” abilities
‘to give people creative, humorous, and often thought-provoking
introductions’ throughout the meeting.
Delving into the mysteries of the evolution of the English
language, Table Topics Master Jill McCormick encouraged her
Speakers to use their imaginations to define the seemingly
nonsensical words she gave them. The audience obviously enjoyed
the antics this evoked. Every single Speaker rose well to this
challenge, but Anne Marie Deluise was the ultimate winner of the
Best Table Topic Speaker ribbon.
Don Ekroth was very confident and comfortable in his role as
Table Topics Evaluator. He has the experienced skill of using
just the right words to inspire us to do better, while at the
same time reinforcing the strengths he sees in us.
In his ‘genuine, and sincere’ Inspiration, Omar Hung embraced
the advantages of both science and evolution. He ended with a
touching personal story which had a thoughtful ending that
included the observation: “Life is like a collection of
learning.” It is.
“The Word of the Evening giveth, but the Ahs and Ums taketh
away.” An original quote from our dual-roled Grammarian-Ah
Counter, Anne Marie Deluise. She was describing the credit /
debit system we use to help break our bad habits. But Anne
Marie’s whole being was much more centered on the things she
heard us say that stimulated her senses. We made her laugh, and
we moved her heart. The Chairman bridged her performance with:
“She gave one of the most comprehensive reports I can remember.”
Don Ekroth was eager to share his joke with us when the Chairman
announced we had the opportunity of an “Open Mike”. Don’s joke
was especially enjoyed because he told a very funny story that
really did happen to him! Life is good to us when we have
experiences like that. Sometimes they really truly are funny,
and sometimes we deliberately make the sour ones into sweet,
tickle your taste buds, lemonade.
Li Ying Kao was a Timer extraordinaire! She thoughtfully paid
particular attention to the Guests when explaining her role.
There was no question that she was in control of keeping the
meeting on time. The highlight was when the Toastmaster got
carried away with her Toast, and Li Ying gleefully hurried her
along
Oh yes! The Toastmaster, Pam Elliott, was in full swing
describing the evolution of the toothbrush and of toothpaste
when just one of them would have done the trick. “But they were
both so interesting that it was hard to choose between them”.
Pam redeemed herself with her introductions of the two Speakers,
making sure that the audience was set up and eager to hear each
one.
The First Speaker, Marlene Finlayson, told us three “wish we’d
been there” personal stories that vividly illustrated why she
loves to walk: because it makes her feel that she is a part of
something greater than herself. While this speech was not a
deliberate ‘call to action’, after listening to Marlene’s
experiences there is no doubt that she will have some new
converts!
Neville Cohen’s evaluation of Marlene’s presentation was very
good. He was particularly impressed with her use of 1, 2, 3
points to get her message across. When he asked her if she had
any specific things she would like him to watch for, she told
him she was a bit nervous and would really appreciate his
feedback on whether or not he could detect this. Most of us have
this same fear – fear of our nervousness ‘showing’. The
interesting thing is that often, whether or not the butterflies
in our stomachs are flying in formation or are flying completely
out of control, We Don’t Always Show It
This is where our
camera really comes in handy. (An acquisition our club has never
regretted.) Dave Stewart films our Speakers. If we wish, he then
gives a video tape to each of us who want one on which he keeps
track of our speeches. This way we can see for ourselves how we
have come across. Yes - we are often our own worst critics, but
after while we see beyond only the things we don’t like about
ourselves, and begin to appreciate what we do well and what we
can do to be even better. Best of all … most of us also are
amazed to see that we don’t look nearly as nervous to an
audience as we were feeling inside at the time!!
The Second Speaker was Ruth Sol, with a very interesting,
entertaining story about her youngest, quite precocious son who
lost something very dear to him. We became quite close to her
son during the telling, and disturbed that this dear little boy
was missing his ‘friend’. Fortunately, though, the ending was
happy because “Smitty Comes Home” after all. Ruth tells a good
story, setting us up and then descriptively leading us on,
teasingly not divulging the identity of the title player right
away.
Gerhard Rentsch’s evaluation of Ruth’s speech was very well
constructed and very well presented – an excellent example for
us all. He did his homework thoroughly, by not just reading the
little box of specific “objectives” for the project, but by
dissecting all of the requirements of this project in the
manual. He then began his evaluation by enumerating each one of
these requirements so that was no doubt in our minds of what
Ruth was hoping to accomplish. Lastly, and most importantly, he
‘blended the elements of the project with her performance’. A
well deserved ribbon for the Best Evaluator of the evening.
Wrapping everything up was the General Evaluator, Stuart
Manning. Many of Stuart’s observations during the meeting were
well worth quoting, so whenever you have seen ‘ ‘ around
sentences and phrases they were Stuart’s words. In this teaching
role, he gave a well-balanced, very detailed evaluation, and as
Dave said, he was remarkably able to fit it all in within the
short time he had been given. Well done, Stuart!
We were fortunate to have three new guests and one returning for
a second visit.
Our next meeting will be our Halloween Dinner Meeting and we are
hoping they will join us there.
In fact … we are hoping you will All join us there:
Monday October 31st – Halloween Dinner Meeting at Cheers
Restaurant
(Near the bottom of Lonsdale on East 2nd street, partway down
the street on the south side. You can park on the street or
there is also parking around the back under the building, as
well as a large open parking lot behind the restaurant. For the
open parking lot there is a meter for a ticket for your
dashboard, but if you bring it into the restaurant before or
after the meeting you will be reimbursed by Cheers.)
Social from 6:30 – 7:00 pm
Meeting Begins at 7:00 pm.
Please try to arrive before 7 so you can order your meal before
we start the meeting.
Dinner is a set 3 course meal (choices for the main course),
with tip & tax included.
Everyone is welcome – members and guests
If you haven’t yet let us know if you are coming please get in
touch with Pam:
kpelliott@shaw.ca 604-986-1025.
Club 1085
