Bowling!

We're all invited to join fellow Toastmasters from the other downtown Louisville area clubs for free bowling and free food at the Louisville Sports and Social Club (the old Lucky Strike bowling alley) at 4th Street Live, at 6 p.m. this Thursday. Remember also - Toastmasters Leadership Institute in Indianapolis this Saturday morning and Kentuckiana area Toastmasters officers training at 6:15 p.m. this coming Wednesday (January 27) at the Kentucky Farm Bureau building (plus a gathering of the presidents and vice presidents of downtown area clubs at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 18, at the Panera on 4th Street downtown between Market and Jefferson streets).

January 6 meeting

Since President Eva Stimson was unable to attend the meeting, Vice President of Public Relations Perry Chang filled in for Eva and commenced the meeting at 1:05 p.m. Perry asked Eric Darnell to lead the invocation; Eric shared from a book called Everyday Tao. Perry then welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked people to share their New Year’s resolutions. During the business portion of the meeting, the minutes were approved as written, and Perry led the Pledge of Allegiance. Perry also announced that the next executive committee meeting would be held on January 12 at 1 p.m. Executive committee members were encouraged to attend the officers training session at the Kentucky Farm Bureau on January 27. The registration for this training begins at 6 p.m., while the actual training commences at 6:30 p.m.

After the business meeting, Valerie Mansfield took her role as Toastmaster, and invited members of the evaluation team to explain their responsibilities: Speech Evaluator—Becki Moody; Timer and Vote Counter—Joelle Anderson; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Eric Darnell; Table Topics—Ada Middleton.

Eric Darnell chose resolve as the word of the day:
Resolve vt. –solved’ –solv’ing [M.E. resolven < L. resolvere] 3. to cause (a person) to decide or make up his mind [the flood that resolved him to sell]. Valerie introduced Bethany Furkin, who gave her Competent Communication Project #1 (Icebreaker) speech. Bethany spoke about some of the personal and practical lessons she has learned during her recent travels as a reporter for the Presbyterian News Service.

Ada Middleton led Table Topics, and she asked questions about the chills, thrills, and challenges of winter weather—a very appropriate topic considering Louisville received a few inches of snow the next day.

Valerie then asked for the evaluation team to present their reports.

Becki Moody found Bethany Furkin’s speech to be “engaging” and well-organized. She particularly enjoyed the vivid examples Bethany used in her speech.

Timer Joelle Anderson reported the following times:

Bethany Furkin’s speech 6:00 (approximate)
Becki Moody’s speech evaluation 2:41

Table Topics:
- Betsy Blocker 1:28
- Becki Moody 0:49
- Vince Patton 0:53
- Eric Darnell 1:29
- Faith Aeilts 1:54

Ah Counter/Grammarian Eric Darnell reported 1 use of the word of the day and 23 space fillers, and later noted that there was also 1 pause and 3 sentence shifts used during the meeting.

Vote Counter Joelle Anderson announced that Eric Darnell won Table Topics.

Valerie Mansfield made her final remarks as Toastmaster, and Perry Chang closed the meeting.

Upcoming events

Present, past, and potentially aspiring club officers have opportunities for officer training both at 9 a.m. Saturday morning on January 23, at the Lilly Corporate Center (pictured above), in Indianapolis, and at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evening on January 27, at the Kentucky Farm Bureau building off of Hurstbourne Parkway and I-64. A carload of Peace Speakers folks may ride up together Saturday morning, leaving something like 7:30 a.m. If you want a packed lunch ($10), e-mail ashaner1@sbcglobal.net by this Friday. Lunch-less registration if $5 (and includes some continental breakfast. The Kentucky Farm Bureau training is free.

The Saturday group should be back by 2:00 p.m.

These are billed as advanced officer trainings - not repeating material form the start-of-the-school-year training in 2009.

For the Toastmasters International Distinguished Club award, we're looking for at least four or our current seven officers to attend one of these trainings.

Keep in mind the May 21-22 District 11 spring conference in Lafayette, IN.

Also, president and vice presidents of the half a dozen downtown Louisville clubs in our Toastmasters International "Area" may gather for dinner during the middle week of February. Dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse or Aztecas or Buckhead on the river over in Jeffersonville (IN), possibly at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, February 15, may be on tap.

December 16 potluck and meeting

Due to the Christmas holiday potluck, President Eva Stimson began the meeting at 1:16, after those present had served themselves lunch. Invocation Leader Linda Patton, who had earlier prayed a blessing over the food, shared a poem entitled, “The Treasures of Christmas.”

After leading the Pledge of Allegiance, Eva conducted the business portion of the meeting. During the business meeting, the minutes from the December 2, 2009 meeting were approved as written.

Eva introduced Patricia Longfellow as Toastmaster. Patricia asked members of the evaluation team to explain their responsibilities: Table Topics Round #1—Eric Darnell; Table Topics Round #2/Championship Round—Joelle Anderson; Timer—Vince Patton; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Glenn Lewis; Vote Counter—Deborah Hoff.

Glenn announced exhaust as the word of the day:
EXHAUST (verb transitive)
Note—a transitive verb is a verb that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects.
To use up; expend completely: as, he exhausted his resources.
To deal with, study, or develop completely and thoroughly: as, she exhausted the subject.

In lieu of a speech, the meeting was set up as a “Table Topics Smackdown.” The winners from the first two rounds of Table Topics would face off in the final championship round to see who would take home the trophy. Eric Darnell led the first round of Table Topics, and Joelle Anderson led the second round and the championship round. The first two rounds of Table Topics asked questions relating to Christmas, and the championship round asked questions about the New Year. Ada Middleton won the first round, and Linda Patton won the second round.

After the Table Topics competition, Patricia called for reports from the evaluation team.

Vince reported the following times:

Table Topics Round #1:
- Vince Patton 1:43
- Eva Stimson 1:36
- Faith Aeilts 1:37
- Glenn Lewis 1:55
- Ada Middleton 2:25


Table Topics Round #2:
- Kim Kaberle 2:09
- Jonathan Moody 1:05
- Deborah Hoff 1:10
- Linda Patton 1:00

Table Topics Championship Round:
- Ada Middleton 2:02
- Linda Patton 1:05

Glenn counted 19 “uhs” and 3 uses of the word of the day (four uses after Eva used it in her closing comments).

Deborah Hoff reported that Linda Patton won the Table Topics Smackdown.

Patricia Longfellow gave her final remarks as Toastmaster, and Eva ended the meeting at 2:05.

-- Joelle Anderson

December 2 meeting

President Eva Stimson commenced the meeting at 1:02. Eva invited Ada Middleton to lead the invocation; Ada gave a prayer, and then asked the group to join her in reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Eva opened the business meeting by asking everyone to review the minutes from the November 4 meeting, which were then approved as written. Eva reminded people that the next Peace Speakers club meeting will be a Christmas potluck, and that people should come at 12:45 on December 16 to fill their plates before the meeting begins at 1 p.m. A sign-up sheet for the potluck was passed around at the meeting.

Eva introduced Joelle Anderson as Toastmaster, who invited members of the evaluation team to explain their responsibilities: Speech Evaluator #1—Glenn Lewis; Speech Evaluator #2—Eric Darnell; Timer—Valerie Mansfield; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Perry Chang; Vote Counter—Bethany Furkin; Table Topics—Vince Patton.

Perry Chang announced essential as the word of the day:
Essential
Uh SEN shul
Adjective: Absolutely necessary; indispensable
Noun: Basic element; chief point

Joelle introduced Deborah Hoff, who gave her Competent Communication Project #2 speech titled “The Thirty-Six Days of Christmas.” In this speech, Deborah shared tips on how to be less stressed during the holiday season.

Joelle then invited Patricia Longfellow to give her Competent Communication Project #2 speech, titled “Finding Silence.” Patricia discussed the various types of noise present in our lives, and the importance of making time for silence in the midst of this noise.

As Table Topics Master, Vince Patton asked questions about various things people do during the month of December.

Joelle called for reports from the evaluation team.

Glenn Lewis thought that Deborah Hoff’s speech had “a lot of value,” offering practical tips to avoid the holiday stress that everyone struggles with. He also noted that Deborah was well-prepared for the speech.

Eric Darnell found Patricia Longfellow’s speech to be “clear.” He noticed that she gave equal time in her speech to explaining each of her main points, evidenced preparedness, and varied her vocal pitch throughout the speech.

Timer Valerie Mansfield reported the following times:

Deborah Hoff’s speech 8:32
Patricia Longfellow’s speech 6:07
Glenn Lewis’s speech evaluation 3:06
Eric Darnell’s speech evaluation 3:44

Table Topics:
- Debbie Belt 2:01
- Glenn Lewis 2:23
- Bethany Furkin 1:26
- Eva Stimson 1:52
- Perry Chang 1:14

Ah Counter/Grammarian Perry Chang counted 9 uses of the word of the day, as well as 38 space fillers.

Vote Counter Bethany Furkin announced that Debbie Belt won Table Topics.

Joelle Anderson made her final remarks as Toastmaster, and President Eva Stimson ended the meeting at 1:59 p.m.

- Joelle Anderson