Spring conference

The deadline for early registration for the Friday, May 21-Saturday, May 22 conference for the Peace Speakers' Toastmasters district (District 11) is Thursday, April 1. District conferences feature great speaking (district-level competitions pitting the division-level winners against each other and usually a lunchtime speech by a great speaker from the local area where the conference is being held), good meals, workshops, a district business meeting, and networking with members of other Toastmasters clubs. This spring's conference is three hours away, at the Best Western hotel and conference center (pictured above), in Lafayette, IN, near the campus of Purdue University. Click here for more information: http://www.tmdist11.org/images/stories/conferences/2010_Brochure-091003.pdf

February 3 meeting

President Eva Stimson began the meeting at 1:02 p.m. Eva asked Patricia Longfellow to lead the invocation; Patricia shared a new outlook on work using words from the Desert Fathers. Eva acknowledged visitors/guests, and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

During the business portion of the meeting, the minutes from the January 20, 2010 meeting were approved as written. Eva announced that another club goal had been met, with all club officers attending the most recent Toastmasters training sessions. At this point three out of ten club goals have been achieved.

After the business meeting, Eva introduced Becki Moody as Toastmaster. Becki called for explanations of responsibilities from members of the evaluation team: Speech Evaluator—Perry Chang; Table Topics Master—Eric Darnell; Timer—Linda Patton; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Faith Aeilts; Vote Counter—Kim Kaberle.

Faith Aeilts chose plethora as the word of the day:

Plethora: pleth∙o∙ra, [ple’thәrә]
Large or excessive amount or number. A very large amount of something or number of things, especially an excessive amount.
Example: A plethora of new scholarly articles on the subject.

Becki introduced Ada Middleton, who gave her Competent Communication Project #4 speech titled “Memory the Wellspring of Life.” In her speech, Ada described in vivid details the Caribbean cruise she took with her husband in 2004.

Becki then invited Area 66 Governor Amy Poole to give her report to the club. Amy reminded the club that it needs to achieve two more goals to become a Distinguished Club. She also offered updates on the other downtown clubs.

Eric Darnell led Table Topics, with memory-themed prompts.

Becki then called for reports from the evaluation team.

Perry Chang gave his speech evaluation, and he noted that Ada Middleton used good word descriptions in her speech.

Timer Linda Patton reported the following times:

Ada Middleton’s speech 7:01
Perry Chang’s speech evaluation 2:59

Table Topics:
Amy Poole 2:03
Kim Kaberle 1:13
Joelle Anderson 1:24
Eva Stimson 1:42
Faith Aeilts 1:29

Ah Counter/Grammarian Faith Aeilts reported 30 space fillers/ahs/ums, and 3 uses of the word of the day (the total came to 4 uses after Eva used the word of the day in her closing).

Vote Counter Kim Kaberle announced that Faith Aeilts won Table Topics.

Becki Moody made her final remarks as Toastmaster, and Eva Stimson closed the meeting.

-- Joelle Anderson

2009 milestones

A dozen Peace Speakers members gave a total of 20 speeches at club meetings during 2009 - easily more than in any other year except for our first year (2005). Leading by example were Vice President for Education Eric Darnell and Secretary Joelle Anderson, with three speeches apiece.

Here’s the complete list:

- Joelle Anderson: 3 speeches
- Eric Darnell: 3 speeches
- Deborah Hoff: 2 speeches
- Kim Kaberle: 2 speeches
- Patricia Longfellow: 2 speeches
- Becki Moody: 2 speeches
- Eva Stimson: 2 speeches
- Perry Chang: 1 speech
- Susan Engpoole: 1 speech
- Valerie Mansfield: 1 speech
- Ada Middleton: 1 speech
- Vince Patton: 1 speech

Closest to completing the Toastmasters basic public speaking manual, Competent Communication, as of December 31, 2009, was President Eva Stimson (with just one project to go).

Here’s the complete list of members working on Competent Communication speeches and how far they’d gotten at year’s end (each had completed the project listed):

- Eva Stimson: Project #9
- Eric Darnell: Project #5
- Becki Moody: Project #5
- Betsy Blocker: Project #4
- Joelle Anderson: Project #3
- Ada Middleton: Project #3
- Deborah Hoff: Project #2
- Patricia Longfellow: Project #2
- Susan Engpoole: Project #1
- Kim Kaberle: Project #1
- Valerie Mansfield: Project #1
- Vince Patton: Project #1

January has already gotten off to a good start, with new members, more speeches, and lots of officer training. Let’s keep up the good work!

-- Perry

January 6 meeting

President Eva Stimson began the meeting at 1:05 p.m. Eva invited Becki Moody to lead the invocation; Becki read a poem about diversity and unity to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Eva led the Pledge of Allegiance, and welcomed Faith Aeilts as a new Toastmasters member.

During the business portion of the meeting, the minutes from the January 6, 2010 meeting were approved as written. Eva asked the club officers to stay after following the meeting to talk about attending officers’ training sessions within the next week. Eva also announced an Area 66 Toastmasters bowling party on the evening of Thursday, January 21.

After the business meeting, Eva introduced Eric Darnell as Toastmaster. Eric asked the evaluation team to explain their responsibilities: Speech Evaluator—Joelle Anderson; Table Topics Master—Patricia Longfellow; Timer—Eva Stimson; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Valerie Mansfield; Vote Counter—Faith Aeilts.

Valerie Mansfield announced eclectic as the word of the day:

Eclectic /e`klek-tik/ adj. 1: selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles
2: composed of elements drawn from various sources

Eric introduced Vince Patton, who gave his Competent Communication Project #2 speech titled “The Good and Bad of American Politics.” In his speech, Vince discussed some of the positive (voting day turnout) and negative (political fighting) aspects of American politics.

Patricia Longfellow led a political-themed round of Table Topics.

Eric then called for reports from the evaluation team.

Joelle Anderson noted that Vince engaged the audience by speaking on a subject everyone can relate to—politics. She also commended Vince for his good eye contact and hand gestures throughout the speech.

Timer Eva Stimson reported the following times:

Vince Patton’s speech 8:45
Joelle Anderson’s speech evaluation 2:08

Table Topics:
- Eric Darnell 1:32
- Becki Moody 1:22
- Linda Patton 1:17
- Valerie Mansfield 1:19
- Perry Chang 2:02

Ah Counter/Grammarian Valerie Mansfield reported 54 space fillers, 1 grammatical error, and 3 uses of the word of the day (although the total uses of the word of the day jumped to 5 by meeting’s end).

Vote Counter Faith Aeilts announced that Eric Darnell won Table Topics.

Eric Darnell made his final remarks as Toastmaster, and Eva Stimson closed the meeting at 1:46.
-- Joelle Anderson

Seven for seven!

Four of seven club officers - President Eva Stimson, Vice President for Membership Becki Moody, Vice President for Public Relations Perry Chang, and Secretary Joelle Anderson - attended the Toastmasters Leadership Institute - along with a couple of hundred other Toastmasters from Indiana and the western half of Kentucky (see above) - in Indianapolis back in late January. Then, four days later, the rest of the officers - Vice President for Education Eric Darnell, Treasurer Ada Middleton, and Sergeant-at-Arms Patricia Longfellow - were there at the Kentucky Farm Bureau building for "make-up" local training for club officers.

Club officers met other Toastmasters and heard about topics as varied as posting YouTube videos to judging speech contests. The Toastmasters Distinguished Club program requires clubs to make sure that four of their seven officers are trained evey six months. This time we got all seven trained! Congratulations, Peace Speakers!

-- Perry