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