New officer slate

The Nominating Committee has come up with a complete slate of officers, which we’ll announce to the club May 5, in preparation for voting May 19. These are the people being nominated:

President—Becki Moody
VP for Education—Eric Darnell (2nd term)
VP for Membership—Kim Kaberle
VP for Public Relations—Jessica Holman
Secretary—Joelle Anderson (2nd term)
Treasurer—Linda Patton
Sergeant of Arms—Bethany Furkin

I’m thankful for the contributions of all the outgoing officers, and for Eric and Joelle, who will continue on for another year to give us continuity.

-- Eva Stimson

Balloons!

Listening opportunity

A chance to see more great Toastmasters speeches - shorter Tall Tales speeches and medium-length International speech contest speeches - as speakers from our downtown Louisville area Toastmasters clubs go up against other local contest winners from around central and eastern Kentucky and southern Indiana, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 15, at the Ivy Tech Community College campus in Sellersburg, Indiana - just 20 minutes from downtown Louisville. The winners will represent our Toastmasters division in the contests at the district convention the next weekend (May 21-22) in Lafayette, Indiana. See you in Sellersburg!

April 7 meeting

At 1:03 p.m., Vice President Membership Becki Moody opened the meeting, acting as Presiding Officer in President Eva Stimson’s absence. Becki invited Joelle Anderson to give the invocation; Joelle shared an Easter prayer with the club.

Becki led the Pledge of Allegiance and opened the business portion of the meeting. Kay Chambers made a motion to approve the prior meeting’s minutes as written; Perry Chang seconded the motion--the minutes were approved as written. Becki informed everyone that club officer elections are approaching. If anyone is interested in serving as an officer, or would like to nominate someone for a position, speak with Eva or others on the nominating committee. Treasurer Ada Middleton announced that 90% of the club dues had been mailed to Toastmasters Headquarters, and thanked everyone for their cooperation.

Ada Middleton assumed her role as Toastmaster and invited members of the Evaluation Team to explain their responsibilities: Speech Evaluator #1—Faith Aeilts; Speech Evaluator #2—Kim Kaberle; Timer—Eric Darnell; Table Topics—Debbie Belt; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Linda Patton; Vote Counter—Perry Chang.

Linda Patton chose invigorate as the word of the day:
Invigorate (transitive verb)
To give life and energy to; animate.
The awesome beauty of the blooming daffodils invigorated her spirit.

Ada introduced Valerie Mansfield, who gave her Competent Communication Project #2 speech titled “Energy Companies and Our Future.” Valerie discussed the possible changes in Louisville’s energy provision, and what she learned in her research into energy provision.

Ada then introduced Kay Chambers, who gave her Competent Communication Project #2 speech titled “Fuel for My Mind.” Kay discussed her love for quotes about “love,” and shared her most quotable sources of “love” quotes.

Debbie Belt led Table Topics, with all of the questions playing off the words “spring” and “break.”

Ada called for reports from the evaluation team.

Faith Aeilts noted that Valerie Mansfield chose to speak on a “very interesting” and “hefty” topic with implications for us all. She enjoyed the “natural” way that Valerie spoke, and found her to be well-prepared.

Kim Kaberle called Kay Chambers’ speech “interesting, inspiring, and encouraging.” She enjoyed Kay’s “engaging” voice, and praised her for using good sources.

Timer Eric Darnell reported the following times:

Valerie Mansfield’s speech 8:02
Kay Chambers’ speech 5:52
Faith Aeilts’ speech evaluation 3:15
Kim Kaberle’s speech evaluation 1:21

Table Topics:
- Vince Patton 1:34
- Joelle Anderson 1:35
- Linda Patton 1:55
- Mark McCabe 2:59
- Kay Chambers 1:40

Ah Counter/Grammarian Linda Patton counted between 41 and 42 space fillers and 5 sentence shifts. The word of the day was used at least 6 times by the end of the meeting.

Vote Counter Perry Chang pronounced Joelle Anderson the Table Topics winner.

Ada Middleton concluded her time as Toastmaster, and Presiding Officer Becki Moody ended the meeting at 1:59 p.m.

-- Joelle Anderson

Big Tuesday

Tuesday was a big day for Peace Speakers Toastmasters. Fueled by Jessica Holman’s work, some Peace Speakers officers put some finishing touches to the Presbyterian Center Atrium display case with Toastmasters items. The officers then met and talked about membership renewal and nominations for running for next year’s officers. And Perry stopped by the Area Tall Tales and International Speech contests above Vincenzo’s and helped judge the International Speech contest. (Pictured below are the winners, some of whom may guest speak for us.)

-- Perry

March 17 meeting

President Eva Stimson called the meeting to order at 1:03 p.m. She led the Pledge of Allegiance. The minutes of the March 3 meeting were approved as written, following a motion by Faith Aeilts. Debbie Belt led the invocation, using an Irish blessing sometimes attributed to St. Patrick.

In the business portion of the meeting, Treasurer Ada Middleton announced that she has received dues from some members, and encouraged others to pay as soon as possible. She plans to mail the dues to Toastmasters headquarters by Friday, March 26, to meet the April 1 deadline. Vice President for Membership Becki Moody announced that a display case is available in the lobby of the Presbyterian Center for a display to promote Toastmasters. The display can be left up until April 30. She asked anyone interested in helping put together a display to talk with her or with VP for Public Relations Perry Chang after the meeting. Perry announced that area speech contests are taking place March 30 at 5:30 in a room above Vincenzo’s restaurant at Fifth and Market Streets. He also encouraged members to attend the Spring Conference for Toastmasters District 11 in Lafayette, Ind., May 21–22. It will be a good opportunity to hear skilled speakers, attend workshops and a business meeting, and network with members of other clubs.

After the business meeting, Eva introduced Perry Chang as Toastmaster. Perry introduced the theme of the meeting—St. Patrick’s Day. He asked the members of the evaluation team to explain their roles: Speech Evaluator —Becki Moody; Table Topics Master—Kay Chambers; Timer—Vince Patton; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Ada Middleton; Vote Counter—Linda Patton.

Ada Middleton chose aura as the word of the day. She used the following definition: an energy field that is held to emanate from a living being.

Perry introduced Faith Aeilts, who gave her Competent Communication Project #1 (Ice Breaker) speech entitled, “Best Laid Plans.” Faith described how her career focus had changed from music ministry to work with senior adults.

Kay Chambers led Table Topics on the theme of St. Patrick’s Day, having participants draw speech topics out of a “pot of gold.”

Perry then called for reports from the evaluation team.

Speech Evaluator Becki Moody commended Faith for her “aura of confidence” and said one of her biggest strengths was her volume and vocal quality. She said Faith’s speech revealed a lot about her background, interests and faith.

Timer Vince Patton reported the following times:

Faith Aeilts’ speech 6:00
Becki Moody’s speech evaluation 2:40

Table Topics:
- Eric Darnell 54 seconds
- Jessica Holman 1:15
- Linda Patton 1:22
- Patricia Longfellow 59 seconds
- Vince Patton 1:10

Ah Counter/Grammarian Ada Middleton counted 20 space fillers, and 8 uses of the word of the day. (There were several more uses after her count.)

Vote Counter Linda Patton announced that she and Vince Patton had tied for the best Table Topics speech. They each received a trophy to keep until the next meeting.

Perry Chang made his final remarks as Toastmaster, and Eva Stimson adjourned the meeting at 1:50 p.m.

-- Eva Stimson