You gotta serve somebody

Hello Everyone - You may be wondering what happened to the report of the August 20th meeting.  We had planned a unique outdoor setting for our meeting at Dick's Dam.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans.  That day, a huge swath of southern Ontario was under a tornado warning.  Our meeting had to be cancelled.  Hopefully next summer we'll be able to have a meeting in the park.

We last met on September 3rd with Eric (can't you feel the love) Solowka as chair.  He chose "action" as theme of the meeting and "experience" as the word of the meeting.  We welcomed our Area 15 Governor, Guy St. Louis and also guests Allan, Chantal and Alicia. 

The meeting got off to a fine start with Sergeant at Arms Ben Allison reciting the Toastmasters Mission Statement.  Chair Eric managed to lurch on despite Vince Capicotto taking his agenda, Lesley Webb yawning and Tom Wildfang calling him "Madam". 

Laurie Stapleton restored order by engaging us in Table Topics.  Her theme was, "what advice would you give young people today?"  She provided a variety of topics for us to speak to.  Guest Chantal, with her advice to have kids while you're young, won the ribbon for best Table Topics Speaker.  Good for you Chantal!

In the business portion of the meeting, Laurie reminded us of our club Humorous Speech and Table Topics contest, to be held September 17th.  The area contest will be held at Bolton Banter on October 8th.  Carol Dowell reminded us of the upcoming District 86 fall conference, to be held November 13-15 at Blue Mountain Inn in Collingwood.  The "early bird" pricing has been extended until September 13th.  Toastmasters conferences are not only enriching learning experiences, they are a great deal of fun.  Make arrangements to car pool and room share and come down to Collingwood.  A number of Bolton Banter members plan to attend. 

Corina Simu brought in a large sign, complete with the Toastmasters logo, that can be propped by the side of the road to alert passersby that a meeting is scheduled.  What a great way to advertise our club to the community! Thanks Corina. 

On to the prepared speeches.  Lesley Webb, in her fourth speech, reminded us that strokes are the third leading cause of death in the western world.  She described the two kinds of strokes and what causes them.  Stroke victims can be helped with intensive rehabilitation.   Heeding  the risk factors, like hypertension, and taking preventative measures like regular exercise and smoking cessation can help prevent strokes.  

Jim DeCarolis delivered his tenth speech this evening.  He chose to speak about the importance and rewards of volunteering.  There are any number of agencies in the community that need your help and are a fit for your interests and skills.  It is important to extend a hand to others because as Bob Dylan said, "you gotta serve somebody".  Jim is officially a Competent Communicator and was awarded his CC badge by the executive.  Congratulations Jim. 

Mark November 26th in your calendars.  That's the evening we'll be meeting to roast Eric Solowka.  What a fun evening that will be!  Stay tuned for more details.

Remember, September 17th is our club Humourous Speech and Table Topics contest.  We encourage you to enter.  Contests are fabulous learning experiences.  Table Topics has one huge advantage - you don't have to prepare a speech!  You may be given a topic that you can ace.  You've nothing to lose by trying. 

Cheers and regards - Lorraine Van Wagner, Webmaster