The Little Engine That Could

Hello Everyone - We were happy to welcome a number of guests to our October 1st meeting.  Hopefully we can turn these guests into members.  We offered a special welcome to our newest member, Allan Keyes, who had been a guest at our last two meetings.  Glad to have you on board Allan and we look forward to hearing your ice breaker.

Chair Brendan Dineen chose "I Can!!!" as theme of the meeting and "accomplishment" as the word.  In keeping with the theme, Carol Dowell's toast referenced that delightful children's story, "The Little Engine That Could".  The little blue engine was unsure he could pull a train up a long hill but with perseverance and a positive attitude, he found he could.  That little engine is an example to us all.

Catherine Keyes presented an unusual Table Topics this evening.  She brought along a collection of items and asked members to pick one that reminds you of a parent.  Such diverse items as a calendar, a pipe, a beer stein and a straw hat sparked fond reminiscences. 

Eric Solowka, our club  treasurer, vowed to make his budget presentation as "dry and horrible as possible".  Actually, his presentation was concise and the membership accepted the budget he presented. 

Ben Allison, the Toastmaster for the evening, introduced the two speakers, Laurie Stapleton and Lorraine Van Wagner.  Laurie, working from the CC manual, reminded us of a Seinfeld joke.  People have such fear of public speaking that when at a funeral, they would prefer to be in the casket than to deliver the eulogy.  Laurie however likes public speaking because it gives her the opportunity to connect with others.  As a ten year old, she once spoke in front of 500 people so her interest in Toastmasters is hardly surprising.

In her presentation, Lorraine Van Wagner, working from the advanced manual, "Speeches by Management", assumed the role of a department head briefing company employees on planning for the onset of H1N1 flu from a workplace and a personal perspective.  Her presentation ended with a question and answer session. 

Laurie Stapleton presented the official certificates to the participants and winners of the recent Humourous Speech and Table Topics contest.  Brendan Dineen was awarded the ribbon for best Table Topic speech of the evening. 

On October 8th, Bolton Banter hosts the area 15 Humourous Speech and Table Topics contest.  Come out and support our contestants, Eric Solowka, Carol Dowell and Pat Burness. 

Our next regular meeting will be held October 15th.  See you then. 

Cheers and regards

Lorraine Van Wagner, Webmaster