O Canada

Hello Everyone - Chair Laurie Stapleton, our newly elected Vice President Education, chose as theme and word of the July 2nd meeting, "O Canada" and "Pride".  Laurie and Heather Taylor-Nanan enhanced the patriotic tone of the meeting by presenting a "Do you know your Canadian trivia?" quiz.  There are so many things in our wonderful country to take pride in and I'm happy to report that our members did relatively well in this quiz.  Dan O'Reilly and Catherine Keyes scored top marks.  In case you ever need to know, Wayne Gretzky scored 2,857 points in his illustrious NHL career.  Thanks to Laurie and Heather for conducting the quiz and bringing along prizes.

We were happy to welcome back guest Andrew Morgan who participated in Table Topics and took on the role of timekeeper.  Thanks Andrew and come back soon.  Thanks also to Dan O'Reilly, Heather Taylor-Nanan and Vince Capicotto who took on roles on short notice.  Thanks also to chair Laurie who had to overcome unforeseen obstacles to provide copies of the agenda.

Movie fans will be glad to know that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced that effective next year, ten instead of five movies will be nominated for the best picture Oscar award.  With that bit of news in mind, Table Topics Master Lorraine Van Wagner challenged members to create plot lines for movie titles such as "Butch Cassidy and the South Hill Kid" and "The Wizard of Woodbridge".  Hendrik Magilsen won the ribbon for his synopsis of "When the swallows come back to King City". 

Hendrik Magilsen delivered his icebreaker, "Journeys and Destinations".  The child of immigrant parents, Hendrik described his life experiences thus far and reminded us all that life is a series of journeys and destinations.  Eric Solowka's speech, appropriately enough, was centered on Canada.  Did you know that our first Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald was a scotch drinker?  Remember that Prime Minister Borden's face is on the $100 bill if you want to win a bet.  Eric's main message?  Get out and see your country!

Eric reminded us of the International Toastmasters convention, to be  held this August in an unpronounceable town in Connecticut.  He urged members to consider car pooling and room sharing in order to have the opportunity to hear some of the world's best speakers and meet fellow Toastmasters from around the globe.  He announced also that for three years in a row, Bolton Banter has been named a President's Distinguished Club.  Everyone should be truly proud of the accomplishments of our club and its members.

We know we are a distinguished club but it's wonderful when others realize that fact.  As we start a new Toastmasters year, let's all work to achieve our own personal as well as club goals for the benefit of Toastmasters and our own learning journeys.  

See you all at our next meeting, Thursday, July 16th.

Cheers and regards - Lorraine Van Wagner, Webmaster