Desire and Pull in Bolton

First time chair Corina Simu chose "Desire" and "Pull" as theme and word of our February 4th meeting.  In her opening remarks, she spoke of the desire to pull away from old methods of doing things.  Table Topics Master Andrew Morgan kept this theme as he challenged us to construct short speeches based on various kinds of desire, such as desire to know, desire to excel and desire for fame. 

If you desire fame, then you should  enter our upcoming International Speech and Evaluation contest on February 18th.  We need more contestants and also volunteers to undertake contest roles.  If you have never competed, now is your chance.  Any member in good standing may compete .  However, you must have completed at least six manual speeches in order to advance to the next contest.  The same is not true for the evaluation contest which requires no preparation.  Come out and compete for the experience.  You won't regret it. 

In the educator portion of the meeting, club secretary Catherine Keyes, a member of the club's executive, described her role as secretary. 

We heard three speeches this evening.  Alan Keyes brought his shoe wardrobe along to help buttress his point in his speech, " A Walk in my Shoes".  He spoke about the effects of workplace stress on one's health and well being.  It creeps up on you and cannot be ignored.  You must deal with it by getting help. 

Catherine Keyes used a picture frame and an assortment of gaily coloured sunglasses to illustrate her points in "Frame of Reference".  The frame represented the outline of our lives that we fill in with our own lived experiences.  When we put on other peoples' glasses or glasses of different colours, we see the world from a different perspective helping us to better understand the challenges of others. 

We went from shoes to photo frames to sunglasses and finally to bugs.  Lorraine Van Wagner, speaking from the advanced manual "Speeches by Management", assumed the role of a manager warning housing providers about the epidemic of bed bugs that are plaguing Toronto and other large cities througout the world.  Only integrated pest management, which includes considerable expenditure of time and money, will solve this awful problem. 

The evening ended with chair Corina describing what she learned while preparing to chair her first Bolton Banter meeting.  Good job Corina!  Our three guests, welcomed earlier, shared their comments about the evening.  Ribbons were awarded to Lorraine Van Wagner for Table Topics, Jim DeCarolis for best evaluator and Alan Keyes for best speaker of the evening. 

Our next meeting, February 18th, is contest nignt.  If you haven't done so, sign up for a role or better yet, enter the contest yourself.  Look forward to seeing you all then.

Cheers and regards - Lorraine Van Wagner, Webmaster