Rein it In or Let it Rain?

It is the new year and time to sharpen those Toastmaster skills. With Bang Parkinson as our Toastmaster we had two speeches with the aim of improving our club.

Theresa Frasch led a group discussion on building membership. Using community bulletin boards, Craigslist and blogs were some of the suggestions which came out of Theresa's discussion.

Jean Schmidt handed out copies of the Toastmaster's promise and talked about member's duties being a member.

Mike Deleon gave us three words of the day. "Rein" a verb to hold back. "Reign" a noun the rule of a leader. "Rain" a noun liquid from the sky. We had a spirited topic session talking about what should be taxed and what should be spent.


For or next meeting, check here: Schedule and Roles to see what you are assigned to do or what is still open that you can volunteer for.

Big Words

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Season greetings, Happy New Year.. Our next meeting is January 13th, 2011. Hope to see a big crowd at our next meeting. A big welcome to our newest member Dan Flick.

Our Toastmaster Theressa Frasch, noting that it was the anniversary of publication of the first American dictionary, used Noah Webster for the day's theme. Webster, as well a bringing out the first US dictionary, also published the first America spelling book, and was a lobbyist helping to created our country's copyright laws.

If you have to do a presentation at work our club is a great place to practice. That is what Bang Parkinson did. The club acted as the school board while she did a PowerPoint presentation on bringing a new copier system to the school district.

Another great thing about the club is the things you learn. Roger Wells shared his knowledge of the development of the calender with the club. If you worry about the Ides of April. Beware on April 13th not the 15th.

Mike DeLeon brought three words of the day. Ultimate, Penultimate, and Antepenultimate. Ultimate is the last in a series, the end, whereas penultimate is the second to the last in a series and antepentultimate is the third to last.

See you all next year! For next year's schedule see the Schedules and Roles page.

Infused with Veteran's Day

Our last meeting was at the Infusion Cafe because the ERAC was closed for Veteran's Day. Darlene Burrill was our Toastmaster with the theme of Veteran's Day which was also the topic with a bit of a twist. Our topic master Jean Schmidt had us getting into character as we described veterans in different periods of history. Mike DeLeon paid tribute to his five uncles telling their World War II and Korean war experiences. Theresa Frasch gave us a lesson on seminars.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, December 9th at our usual meeting spot. For a list of who is doing what see our Schedules and Roles page.

Give Me Liberty

October 28th 1886 was the dedication of the Statue of Liberty so our Toastmaster, Mike DeLeon, used that his theme of the meeting, giving us some history and statistical data on the monument.

Carrying along with the theme Jean Schmidt brought us the word "Freedom".

Kieth Weir gave a speech where he talked about the different stages of Halloween. He spoke how as we age we change our view of the holiday. Roger Wells in a speech titled "Why Do They Do It?", he wondered people feel they have to exagerate their public resumes.

Since Keith was also Table Topics Master, members had a chance to express opinions of Halloween duringTable Topics.

Our next meeting is November 11th which is Veteran's Day so ERAC will be closed. We will be meeting at Infusion Tea & Coffee (15607 1st Ave So). See the Schedules and Roles page for who's doing what.

Change in Venue for Veterans Day

We have a change in venue for our meeting on November 11 - Veterans Day. Our normal location will be closed for the holiday. Instead of not meeting we will move our meeting to a local coffee shop: Infusion Tea & Coffee:










Infusion Tea & Coffee
15607 - 1st Ave S
Burien, WA, 98148

206-436-8440

http://www.infusionteacoffee.com/

They have a nice room we can meet in and good coffee, tea, and breakfast items we can purchase for our break. It will be a fun break from the usual! Invite your friends for a spot of tea and a speech :-)

The Icebreaker

Our last meeting was a real treat. We heard one of our favorite kinds of speeches, the ice breaker, from our newest member Michael Reid. He gave us a bit of his personal history and talked about his need to always be improving. He has certainly come to the right place by joining Toastmasters.

We got a preview of the area speech contest when three of the contestants, Roger Wells, Theresa Frasch, and Darlene Burrill practiced their contest speeches. The practice paid off. All gave much improved speeches and gave great performances. Darlene brought home the 3rd place trophy in the Humorous Speech contest!

For next week's schedule be sure to check the "Schedules and Roles" page.

Laughter Galore!

Our last meeting was our club's humorous speech contest. We have a great contestant in Roger Wells. He entertained the club talking about the adventure in growing old. The winner of our topic contest was Darlene Burrill.










Agenda October 15th

Toastmaster.......................................................................Mike DeLeon
Pledge................................................................................. Bang Parkinson
Speech 1 (Ice Breaker)..................................................... Michael Reid
Speech 2 (Contest Practice).............................................Roger Wells
Speech 3 (Contest Practice).............................................Darlene Burill
Speech 4 (Contest Practice).............................................Theresa Frasch
Food and Joke....................................................................Jean Schmidt

The Area 41 Contest is the next day (Friday the 15th of October at ERAC) Be sure and come because it means a lot to the speaker to see some familiar faces.


Area 41 Fall Contest