09-01-05 Meeting Summary

Theme: Labor Day
Our Toastmaster, Marian J, started the meeting right on time.
Although the original theme was Labor Day, Marian opted to also include
recent events in New Orleans. A number of meeting attendants have been to
New Orleans. From a business perspective, the disaster there affects us at
Securian, since we bought a large block of Pan-Am business, and they are
based in New Orleans. Meeting participants were encouraged to discuss
either Labor Day or recent events related to Hurricane Katrina when they
spoke. Marian introduced our guest, Liz M, Area 14 Governor. Liz is
making her rounds, visiting each of the clubs in her area.

Marian asked duty holders to explain their duty, and introduced timer
Stacia S. Stacia recently joined the disaster area team. For a couple
of days a month, she is on call and will respond to disasters as needed,
helping people evacuate, etc. She encouraged us all to join.

Wordmaster/Grammarian Mike C introduced the word of the day, drudgery.
Drudger is a noun, meaning a hard, monotonous, routine work (synonyms are
plodding, grind, donkeywork). He used it in the following sentence:
"Paradise was a place of bliss... without drudgery and without sorrow." --
Locke

Our first speaker was Gadder F, with a speech titled "Write Your
Life." Gadder suggested that we all write regularly in a journal. Writing
is easy, helpful, and eye-opening. Most people think of a journal as
something fancy and expensive, bought at Borders or Barnes and Noble, but
that doesn't have to be the case. Writing in a $2 notebook is just as
effective. Most people also feel that writing has to be eloquent, but
really, says Gadder, it doesn't have to be complicated. Instead, we should
keep it simple. Write about something, an emotion, a thought, a goal.
Just the process of writing is helpful. Writing provides both a thoughtful
reflection on your life, and practice with the lost are to writing. We get
stuck in ruts in our daily lives, and don't even think about our days as we
get up, go to work, go to sleep, and repeat. Writing makes us really think
about it. Writing is also eye-opening. You learn things about yourself by
going back and reading what you wrote. Gadder encouraged us all to write
about our lives.

Marian seconded Gadder's encouragement by explaining that writing letters
home after moving to the US got her in the habit of writing. Eventually,
this brought her back to school to study journalism.

Our second speaker was Laura "Emma" C. Laura presented a terrific
example of a Tall Tales speech, which won her 1st Place in the District
speech contest in 2000. In the character of Emma, Laura retold her
adventures in Africa, tickling a tiger, rescuing her satchel from under an
elephant, and sinking into quicksand, all of which lead her to Nairobi
Ruby. Her adventures taught her that life is in the journey, not the
destination.

Kim C provided Table Topics questions for today's meeting:
1. What do you do to celebrate Labor Day?
Lori Galloway celebrates Labor Day with her family, taking a picnic in the
park, throwing frisbees, then grilling dinner at home, sitting on the
patio, and sharing drinks with the neighbors. She's hoping for good
weather this weekend (aren't we all?).
2. What's an act of drudgery for you?
For Eddie K, drudgery is just getting up in the morning. Morning
comes too soon for Eddie, and inevitably he hits the snooze button too many
times, has to throw himself together and run for the bus. And then there's
a "unique" lady who rides his bus and has a habit of standing way too close
for comfort (and of chasing pigeons, but that's another story).
3. Why is Labor Day a holiday?
Laura G said that Labor Day can be contrasted with Memorial Day, in
that we're celebrating that we're alive and able to work. Laura's mom has
a different explanation. Laura was born on Aug. 31, a month early.
Laura's mom remembers when Labor Day is because she was in labor, on or
near Labor Day. Therefore, Labor Day is in honor of Laura.

Betsy S evaluated Gadder's speech. She found it inspiring and
enjoyable. The speech was well-organized throughout, and tied up nicely at
the end. She noticed that Gadder was nervous, hiding behind the table and
occasionally clasping his hands. She was impressed with his eye contact,
hand gestures, and overall content. Overall, the speech was very
persuasive and motivating.

Keri O, our Humorist/Inspirer, spoke about volunteering at the
Toastmasters booth at the State Fair. A woman stopped by the booth. When
asked if she was familiar with Toastmasters, she replied "Well, my
husband's a Teamster." For inspiration, Keri talked about persistence.
Yesterday at the fair, she found out that her tomatoes didn't win any
prizes. At first, she felt like she'd wasted her time. But, then she
realized that she did get lots of tomatoes from her efforts, and they're
good to eat, and she'll try again next year. Similarly, her dentist has
been suggesting flossing for years, suggestions which she has ignored.
Well, finally she decided to give it a try and flossed regularly for 6
months. Her teeth were much better at the last checkup. You can't always
see results right away, but persistence pays off.

Times for today's speeches:
Gadder 6:20
"Emma" 5:36
Betsy 1:36
Keri 3:15

Stacia later admitted that she did have time for the Table Topics
respondents, though we never had enough time to hear those times.

Mike said that he was bad at counting uses of the word of the day, and
thanked Kim for pointing out everyone else who had used it (Kim, Lori,
Eddie - 3 times!). Mike claims to have a monopoly on ahs and ums.

Dave B, our general evaluator, felt that Marian did a good job
overall, and had good transitions. He would have liked to see her lead the
clapping more. He liked Mike's use of humor, said that Stacia did a good
job but may want to show how the lights work when introducing her duty next
time, and enjoyed Kim's open-ended questions. Eddie used great gestures
and actions during his table topics response, and both Lori and Laura had
good mini-speeches. Betsy gave an excellent evaluation, complete with
developmental points, what was done well, and specific examples. Dave said
that he would like to see people provide better introductory material for
their speeches, and will talk about this at a later meeting.

The Spirit award went to Laura C for her entertaining speech.

In business items, Laura G reminded us that Laura C's speech
was an example of a Tall Tales speech, and the Tall Tales and Humorous
speech contest is next week. Everyone is encouraged to participate.

Liz M, area governor, took a few minutes to remind us that the area
Tall Tales and Humorous speech contest is coming up, and she hopes that
there is one contestant for each contest from our club. She also will be
looking for judges for the area contest. Liz reminded us about the
Distinguished Club Plan, the 10 points that we should strive to earn, and
the 11th point, which is to have 20 members or more at the end of the year.

Note from the VP of Ed (that's me!): At this point, we should be able to
make President's Distinguished Club again. The following people are
planning to complete designations this year:
CTM: Bill S
Lori G
Gadder F
Jerry V

ATM: Kelly T
Mark H or Mike C, whichever finishes first

CL: Keri O
Eddie K (complete!)

The only other points which may prove difficult are getting new members.
Gadder and Stacia both count toward the total for the year, but that leaves
6 more new members needed. Keep asking those friends and co-workers to
come to our meetings as guests!