04-20-06 Meeting SUmmary

Theme: The Moon

Toastmaster: Kim C.

Guests: Sharon
Jen
Jeff

Word of the Day: Mike C. – very few “ahs” and “ums”
- Gardens in wheelbarrows
- Word of the Day used twice

Timer: Dan

Times: Keri – 9:30
Lori – 12:55
Dave – 3:28
Marian – 2:35
Betsy – 2:00

Speaker #1: Keri O.
- Spoke about how to grow tomatoes for the State Fair.
- She loves tomatoes.
- Told us her secrets.
o Right location.
§ Sandy, rich sail.
§ Plant in planter in garden.
o Right variety.
§ Plant size, structure.
§ Fruit size and color.
§ Disease resistance.
§ The larger the tomato, the longer it takes to ripe.
o Planting and caring of plants.
§ Plant leaves at ground level.
§ Use the right fertilizer.
§ Water regularly.
§ Use cages and stakes.

Speaker #2: Lori G.
- Spoke about 5 top radio stations in the metro area.
o KTIS/98.5
§ Christian rock.
§ No paid advertisements.
§ Listen to because:
· No commercials.
· 75-80 million listen to Christian rock.
· Fastest growing type of music.
· Positive, up lifting.
· Reflects core values.
· Chuck & John Morning show
o KDWB/101.3
§ Pop, hip hop
§ Gets paid advertisements to stay in business.
o KQRS/92.5
§ Classic rock and roll.
§ Gets paid advertisements to stay in business.
o WLTE/102.9
§ Light rock.
§ Gets paid advertisements to stay in business.
o K102/102.1
§ Country music.
§ Gets paid advertisements to stay in business.


Humor/Inspiration: Betsy
- Retiring from being an adult.
- Becoming an 8 year old.
- Wants to live a simple lifestyle again.
- Very uplifting, brought us back to our childhood.

Evaluator #1: Dave
- Good eye contact.
- No use of notes.
- Good use of visuals.
- Limited with gestures because of wireless mouse.

Evaluator #2: Marian
- Great emotional appeal.
- Next time rely on notes less.
- Overall, a great speech.

General Evaluator: Kurt
- Timing was an issue.
- Overall, a great meeting.
- Spirit Award: Keri O.
- Keri also attained her ATM-B.

03-30-06 Meeting Summary

heme: Daylight Savings

Word of the Day: Nocturnal

Toastmaster: Mary Ellen

Wordmaster/Grammarian: Mark

Timer: Laura

Speech #1: Fundamentals of Life presented by Jerry (9:02)

Jerry spoke about the importance of risk management. Jerry is a part of the Financial Planning team at Securian. He told us insurance is the transfer of risk of one to many.

Part of the premium you pay go into a reserve to pay the insured if needed. For example, if Jerry passes away, then the insurance company would dip into their reserves to pay his beneficiary.

Insurance companies use the law of large numbers.

Risk is the uncertainty of loss and here are two types of risk.
Speculative: chance of gain or loss. An example is gambling (non-insurance).
Pure risk: chance of loss only (insurable).

Death benefits are not taxed and you need insurable interest to be a beneficiary (related by blood, marriage, or a business partner)

Types of insurance.
Term Life: lowest in cost, covers a certain period of time.
Whole Life: provides permanent protection for insured.
Universal: works like whole life, insurer pays target interest rate, rates go down, then premiums go up.

Speech #2: Markets presented by Bill (11:55)

Spoke about how to maximize retirement savings.
Retirement depends on your balance sheet.
What you own/401(k), and personal savings

Know how long until you have until retirement and the effects of inflation.
Gave us clues on how to get the most of bang for your buck.

Told us how to pick stocks.
Based on sector.
Based on Industry.
Based on Industry groups.
Based on company.

Strategies.
Buy and hold.
Position trade.
Swing trade.
Day trade.

Technical analysis: looks at ups and downs on stocks and markets.

Table Topicsmaster: Betsy

Question #1: Do you like Daylight Savings?

Response by Eddie (1:05): I enjoy it. Gives me more time to get out and enjoy the outdoors. For example, can run, kayak, hunt, and fly fish for longer during the day. Also, likes how it is lighter when you come to work and leave work.

Question #2: What challenges do you face with Daylight Savings?

Response by Dave (1:06): Does not face challenges because he does not sleep very often. Very anal retentive about his schedule and is on the ball and resets his clocks prior to going to bed the night before.

Evaluator #1: Dan (2:14)

Good use of visual aids.
Good use of vocal variety.
Good use of gestures when Jerry explained parts of his speech.
Good use of pauses.
For next time work on use of visual aids.

Evaluator #2: Gadder (2:16)

Bill’s speech was applicable to everyone.
Very well researched topic.
Liked his ability to introduce technical analysis in terms we can understand.
For next time get to the point sooner.

Inspiration/Humorist: Marian (2:43)

Athletes dilute what a real hero means these days.
There is a man in her neighborhood who is widowed, one armed, and raised his three children on his own.
Very committed to family.
Marian explained why we need to look up to people who are doing the best with what they have, rather than overpaid professional athletes.

General Evaluator: Laura

Overall, a great meeting.

Spirit Award: Marian Johnson

**************************Dues are due, so pay up**************************

03-23-06 Meeting Summary

March 23, 2006
Theme: Winter

Word of the day: Winterkill

Bill S was Toastmaster today and started us off
speaking about how much he likes winter (for real).

Kurt J was our Wordmaster today.

Keri O was our Timer today. She is very
depressed about the recent snow storm as she noticed
the tulips in her yard have experienced winterkill.

Marian J stepped in as our first speaker today.
Her speech, entitled “A Different Journey” will be
performed at the International Competition. Marian
told us of her thoughts of a dark-haired, dark-eyed
child, of how she then read an article about China’s
large amount of children up for adoption, and the call
she received telling her an 18-month year old child
was waiting for her in China.

Lori G was our second speaker. She explained to
us what a schnoodle is. With cute puppy pics on the
screen, and a sample of Lori’s dog’s “play dead”
trick, we got a good feel for what it would be like to
have a schnoodle. What is a schnoodle? It’s a mixed
breed dog of a Schnauzer mother and a Poodle father.
Schnoodles don’t shed and are easily-trained (which is
more than I can say for my airedale terrier at home!).

Mark was our TopicsMaster today.

His question to Eddie:
“What is your favorite holiday classic and why?”

Eddie’s response:
1. My favorite classic is the movie “Christmas
Vacation.” Not only because I like Cousin Eddie, but I
envy the house on the block with the most holiday
lights. I also like the humor this movie brings during
a busy time of the year.

Second question to Laura Griffith:
“What is your favorite winter activity?”

Laura’s response:
1. This past week DayQuil and NyQuil have been her
best friends as her main activity has been sitting on
the couch with a cold. Before the cold, she took her
kids sledding and remembered how much fun sledding was
as a child.



Third question to Betsy Schaller:
“What is your favorite season and why?”

Betsy’s response:
1. Betsy doesn’t like winter. She, like Bill, prefers
fall. Fall is the best because there are no
mosquitoes, and she can wear a sweatshirt while she
takes in the great colors and smells of the season.

Evaluation #1: Gadder F.
He like Lori’s speech- and wondered what a schnoodle
was. He thought her set up could go faster for her
next speech and she could make more use of the floor-
add more movement. He thought she used her visual aids
well; her outline was great, her use of humor added to
the speech, and she appeared calm.

Grammarian Report (Kurt):
Winterkill used twice- by Bill and Keri. Good phrases:
“Far from being spring chickens.”- Marian and “Best
friends have been DayQuil and Nyquil.”- Laura G.
Kurt pointed out Gadder’s ahs and ums at the beginning
of his evaluation.

General Evaluation (Kathy J.):
Overall good meeting with humor added. Liked Kurt’s WM
advice to Gadder. Liked Laura’s topics answer. Loved
Kelly’s humor speech.

Insp/Humor: Kelly T.
Fabulous princess tale.... where the princess dines on
frog legs in the end.

The Spirit Award went to Marian

03-16-06 Meeting Summary

ummary of March 16, 2006Toastmaster's Meeting (with apologies for my
tardiness)

Toastmaster, Kelly T (McBreen), introduced the theme “All Things
Irish” as a theme befitting for the day before St. Patrick’s Day. With a
nod to her very pregnant condition, Kelly referred to how she would be
unable to fully participate in St. Patrick’s Day this year.

Wordmaster/Grammarian, Laura C, selected a word to tie in with St.
Pat’s -- “blarney.” The definition of blarney is smooth, wheedling talk;
sweet-talk, flattery designed to gain favor. The Blarney Stone, is a stone
in Blarney Castle, Ireland, said to make those who kiss it proficient in
the use of blarney.

Speaker #1, Betsy S, gave a speech with the mouth-watering title of
, “Chocolate is Good for You,” which was the fourth speech from the manual
-- “How to Say it.” Betsy pulled us into the topic by referring to a
package of fine chocolates that she and her guests had recently sampled.
She spoke without notes referring only to the main points that she had
written ahead of time on the easel:
· Why it’s good for you
· What’s in it.
· Why it tastes so good.

Betsy told us how high-grade chocolate is higher in cocoa content, cocoa
butter and real vanilla extract while lower grade chocolate is higher in
sugar, fats and oils and preservatives. To illustrate this point, Betsy
read the ingredients on the packages of examples of both low grade and high
chocolate products. The reason that chocolate is good for you is that it
contains, vitamins, minerals, iron, oxalic acid, calcium, theobromine,
favinoids and antioxidants.

The taste of chocolate is determined by the quality of the cocoa beans used
and bitterness is a sign that they were over-roasted. Lower grade
chocolate contains a higher ratio of sugar to cocoa. Advice from Betsy was
Read the labels, Buy the good stuff and Enjoy.

Speaker #2, Gero F “Prologue from Shakespeare’s Henry V.” Gero’s
interpretation of the piece through his delivery was excellent. Gero
explained that this piece was delivered to set the stage for Henry V’s
return to the battlefield of Agincourt in France, to justify his claims and
motivate his troops. As the recently crowned king of England, Henry’s
personal feelings were secondary to his kingly duties. The moral that Gero
takes from this piece is that happiness in life is something everyone has
the power within themselves to achieve. I’ve attached a copy of the
Prologue to the bottom of this Summary.

TableTopics master, Keri O, said that despite her Irish name that she
wasn’t actually Irish.

First question to Mark H was “What kind of lucky charm do you have?

Mark responded by saying that he grew up thinking that he was German, only
later to discover that he was in fact 100 percent Irish. If he had a lucky
charm, it was his grandfather’s DTM badge and he wore it for speech
contests. Along with a note from a member of another Toastmaster Club.

Second Table Topics question went to Eddie K was “Do Irish stereotypes
trouble you?”

Eddie related his experience of the Irish from his visit to Ireland and
said that in general he thinks that the Irish live up to their stereotypes.

And the third question, “What do the Irish owe their attributes to?” was
answered by Laura C. With no Irish connections and her
Freach/Canadian ancestry Laura struggled with a response. Her answer was
evaluated as a good stall technique.

Evaluator # 1 Laura G complimented Betsy on her opening and how she
had moved out in front of the table. She particularly liked some of the
phrases that Betsy had used including “beneficial bonbons.” She said that
Betsy had used props well for part of her speech.

Kathy J evaluated Gero’s speech. She suggested that the formal part
of the presentation, the reading of the Prologue, could have been from the
podium, which would have provided a contrast with his commentary on the
piece. She complimented Gero on his delivery

Inspiration was provided by Dan B. Dan related how the two biggest
disappointments of his life had occurred on St Patrick’s Days – March 17,
1978 when he had the task of creating the green shamrock shakes at
McDonald's. Second event occurred on March 17, 1981, on learning that
green beer didn’t come that way out of the pump

Laurie G provided the General Evaluation. She said that Kelly
provided excellent segues as Toastmaster and that overall the meeting was
very funny.


PROLOGUE from Shakespeare’s Henry V

Enter Chorus
Chorus
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire
Crouch for employment. But pardon, and gentles all,
The flat unraised spirits that have dared
On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth
So great an object: can this cockpit hold
The vasty fields of France? or may we cram
Within this wooden O the very casques
That did affright the air at Agincourt?
O, pardon! since a crooked figure may
Attest in little place a million;
And let us, ciphers to this great accompt,
On your imaginary forces work.
Suppose within the girdle of these walls
Are now confined two mighty monarchies,
Whose high upreared and abutting fronts
The perilous narrow ocean parts asunder:
Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts;
Into a thousand parts divide on man,
And make imaginary puissance;
Think when we talk of horses, that you see them
Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth;
For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,
Carry them here and there; jumping o'er times,
Turning the accomplishment of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history;
Who prologue-like your humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.

03-02-06 Meeting Summary

ATTENDEES: Kathy J., Laura G., Keri O., Dan B., Eddie K. Mike C., Marian J., Laura C.
GUESTS: Angie D.

Kathy J. lead an incredible meeting with her theme, “The Incredible Edible Egg”. Who would have thought that eggs would elicit such stories from our duty holders!

Our speakers were Marian J. and Laura C.. Marian presented her contest speech again to prepare for today’s (March 7th) Area Contest at Burlington Northern. <<>> In her speech, “More than Marketing”, Marian discusses the ways that Communications gets involved with bringing a product to market. At Minnesota Life, an insurance product likely begins in the mind of an actuary. The concept leads to a design and eventually production/manufacturing and promotion. Since actuaries can be enthusiastic or can put you to sleep, Communications helps to organize the product in a way that the average consumer and field force can understand it—at that point, “The baby has been born.” (Speech Time: 5:20)

Laura told us “Red’s Tale”, the story of the shelter mascot where Laura volunteers. Red arrived in a police car in 1996. He has 26 toes and weighs 21 pounds. Being really crabby, he wasn’t deemed adoptable, so became the shelter mascot and “Chief Paper Shuffler”. As the Chief Paper Shuffler, Red attended many community events, schools, and parades. Four years ago, however, he was diagnosed with Feline Idiopathic Chylothorax; his lungs are filling up with fluid and drowning him. He wasn’t expected to live very long—that was four years ago! Two months later, a second opinion yielded the same results and twice his lungs have been aspirated, yielding two cups of fluid. Today, Red is retired, but still conducts midnight seminars at the shelter for all of his buddies. He is given a human dietary supplement to absorb fluids, though he hates having them shoved down his throat! As Red sinks into retirement, the baton is being passed to the Minnesota Valley Humane Society’s “Fab Five”: two cats (Casey Jane and Emme Anne who, when combined, have more toes than Red), Lil’ DUB (Doesn’t Use Litterbox), and Mr. Java Jingles (the Chief Dog Tester). Big Red still cooresponds with other pets, maintains his web blog (www.mvhspets.org/redhealth.htm), and reminds those that know him that very day with Big Red is a special occasion. (Speech Time: 9:30)

Dan B. posed several questions to members in attendance. Angie Dys told us how they would put Humptey Dumptey together again with today’s medical technology. She said that medicine today can solve ANY man’s problem and most of the time, it will be covered by health insurance. For Humptey Dumptey, doctors will surround him for days, if necessary, and put him back together; then, insurance will pay for it!

Mike C. shared with us the rides that he can’t go on anymore. Since Mike’s neck isn’t as good as it used to be, he’s hoping that doctors will be able to mend it! Until then, the Scrambler gives him a stiff neck and he has a phobia of roller coasters of all types. Therefore, “the swing thing” and “pedal thing on the train tracks” are the only rides that aren’t too bad. Unfortunately for Mike, Jack seems to love rides, so he’s forced to go with him! (Table Topics Response Time: 1:48)

Keri O. told us what she likes and dislikes about department stores pushing the next season. She doesn’t like that you can’t buy anything to wear if an occasion comes up to go out tomorrow night, but she does like when they rush the candy! (Table Topics Response Time: 1:10)

Eddie K. evaluated Laura’s speech. He commended Laura on her choice of topics to fulfill the speech’s requirements and the rollercoaster of emotions that she took us on. To improve the speech, Eddie would have like to have heard mention of the “Fabulous Five” in the introduction. (Evaluation Time: 2:45)

In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and Kathy’s theme of “The Incredible Edible Egg”, Laura Griffith inspired everyone to try something new today with her retelling of the story “Green Eggs and Ham” followed by serving green eggs to everyone who would try them! (I/H Time: 4:40)

Keri O. evaluated the meeting, commenting that overall it went well. We were forced to start late due to late arrivals, but Kathy handled it well, introduced Angie, and used the theme well. Keri suggested stronger leadership of clapping for improvements. Dan’s Table Topics Questions were open ended and the responses were good mini-speeches. Next, Keri shared with us the story of her husband, Bob, who was 40 years old before trying an apple (she thinks the guy that Sam talks to in “Green Eggs in Ham” must be named Bob!). Keri tried to get Bob to try apples in apple sauce, juice, candy, and pie. The pie was finally a success, but only when loaded with ice cream. After trying it, Bob took a second bite, and a third!

Spirit Award: Laura C. & Laura G.