Meeting, Thursday, March 11, 2010 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340


Last night we held our International & Tall Tales Speech Contest. If you missed the meeting – you missed a fun time!

Members present: Amy Alvord, Tom Alvord, Jen Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Deb Nason, Ramesh Padavala, Emily O’Brien, Mike O’Brien, Dianne Olsen, Murali Pemmaraju, Michael Perlman, Pete Plotica, Rob Schaff, and Arun Sodani. Guests: Barrington Gordon (Charnaie’s husband), Jonathan Martin, Frances Ocansey (Charnaie’s mother-in-law), and Eric Roise.

Jonathan Martin and Eric Roise joined our Club tonight! Welcome Eric and Jonathan!

President Cheryl Mason began the meeting with business. She gave out awards to Dianne Olsen and Rob Schaff. Dianne earned the Competent Communicator (CC) award and Rob earned the Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB) which is quite an achievement. Congratulations Dianne and Rob!

Other business:
· Our Club is in the top 10 in our District for meeting educational goals!
· March 25, Open House, with special guest Jerry Aiyathurai
· April 1, extra meeting, held at The Village at South Farms
· April 8, Area C5 Spring Speech Contest, hosted by our club; also participating will be Cheshire, Cromwell Community, Holy Apostles, and Wallingford Clubs
· If you have not already done so, please submit your dues to John Keppler before April 1 for the six-month renewal

Cheryl was the Contest Master and “expertly” led the speeches.
International Speeches:
Winner – Charnaie Gordon, “Mama Dot”
2nd Place – Mike O’Brien, “Attitudes of Gratitude”
3rd Place – Jen Cimilluca, “When Molasses Ran Fast in January”

Tall Tales
Winner – Tom Alvord

Congratulations to all our contestants! We heard 4 superb speeches. Our best goes out to our winners, Charnaie and Tom as they compete in the Area C5 Spring Contest! In the event that Charnaie would not be able to give her speech, Mike will then compete.

Area Governor, Rob Schaff was the Chief Judge. He did an excellent job explaining all the briefings, rules and results.
Kay Jeyapalan was the Contest Chair who put this meeting all together. Kay did an “outstanding job planning.”

Other roles:
Sargent at Arms: Pete Plotica
Judges: Dianne, John, Murali, and Ramesh
Timers: Deb and Mike
Ballot Counters: Emily and Pete

Thank you to all for your participation in tonight’s Speech Contest. Also, thanks to everyone who brought refreshments – they were very enjoyable!

Jen made an announcement that she is putting together a team of Toastmasters for a Walk Against Hunger to be held on May 2 in Hartford. She is also looking for a savvy name for our team, so if you have any suggestions and/or would like to walk, send her an email.

Comments by visitors:
Barrington “…well thought out, done, and executed…”
Eric (now a member) “…very interesting… great variety…”
Frances “interesting…learned a lot…”
Jonathan (now a member) “…really exciting…enjoyed the stories…”

Respectfully,
Dianne Olsen, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club