Meeting Notes - April 14

The Middlesex County Toastmasters enjoyed meeting in the cozy Pub Room at the Village of South Farms on Thursday, April 14th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Ann-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Pamela Mulready, Janki Nambi, Michael Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Michele Rousseau, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani.

The meeting was opened at 7pm by our Sergeant-at-Arms, Ramesh. Charnaie opened the business meeting by welcoming our three newest members, Michele, Janki, and Helena, with their new member pins. She then updated Middlesex’s progress in the Distinguished Club Program (9 points out of a possible ten, officially we have President’s Distinguished Club status after the April 1st club renewals). Charnaie pointed out that we need just one more CC for the 10th point, with a member very close to reaching that goal.

The Area C5 contest was held on Sunday, April 3rd, and Middlesex was well-represented. In the Tall Tales Contest, Tom was the winner and Murali the runner up. In the International Contest, Anne-Marie was the winner. The Division C International and Tall Tales Contests will be held on Tuesday, April 26 from 6:30-9:30pm at the Fellowship Community Church, 24 South Road, Marlborough, CT. Everyone is encouraged to come cheer on Tom and Anne-Marie!

On April 28th, we will have a guest speaker, Walter Breveridge, giving his workshop, “How to Write a Speech in 15 Minutes”. Walter is traveling from New York, and members are encouraged to bring guests and fill the room for him. Following Walter’s workshop, some speakers will try their hands at writing speeches using the skills just learned.

There will be a speech-a-thon on May 5th at Luther Ridge at Middletown. (Luther Ridge is on Congdon Street, off Route 217 in Middletown). There are four slots left (fill in your name in the “notes” section of the duty roster). Four speakers will receive formal evaluations, and four will receive “round robin” evaluations from the members present.

Officer elections for the next Toastmaster year (starting in July) will be held on May 26th. Anyone seeking a leadership role should see the Immediate Past President, Cheryl, for more information.

Michael O’Brien was the evening’s Toastmaster, with the meeting theme, “Planning Ahead.”

One of our newest members, Janki, presented the work of the day, “Adopt”. It means to choose or take as one’s own, make one’s own by selection or assent, or to take and rear as one’s own child, by a formal legal act.

Our Invocator, Rob, quoted from the poem, “The Waste Land,” which begins with those famous words, “April is the cruelest month…”. He reminded us that it’s time to get up and get moving!

Tom, our Humorist, had us rolling, after he told a story of dire consequences caused by just leaving one letter out of an email address: a recent widow was convinced her husband was in hell, and that she was joining him there the next day!

The evening’s technicians introduced their roles: Jackie as Timer, Jen as Grammarian, and Ramesh as Ah-Counter.

Our Table Topics Master, Charnaie, divided us into two groups and gave us keywords to lead us in “Three Line Scenes” (as we first learned in the Sea-Tea Improv workshop a few weeks ago). It was great fun and gave everyone a chance to participate in Table Topics.

We had four prepared speeches:

Michele presented her Icebreaker, “Russo vs. Rousseau”, evaluated by Anne-Marie.

Jonathan presented speech #3 in the CC Manual (objective: Get to the Point), “Becoming a Granite Member of the Cambodian Medical Clinic”, which was evaluated by Siva Digavalli.

Pam presented her ninth speech (#10 in the CC Manual, objective: Inspire your Audience), “Why Don’t I do the Things I know are Good for me?” Her speech was evaluated by John.

Rob’s speech was #2 in the CC Manual (objective: Organize Your speech). “Casey Martin and Aristotle” was evaluated by Kay.

Arun was our General Evaluator, with assistance from technicians Janki (Wordmaster) Ramesh (Ah Counter), Jen (Grammarian), and Jackie (Timer).

In his comments on the meeting as a whole, Arun commented that once again Ramesh had done a great job of getting the room set up and organized, Kay had sent emails to get the roster filled, and this was another example of the well-organized meetings that the club is famous for.

To conclude the meeting, Charnaie mentioned that the Sea-Tea Improv Troupe was putting on a presentation in Hartford on Sunday, April 17 from 4-6:30pm ($20). She, Jackie, and Tom were going, if anyone was interested.

John, our Treasurer, and the VP Membership, Murali, were given kudos for their excellent teamwork in getting so many membership renewals done in such a timely way (making housecalls if necessary!)

Kay presented Michele with “Icebreaker” candies and congratulations in honor of her Icebreaker speech.

From the floor: There are two upcoming hikes: April 23rd at Miller’s Pond in Durham and May 7th at Louis Nizet’s house in Haddam (email Tom Alvord for more information if interested in participating in either hike).

The Foodshare Walk Against Hunger will be held on Sunday, May 1st in Hartford (on the grounds of the Hartford Insurance Company). Email Jen Cimilluca for more information, if you are interested in participating.

Anne-Marie announced that the Buttonwood Tree has an open mic night every Monday, where you could get some additional practice for your speeches outside the club. Sign ups begin at 7:30, with the open mic starting at 8pm.


The meeting concluded at 8:53pm.

Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.


Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Area Contest Results

Middlesex County Toastmasters hosted the Area C5 Speech Contest on Sunday, April 3.

Winners:
Tall Tales Contest: Tom Alvord
International Speech Contest: Anne-Marie Cannata

These two Middlesex members will represent our Area at the Division C contest:

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Location : Fellowship Community Church, 24 South Road, Marlborough, CT
Contact : Cheryl Mason divc53@district53toastmasters.org

Congratulations to Tom and Anne-Marie!