Meeting Notes - January 26

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, January 26, at our primary meeting place at Middlesex Community College. Twelve club members and one guest enjoyed an entertaining and educational meeting.

Business Meeting Notes:

• Club President Kay Jeyaplan informed us that our club now has 8 out of 10 points towards the Distinguished Club Program.

• There is a District Training program at Middlesex Community College on Monday, 1/30. Following this training, the club should have 9 of 10 points, achieving President's Distinguished status.

• Rob Schaff informed us that the club website will be converted to a new platform this week. There will be a new look, a new login procedure, and a new method for signup up for meeting roles.


Arun Sodani was our Toastmaster for the evening. Jennifer Cimilluca provided the Invocation and filled in as the Humorist.

Murali Pemmaraju was our General Evaluator, and was supported by Michael O'Brien (Ah-counter and Ha-counter), Jonathan Herron (Grammarian), and John Keppler (Timer). Kay gave us the Word of the Day ("munificent", very generous).

Ramesh Padavala served as Table-Topics Master, and provided each participant with their choice of two questions. Our guest, Kim Toledo, participated in Table Topics and did a great job.

Prepared speeches:

• Michael O'Brien gave an Ice-Breaker speech, entitled "My Experience in Toastmasters." His speech explored the advantages of belonging to Toastmasters, and the positive impact it has had on him. His speech was evaluated by John Keppler.

• Siva Digavalli gave the "Your Body Speaks" project from the CC manual, titled, "My Experiment with My Daughter's Elementary School Science Project." His speech was evaluated by Jennifer.

• Helena Grey gave a persuasive speech called "Self-Actualization, evaluated by Rob.

• Jonathan Herron have an impromptu speech, persuading the audience that the Giants will definitely beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl. His speech was evaluated by Helena.

Our next meeting will be on February 9. See you then!

Members Present:

Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, and Omar Taliawi.

Guests Present: Kim Toledo

Respectfully submitted,
Rob