Middlesex County Toastmasters - Club News

Don't miss our Open House

2012-02-25T20:54:00.001-05:00

Bowling @ Bowl-O-Rama

2012-02-25T20:50:00.003-05:00

Meeting Notes - February 23, 2012

2012-02-24T17:15:00.002-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, February 23, at Middlesex Community College. We had 19 in attendance, 16 members and 3 guests. Our meeting featured a first-time Toastmaster, another Competent Communicator added to our ranks, and a new member joining the club.

Members Present:

Patricia Alston, Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Helen Evrard, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Mike Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O'Brien, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, Chris Sullivan, and Judy Thompson.

Guest Present:

• Kim Toledo, who became our newest club member at the conclusion of the meeting

• Kirti Sodani, who came back for her second visit

• Linnae Gould, a first-time visitor who lives in Portland, CT

At the start of the meeting, Club President Kay Jeyapalan announced that we have officially achieved President's Distinguished Club status. This is the 7th straight year that the club has achieved this highest level of recognition. Congratulations, Middlesex County Toastmasters!
Chris Sullivan was the Toastmaster for this evening. This was Chris's first turn at Toastmaster, and he made it look easy. Murali Pemmaraju provided the invocation, and Helen Evrard provided a humorous story. Murali was the General Evaluator, and was supported by Arun Sodani (Ah-counter), Anne-Marie Cannata (Grammarian), and Helena Grey (Timer).

Kay provided the Word of the Day ("exultant"; overjoyed, thrilled), and the club members did a great job of using the word through-out the meeting. Rob Schaff was the Table-Topics Master, and used a set of inspirational quotes that he received from World Champion of Public Speaking Darren LaCroix as the topics.

Prepared speeches:

• Jonathan Herron presented his 10th speech from the CC manual, earning his Competent Communicator award. His speech, entitled "What Is Your Fairytale?", was evaluated by Kay. Congratulations, Jonathan!

• Tom Alvord gave a speech about his Toyota Prius, which was evaluated by Mike O'Brien.

• Sally Nicastre gave a speech about her experiences on the Connecticut Wine Trail, evaluated by Tom.

• Judy Thompson presented a speech on her trip down the Colorado River, entitled "Never Knew I Was a River Rat." Her speech was evaluated by Michael Nicastre.

Tom talks about his Prius

Our next meeting will be our Spring Club Speech Contest, on Thursday, March 8. We are still looking for contestants for both the International and Tall Tales contests. See you there!

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB

Meeting Notes - February 9, 2012

2012-02-10T17:29:00.003-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, February 9, at Middlesex Community College. Twenty-one public speaking fans were in attendance, including 17 members and 4 wonderful guests. This meeting featured one member giving their very first speech, and one member achieving their Competent Communicator award by giving their 10th speech.

Members Present:

Patricia Alston, Tom Alvord, John Bell, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Omar El-Taliawi, Helen Evrard, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Chris Sullivan.

Guest Present:

• Mary Essue, who recently moved from Florida to Connecticut

• Dave Pelland, a member of Park City Toastmasters and brother to our own Jennifer Cimilluca

• Kirti Sodani, who is married to long-time club member Arun Sodani

• Kim Toledo, a second-time visitor to our club from Middletown

At the business meeting, Club President Kay Jeyapalan recognized new members Patricia Alston and Helen Evrard with their official membership pins.

Arun Sodani was once again our Toastmaster. Charnaie Gordon provided the invocation, and Ramesh Padavala told a very humorous joke. Jonathan Herron was the General Evaluator, and was supported by Tom Alvord (Ah-counter), Helen Evrard (Grammarian), and Jennifer Cimilluca (Timer). Chris Sullivan provided the Word of the Day ("bombast", pretentious, inflated speech), and Jonathan managed to use the word twice.

Kay Jeyapalan was the Table-Topics Master, and provided a mix of group exercises and solo topics.

Prepared speeches:

• Omar El-Taliawi gave his Ice-Breaker speech, fittingly entitled "A Little About Myself." His speech was evaluated by Helena Grey.

• Rob Schaff gave a speech from the Special Occasions Manual, speaking in praise about "My Marathon Mentor." His speech was evaluated by Kim Price.

• Murali Pemmaraju gave us some insight into his speech preparation methods with a project from the Humorously Speaking advanced manual. His speech was titled, "How I Cook My Speech," and was evaluated by Tom Alvord.

• Helena Grey presented her 10th speech from the CC manual, earning the Competent Communicator award. Her moving speech was titled, "Of Men and Honor", and was evaluated by Charnaie Gordon.

The feedback from our guests shows that our club continues to make visitors feel comfortable and welcome at Middlesex. Our next meeting will be Thursday, Feb. 23. See you there!

Respectfully submitted,

Rob
Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB

Meeting Notes - January 26

2012-01-27T14:33:00.000-05:00

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

Speech-a-thon notes, January 18

2012-01-20T13:21:00.003-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters and Wallingford Eagle Toastmasters joined together on Wednesday, January 18, 2012, at Middlesex Mutual Assurance Company, 213 Court Street, Middletown for a Joint Speech-A-Thon in 2012.

There were 5 truly amazing well-prepared speeches by two Middlesex members and three Eagle Club members! A well organized meeting as usual with refreshments! Thanks to Murali for a job well done. Members stepped up to take various roles at the last minute. John Keppler stepped up to give a speech at the very last minute as he has always done to help the club. Helen Evrard, our newest member, stepped up to be the Grammarian! Thank you so much Helen. Helen was so conscientious in giving constructive feedback to all of us. It takes genuine concentration and energy to give such a detail and useful feedback. Murali Pemmaraju, VPE of Middlesex County Toastmasters Club, was the Toastmaster of the evening and did a superb job!!!

Members Present:
Middlesex Club - Jennifer Cimilluca, Helen Evrard, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’ Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju.
Eagle Club: Ute Brinkmann, Catherine Kelly, Rachel Mele.

Guest Present: Janaman Swalsing

Our Sergeant At Arms started the meeting on time at 7:00 p.m.

Our Toastmaster, Murali, was supported by Ute Brinkmann (Timer), Ah Counter (Ramesh Padavala), and Grammarian ( Helen Evrard). Helen Evrard presented the Word of the Day, “Genuine” meaning authentic or true. Ramesh Padavala was our General Evaluator.

Kay Jeyapalan was the Invocator.

Prepared Speeches:

Rachel Mele presented “Emailaholics Anonymous,” Humorously Speaking Manual, Her speech was evaluated by Jennifer Cimilluca.

Emily O’Brien presented “Special Dog,” Competent Communication Manual, Project Vocal Variety. Her speech was evaluated by Catherine Kelly.

Catherine Kelly gave a speech “My Journey in Toastmasters,” Competent Communication Manual, Project Ice Breaker. Her speech was evaluated by Michael O’Brien.

John Keppler’s speech was “Do you have the Courage?” Competent Communication Manual, Persuade with Power. His speech was evaluated by Rachel Mele.

Ute Brinkmann gave a speech “Who Am I,” Interpretive Reading –Monodrama. Her speech was evaluated by Jonathan Herron.

Murali Pemmaraju thanked everyone for bringing the refreshments and taking part in organizing the meeting. Eagle and Middlesex members expressed interest in organizing a Joint Speech-A-Thon again. Kay Jeyapalan applauded all for attending the meeting and contributing towards speeches and various roles.

Our special thanks goes to Jonathan Herron for arranging the room at his work place and welcoming all the members at the entrance as we walked in.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kay Jeyapalan, CC, ALB
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club # 8340

Meeting Notes, January 12, 2012

2012-01-16T10:11:00.000-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, January 12, 2012, at Middlesex Mutual Assurance Company, 213 Court Street, Middletown for our first meeting in 2012. It was another wonderful meeting with 4 great speeches and members stepping up to take more than one role. Emily O’Brien was our Toastmaster for the evening and did a fantastic job!

Members Present: Jay Broderick, Siva Digavali, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’ Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Arun Sodani, Chris Sullivan, Judy Thompson

Guests Present: Helen Evrard

Business Meeting:

Kay Jeyapalan announced that the meeting on January 26th will be at our regular location, Middlesex Community College, 100 Training Hill Road, Middletown, Chapman Hall, Room 808 D. There will be an Officer Training on January 30th at the same location from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.. You don’t need to be an officer to attend this program. Please see the attached flyer for more information. The club’s Open House will be on March 22nd, more information will follow. Kim Price received an e-mail from the Headmaster of a private school in Waterbury-Chase Collegiate School asking whether our members will volunteer to be judges for their public speaking events. The time is 8:00 – 11:00 during the workday. Kay will find out the dates of these events. The description of the program is attached.

Murali Pemmaraju announced that our joint Speech-A-Thon with Eagle Club will be on January 18th at MiddleOak Building, 213 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Wilcox Room. Bowling will take place on Saturday, February 18th, 2:00 p.m., @ Bowl-O-Rama, 2143 Berlin Tpke, Newington, Ph: (860) 666-5411. Our Spring Contest, International and Tall Tales, will be held on March 8th. There is no requirement to participate in the Tall Tales Contest. However, you need to have completed 6 speeches on your Competent Communication Manual in order to compete in the International Speech Contest. Contact Murali if you want to take part in the contest as either contestants or various roles.

Our Toastmaster, Emily, was supported by Jay Broderick (Timer), Ah-Ha Counter (Murali Krishna Pemmaraju), and Grammarian (Guest Helen Evrard). Jay Broderick presented the Word of the Day, “Kudos” meaning praise given for achievement. Michael O’ Brien was our General Evaluator.

Kay was the Humorist. Judy was our Table Topics Master and she asked the audience topics related to “weather.” Everyone got a chance to speak at the meeting.

Prepared Speeches:

Jonathan Herron presented “Local Medical Treatment is Important,” Competent Communication Manual, Project #8, Get Comfortable With Visual Aids. His speech was evaluated by Siva Digavali.

Cheryl Mason presented “Purposefully Positive” Competent Communication Manual, Project #9, Persuade With Power. Her speech was evaluated by Ramesh.

Arun Sodani gave a speech “Camping 101” Competent Communication Manual, Project #9, Persuade with Power. His speech was evaluated by Cheryl Mason.

Chris Sullivan’s speech was “No Goal is Out of Sight” Competent Communication Manual, Project #6, Vocal Variety. His speech was evaluated by Arun Sodani.

Thanks to all who stepped up to take various roles at the last minute. Our special thanks to guest Helen Evrard for taking the “Grammarian” role at the last minute. Kudos to Helen. She did a thorough job!!!

Respectfully Submitted,

Kay Jeyapalan, CC, ALB

Meeting Notes - December 08, Movie Night

2011-12-09T13:14:00.001-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, December 8, at Middlesex Community College, for our last meeting of 2011. Fifteen members and two guests were in attendence for a special Movie Night, featuring the Toastmasters video "Magic Moments 2".

Charnaie Gordon was our Toastmaster. Charnaie added to our Movie Night theme by mixing in some movie trivia, and rewarding correct answers with popcorn. Kay Jeyapalan provided the invocation, and Murali Pemmaraju was our Humorist.

Ramesh Padavala was our General Evaluator, and was supported by Jennifer Cimilluca (Ah-counter and Ha-counter), Rob Schaff (Grammarian), and Murali (Timer). Judy Thompson gaves us the Word of the Day ("ardent", enthusiastic or passionate). Judy presented the word as a scramble, and Jennifer was the first to figure it out. Charnaie also served as Table-Topics Master.

Prepared speeches:

• Helena Grey presented a Christmasy speech entitled, "Ornaments and Stuff," as project #8 from the Competent Communicator manual. She supported her speech with a variety of seasonal visual aids, including Christmas ornaments, candy canes, and mistletoe. Her speech was expertly evaluated by Michael O'Brien.

Movie Night

In the second hour of the meeting, we watched the movie, "Magic Moments 2". This movie was a collection of great moments from the Toastmasters International Speech Contest, from 2001-2003. A transcript of the movie is attached to this email.

The movie was narrated by David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking. You can learn more about David Brooks and access free public speaking resources at his web site:
http://www.davidbrookstexas.com/

We had two guests visit the club, Pat and Omar. Both guests recognized that Toastmasters can be a fun and supportive way to improve their public speaking and get more comfortable in front of an audience. We hope to see them both again in 2012!

Our next meeting will be on January 12. This meeting will be held at MiddleOak in downtown Middletown. Details about directions and parking will be sent out prior to the meeting.

Members Present:

Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Monica Lozano, Emily O'Brien, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, and Judy Thompson.

Guests Present: Patricia Alston, Omar Taliawi

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB

Notes from Dist 53 Conference

2011-11-21T10:38:00.001-05:00

The District 53 Fall Conference was held on Saturday, November 19, at the Heritage Hotel in Southbury, CT. Our Middlesex County Toastmasters club was well-represented. Ten of our members attended the conference, and they were very involved - helping to organize the conference, introduce the guest speakers, and serving as judges for the speech contests. This is an outstanding turn-out from our club.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, Jacqueline Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, and Rob Schaff.

The conference featured a keynote address from Rory Vaden, the runner-up in the 2007 International Speech Contest. There were outstanding educational sessions, two excellent speech contests, and lots of opportunities for networking and socializing.

Table-Topics Contest Results:

Christy Minshall
Malcolm Dickinson
Richard Frantz Jr (Division C)

Humorous Speech Contest Results:

Pratik Joshi
Gregor Wynnyczuk
Henry Greene

The District Conference is a great way to renew your motivation, network with members for our club, and meet new friends from the other clubs in the District. The next district conference will be held on May 19, 2012, in East Hartford, CT. You can learn more about the Spring conference and register online at the District 53 website: http://www.district53toastmasters.org/

Our next club meeting will be on December 8, and this will be a special "Movie Night" meeting. Hope to see you all there!

Respectfully submitted,

Rob

Meeting Notes - November 17

2011-11-18T16:04:00.001-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, November 17, at Middlesex Community College. Fifteen members were in attendence.

Jennifer Cimilluca was our Toastmaster. Murali Pemmaraju provided the invocation and a humorous joke. Tom Alvord was the General Evaluator, and was supported by Rob Schaff (Ah-counter), Emily O'Brien (Grammarian), and Chris Sullivan (Timer). Chris also read the Word of the Day ("burgeon", to grow or develop quickly).

Ramesh Padavala was the Table-Topics Master. Ramesh got many members involved with questions around the theme of Thanksgiving.

Prepared speeches:

• Jonathon Herron presented his speech, "Children at Risk, How One Couple Decided to Help," and won favor with the audience by distributing Hershey Kisses before his speech. The speech was evaluated by Judy Thompson.

• Helena Grey presented "To Crush a Crash", a research-based speech on the proper way to handle many dangerous driving situations. Her speech was evaluated by Kay Jeyapalan.

• Jay Broderick presented speech #3 from the Competent Communcator manual, "Introduction to Occupational Fraud for Small Businesses". His speech was evaluated by Michael O'Brien.

Our next meeting will be on December 8, and this will be a special "Movie Night" meeting. Hope to see you all there!

Members Present:

Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Jennifer Cimilluca, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Monica Lozano, Emily O'Brien, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Chris Sullivan, and Judy Thompson.

Meeting Notes - November 10

2011-11-14T07:13:00.001-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters heard special guest speaker Leslie Karen Hammond present “Evaluate to Stimulate” when they last met on Thursday, November 10, 2011. We had another treat in hearing Division C Governor Sharon Roth give a speech as well.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, John Bell, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Arun Sodani, Chris Sullivan, Judy Thompson.

Guests Present: Michael Aron, Doug Compton, Leslie Karen Hammond, Sharon Roth.

Business Meeting:

Our president, Kay, announced that our next two meetings will be on November 17th and December 8th (a “Movie Night”, organized by Emily).

Our Vice President Education, Murali, reminded us that the District 53 Fall Conference will be held on Saturday, November 19th in Southbury, CT. More information can be found at http://tinyurl.com/D53Conference.

On January 18th, we will having a speech-a-thon with the Wallingford Eagles Toastmasters club (location TBD). Four speakers from each club will participate.

Murali announced that Pam Mulready, after two years of guiding our mentoring program, has had to step down because of increased work commitments. Anyone interested in leading the mentoring program should contact Murali.

Kay was our Toastmaster, aided by the Wordmaster, Murali (“gingerly”, meaning cautiously, carefully); the Ah-Counter, Charnaie; the Ha-Counter, Michael Nicastre (in the role’s debut at Middlesex); the Grammarian, Chris; the Timer, Judy; and the General Evaluator, Ramesh.

Charnaie was our Invocator, and Tom was the Humorist. During Table Topics, Emily asked questions about motivational topics to Kim, Arun, Jay, Murali, Cheryl, John Bell, John Keppler, Sally, Anne-Marie, and our guests Michael Aron and Doug Compton.

Keynote Speech:

Leslie Karen Hammond presented “Evaluate to Stimulate”, which talked about the importance of evaluations, inside and outside of Toastmasters. In a lively and engaging speech, we were reminded that evaluations can change lives, giving evaluations is a privilege, and evaluations can help us learn about ourselves.

Prepared speeches:

Our guest, Sharon Roth, presented “The Wonder Drug”, CC#7 (Objective: Research Your Topic). Her speech was evaluated by Michael O’Brien.
Jen presented Project #4 in the Interpretive Reading Advanced Manual (The Play). “Driving Miss Daisy” was evaluated by Tom.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Kay presented “thank you” gifts from the club to Michael Aron (who delighted us with a speech while visiting our club on September 8th) and to Leslie Hammond, for her wonderful speech that night. She also thanked everyone who brought refreshments for the club to enjoy.

Tom asked those members attending the District 53 Fall Conference on November 19th to consider volunteering at the educational sessions. Each of the seven sessions requires a room monitor and a timer. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Tom.

Our next meeting will be on November 17, at Middlesex Community College.

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer Cimilluca

Good article in WSJ

2011-11-08T12:05:00.001-05:00

Middlesex member Arun Sodani provided this link to a good article about Toastmasters in the Wall Street Journal.

Check it out!

Meeting Notes - October 27

2011-11-03T10:49:00.005-04:00

Thirteen Middlesex County Toastmasters and one guest braved the elements to meet on Thursday, October 27, at Middlesex Community College. The conditions were slippery, but the speeches were excellent.

Ramesh Padavala was our Toastmaster. Our functionaries for this meeting included Emily O'Brien (General Evaluator), Jonathan Herron (Ah-counter), Helena Grey (Grammarian), and Michael O'Brien (Timer). Steven Grey provided the Word of the Day, and Kay Jeyapalan was our Table-Topics Master.

Prepared speeches:

- Helena Grey focused on Vocal Variety with her speech, "The Sociology of Cultures." Her speech was evaluated by Rob Schaff.

- Jennifer Cimilluca brought history to life with her narrative of the day President Reagan was shot, "Rawhide Down - March 30, 1981." Her speech was evaluated by Emily O'Brien.

- Rob Schaff provided a spooky Halloween story, "The Monkey's Paw," evaluated by Jonathan Herron.

- Jacqueline Kirwan presented a poem, working from the Interpretative Reading manual, "The Six Goodbyes of the Eightfold Path." Her speech was evaluated by Jennifer Cimilluca.

With a smaller attendance, a number of people pulled double-duty to make this meeting come together. The result was a well-organized meeting where everyone had lots of chances to participate.

Members Present:

John Bell, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, Jacqueline Kirwan, Emily O'Brien, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, and Rob Schaff.

Guests Present: Monica Lozano

Division C Contest Results

2011-10-26T07:28:00.000-04:00

Table Topics Contest:

1st - Fred Pugh
2nd - Richard Frantz Jr.
3rd - Armelde Pitre

Humorous Speech Contest:

1st - Anokha Ratnayake
2nd - Linda Raitt
3rd - Catherine Bocciarelli

The winners of both contest were terrific. They will be excellent representatives for Division C at the upcoming District Conference on November 19.

Meeting Notes, October 13

2011-10-25T14:44:00.000-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, October 13th, at Middlesex Community College with first-time Toastmaster Emily O’Brien ably guiding 13 members and three guests through the meeting.

Members Present: Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju.
Guests Present: Kay Baker, Monica Lozano, Greg Kline (Middlesex Community College).

Business Meeting:

Our President, Kay, announced that Rob was the runner up in the Area C-33 Humorous Contest, and would compete in the Division contest on October 25th in Marlborough should the area contest winner be unable to (flyer attached for Division Contest). Arun participated in the Table Topics contest, and Jen was the contest’s Sgt. at Arms.
Leslie Hammond will be our guest speaker at the November 10th meeting, giving a talk on evaluations. Our second meeting in November will be on the 17th.

Greg Kline, Director of Institutional Advancement, Middlesex Community College, accepted a donation from the club as our thanks for the use of meeting space at the College during the school year. He spoke about the new College President, Anna Wasescha, the College’s new mission statement, and an upcoming event at the school, the MxCC Scholarship 5K & Kids Fun Run on October 29th (see flyer attached).

Our Vice President Education, Murali, presented Jonathan and Emily with ½ CC certificates in recognition of their having completed five speeches in the Competent Communicator manual.

Our Toastmaster, Emily, was aided by the Timer, Anne-Marie; the Ah-Counter, Michael O’Brien; the Grammarian, Ramesh; the Wordmaster, Helena (“plethora”); and the General Evaluator, Jen.

Anne-Marie was our Invocator, and Kay was the Humorist. Jen asked John, Margarita, Ramesh, Steven, and our guests Kay, Monica, and Greg to share their “Autumn Memories” during Table Topics.

Prepared speeches:

Charnaie presented “A Crappy Attitude” for the fourth project in the Humorously Speaking Manual, “Keep them Laughing”. Her speech was evaluated by Jonathan.
Jonathan gave speech #6 in the CC manual (Vocal Variety), “The Blind Side”. Charnaie evaluated his speech.
Helena presented speech #5 in the CC manual (Your Body Speaks). “True Upward Mobility” was evaluated by Anne-Marie.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Kay reminded the club about the Division Humorous and Table Topics contests on 10/25 in Marlborough. The winners of the Division Contests will compete at the District Contests on November 19th (during the District Conference in Southbury).
Our next meeting will be on October 27th, at Middlesex Community College.
Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer Cimilluca

Speechathon Recap - September 29

2011-09-30T09:48:00.000-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, September 29, at Middlesex Community College for a special Speechathon meeting. We had 16 members and 1 guest in attendance.

Jacqueline Kirwan was our Toastmaster, and she did a masterful job of leading the meeting through 7 prepared speeches. Our functionaries for this meeting included Murali Pemmaraju (GE), Diana Ashton (Ah-counter), Ramesh Padavala (Grammarian), and Emily O'Brien (Timer). Pamela Mulready provided the Word of the Day ("sylvan").

The speechathon provided a great opportunity for our members to fit in 7 more speeches, helping a lot of members move closer to achieving their goals.

Prepared speeches:

• Charnaie Gordon presented a humorous speech from the Humorously Speaking manual, "Walk a Mile in Their Shoes". The speech was evaluated by Jonathon Herron.

• Michael O'Brien presented a persuasive speech, "The Twelve Week Year". His speech was also evaluated by Jonathon.

• Rob Schaff presented "The Underdog", an Abstract Concept speech from the Speaking to Inform manual. The speech was evaluated by Emily.

• Jennifer Cimilluca took on the character of Susan B. Anthony, and presented an Oratorical Speech from the Interpretative Reading manual, "Susan B. Anthony's Constitutional Argument." The group evaluated this speech with a round-robin format.

• Chris Sullivan presented project #2 from the CC manual, "Creating an Influence Network". This speech was evaluated by Pam.

• Judy Thompson presented "Brainstorm Predicted for Friday!", project #3 from the CC manual, evaluated by Jennifer.

• Helena Grey presented project #4 from the CC manual, "Positive Impressions". The speech was evaluated by Charnaie.

Members Present:

Diana Ashton, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Pamela Mulready, Emily O'Brien, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Chris Sullivan, and Judy Thompson.

Guests Present: Paul Dietrich

Fall Speech Contest - September 22

2011-09-23T07:33:00.001-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters held their Fall Speech Contest on Thursday, September 22, at Middlesex Community College. The evening featured two contests, Humorous Speech and Table Topics. We had 21 members and 1 guest in attendence.

Jennifier Cimilluca was the Contest Chair. Jonathon Herron was our Contest Master, and Kay Jeyapalan was the Chief Judge.

Humorous Speech - Results

1. Rob Schaff

2. Mike Nicastre

3. Tom Alvord

Table Topics - Results

1. Tom Alvord

2. Arun Sodani

3. Ramesh Padavala

The contest winners will be competeing at the Area-33 Contest on Wednesday, October 12. This contest will be hosted by the Greater New Haven Toastmasters, and will be held at New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, New Haven.

Members Present:

Tom Alvord, Diana Ashton, John Bell, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Arun Sodani.

Guests Present: Tanya Miuskova, a guest of Anne-Marie.

Our next meeting will be our Speechathon, next week, on September 29.

Respectfully submitted,

Rob

Meeting Notes - September 8

2011-09-09T07:43:00.002-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, September 8, at Middlesex Community College. We had a great turnout for this meeting, with 23 members and 9 guests in attendance.

Rob Schaff was our Toastmaster. Our functionaries for this meeting included Charnaie Gordon (GE), Helena Grey (Ah-counter), Jacqueline Kirwan (Grammarian), and Jennifer Cimilluca (Timer). Jay Broderick provided the Word of the Day (aplomb), and Cheryl Mason was our Table-Topics Master. Cheryl used her experience at the recent Toastmasters International Convention to inspire a great set on table-topics, and included both members and guests in the impromptu speaking.

Prepared speeches:

- Jonathan Herron presented speech #5 from the Competent Communicator manual, "Parenting and Sporting Events". His speech was evaluated by Marsha Kiley.

- Emily O'Brien recounted her experience of learning to drive, "One Memorable Day", as project #5 from the CC manual. Her speech was evaluated by Anne-Marie Cannata.

- Our special guest, Michael Aron, presented our Keynote Speech, "What Is In It For Me". Michael gave a great accounting of the benefits of participating in Toastmasters, especially with regards to the development of self-confidence. Michael's speech was evaluated by Kim Price.

- Rob Schaff used the opportunity of being the Toastmaster to complete project #5 from the Specialty Speeches advanced manual, "Introducing the Speaker." Rob's introductions were evaluated by Michael O'Brien.

Lots of planning went into this meeting, and it really paid off, with excellent speeches, a beautiful meeting space with great refreshments, and a team of participants that came prepared to perform their roles. This was a great start to our fall season, and we look to keep the momentum going with our Fall Speech Contest on September 22.

Welcome aboard!

- Welcome to Diana Ashton, who joined our club following last night's meeting.

Members Present:

Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Mike Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O'Brien, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, and Chris Sullivan

Guests Present: Raja Annu, Judy Aron, Michael Aron, Diana Ashton, Ute Brinkmann, Marsha Kiley, Rose Rita Riccitelli, and Beth Lapin.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB

Meeting Notes - August 25

2011-09-06T09:37:00.001-04:00

Meeting Notes - August 25

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, August 25, at The Village at South Farms. We had 18 members and 2 guests in attendance.

Our next meeting will be on September 8, back at Middlesex Community College. This meeting will feature a special guest speaker, Michael Aron, DTM. Michael's speech is titled, "What Is In It For Me?"

Jennifer Cimilluca was our Toastmaster. Jennifer was assisted by Emily O'Brien (GE), Tom Alvord (Ah-counter), Rob Schaff (Grammarian), and Murali Pemmaraju (Timer and Table-Topics Master).

Prepared speeches:

- Chris Sullivan presented his Ice-Breaker speech, evaluated by Tom Alvord.
- Helena Grey presented a speech on the psychological impact of room colors, evaluated by Jacqueline Kirwan.
- Pamela Mulready presented her final speech from the CC manual, a persuasive speech showing the perils of procrastination. Pam's speech was evaluated by Mike O'Brien.
- John Keppler presented a persuasive speech from the CC manual, challenging us to understand the changes to CT withholding rules. John's speech was evaluated by Arun Sodani.

Congratulations!

- Congratulations to Pam Mulready, who completed her Competent Communicator award.
- Congratulation to guest Chris Sullivan, who completed his Ice-Breaker speech.

Toastmasters International - Winning Speeches
Tom Alvord let us know that, for the first time ever, Toastmasters International published the top 3 winning speeches on YouTube. The links to these videos can be found at
http://www.facebook.com/#!/ToastmastersInternationalOfficialFanPage

Members Present:
Tom Alvord, John Bell, Jennifer Cimilluca, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Pamela Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Murali Pemmaraju, , Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, and Chris Sullivan.

Guests Present: Diana Ashton, Danielle Prushko.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB

Meeting Notes - August 11

2011-08-15T10:22:00.002-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, August 11th, at Luther Ridge, Middletown.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Michele Rousseau, Judy Thompson.

Guest Present: Adam Herman.

Our Sergeant-at-Arms, Jonathan, opened the meeting and turned it over to the club President, Kay. Kay thanked Murali and Michael O’Brien (the evening’s Toastmaster) for organizing the meeting amidst last-minute changes.

Our Toastmaster for the evening was Michael O’Brien, and our theme was “Get Motivated!”

Our Wordmaster was Charnaie, who used the game “Hangman” to present the Word of the Day, “Actuate” (to incite, or to put into action).

The Invocator, Tom, read us the poem, “The Dash” by Linda Ellis.

Our Humorist, Michael Nicastre, told us a joke about Mary and Maude, two women who met outside the gates of Heaven.

Jacqueline, our Table Topics Master, gave questions about motivation to Jonathan, Steven, Judy, Anne-Marie, Margarita, and Michael Nicastre.

We had four prepared speeches:

Our guest Adam, gave a speech called “Broken Politics in America”, which he will be presenting in a college class. His speech was evaluated by Anne-Marie.

Sally presented a speech from the CC manual (Project #5, Your Body Speaks), “Good with the Bad, and Bad with the Good” was evaluated by Ramesh.

Helena’s speech, “The Waiting Game” was Project #2 in the CC manual (Organize Your Speech). Her speech was evaluated by Murali.

Michele gave a speech called “Do you Need a Life Coach?”. Her speech, Project #3 from the CC (Get to the Point) was evaluated by Emily.

Our General Evaluator was Jen, assisted by the Timer (Tom), Grammarian (John), and Ah Counter (Charnaie).

Jen noted that the meeting started on time with the room set up very nicely (in a horseshoe shape, the best use of the room at Luther Ridge that we’d ever had). There was a table with the duty roster for future meetings, guest book, and more, nicely laid out. Charnaie had a fun way to present the Word of the Day (the game of Hangman). Jen liked that Michael read out each objective from the CC manual for each speech, so the group knew what to listen and watch for during each speech. Jacqueline was careful during Table Topics to try to call on those who didn’t have other roles in the meeting, and coordinated with the Toastmaster to stay on time. It was apparent there was coordination between speakers and evaluators before the meeting, so the evaluators knew which areas were of especial interest to the speakers. Anne-Marie and John stepped into roles at the last minute, and it was nice to see the CL manual emphasized (Jacqueline mentioned that Table Topics speaker is a role for some CL projects, and CL manuals were seen being passed around during and after the meeting). The podium was left empty a couple of times – a speaker would sit down before the Toastmaster or Table Topics Master came back up to the podium.

There was one piece of closing business – the club received a ribbon for our banner after we “Beat the Clock” by having five new members join the club between May 1st and June 30th.

The meeting ended shortly after 9pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes - July 28

2011-07-29T14:49:00.003-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, July 28, at The Village at South Farms. We had 22 members and 4 guests in attendance for this special meeting that featured two speeches from Jerry Aiyathurai, the District 53 International Contest winner.

Club President Kay Jeyapalan introduced the Distinguished Club Program to the club, and announced that when this meeting was completed, we will have qualified for 4 DCP points already this club year. The club is in great position to achieve President's Distinguished Club once again in 2011-2012.

Michael Nicastre was our Toastmaster. Michael managed the meeting very well, fitting in 5 prepared speeches and juggling special circumstances, including parking problems, shuttle busses, and requests to move our cars.

Arun Sodani was our Table Topics Master. Arun presented a series of job openings, and asked the members to portray both qualified and unqualified applicants.

Prepared speeches:

- Jerry Aiyathurai started off the prepared speeches with "Trapped", the speech that won the 2011 District 53 International Speech Contest. Jerry is preparing to give this speech at the TI Convention semi-finals.
- Jacqueline Kirwan presented her 10th speech from the CC manual, "Good Morning! What Would You Like to Accomplish Today?" Jacqueline's speech was evaluated by Rob.
- Emily O'Brien presented speech #4 from the CC manual, "Got a Vacation?" Emily's speech was evaluated by Sally.
- Ramesh Padavala presented his 10th speech from the CC manual, "Attitude". Ramesh's speech was evaluated by Cheryl.
- Jerry presented the speech that he is preparing for the finals of the International Contest, "The Best Thing That Ever Happened To You".

Congratulations!

- Congratulations to Jacqueline Kirwan and Ramesh Padavala for achieving their Competent Communicator awards, and for completing Phase I of their Pinky Challenge!

- Congratulation to guest Chris Sullivan, who became our newest member at the conclusion of the meeting.

Members Present:
Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Michele Rousseau, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, and Judy Thompson.

Guests Present: Chris Sullivan, Susan Dean, Phil Mason, and Jerry Aiyathurai.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB

2011-07-15T16:08:00.000-04:00

Meeting Notes - July 14

2011-07-15T15:50:00.007-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, July 14, for the first meeting of the new Toastmasters club year. 13 members and 3 guests turned out to our summer quarters at Luther Ridge.

Club President Kay Jeyapalan introduced our theme for the 2011-2012 club year, "Dance as if no one is watching you." Kay spoke about the importance and challenges of being yourself when speaking in front of a group. This will be a challenge for all of us this year.

Arun Sodani was our Toastmaster. Arun did a great job of explaining each part of our meeting for our 3 guests, 2 who were attending their first Toastmasters meeting. Wordmaster Tom Alvord presented a word that everyone in the club could relate to, "glossophobia", which means fear of public speaking. Michael O'Brien was our Table Topics Master, and he presented a set of interesting and thought provoking questions to both members and guests.

Prepared speeches:
- Judy Thompson presented her second speech from the CC manual, "Wanna Yak?", about the process of getting started with kayaking. Judy was evaluated by Tom.
- Rob Schaff presented a speech of the pros and cons of Facebook as tool for promoting the club. Rob was evaluated by Michael O'Brien.
- Ramesh Padavala presented his 9th speech from the CC manual, "How to Save Gas While Driving". Ramesh was evaluated by Jonathan Herron.
- Jennifer Cimilluca presented a Folk Tale from the Storytelling Advance Manual, "Hansel and Gretel". She was evaluated by Kay.

All of our guests commented on the fact that everyone had a chance to speak at this meeting, and they liked the way that everyone had an opportunity to be involved.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, John Bell, Jay Broderick, Jennifer Cimilluca, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, and Judy Thompson.

Guests Present: Adam Herman, Lori Miano, Chris Sullivan

Our next meeting will be on July 28 at The Village at South Farms.

"You've gotta' dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.
(And speak from the heart to be heard.)”
-William W. Purkey

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB
Club Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters

Speechathon Notes, June 30

2011-07-08T10:12:00.004-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters concluded the 2010-11 Toastmasters year with a speech-a-thon at its June 30th meeting.

Members Present: John Bell, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Michael Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, Judy Thompson.

The Sergeant-at-Arms, Ramesh, opened the meeting. Our President, Charnaie, led us right into the club officer inductions for the 2011-12 year. Our new officers for the upcoming year are:

President – Kay Jeyapalan
VP Education – Murali Pemmaraju
VP Membership – Ramesh Padavala
VP Public Relations – Jennifer Cimilluca
Secretary – Rob Schaff
Treasurer – John Keppler
Sergeant at Arms – Jonathan Herron

Our Toastmaster for the evening was Rob, who guided us through the agenda with eight speakers and evaluations:

Kay presented the second speech from the Speeches by Management Manual. Her speech, “Loss Reserves”, was evaluated by Michael O’Brien.

Jacqueline presented speech #9 from the Competent Communicator manual (Objective: Persuade with Power). “Take the IQ Test” was evaluated by Arun.

Ramesh presented speech #7 from the CC (Objective: Research Your Topic). “The Oracle of Omaha was evaluated by Michael Nicastre.

Jen gave her third speech from the Interpretive Reading manual, which was a monodrama. Murali evaluated her speech, entitled “Rachel’s Story.”

Judy gave her Icebreaker, “…And then I Bought a House”, which was evaluated by Charnaie.

Emily’s return to the club was marked by her third speech from the CC manual (Objective: Get to the Point). “Enjoy the Class” was evaluated by Rob.

Jonathan presented speech #4 from the CC Manual (Objective: How to Say it). Jen evaluated his speech, “I Can Afford to Wait”.

Our last speaker of the evening was Michael O’Brien, presenting speech #8 from the CC (Objective: Getting Comfortable with Visual Aids”. His speech, “What are Our Values?” was evaluated by Kay.

Our General Evaluator was run, assisted by the Timer (John Keppler), Grammarian (Charnaie), and Ah Counter (Emily).

Before the meeting was adjourned, Kay recognized two members. She gave John Bell his new member pin, and Judy was given Icebreaker candies in honor of her Icebreaker speech. Kay again thanked Jacqueline and all the members who brought refreshments and made the June 23rd Anniversary celebration such a success.

Kay announced that the District 53 Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) training will be held on July 16th in Poughkeepsie, NY, for anyone wishing to attend. There is one additional session on July 23rd, location TBA.

Murali, in his last act as VP Membership, informed us that the Middlesex Toastmasters have “Beat the Clock” by having five new members join the club between May 1st and June 30th. We will receive a ribbon to display on our club banner.

The next club meeting will be held on Thursday, July 14th, at Luther Ridge, 628 Congdon Street, Middletown.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

2011-2012 Club Officers

2011-07-01T10:57:00.003-04:00

From left to right:
IPP Charnaie Gordon,
SAA Jonathan Herron,
Treasurer John Keppler
Secretary Rob Schaff
VPPR Jennifer Cimilluca
VPM Ramesh Padavala
VPE Murali Pemmeraju
President Kay Jeyapalan

Pictures from our 20th Anniversary

2011-06-30T16:08:00.004-04:00

Club President Charnaie Gordon presents expresses our appreciation to guest speakers Jerry Theodorou and Kimberly Taylor.

2011 Beat-the-Clock Award

2011-06-27T11:05:00.004-04:00

The "Beat the Clock" award is about finishing the year with a bang! Clubs earn this award by adding five new or reinstated members during these two months from May 1 to June 30.

With the addition of John Bell at our last meeting, Middlesex has reached this goal and will receive a "Beat the Clock" ribbon to display on our banner.

Members added May 1 - June 30: Steven Grey, Jonathan Martin, Emily O'Brien, Judy Thompson, and John Bell

Meeting Notes, June 23 - 20th Anniversary

2011-06-27T08:55:00.002-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, June 23, for a rousing 20th anniversary celebration.

We were honored to have 32 people at this meeting, 20 members and 12 guests, including 11 people that have served as Club President at some point in our 20-year history.

Our current president, Charnaie Gordon, opened the meeting with a brief re-cap of our accomplishments during this club year. She recognized the club officers with a gift for their service this year.

Cheryl Mason served as Table Topics Master, and involved many of our guests and past members with her topic questions around the themes of summer and celebration.

Our celebration included great food and fabulous raffle prizes, as well as 4 excellent prepared speeches:

• Ramesh Padavala gave an inspiration speech from the Competent Communicator manual, titled “Put the Glass Down”.

• John Keppler recounted the 20-year history of Middlesex County Toastmasters, and showed us how each individual contributes to the continued success of the club.

• Our keynote speaker, Kimberly Taylor, told us about the beginnings of Toastmasters, and how Toastmasters has changed her life with her speech, “The Toastmaster Experience”.

• Special guest Jerry Theodorou gave an inspirational and frightening speech, “Let It Go”, detailing the lives of the Collyer brothers.

Jacqueline Kirwan served as our General Evaluator. She pointed out the historical theme throughout the meeting, from a 1-year recap, to our 20-year history, and even back to the beginning of Toastmasters,

We tried to wrap up on time, but there was too much meeting to fit the 7-9 timeframe, and the raffle and gifts spilled over into the 9:00 hour.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, and Judy Thompson.

Guests Present: John Bell, Ute Brinkmann, Nancy Green, Phil Mason (Happy Birthday!), Ron & Trudy Reeve, Val McLean, Sharon Roth, Jerry Theodorou, and from Talk of the Town Toastmasters: Gail Lewis, Kimberly Taylor, and Jackie Carl.

June 9 Meeting - Canceled

2011-06-20T09:51:00.002-04:00

Our June 9 meeting was canceled, due to a power outage at Middlesex Community College and across Middletown. To make up for the lost meeting, we will be holding a speechathon on June 30 at The Village at South Farms.

Meeting Notes - May 26

2011-06-02T07:06:00.002-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, May 26th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Michele Rousseau, Rob Schaff.

Guests Present: Steven Grey, Jonathan Martin, Emily O’Brien, Jimmy Ortiz, Judy Thompson.

The Sergeant-at-Arms, Ramesh, opened the meeting. The club President, Charnaie, welcomed our guests and gave a recap of the District 53 Conference, held on Saturday, May 21st. Nine members went from Middlesex, and cheered Tom on to a 3rd place at the District’s Tall Tales Contest. Other news from the Conference, provided by Charnaie and Kay – Michael O’Brien will be the Division B governor for 2011-2012; Cheryl, Charnaie, and Rob were lauded as Triple Crown winners; Charnaie will be an area governor in Division B.

In June, the Middlesex County Toastmasters club will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. On Sunday, June 5th, we will have a special event – a teleseminar featuring Lenny Laskowski, a Distinguished Toastmaster and professional speaker. This one-hour conference call could be dialed into from anywhere, just RSVP to Kay or Charnaie to get the details, and submit your questions to Lenny.

Our 20th anniversary celebration will be held at our June 23rd meeting. Kimberly M. Taylor, from the Talk of the Town Toastmasters Club in New York City, will be our keynote speaker. Kimberly will talk about how Toastmasters has changed her life, a subject she shared in the May 2011 Toastmasters magazine. John, a founding member of the club, will also be speaking, and we will have many honored guests from “way back when” returning for the anniversary.

Our Immediate Past President, Cheryl, conducted the officer elections for the next Toastmaster year (starting in July). Cheryl read the names of the candidates thus far nominated:

President – Kay Jeyapalan
VP Education – Murali Pemmaraju
VP Membership – Ramesh Padavala
VP Public Relations – Jennifer Cimilluca
Secretary – Rob Schaff
Treasurer – John Keppler
Sergeant at Arms – Jonathan Herron

She then asked for nominations from the floor. There were none; the motion was made and seconded to accept the slate of officers, which was elected by a majority of the members present. The officers will be inducted at a meeting in June, to begin one-year terms on July 1st. District officer training will be announced soon.

Our Toastmaster for the evening was Murali, who shared some encouraging thoughts from the District 53 Conference’s International Contest. The winner’s speech urged those present to “explore your possibilities”, while the runner-up focused on “hanging onto goals” and “never giving up”.

Our Invocator, Kay, encouraged all of us to encourage and help our new members so we can all learn from one another. She reminded us that “We all bring something unique to the Toastmasters Table”.

Our Wordmaster was Tom, with the word of the day, “exculpate” (to clear from alleged fault or guilt, prove to be guiltless, to relieve of blame, to acquit.)

Jacqueline was our Table Topics Master. Instead of Faith Middleton, five Toastmasters were in the “Hot Seat”, interviewing our guests so we could all get to know them a little better. Jonathan Herron interviewed Steven, Sally interviewed Judy, Jay reintroduced us to Jonathan Martin, Tom interviewed Jimmy, and John interviewed Emily.

We had five prepared speeches:

Michele presented “The Danger of Jealousy”, Speech #2 from the Competent Communicator Manual (Objective: Organize Your Speech”). Her speech was evaluated by Jen.

Jacqueline’s speech, “The Power of Gratitude”, was Speech #6 in the Competent Communicator manual (Objective: Vocal Variety), and was evaluated by Rob.

Kay presented “Oh no! Papers are Flying Everywhere!”, which was a project from the Advanced manual, Speaking to Inform (Project Objective: The Demonstration Talk). Her speech was evaluated by Anne-Marie.

Cheryl’s speech, “Yes You Can!” was for Project #9 in the Competent Communicator Manual (Objective: Persuade with Power”), and was evaluated by Charnaie.

Our last speaker of the evening was Ramesh, whose speech, “The Pinky Challenge”, was presented for Speech #6 in the Competent Communicator manual (Objective: Vocal Variety). Ramesh’s speech was evaluated by John.

Our General Evaluator was Michael O’Brien, assisted by the Timer (Michael Nicastre), Grammarian (Michele), and Ah Counter (Helena).

Michael noted that the meeting began a couple of minutes late, but ran efficiently overall. He reminded us that guests should not sit alone (if they sit by themselves, members could move to join them). The agenda included officer elections (which Cheryl conducted very efficiently), Table Topics, five speakers, and five evaluations, and we were still on track to end on time. He thought the explanations of roles were well done for the guests’ benefit. The Table Topics were fun.

Murali, as VP Membership, reminded those present of the “Beat the Clock” Challenge – clubs who have five new members join between May 1st and June 30th will earn a ribbon for their banner. Everyone was encouraged to bring guests to upcoming meetings.

Charnaie asked the guests for comments.

Judy – felt welcome. Was confused at first but was able to follow along quickly.
Jimmy – a phenomenal experience every time. (Jimmy is joining the club).
Steven -- liked it so much he’s joining.
Jonathan – thought it was great, just as he remembered it.

Kay presented Tom with a Certificate of Appreciation for his excellent performance in the District 53 Tall Tales Contest.

Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary

Pinky Challenge

2011-05-27T09:40:00.004-04:00

At the D53 Spring Conference, Middlesex members Ramesh Padavala and Jacqueline Kirwan seal their challenge to complete their CCs this summer and achieve the Toastmasters Triple Crown this club year. Margarita Giraldo and Rob Schaff witness the ceremony.

Meeting Notes - May 12

2011-05-25T13:53:00.001-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters had their last meeting on Thursday, May 12th.

Members Present: Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Pam Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Michele Rousseau.

Guests Present: John Bell, Steven Grey, Suzanne O’Connell, Jimmy Ortiz.

The Sergeant-at-Arms, Ramesh, opened the meeting and turned it over to club President, Charnaie. Charnaie announced that with Murali’s completing his CC, the club now has 10 points in the Distinguished Club Program and has achieved Presidents Distinguished status for the 6th year running.

Officer elections for the next Toastmaster year (starting in July) will be held at our next meeting, on May 26th. The officers will be inducted at the June 9th meeting and will begin one-year terms in July. Cheryl announced the nominees so far:

President – Kay Jeyapalan
VP Education – Murali Pemmaraju
VP Membership – Ramesh Padavala
VP Public Relations – Jennifer Cimilluca
Secretary – Rob Schaff
Treasurer – John Keppler
Sergeant at Arms – Jonathan Herron

Nominations are still open – anyone interested in running for an office can email Cheryl, and nominations will be taken from the floor on May 26th.

Because the meeting room at Middlesex Community College is not available for our meetings in July and August, we will be using alternate locations (still to be determined).

The Middlesex County Toastmasters club will be celebrating its 20th anniversary during the month of June. On Sunday, June 5th, we will have a special event – a teleseminar featuring Lenny Laskowski, a Distinguished Toastmaster and professional speaker. You can participate in this one-hour event from your own home by dialing in to a conference call. You are invited to submit your questions ahead of time to Charnaie or Kay to ask this dynamic speaker your questions on public speaking and leadership. Our 20th anniversary celebration will be held at our June 23rd meeting.

Our Toastmaster for the evening was Ramesh.

Our Wordmaster was Jackie, who challenged us to use the word “galvanize” (to shock or arouse into action).

Pam was our Invocator, and shared an observation from her day – when people get talking, they find they have much more in common than they thought possible.

Sally was our Table Topics Master, and gave our guests Suzanne, Steven, and Jimmy spring-themed questions to answer.

We had five prepared speeches:

Charnaie gave a speech from the Specialty Speeches Manual (Project: Sell a Product). Her speech, “The Magic Pimple Potion”, was evaluated by Kay.

Pam’s speech, “Let’s Get Crafty” was for Project #8 in the Competent Communicator manual (Objective: Get Comfortable with Visual Aids). Cheryl evaluated Pam’s speech.

Jacqueline’s speech, “How to Tap into More of Your Brain’s Power” was Project #7 in the CC Manual (Objective: Research Your Topic”). Her speech was evaluated by Michael O’Brien.

Jen presented the third project in the Storytelling Manual (The Moral of the Story). Her speech, “Jim’s Perfect Evening”, was evaluated by Anne-Marie.

Cheryl presented speech #2 in the CC Manual (Objective: Organize Your Speech). “The New Guy” was evaluated by Michael Nicastre.

Our General Evaluator was Murali, assisted by the Timer (John), Grammarian (Charnaie), and Ah Counter (Jonathan).

Murali commented that the meeting started right on time, and ran smoothly. He gave a special thank you to Sally for volunteering to be Table Topics Master at the last minute, and noted that she gave a number of our guests a chance to speak. He commented that each evaluator did an excellent job, and that our Toastmaster, Ramesh, did a great job of managing our time in a very busy meeting (in his first time in the Toastmaster role).

Charnaie took the reins of the meeting back, and asked the guests for comments.

John – every meeting is interesting, thoroughly enjoyed it
Suzanne – fun and fascinating
Jimmy – great!
Steven – 3rd visit, looks forward to “getting up there to give a real speech”

Kay offered the role sign up sheet for the next three meetings, and announced that the duty roster on the club’s website would be opening up for July and August. She presented Jacqueline with a “Half CC” certificate signed by the District 53 officers.

Kay reminded us to make sure that we are updating our Completion records at the back of our manuals, and make sure they’re completely filled out before turning into the VP Education for submission to Toastmasters International.

The meeting was adjourned shortly before 9pm.

Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes - May 5

2011-05-25T13:50:00.001-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters last met for a special “speech-a-thon” meeting on Thursday, May 5th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Arun Sodani.

Guests Present: Ute Brinkman (President, Wallingford Eagle Toastmasters) and Steven Grey.

At 7pm, the Sergeant-at-Arms, Ramesh, opened the meeting. Our club president, Charnaie announced that on May 17th, the Cromwell Community Toastmasters will be having a guest speaker. Terry Bedard, the Division B International Contest winner, will be giving the speech that she will be presenting at the District 53 Conference’s International Contest.

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 Mason, for more information.

The Middlesex County Toastmasters club will be celebrating its 20th anniversary on June 23rd. Charnaie will be announcing the keynote speaker for the evening’s commemoration in the coming weeks. Charnaie and our VPE Kay will have an announcement at the May 12th meeting about another special event at the beginning of June – details to come!

Kay announced that Charnaie has earned a “Triple Crown” by completing three educational programs in a Toastmasters year. Kay presented Charnaie with a certificate recognizing her accomplishment. Charnaie is a repeat winner, having earned this distinction last year. Middlesex’s three Triple Crown winners, Cheryl, Rob Schaff, and Charnaie, will have their names displayed along with the other Triple Crown winners at the upcoming District 53 Conference.

Charnaie was our Toastmaster, and chose “Celebrating Excellence” for the meeting theme. She read to us from Dana LaMon’s “The Excellence Book: 104 Principles for Living and Working”: Principle #2 -- Excellence demands that you do your best, not be the best”.

The Word of the Day, “aplomb”, was presented by Kay. Aplomb: complete and confident composure, poise, self-assurance

We had six prepared speeches:

Helena presented her Icebreaker, “Journey to Toasting”, evaluated by Tom.

Tom presented the speech that won him the Division C Tall Tales Contest, “Swanee River”. His speech was evaluated by everyone in a round robin evaluation. He will be giving the speech at the District 53 Tall Tales Contest on May 21st.

Siva presented speech #4 in the Competent Communicator manual (Objective, How to Say it): “Books in Running Brooks and Sermons in Stones.” His speech was evaluated by Ute.

Murali completed the Competent Communicator manual with his 10th speech (Objective: Inspire Your Audience), “My Real Life Role Model). The group evaluated his speech in a round robin.

Our guest, Ute, presented Speech #9 from the Competent Communicator manual (Persuade with Power): “Get out and Volunteer”, which was evaluated in a round robin.

John presented Speech #10 from the Competent Communicator manual (Inspire Your Audience) in a speech entitled: KISS, Uncluttering Your Mind”, which was evaluated by Anne-Marie.

Our General Evaluator was John Keppler, assisted by the Ah Counter (Murali), Grammarian (Anne-Marie), and Timer (Ramesh).

Kay presented Helena with Icebreaker candies in honor of her Icebreaker speech. Anne-Marie was also presented with a certificate of recognition for her participation in the Division C International Speech contest.

The meeting concluded shortly after 9pm.

Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes - April 28

2011-05-02T13:41:00.002-04:00

On April 28th the Middlesex County Toastmasters, along with many guests, learned how to write a speech in 15 minutes thanks to special guest Walter Beveridge.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff.

Guests Present: John Bell, James Branca, Ute Brinkman (President, Wallingford Eagle Toastmasters), Steven Grey, Charlie Hubert (Cromwell Community Toastmasters), Rachel Mele (Wallingford Eagle Toastmasters), Louis Nizet (President, Cromwell Community Toastmasters), Mary Talbot (Cromwell Community Toastmasters), Jimmy Ortiz, Norm Thibodeau (Stag Toastmasters), Bruce Wallace.

Special Guest Speaker: Walter Beveridge, DTM, a member of the Taconic Toastmasters in Hudson, NY, and a Toastmaster since March, 1997.

The Division C International and Tall Tales Contests were held on Tuesday, April 26, and Tom won the Tall Tales Contest! He will represent the Division at the District 53 Conference on May 21st. Congratulations, Tom!

Our next meeting 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). All the prepared speaking slots are filled, but there are still opportunities to speak with several meeting roles available.

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.

Rachel, from the Eagle Toastmasters club, spoke about the Facebook page she has set up. A flyer was distributed for the Eagle Toastmasters Open House on Tuesday, May 16th, at the Wallingford Public Library.

Kay was our Toastmaster for the evening, and set the theme for the meeting by reminding us, “A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what ships are for” (William Shedd). We have to be bold and try new things, i.e. the techniques we would be learning from Walter later in the evening!

The Word of the Day, “invitation”, was presented by Jonathan. Invitation: A spoken or written request for someone’s participation.

Our invocation was given by Charnaie, who gave us inspirational words about the realm of possibilities, that we cannot cower toward uncertainty.

The evening’s technicians Rob (Timer), Ah Counter (Charnaie), and Grammarian (Mary) explained their roles for members and guests.

Our Table Topics Master, Charnaie, gave short scenes for us to act out. First up were James and Norm, strangers meeting and talking about a Toastmasters meeting flyer. Next, Jen, Rachel, Ramesh, and Michael portrayed four people stuck in an elevator. That was followed by Kim and Ute, playing the parts of two friends each annoyed by the other’s little habits. Jackie and Tom portrayed a couple about to break up, and lastly, Jimmy was interviewed by Louis and John for a meteorologist’s position at the local TV station. The skits were great fun and allowed many members and guests to participate.

The highlight of the evening was Walter’s workshop, “How to Prepare a 5-7 Minute Speech in 15 Minutes”. He walked us through a 12-step process that, starting from a single word, can allow you to choose an overall objective, determine the speech content, and plan the delivery of a complete speech. All this in about 15 minutes.

And to demonstrate, using the techniques Walter had just walked us through, Louis presented a speech about the beginning of his selling career, James presented a speech “Lost in Life” (at the first Toastmasters meeting he ever attended!), and Jackie presented “Running the NYC Marathon – Why, How, and What I Learned”.

Walter has added the presentation, notes, and materials to his website, www.wbdtm.com, so we no longer have to waste, as he put it, “millions of hours” writing speeches.

Our General Evaluator was Murali, assisted by the Ah Counter (Charnaie), Grammarian (Mary), and Timer (Rob). Murali pointed out that as usual, Ramesh did an outstanding job getting the room set up, and congratulated Charnaie for all the work and planning in having such an excellent speaker as Walter come to our meeting. Kudos were given to Kay for her great job as the evening’s Toastmaster.

Norm reminded us that the District 53 Contest will be held on Saturday, May 21st at the Clarion Hotel in East Windsor, CT. On line registration is available at the District 53 website, with early bird pricing ending on Monday, May 2nd.

Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes - April 14

2011-04-18T07:19:00.002-04:00

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

2011-04-04T07:29:00.002-04:00

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!

Open House Notes, March 24

2011-03-29T07:25:00.002-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters’ Open House was enjoyed by 26 members and guests on March 24th, featuring special guest Ruby Parker and her workshop, Holistic Evaluations.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Brian Burness, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael O’Brien, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani.

Guests Present: John Bell, Marsha Kiley (District 53 Immediate Past Governor), Richard Peck (District 53 Lt. Governor Education& Training), Bettyann Peck, Janki Nambi, Louis Nivet (President, Cromwell Community Toastmasters), Maryanne Shirshac.

Special Guest Speaker: Ruby Parker, Area A4 Governor

The meeting was opened at 7pm by our Sergeant-at-Arms, Ramesh. He turned the meeting over to club President Charnaie for the business meeting. She welcomed our guests and updated Middlesex’s progress in the Distinguished Club Program (9 points out of a possible ten, for President’s Distinguished Club status six years running).

The Area C5 International and Tall Tales Contests will be held on Sunday, April 3rd, hosted by Middlesex County Toastmasters. The contests will be held at the Village of South Farms, 645 Saybrook Road, from 6:30-9pm. A $5 donation is requested for refreshments.

On April 14th, the regular club meeting will be held at the Village of South Farms, instead of Middlesex Community College.

On April 28th, we will have a guest speaker, Walter Breveridge, giving his workshop, “How to Write a Speech in 15 Minutes”, and some speakers will do just that, using the skills taught in the evening’s workshop.

The Toastmaster, Jackie, ably guided us through a packed agenda.

Our Word of the Day, “obdurate” was presented by Siva. The word means, “hardened against feeling, not giving in to persuasion.”

Our Invocator, Kay, spoke about the power of turning a minus into a plus. She shared the story of Thelma Thompson, who turned a miserable time in the sands of the Mojave desert into the best time of her life by changing her attitude. Her situation did not change but her attitude did, and her life was transformed.

Our humorist, Murugan, both made us laugh and inspired us, telling us a true story about a CEO who had a very clever way of choosing his successor, a seed with no harvest: “If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.”

The evening’s technicians introduced their roles: Cheryl as Timer, Charnaie as Grammarian, and Anne-Marie as Ah-Counter.

Table Topics were led by Jonathan, who did a great job in his first time in the role. His “One Up, One Down” topics asked the speakers to state one thing they like, and one thing they would change, on whatever topic they were given to speak on.

Ramesh spoke about the world he lives in; Michael about the place that he works; Tom, the country he lives in; Maryanne, the state she lives in; and Janki, the country she lives in. (Disliking taxes seemed to be a common theme!)

Ruby Parker, Advanced TM Gold/CL, presented “The Holistic Approach to Evaluations”, which offered excellent suggestions and a checklist (attached) to prepare and present the evaluation speech, and give feedback to the speaker following the meeting.

Among her many suggestions:
* Talk to the speaker before the speech
* Focus – there is only limited time to evaluate the speech
* Share your notes with the speaker afterwards to discuss the speech
* Solicit feedback on your evaluation

We had two prepared speeches:

Brian presented his Icebreaker, “A Little Bit About Me”, evaluated by Michael O’Brien.

Rob earned another Competent Communicator award with his speech, “Vitamins, Aspirin, and Toastmasters”. His speech was evaluated by Murugan.

Following the evaluations, Ruby came back to do a mini workshop on evaluating the evaluators, which was the perfect capstone to her earlier presentation.

Arun was our General Evaluator, with assistance from technicians Siva (Wordmaster) Anne-Marie (Ah Counter), Charnaie (Grammarian), and Cheryl (Timer). He gave well-deserved praise to Ramesh, Charnaie, Kay, Jackie, and all who put so much preparation into the Open House meeting. He turned the meeting back to the toastmaster, Jackie, who gave her thanks to all who signed up for meeting roles.

Charnaie asked for comments from our guests:

Marsha: “fantastic, energetic, smiles galore”
John: “enjoyed it, felt welcome”
Richard: “first time here, Cheryl doesn’t blow smoke when she’s describing this club”
Janki: “encouraging, welcoming”
Maryanne: “supportive, makes me feel like I want to continue”
Louis: “welcoming"
Ruby: “a great club, honored to be here, a wonderful experience”

She then presented a certificate of appreciation for Ruby for her excellent presentation. Kay presented Brian with “Icebreaker” candies in honor of his Icebreaker speech.

The meeting concluded at 9:00pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Middlesex Open House, March 24, 2011

2011-03-28T09:32:00.004-04:00

We had a great turn-out for our Open House. Thanks to Ruby Parker for her excellent presentation on evaluations.

Meeting Notes - February 24

2011-03-04T07:46:00.002-05:00

Twenty members and guests enjoyed a workshop with the Sea-Tea Improv troupe, plus a fun club meeting, on Thursday, February 24th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, Jackie Kirwan, Yolanda Lowe, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani.

Guests Present: Mallika Digavalli, Kevin Finn (Cedar Hill Toastmasters), Abhijit Mhetre (Nathan Hale Toastmasters), Michele Rousseau (Michele joined the club after the meeting).

The meeting was opened at 7pm by our Sergeant-at-Arms, Ramesh. He turned the meeting over to Greg, Julia, and Dan from the Sea-Tea Improv troupe, who used a series of games to teach us and let us practice the “rules” of improv: “Make your partner look good”; “Yes, and…” (Listen, acknowledge, and add to whatever information you are given); “Make honest choices” (Don’t overthink and edit yourself”).

We learned and practicing thinking on our feet with compound word games, three line scenes, creating continuous stories, and more. The hour flew by, but there are plenty of opportunities to see Sea Tea in action (see seateaimprov.com for more information).

Following the workshop, the regular club meeting began.

Our Word of the Day was presented by Charnaie: “persnickety”, meaning over particular, fussy, snobbish, requiring painstaking care.

Our Invocator, Jonathan, shared three ideas from Steven Covey’s book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”: Habit 1: Be Proactive--Taking responsibility for your choices and the consequences of them. Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind--Figure out what's important to you and pursue that. Whatever you can conceive and believe, you can achieve. Habit 3: Put First Things First--Prioritize. Do what must be done before why you want to do.

We had two prepared speeches:

Kay also used examples from Steven Covey’s book in her speech, “The Law of Subtleness of Mind”. Her speech was #5 from the Speaking to Inform Manual (The Abstract Concept), and was evaluated by Rob.

Kevin Finn presented Speech #4 from the Storytelling Manual (The Touching Story). His speech, “And The Winner is Dave” was at times humorous, and touched our hearts. Siva evaluated Kevin’s speech.

Yolanda, a first-time Table Topics Master, asked several of us to devise commercials for the products she brought, and for ourselves as potential hires for an advertising team. Michele, Jen, Jonathan, and Jackie took turns pitching Jif peanut butter, Olde Cape Cod salad dressing, jam, and chocolate covered butter cookies, and themselves.

Michael Nicastre was our General Evaluator, assisted by Sally performing the dual roles of Ah Counter and Grammarian, and our timer, Tom.

Charnaie presented Margarita with a new member pin to officially welcome her to Middlesex County Toastmasters. She also announced that Michele has joined the club.

Our club will be hosting the Area C5 contests on Sunday, April 3rd, at the Village of South Farms.

We are now a “President’s Distinguished Club” with nine points in the Distinguished Club Program – the first club in the district to earn that distinction!

The meeting closed promptly at 9:00pm.
Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Middlesex County Toastmasters Strike a Fun Filled Afternoon

2011-02-28T14:16:00.002-05:00

The 2nd annual Middlesex Winter Bowling Outing was held on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. The event was attended by 12 adventurous Toastmasters, friends, and family members.

The event was held at Bowl-O-Rama on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington, with the following attendees: Tom Alvord, daughter Amy and son Jeff, Cheryl Mason and husband Phil, Murali Pemmaraju, wife Saratha, and friend Pushkar, Kay Jeyapalan, Jackie Kirwan, Charnaie Gordon and husband Barry.

Bowl-O-Rama is quite a busy place on a Saturday afternoon! With advance reservations in place (thanks to Kay), we had a very comfortable area to ourselves. We set up in 3 bowling lanes together which accommodated 4 bowlers in each lane.

The excitement and surprise of strikes, spares, and reluctant pins falling like dominos was quite exhilarating. We cheered each other on as we completed two fun filled games.

High scorers for the first game: Tom 144, Jeff 134, & Phil 127
High scorers for the second game: Phil 156, Jeff, 154, Tom 140
Most improved in second game: Murali 126

The event concluded at 3:00 p.m. Thanks to everyone that participated in this fun filled afternoon, and especially to Kay for organizing the event!

Meeting Notes, Feb-10, 2011

2011-02-18T16:31:00.004-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club met on Thursday, February 10^th.

Members Present: Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, Jackie Kirwan, Yolanda Lowe, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff.

Guests Present: Helena Grey, Margarita Giraldo (Margarita joined the club after the meeting).

Business Meeting: Charnaie welcomed our guests, then reminded us that the Sea Tea Improv troupe will be at our next meeting (February 24^th) to put on a workshop from 7-8pm (followed by an abbreviated club meeting from 8-9pm). $5 per person is requested to cover the cost of the workshop and refreshments, and registration is limited to 40 people. (You can RSVP to info@middlesex.freetoasthost.com).

Kay updated us on the following events: the club’s Bowling Outing will on Saturday, February 26^th, from 1-3 at the Bowl-O-Rama, 2131 Berlin Turnpike, Newington. Please RSVP by Tuesday (Feb 15^th) to Kay.

The spring contests (International and Tall Tales) will be held on March 10^th. Jackie will be the contest chair. Anyone wishing to be a contestant should see Jackie or Kay. In addition, the roles of chief judge, judges, timers, and ballot counters are still open.

Charnie updated us the club’s Distinguished Club Program. Middlesex has eight points, though would have nine points by the end of the night after Charnaie’s speech (and earn President’s Distinguished Club status).

Kay was our Toastmaster for the evening.

Meeting:

Jackie presented the Invocation, relating fitness expert Tony Horton’s words to our Toastmasters experience – “Remember to Breathe” (relax, focus, and keep poised); “Do your Best and Forget the Rest (clear your mind of any negative self chatter”) and “Keep Pushing Play” (if it doesn’t go the way you’d like, you can always try again).

Cheryl was our Humorist, telling a very funny joke about four brothers and gifts (to their mother) gone bad.

Apropos for Valentine’s Day, our Wordmaster, Jonathan, gave us the word “Passion” to use in our Table Topics, prepared speeches, and evaluations -- strong feelings (rage, anger, love) – and gave us a poem about passion.

Sally was our Table Topics Master, and used raffle tickets to choose members for her Valentine’s Day-themed questions. Answering her questions (and receiving Valentine’s Day candy) were Yolanda (answering about a romantic dinner), Charnaie (a romantic date), Kim (a romantic purchase), Murali (a romantic book), Jen (a romantic movie), and Kay (a romantic vacation).

There were four prepared speeches:

Michael O’Brien presented speech #9 from the Competent Communicator Manual (objective: Persuade with Power). His speech, entitled, “Ruddy Apple, Ruddy Cheek”, persuaded us to pursue healthier eating habits (centered around the apple) and was evaluated by Kim.

Rob also presented speech #9 from the CC manual. His speech, “Speech Contests” gave the benefits he found in participating in the fall speech contests, and persuaded us to do the same. His speech was evaluated by Michael Nicastre.

Charnaie spoke from the Better Speaker Series on “Selecting Your Topic.” After her speech (which was evaluated by Rob) we will have a much easier time in finding speech topics -- what we know, what we have a passion for, and what our audience cares about.

Our last speech was given by Kim Price. “Governor, Please” used three examples of poor communication styles (and the negative consequences) to illustrate how important good communications skills are. His speech was evaluated by Cheryl.

Our technicians were Yolanda (Timer), Murali (Grammarian), and Jen (Ah-Counter).

Ramesh was our General Evaluator, and he noted that Jackie in her invocation set the bar higher (as she does with every role she takes on). He led an extra round of applause for Sally and her excellent Table Topics – they were Valentine-themed, loads of fun, with candy gifts for those who participated. He lauded those who stepped in to roles at the last minute but noted how unfortunate it was that that was necessary. Ramesh reminded us to please sign up for roles ahead of the meeting time, before turning the meeting back over to Kay.

Kay closed the meeting with two inspirational quotes that she thought summed up our Toastmasters club and members – “Some people want it to happen, Some wish it to happen, some make it happen”, and “Teamwork allows common people to do uncommon things.”

She gave Jonathan Icebreaker candies, in recognition of his icebreaker speech at the January 27^th meeting, noting that he gave his icebreaker in just his first meeting after joining the club.

Charnaie gaveled the meeting closed just before 9pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary, Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes, January 27

2011-02-01T07:39:00.004-05:00

Despite a snowy start to the day, the Middlesex County Toastmasters Club met on Thursday, January 27^th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Jonathan Herron, Jackie Kirwan, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff.

Guests Present: Michele Rousseau, Genevieve Marai.

Business Meeting: Charnaie welcomed our guests, Michele and Genevieve, and updated us on the Distinguished Club Program. Middlesex earned another point after last Monday’s officer training, bringing us to eight points for the year so far (out of a possible ten).

Charnaie announced that the Sea Tea Improv troupe would be coming to our February 24^th meeting to put on a workshop from 7-8pm (followed by a club meeting from 8-9pm). $5 per person is requested to cover the cost of the workshop and refreshments, and registration is limited to 40 people. (You can RSVP to info@middlesex.freetoast.com).

Charnaie welcomed our newest member, Jonathan, and presented him with a new member pin.

Meeting: Our Toastmaster for the evening was Charnaie.

Rob presented the invocation, reflecting on the quote “Your audience does not require your perfection; they seek only your authenticity.”

Our Wordmaster was Charnaie, who challenged us to use the word “thwart” (to frustrate or prevent) in our Table Topics and speeches.

Our Humorist was Tom, who sang us a humorous (and touching song) about a young lady and the love of her life, a logger.

In another of her multiple roles, Charnaie was our Table Topics master. She provided conversation cards with questions for Rob, Ramesh, Michael O’Brien, and our guest Genevieve to read and answer.

There were four prepared speeches:

Jonathan presented his Icebreaker, “Let’s Go Fishing”, in which he used the acronym “FISH” to introduce us to important areas of his life. Ramesh evaluated his speech. (It should be noted that Jonathan joined the club on January 13^th, received his Toastmasters manuals on the 26^th, and gave his Icebreaker on the 27^th—and was our Ah Counter that same night. What a great start to his Toastmasters journey!)

Sally and Michael Nicastre treated us to a pair of speeches, “Home Sweet Home” and “Home Sweat Home,” a wonderful “hers and his” view of the homes they have shared in their married lives. Rob evaluated Sally’s speech, and Murali evaluated Michael’s.

Jen presented an interpretive reading of a story, excerpted from Bill Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods.” Her speech was evaluated by Tom.

Michael O’Brien was our General Evaluator, assisted by Jackie serving the dual roles of Timer and Grammarian, and Jonathan, who was our Ah Counter as noted earlier. Michael noted that while the meeting started just a bit late, people were willing to step up and take on multiple roles (as they usually are). He commented how interesting it was to see a team speech done by Sally and Michael, since it’s not something that we see often. He then turned the meeting back to Charnaie.

Charnaie asked the guests, Genevieve and Michele, for their comments about the meeting. Genevieve said it was informative, and that she thought she’d be back. Michele said that she would be coming back. She thought the feedback the speakers received was great.

With the meeting proper ending early, Charnaie asked for comments and suggestions from the members present. Jackie suggested putting meeting role descriptions, agenda templates, and forms on the club website. Tom commented on the importance and value of the mentoring program. Murali was hoping for an update on the proposed bowling outing.

The meeting concluded at approximately 8:50 pm. Please advise any errors or omissions in these meeting notes. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary

Middlesex & Cromwell Speech-a-Thon

2011-01-24T08:30:00.005-05:00

The 2nd annual Joint Speechathon with Middlesex County and Cromwell Community Toastmasters was held on Thursday, Jan 20, at the Cromwell Public Library. The event was well-attended, with members from both clubs and a number of guests joining in the fun.

The meeting featured seven speeches, from Jackie Kirwan, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Charlie Hubert, Charnaie Gordon, Ute Brinkmann, Jay Broderick, and Tom Alvord. All speeches received a verbal evaluation.

Check out this full set of photos from the speechathon.

Fire-eating at the District Conference, Nov. 2010

2011-01-22T17:26:00.004-05:00

Most of the time we give speeches, but once in a while someone eats fire.

Meeting Notes - January 13, 2011

2011-01-14T13:43:00.003-05:00

Members Present: Jackie Kirwan, Tom Alvord, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Kim Price, Arun Sodani, Jay Broderick, Brian Burness, Anne-Marie Cannata, John Keppler, Yolanda Lowe, Michael O’Brien.

Guests Present: Johnathan Herron, Margarita Giraldo and Udaya Neelam (Area C5 Governor).

Business Meeting

DCP Status Update: Charnaie updated us on the club’s current status in the DCP program (Distinguished Club Program). We currently have 7 points making us “Select Distinguished”. We are currently on track to become a “President’s Distinguished Club” for the sixth year in a row!

District Event – “Jan Jam”: Upcoming District 53 events include the “Jan Jam”, which will be held Saturday, January 29, 2011, from 1:30pm to 4:00pm (Please note the time change). This event will be held at The Hartford, 690 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT. (A note from the District 53 website: Admission is free but you must RSVP. Contact janjam@district53toastmasters.org or register online.

Club Outing – Bowling: Kay would like to organize a club bowling outing. The tentative date she selected is Saturday, February 26th. The time and location is still being worked out. Please contact Kay if you have an interest in going bowling with us.

Outside Event – “Show Up and Tell”: Anne-Marie mentioned an event called “Show Up and Tell” being held at The Buttonwood Tree, 605 Main Street in Middletown on Saturday, January 29th at 8:00pm. Attend this event if you’d like to practice your speaking skills in front of a different audience. Please contact Anne-Marie for more information. Cost: FREE (Donations will be accepted)

Meeting Details

Our Toastmaster for the evening was Jackie Kirwan. Jackie did an amazing job her first time as Toastmaster – Kudos!

One of our newest members, Brian Burness, presented a very profound invocation in which he incorporated diversity of different faiths.

Our Wordmaster was Arun Sodani. Arun presented the word-of-the-day in a very unique approach by presenting a mini humorous and suspenseful speech. Arun challenged us to use the word “incompatible”, meaning unable to exist together in harmony; incapable of associating or blending.

Kim Price filled the role of Humorist. He humored us with a joke about an atheist who took a walk in the woods and came in contact with a grizzly bear.

Cheryl Mason took on the task of being the Table Topics Master for the evening. The theme was “New Year’s Resolutions. Seven people participated: Sally Nicastre, Udaya Neelam (guest), John Keppler, Jonathan Herron (guest), Margarita Giraldo (guest), Michael O’Brien, Yolanda Lowe.

There were four prepared speeches:

Rob Schaff – “The Power of One”: Rob told an inspirational story about this favorite U2 song and the story behind it. The speech was from the CC manual, #10 – Inspire Your Audience. Kay evaluated his speech.

Anne-Marie Cannata – “Believe it Or Not”: Anne-Marie told us an interesting story in which we were told to “believe it or not”. The speech was from an Advanced Manual and the objective was “Entertain Your Audience”. Anne-Marie’s speech was evaluated by John Keppler.

Murali Pemmaraju – “Vote For Your Future”: Murali gave an informative and persuasive about the importance of exercising your right to vote. He also provided reasons why voting is important and how much people take it for granted. This speech was from the CC manual, #9 Persuade With Power. Arun evaluated Murali’s speech.

Tom Alvord – “An Interesting Lady”: Tom presented an informative and historical speech about an interesting lady, Marie Antoinette. Michael Nicastre evaluated Tom’s speech.

Charnaie was our General Evaluator. Other meeting roles were filled by: Michael O’Brien (Timer), Cheryl Mason (Grammarian), and Yolanda Lowe (Ah Counter).

Charnaie noted this was Jackie’s first time as Toastmaster, and complimented her for an outstanding job. The meeting planning began early and the agenda was very well laid out, with the prepared speeches’ projects as well as titles. Jackie even brought snacks for everyone! The word-of-the-day was used quite often throughout the meeting.

When our guests were asked their overall impressions each person said they enjoyed it. Jonathan Herron even became a member at the end of the meeting – welcome Jonathan!

The meeting concluded at 9pm.

Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully Submitted,
Charnaie Gordon, President
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Club Calendar

2010-12-20T07:23:00.002-05:00

The 2011 Club Calendar (Jan-Jun) has been posted, available from the main menu on the website and at the following link: club calendar

Meeting Notes December 9

2010-12-16T08:50:00.003-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club met on Thursday, December 9th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, Jackie Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Jeanette White.

Guests Present: Gopala Krishna.

Business Meeting: Charnaie announced that Cheryl has earned another Competent Communicator Award, which along with Jen’s CC in August, will give the Middlesex County Toastmasters another point towards the Distinguished Club Program (congratulations and thank you, Cheryl!) Rob, in his speech that night, would be completing the Interpretive Reading manual and earning the Advanced Communicator Silver Award (for another point). The total for the year so far is seven points, out of a possible ten.

Upcoming District 53 events include the Jan Jam, which will be held January 29, 2011, from 12-6pm. This event will be held at The Hartford, 690 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT. (A note from the District 53 website: Admission is free but you must RSVP. Contact janjam@district53toastmasters.org. )

Meeting:

Our Toastmaster for the evening was Murali Pemmaraju, and he did a great job in his first time as Toastmaster.

Siva presented the invocation, thought-provoking words from St. Francis of Assisi that he first read when he was young and then re-discovered as an adult.

Our Wordmaster was Jeanette, who challenged us to use the word “intimate” (with a long a), meaning to communicate indirectly, subtly, to hint.

Prior to our prepared speakers, our Toastmaster Murali spoke of the importance of goal setting, reminding us that it’s not enough to have goals, but that we have to keep pursuing them. He asked, “What is your goal?” and “Are you doing enough to achieve it?”

Because of the length of the prepared speeches, the Table Topics session was held after the prepared speeches.

There were four prepared speeches:

Tom entertained us with “Twelve Angry Pigs”, a play he read for the Advanced “Interpretive Reading” manual. He read all the parts himself (at least 15!) Sally evaluated his speech.

Kay presented a briefing as part of the “Speeches by Management” manual. She briefed us on the “TLE Program on December 4, 2010” and made those of us who weren’t there really wish we had been. Kay’s speech was evaluated by Charnaie.

Charnaie gave an acceptance speech, “Don’t Lose the Lesson” for her project from the “Special Occasions” speeches manual. Jackie evaluated Charnaie’s speech.

Rob read a scene from “Glengarry Glen Ross” (Act I, Scene II), reading two characters’ parts. This was Rob’s fifth project from the Interpretive Reading manual (earning Rob the Advanced Communicator Silver award, it's worth repeating!)

For Table Topics, Michael gave “What would I do if” questions to Cheryl (what if her computer crashed, which has happened to her); to Jeanette (what if she won the lottery, sadly that hasn’t happened yet); to Sally (what if her car broke down in the desert with no cell service, sadly that has happened); and to Siva (what if he was lost on a hike with no cell service, yes, that has happened too).

Jen was our General Evaluator. Rounding out the evaluation team was Ramesh (Timer), Jackie (Grammarian), and Cheryl (Ah Counter).

Jen noted that this was Murali’s first time as Toastmaster, and lauded him for an excellent job. The meeting planning began early and the agenda was very well laid out, with the prepared speeches’ projects as well as titles. Tom and Rob chose their material well for the “Reading a Play” project in the Interpretive Reading manual. Kay gave very astute observations about the district training she attended, our club, and the club she evaluated as part of the training. Another excellent speech by Kay, and by Charnaie as well. (If Jen didn’t say so during her evaluation, she thought that Ramesh did a great job as timer with long speeches and unusual lengths. She also thought that Michael’s Table Topics questions were terrific, far better than her own questions were the week before.)

The meeting concluded shortly after 9pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Mid-year Report from the President

2010-12-10T11:23:00.002-05:00

Hello Everyone!

We have officially completed the first 6 months of the 2010-2011 Toastmasters year and what a year it's been so far! Staying true to our theme this year, our club has really "branched out" since July 1, 2010.

We started the year with a bang in July:
• Cheryl Mason received her DTM award and another CL (Competent Leader) award
• We added 5 new members to our club! (Michael Nicastre (referred by Sally Nicastre), Anthony Elder, Christina Johnson, Gary Torello and Erik Jarboe (returning member)
• All 7 of our club officers were trained!

In August we had one new member: Jacqueline Kirwan.

In September we added two more new members: Murugan Pachaiyappan (returning member) and Yolanda Lowe. Also, Jennifer Cimilluca earned her CC award (Competent Communicator).

In November we added yet another new member: Brian Burness (referred by Anne-Marie Cannata)

Up until last night our club had 5 out of 10 DCP (Distinguised Club Program) points completed. However, last night we received two additional points bringing us to a total of 7 DCP POINTS! Rob Schaff earned his ACS award last night (Advanced Communicator Silver) and Cheryl Mason earned another CC award (Competent Communicator) - excellent job Rob and Cheryl!

It is so great to see the growth that has taken place within our club over the past few months. I couldn't be more proud!

We also had some great events that took place:
• District 53 Hiking Club started - Tom Alvord is the coordinator
• Guest Speaker Jerry Theodorou - "Use Your Voice" (September)
• Guest Speaker Isaak Gelbinovich - "Storytelling Secrets of the Masters" (November)
• Movie Night - "Magic Moments" DVD (Thanks Michael O'Brien!) (December)
• Rob Schaff made it all the way to the District 53 Humorous Contest!
• Rob Schaff, Michael Nicastre and Anthony Elder won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in our club Humorous Contest
• Rob Schaff, Michael O'Brien, and Anne-Marie Cannata won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in our club Evaluation Contest

As we embark on the next 6 months of the Toastmasters year, let us continue to grow and learn as communicators and leaders. If you're an active member and haven't attended a meeting in a while we'd love to see you soon!

We have some exciting events lined up for the next half of the year including:
• January 13th - First meeting of the new year!
• January 20th - Joint speech-a-thon with our sister club - Cromwell Community Toastmasters (Please contact Kay if you'd like to volunteer or bring refreshments)
• March 10th - International and Tall Tales Speech Contest
• March 24th - Spring Open House w/ keynote speaker Ruby Parker
• April 28th - Guest Speaker - "How to Write a Speech in 15 Minutes" w/ Walter Beveridge
• June 23rd - Last meeting of the 2010 - 2011 Toastmasters year! Keynote Speaker: Nana Danso

We will not meet again until January 13, 2011 (that's a 5-week stretch!). I hope you all enjoy the remainder of the year.

Thank you all for your efforts. Here's to having another successful 6 months in 2011!
Cheers!

Charnaie

Meeting Notes December 2

2010-12-06T07:12:00.005-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club had a fun and educational night “at the movies” on Thursday, December 2nd, thanks to the video “Magic Moments”.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Brian Burness, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Yolanda Lowe, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff.

Guests Present: Ashley Mason, Paul Randolph (from the Air Line Trail Toastmasters Club in Colchester).

Business Meeting: Charnaie presented Brian with his new member pin and officially welcomed him to the club.

Rob competed in the Humorous Contest at the District 53 Conference on Saturday, November 21st, in East Fishkill, New York. That was just one of the conference highlights, which included educational workshops and the keynote speech from Dana LaMon, the 1992 World Champion of Public Speaking.

Upcoming District 53 events include the Jan Jam, a kick off to the new year, which will be held January 29, 2011. This free event will be held in Hartford – more details to come. The Spring Conference will be held on May 21, 2011, at the Clarion Conference Center in East Windsor, CT. There will be a club officer training session on 12/4 in Manchester, with other sessions to follow for those officers unable to make the 12/4 session.

Our club’s final meeting of 2010 will be at Middlesex Community College on Thursday, December 9th.

Two club members were mentioned in the current issue of the Middlesex/Cromwell monthly newspaper, The Chronicle. Anne-Marie was pictured on the front page of the paper, as Executive Director of The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown. An article on the Middlesex County Toastmasters mentioned Rob’s success in the club, area, and division Fall Humorous Contests.

There will be a meeting for club officers on Tuesday, January 11th, at the Russell Library.

Meeting:
Our Toastmaster for the evening was Michael O’Brien.

Jay presented our Word of the Day, assiduous (meaning “constant; unremitting: assiduous reading; constant in application or effort; working diligently at a task; persevering; industrious; attentive: an assiduous student.

Charnaie presented our invocation, reminding us that life is not a race, and giving us inspiring words to help unleash the greatness within each of us.

For Table Topics, in honor of our movie, “Magic Moments”, Jen gave the choice of either a movie related or a Harry Potter related Table Topics question. Answering questions were Brian, Yolanda, Michael Nicastre, our guest Paul, and Murali.

There were two prepared speeches:

Jackie gave her third speech from the Competent Communicator Manual with the objective, “Get to the Point.” Her speech, “The Transformative Power of Toastmasters: Reflections from My First Toastmasters Conference”, was evaluated by Tom.

Cheryl gave a speech from the Competent Communicator manual (Project #5, Your Body Speaks), “The Good Wife.” Her speech was evaluated by Kim.

Kay was our General Evaluator, and our technicians were Rob (Timer), and Charnaie (Grammarian).

In her evaluation of the meeting, Kay commented how effective the comments were by our two evaluators. The meeting went smoothly, starting on time and running on time up to that point. She brought Rob up to present him with a certificate marking his accomplishments in the District Humorous Contest.

The last hour of the evening was devoted to the DVD, “Magic Moments”, provided by our Toastmaster, Michael O’Brien. The narrator David Brooks, the 1990 World Champion of Public Speaking, introduced 29 video clips from Toastmasters speech contests held over 11 years. We saw examples of gestures, body language, timing, humor, excellent writing, and the use of personal stories from some of the best Toastmasters speakers in the world.

For more information, see the attached transcript from the “Magic Moments” video, and see David Brooks’ website, http://www.DavidBrooksTexas.com

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes November 18

2010-11-29T13:32:00.004-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club had an exciting “speech-a-thon” meeting on Thursday, November 18th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Ramesh Padavala, Rob Schaff, Jeannette White.

Guests Present: Brian Burness, Deb Flynn.

Business Meeting: Charnaie welcomed our guests, Brian and Deb, and announced that Brian would be joining the club.

Our next meeting will be held on December 2nd. It will be a special meeting in the “Show Room” at the Village of South Farms (645 Saybrook Road), a “movie night” with two speeches followed by an hour-long DVD with a series of speaking skills. Charnaie and Kay will be bringing popcorn.

Charnaie reminded us that members with any concerns about their mentoring partnership should see Pam Mulready, our mentoring program coordinator.

Prepared Speeches: John Keppler was our Toastmaster, and we had five prepared speeches:

Michael Nicastre gave his fourth speech from the Competent Communicator Manual, “Everything I learned in Life, I learned from vacations.” His speech was evaluated by Tom.

Charnaie gave a speech from the Special Occasions Manual, “Born to Lead”, and gave well deserved kudos to our Immediate Past President, Cheryl, a Distinguished Toastmaster and a club role model. The members present gave Charnaie a “round robin” evaluation.

Jackie gave her second speech from the Competent Communicator Manual, “Find the Joy in Your Life; Live a Life with No Regrets.” Jen evaluated her speech.

Kay’s speech was called “The Three P’s of Power Introductions” and used examples from her own introduction of Isaak Gelbinovich during last week’s meeting to illustrate her points. Murugan evaluated her speech.

Rob gave a practice run of the speech “Good Evening, Sir”, that he would be presenting at Saturday’s District Humorous Contest, followed by a “round robin” evaluation.

Kay was our General Evaluator, assisted by technicians Charnaie (Ah Counter), Ramesh (Timer), and Jeanette (Grammarian).

Kay mentioned that she liked Charnaie’s speech and how she used someone from the club as a speech subject. The meeting’s logistics went well. John added that as usual, people stepped up to the plate with Ramesh volunteering to time the meeting and Murugan volunteering to evaluate Kay’s speech.

The meeting concluded on time. Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes November 11

2010-11-17T08:52:00.002-05:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club had a terrific meeting with a dynamic guest speaker, Isaak Gelbinovich, on Thursday, November 11th (Veterans’ Day).

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Yolanda Lowe, Pamela Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Jeannette White.

Guests Present: Brian Burness, Christopher Cargnel, Doug Compton, Dorothy Goertz, Krishna Kumar, Jenn Maynard, Abhijit Mhetre, Sowmya Ramasamy

Business Meeting: After welcoming our guests, Charnaie reminded us that our next meeting will be on Thursday, November 18th, at the Village of South Farms. It’s an extra (speech-a-thon) meeting with no meeting on November 25th (Thanksgiving Day).

The District 53 Fall Conference will be held on Saturday, November 20th, at the Holiday Inn in East Fishkill, NY.

In her “Mentoring Minute”, Pam reminded any members looking for a mentor to let her know, also anyone in a mentoring partnership with any questions or concerns should seek her out.

Meeting:
Our Toastmaster was Kay, who took a moment before starting the meeting to remind us that December 2nd is a special meeting at the Village of South Farms, a “movie night” with just two speeches followed by an hour-long DVD with a series of speaking skills (thanks to Michael O’Brien for providing that to us). December 9th will be our last meeting of the year. On January 20th, we will be having a joint “speech-a-thon” with the Cromwell Community Toastmasters.

Kay read an excerpt from the book, Tips to Becoming an Effective Presenter, by Frank S. Adamo.

Our invocator was Anne-Marie, who on this Veterans Day gave us some very moving and appropriate thoughts on the meaning of freedom.

Tom offered us the Word of the Day—actually, in honor of Veterans’ Day he gave us two—“Armistice”, and “truce.” Using “armistice” would give a speaker two points, and using “truce” would give a speaker one point.

Our Humorist, Michael Nicastre, brought a golf club and ball so he didn’t just tell his joke, but acted it out for us.

Charnaie was our Table Topics Master. She set up teams of speakers for an “improv” session by giving an opening line and letting the speakers take it away. And taking it away were Pam and Jay; Ramesh, Murali, and our guest Abhijit; Anne-Marie and our guest, Doug; our guest speaker Isaak, and Kim; and Sally, Jeannette, and John.

We had two prepared speeches:

Siva’s speech, “How to Read a Brain” was his third, #3 in the CC manual, “Get to the Point.” His speech was evaluated by Jackie.

Tom’s speech “On the Battlefield: On Flanders Field” was from the Interpretive Reading manual, and was evaluated by Michael O’Brien.

We were then treated to a guest speaker, Isaak Gelbinovich, who presented “Storytelling Secrets of the Masters.” He told a wonderful story about his first experiences on the ski slope, and walked us through the elements of the story (structure, dialog, conflict, and message) one by one, to help us learn how to craft our own stories.

Rob was our General Evaluator.

Our technicians were Yolanda (Ah Counter), Jackie, (Grammarian), and Jen (Timer).

Rob’s evaluation of the meeting recognized Jackie and Michael O’Brien for their excellent evaluations and suggestions for Siva and Tom. He also noted how a speaking slot or role on the agenda could be used to introduce a theme to the meeting (as Tom did with Veterans’ Day).

The meeting concluded on time. Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Oct. 28 Meeting Minutes

2010-10-29T11:41:00.003-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club met on Thursday, October 28th, at the Village at South Farms.

14 Members Present: Tom Alvord, Charnaie Gordon, Erik Jarboe, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Pam Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Jeanette White.

Business Meeting: Charnaie put out a call for Toastmasters for our upcoming meetings. If you have never been Toastmaster for a club meeting, or haven't been Toastmaster in a long time, please take this opportunity to sign up.

Our next meeting will be held Thursday, November 11th, at Middlesex Community College. We will have a guest speaker, Isaak Gelbinovich, offering “Storytelling Secrets”.

Club Meeting:

Michael Nicastre was our Toastmaster for the evening. Our invocator was Charnaie Gordon. Jeanette White provided the word of the day, "pensive". Rob Schaff was our humorist.
Jackie Kirwan was our Table Topics Master. She provided a Jeopardy-style table topics sessions, complete with buzzers and prizes for 6 volunteers.

Prepared speeches:

John Keppler, "The Good Ol' Days", evaluated by Pam Mulready.
Sally Nicastre, "The Mother's Group", evaluated by Tom Alvord.
Michael O'Brien, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", evaluated by Murali Pemmaraju.
Rob Schaff, "Concluding Your Speech", a presentation from the Toastmasters Better Speaker Series. Evaluated by Erik Jarboe.

John Keppler served as our General Evaluator, and pointed out the preparation that went into this well-organized meeting, and the people that stepped in to fill roles. Our technicians were Erik (Ah Counter), Charnaie (Grammarian), and Jackie (Timer).

The meeting concluded on time.

Respectfully submitted,

Rob Schaff, VPPR
Middlesex County Toastmasters

Division C Contest Results

2010-10-19T13:08:00.005-04:00

Evaluation Contest

1st – Wendy Holleran, Valley-Shore Toastmasters
2nd – Suzanne DeMerchant, Energy Toastmasters
3rd – Abhijit Mhetre, Nathan Hale Toastmasters

Humorous Speech Contest

1st – Rob Schaff – Middlesex County Toastmasters
2nd – Lynnea P. Mahlke - Niantic Toastmasters
3rd – Larry Savage - Nathan Hale Toastmasters

Udaya Neelam, Rob Schaff, Cheryl Mason, and Dave Wheeler

District 53 Website Contest Results

Division C Contest Report

2010-10-19T09:16:00.003-04:00

From Cheryl Mason, Division C Governor:

Hi Everyone,

The Division C Speech Contests were held at Eagle Club in Wallingford tonight, and Middlesex County was well represented with Michael O'Brien as the Area C5 Evaluation Contestant and Rob Schaff as the Area C5 Humorous Speech Contestant. We're so very proud of both of them making it to the Division level contests! Murali served as the primary timer, and Michael Nicastre, Tom Alvord, and John Keppler were also present to cheer on our contestants!

The speeches were all great and the competition fierce! It was a fun filled evening, and Eagle Club did a great job as the host club!

Drum roll please . . . .

Rob Schaff placed FIRST in the Humorous Contest, and will move forward to the District 53 Conference on November 20th!

District 53 Evaluation & Humorous Speech Contests
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Holiday Inn Fishkill
542 Route 9
Fishkill NY 12524
Phone: 845.896.6281

Hope you'll join us in supporting Rob at the District Conference!

Registration information

-Cheryl

Oct. 14 Meeting Notes

2010-10-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club met on Thursday, October 14th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Yolanda Lowe, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Arun Sodani.

Guests Present: Stacy Davis, Debra Flynn, Jessica Maxan, and Ashley Oliver.

Business Meeting: Charnaie presented a new member pin to Yolanda. She updated us on the club’s progress in the Distinguished Club Program. We have five points so far, and have earned Distinguished Club status again.

The Area C5 contest was held in Cromwell on October 7th, and we have a lot to be proud of. Rob won the Humorous Contest, with Michael Nicastre coming in 2nd place. Michael O’Brien won the Evaluation contest. Rob and Michael O’Brien will next compete in the Division Contest on Monday, October 18th at the Eagles club in Wallingford.

Charnaie mentioned some updates from the club officers’ meeting on October 5th. To sign up for a 5th speaking slot, see Kay or Charnaie. Also, the backup speaking slot might be an opportunity to get a speech in, if a scheduled speaker is unable to attend a meeting. She brought up the possibility of selecting a particular individual to evaluate your speech, if you would like to do so.

Our next meeting will be held Thursday, October 28th, at the Village of South Farms (in the Show Room).

Our VP of Public Relations, Rob, gave us a club calendar for the next few months. Upcoming highlights: November 11th – we will have a guest speaker, Isaak Gelbinovich, offering “Storytelling Secrets”. There will be an extra, “speechathon” meeting on November 18th. The District 53 Fall Conference will be on November 20th, in Fishkill, NY. There will an extra meeting (a movie night) on December 2nd. On January 20th, there will be an extra meeting, a joint speechathon in Cromwell with the Cromwell Community Toastmasters.

Tom Alvord offered a hike recap. On Sunday, October 10th, Tom, Anne-Marie, Ramesh, Murali, and several friends (12 people altogether) hiked up to the Hublein Tower on Talcott Mountain in Simsbury. More dates to come!

Kay presented Tom with a certificate of recognition to Tom for all his efforts in putting the hikes together. She also presented certificates to Michael O’Brien, Michael Nicastre, and Rob for representing our club and doing so well in the area contests.

Club Meeting:

Rob was our Toastmaster. Our invocator was Anne-Marie, who gave us inspiring words from John Lennon, from his song, “Imagine”. Lennon would have been 70 years old on October 9th.

The Word of the Day was offered by Michael Nicastre. He gave us “Extemporaneous”, meaning impromptu, off the cuff, given without notes. In addition to posting the word, he gave us a handout to help us keep the word in mind.

Our Humorist, Siva, gave us three political anecdotes including an exchange between Benjamin Disreali and William Gladstone, and words from Mohandas Gandhi.

Tom was our Table Topics Master. He gave autumn themed questions to John; our guests Ashley, Stacy, and Deb; Arun; and Kim.

We had four prepared speeches:

Charnaie gave a speech from the Special Occasion Speeches manual, “Mastering the Toast”. Her speech was evaluated by Anne-Marie.

Jackie presented her Ice-Breaker, “My Search for Meaning: What I have Learned from My Favorite Book.” Rob evaluated Jackie’s speech.

Kay presented “The Toastmasters Educational Program” from the Successful Club Series. Her speech was evaluated by Murali.

Anne-Marie gave a speech, “Proper Flossing,” that was evaluated by Mike O'Brien.

Jen was our General Evaluator. Our technicians were Ramesh (Ah Counter), Siva (Grammarian), and Charnaie (Timer).

Jen’s evaluation of the meeting noted that as usual, club members were very supportive of each other. There were signs and banners congratulating Rob, Michael O’Brien, and Mike Nicastre for their performance in the Area Contest. Members stepped in to fill in roles, as Anne-Marie and Siva stepped in to fill a speaking slot and the grammarian role, respectively. Members were willing to evaluate each other in speaking roles and for the CL manual.

Comments from our guests: Stacy said she enjoyed it. Ashley thought it was great. Deb just loved it, and said that she will be back.

The meeting concluded on time.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Area C5 Fall Contest

2010-10-08T08:28:00.008-04:00

Cromwell Community Toastmasters hosted the Area C5 Fall Contest on October 7. There were 27 people in attendance, including Dave Wheeler, District 53 Governor, and Cheryl Mason, Division C Governor.

Here are the results:

Evaluation Contest
1st - Michael O'Brien, Middlesex County Toastmasters
2nd - Kate Kelly, Eagle Toastmasters
3rd - Rachel Mele, Eagle Toastmasters

Humorous Speech Contest
1st - Rob Schaff, Middlesex County Toastmasters
2nd - Mike Nicastre, Middlesex County Toastmasters
3rd - Biju Kunjummen, Eagle Toastmasters

The winners will move on to the Division C Contest, Monday, October 18th, hosted by Eagle Toastmasters in Wallingford, CT.

Club Speechathon, Sep. 30

2010-10-04T10:15:00.002-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club held a special meeting, a “Speech-A-Thon”, on Thursday, September 30th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Erik Jarboe, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff.

We were joined by a guest, Krisha Kumar, invited by Murali.

Business Meeting: Charnaie updated us on the club’s progress in the Distinguished Club Program. We have five points so far, and are now a Distinguished Club! Yolanda Lowe joined the club (giving us a point for adding four new members), and we gained another point by turning in our club renewals and officer lists on time.

The Area C5 Humorous and Evaluation Contests will be held on Thursday, October 7th, at the Cromwell Community Toastmasters (7pm). We will be represented in the Humorous Contest by Rob and Michael Nicastre, and in the Evaluation Contest by Rob and Michael O’Brien.

Tom spoke about a hike to be held on Sunday, October 10th at the Hublein Tower on Talcott Mountain in Simsbury at 2pm. All area Toastmasters will be invited. Members will soon be able to get information for upcoming hikes, and sign up, at the website http://www.meetup.com/.

Speechathon:

Our Toastmaster was Tom Alvord.

Jackie led us off with the Word of the Day, “mendacity”: the quality of being mendacious, untruthfulness, tendency to lie, an instance of lying, falsehood. She gave an original quote using the word, then gave a dramatic reading from the play, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, in which mendacity is a recurring theme.

We had seven prepared speeches:

Siva – “A Walk in the Woods – What I Found by Getting Lost” (evaluated by John). This was Siva’s second speech from the CC manual, “Organize Your Speech.”

Charnaie – “Mega Memory” (evaluated by the group in a round robin evaluation).
Anne-Marie – “Go With Your Gut” (evaluated by the group in a round robin evaluation)
Charnaie and Anne-Marie each spoke from Toastmasters’ advanced manuals.

Erik – “Composting Basics” (evaluated by Rob)
Murugan – “ICD-10” (evaluated by Charnaie)
These were Erik and Murugan’s first speeches since rejoining Middlesex County Toastmasters, and we are so glad to see them both return!

Michael – “Upsides and Downsides” (evaluated by Anne-Marie)
This was Michael’s second speech from the CC manual, “Organize Your Speech”, and the third he has presented to the club overall (the other was his speech in last week’s Humorous Contest).

Jen – “Lessons from the Mouse” (evaluated by the group in a round robin evaluation)
This was Jen’s 10th speech – she has now completed the CC manual!

Our General Evaluator was Murali, who did a great job in his first time in the role.

Our technicians were Jackie (Ah Counter), Anne-Marie (Grammarian), and Jay (Timer).

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Fall Speech Contest, Sep. 23

2010-09-27T07:55:00.002-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club held its Fall 2010 Evaluation and Humorous Contests on Thursday, September 23rd.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Anthony Elder, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, Jackie Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Pam Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, Jeannette White.

Guests: Yolanda Lowe (who joined the club after the meeting).

Business Meeting: Greg Kline from the Middlesex County Community College Foundation came to our meeting to accept our donation. $300 was presented to the Foundation as appreciation for the College’s allowing us to use the meeting space free of charge during the college’s academic year. Mr. Kline offered some history of the College, and some perspective on the College’s strategic plan as it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2016.

The Fall 2010 Evaluation and Humorous Contests:
Our Contest Chair was Kay Jeyapalan, our Chief Judge was Charnaie Gordon, and our Contest Master was Jennifer Cimilluca.

Kim Price was the test speaker for the Evaluation Contest. His speech was entitled, “Do You Really Wanna Know?” The Evaluation Contest contestants were Arun Sodani, Ann-Marie Cannata, Rob Schaff, and Michael O’Brien.

The Evaluation Contest winners:
Rob Schaff
Michael O’Brien
Anne-Marie Cannata

The Humorous Contest had five contestants: Anthony Elder (“Grandkids”), Murugan Pachaiyappan (“LA to NY Travel Experience”), Michael Nicastre (“The Low Road to Higher Education OR How I Became the Man I am Today”), Rob Schaff (“Good Evening, Sir”), and Pam Mulready (“An Apple A Day”).

The Humorous Contest winners:
Rob Schaff
Michael Nicastre
Anthony Elder

Many thanks to all those who assisted with the contest – our Sergeant-At-Arms, Ramesh Padavala; our timers, Jackie Kirwin and Siva Digavalli; our ballot counters, Emily O’Brien, Sally Nicastre, and Jeannette White; and our judges.

Rob and Michael O'Brien will represent the Middlesex County Toastmasters at the Area C5 Evaluation Contest on Thursday, October 7th, at the Cromwell Community Toastmasters Club (Cromwell Town Hall) at 7pm. If either is unable to attend, then Anne-Marie will compete. Rob and Michael Nicastre will represent us in the Humorous Contest, with Anthony competing if either is unable to.

September 9 - Meeting Notes

2010-09-16T07:24:00.000-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters welcomed many guests and a special speaker, Jerry Theodorou, to our meeting on Thursday, September 9th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Anthony Elder, Charnaie Gordon, Erik Jarboe, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Pam Mulready, Deborah Nason, Michael Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani.

Guests: Venessa Bromell, Christopher Cargnel, Gail Freeman, Norris Haynes, Kristoffer Jensen, Jessica Maxan, Abhijit Mhetre, Ewa Nowale, Frances Ocansey, Murugan Pachaiyappan (a former Mx County Toastmaster), Dave Pelland, Kasia Polak, Paul Rice, Barakah White.

Business Meeting: Charnaie welcomed our many guests, and Erik (a returning member) was given a new member pin and welcomed back. Charnaie gave us an update on how our club is progressing in the Distinguished Club Program. So far, we have three points for the year.

We are back to meeting at Middlesex Community College, with two exceptions in the near future: we have an extra “speech-a-thon meeting” on September 30th at the Village of South Farms, and our October 28th meeting location is still TBD.

There is an officers’ meeting on October 5th, at the Russell Library from 6:30-8pm. Club members with any feedback or concerns are encouraged to see a club officer prior to the meeting.

On November 11th, we will be having another special guest. Isaak Gelbinovich will be presenting "Storytelling Secrets of the Masters".

Our VPE, Kay, spoke about the Humorous and Evaluation contests, which will be held at our next meeting on September 23rd. Timers and ballot counters are needed (sign ups available for these roles on the club website). Contest judges are also needed—please email Kay if you are interested in being a judge.

Our mentoring program coordinator, Pam, reminded us she is still collecting surveys for prospective mentors/mentees. Those members interested in being a mentor should have already given three speeches.

Charnaie was our evening’s Toastmaster.

Meeting:

Jackie did probably the most thorough presentation of the Word of the Day the club has ever seen. “Malapropism” means usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase.

Our Invocator, Pam, gave us words of wisdom from a new client she had met earlier that day.

Our Humorist Tom had us laughing over a teenager scoring a great truck at a naughty husband’s expense.

Our Table Topics Master Cheryl put us in pairs for everyday (and not-so-everyday) situations. Up to the challenge were Kim and Deborah; Jen and Jay; Pete and Michael Nicastre; Siva and Erik; our guests Abijit and Dave; Rob and our guest Ewa; and Murali and Murugan.

Prepared Speeches:

Anthony presented his second speech from the Competent Communicator manual, “Everyone Can’t Be Rich, but Everyone can be a Success”, which was evaluated by Arun. Kay presented the first speech from the Speaking to Inform manual, “Numbers can Tell Stories.” Her speech was evaluated by Anne-Marie.

Our special guest speaker for the evening was Jerry Theodorou, who gave a vocal clinic for speakers. His presentation gave three common pitfalls for speakers and exercises to help overcome them: Mumbling/Garbled Indistinct Speech; Unprojected Sound Stuck in the Throat; and the Foreign Accent. It was an excellent presentation. Jerry brought a handout that will be available at our next meeting for those members unable to attend.

The General Evaluator was John. He thanked Charnaie for her efforts in bringing Jerry to the meeting and for all of her hard work in putting the meeting together. John gave kudos to Jackie for her excellent presentation of the Word of the Day and bringing four guests to the meeting (also some food!), also to Cheryl for her Table Topics.

Our technicians were Anthony (the Ah Counter), Pam (the Grammarian), and Michael O’Brien (the Timer).

Kay presented Erik with his “1/2 CC” certificate which he earned before his sabbatical from Toastmasters, and also a “1/2 CC” certificate to Ramesh. Congratulations to both!

Charnaie gave Jerry an appreciation gift to Jerry. It was a mug with the most appropriate saying: “Find Your Voice”. Many thanks to Jerry for a very enjoyable and helpful program.

The meeting ended at approximately 9:05pm.

Please advise any errors or omissions.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes, August 26, 2010

2010-09-07T14:06:00.001-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters last met on Thursday, August 26.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Anthony Elder, Charnaie Gordon, Lawrence Gore, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Erin Mulhern, Pam Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Jeannette White.

Guests: Alfredo Herreira, Udaya Neelam (Area C-5 Governor).

Business Meeting: Charnaie has updated us on how our club is “Branching Out” in the Distinguished Club Program. So far, we have three points for the year.

Our September – December meetings will be held at Middlesex Community College, starting on September 9th. Our October 28th meeting location is TBD.

There is an officers’ meeting on October 5th, at the Russell Library from 6:30-8pm. Club members are encouraged to give any feedback to a club officer prior to the meeting.

Club dues are up for renewal in September. Renewals for the October – March period are $33 ($27 to Toastmasters International and $6 retained for the club). Also, we are taking up a collection to thank Middlesex Community College for allowing us to use meeting space there. MxCC’s Greg Klein will be coming to our September 23rd meeting to accept the donation. Please note: Checks should be made payable to the Middlesex County College Foundation. John is collecting both the club dues and the collection for the college foundation.

We will have a special guest speaker at our next meeting on September 9th. Jerry Theodorou, a trained opera singer, will be giving us techniques on how we can more effectively use our voices. Toastmasters from all over the district have been invited and we hope to have a packed house!

Tom spoke about our upcoming hike at Wadsworth State Park on Sunday, September 12th, from 1-3pm. It will be about three miles long. Toastmasters from Holy Apostles, Cromwell, Eagle, and Cheshire Toastmasters have been invited to join us, so we should have lots of company on a fun day. Anyone interested or needing more information should see Tom.

Our mentoring program coordinator, Pam, passed out a survey for prospective mentors/mentees. These surveys should be returned to Pam as soon as possible.

Our VPE, Kay, spoke about the Humorous and Evaluation contests, which will be held on September 23rd. A chief judge, timers, ballot counters, and a sergeant at arms are needed. To sign up for one of these roles, please go to the club website. Contest judges are also needed—please email Kay if you are interested in being a judge.

We will having an extra meeting on September 30th, at the Village of South Farms. It will be a “speechathon” meeting, with up to eight speakers. Signups are now available on the club website.

Tom Alvord was the evening’s Toastmaster.

Erin presented the Word of the Day, “inchoate”, meaning not yet completed or fully developed, rudimentary, just begun, incipient, not organized.

Our Invocator, John, told us “life is about expectations”, and reminded us how our positive and negative expectations affect what happens in our lives.

Our Humorist (and new member), Jackie, gave us many great examples of just how bizarre the English language really is at times. She had us rolling with laughter.

Our Table Topics Master, Charnaie, asked “If your fill in blank could talk, what it would it say about your ___________?” Lawrence was asked about his stove, our guest Udaya his brain, and Rob his phone. Sally was asked about her hair, our guest Alfredo his wardrobe, and Siva his eyes. Murali was asked about his pen, and Michael Nicastre was asked about his stomach.

Prepared Speeches:

Jennifer’s speech answered the question, “Who the heck were the Mansfields?” and was evaluated by Udaya.

Anthony wowed us with his Icebreaker, “Disadvantage to Advantage”. His speech was evaluated by John.

Pam presented her seventh speech, “Angry? Don’t get Even…Get Speaking!, which gave very effective anger management techniques and dispelled a myth or two. Her speech was evaluated by Cheryl.

Michael O’Brien’s speech, “30 Days to Success”, was evaluated by Erin.

The General Evaluator was Rob. He commented on how much he liked John’s invocation, adding that if you expect a good meeting, you will get one (and we did!). He praised club members for being willing to step up and fill in, noting that Tom stepped in as Toastmaster at the last minute. Rob also noted Charnaie’s excellent Table Topics questions, saying it was terrific to learn so much about our club members. He also commended the speech evaluators.

Our technicians were Jeanette as Timer, Kay as Grammarian, and Ramesh as Ah Counter.

Kay presented Anthony and Jackie with their new member pins. She also presented Ice Breaker candies to Anthony – along with congratulations on an excellent speech.

Guest comments: Alfredo used the words, “wonderful” and “animated” to describe the meeting.

Udaya said it was a pleasure to be there, adding comments on how well organized the meeting was, and energetic.

The meeting concluded shortly after 9pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes - August 12

2010-08-23T14:50:00.001-04:00

We had a great meeting on Thursday, August 12th at the Village of South Farms. Many thanks to our Sergeant at Arms, Ramesh Padavala, for arranging for us to be in the Village’s “Show Room”. It was a very nice room for our meeting.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Craig Fresher, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, Cristina Johnson, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Erin Mulhern, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Arun Sodani, Gary Torello, Jeannette White.

Guests: Jackie Kirwan (who joined the club after the meeting), Steven Monahan, Amanda Roczniak.

Business Meeting: Charnaie gave an overview of our club’s progress in the Distinguished Club Program. Our club has earned DCP status in each of the last five years, and with four new members, we have earned another point (3 points for the year, of a possible ten).

Our club earned the “Beat the Clock” award for having five new members join the club in the last two months of the Toastmasters year (from May 1st – June 30th). A new ribbon for the club banner is on its way.

Our next meeting (August 26th) will be held at Luther Ridge at 628 Congdon Street West. We will be back at Middlesex Community College on September 9th. We will have a special guest speaker at that meeting. Jerry Theodorou, a trained opera singer, will be giving us techniques on how we can more effectively use our voices. The September 23rd and October 14th meetings will be at the college, and our October 28th meeting location is TBD.

We are taking up a collection to thank Middlesex Community College for allowing us to use meeting space there. MxCC’s Greg Klein will be coming to our September 23rd meeting to accept the donation. Any members interesting in donating can see John. Please note: Checks should be made payable to the Middlesex County College Foundation.

Tom told us all to “Take a Hike”! We will be having a hike at Wadsworth State Park on Sunday, September 12th, from 1-3pm. It will be about three miles long. Anyone interested or needing more information should see Tom.

Gary and Cristina were presented with their new member pins and officially welcomed to the club!

Our VPE, Kay, spoke about the Humorous and Evaluation contests, which will be held on September 23rd. Kay will be the contest chair. A chief judge, timers, ballot counters, and a sergeant at arms are needed (signups available on the club website). Contest judges are also needed—please email Kay if you are interested in being a judge.

We will having an extra meeting on September 30th. It will be a “speechathon” meeting, with up to eight speakers. Signups are now available on the club website. Location TBD.

Michael O’Brien was the evening’s Toastmaster. The theme for the meeting was “Relaxing and Enjoying the Summer” and over the course of the evening, Michael offered some of his own ideas—exercise, trying something new (he practices the piano), and relaxing with a nature CD—and some ideas from the evening’s speakers.

Michael Nicastre presented the Word of the Day, “umbrage”, which means “offense, resentment”.

Our Invocator, Anne-Marie, gave us a moving quote from Neale Donald Walsch about “the grandest version of the greatest vision you ever had about yourself.”

Our Humorist, Siva, told us a true story about father-daughter time – be very careful if your daughter offers you some tea!

Our Table Topics Master, Pete, brought a basket of coins. He asked our members and guests to pick one and talk about whatever happened (personally or historically) the year the coin was minted. Called up were John (1990), Jeannette (2002), Kim (1975), Gary (1986), Cristina (1997), and our guests Steven (1983), Jackie (1970), and Amanda (1965). Great idea, Pete!

Prepared Speeches:

Michael Nicastre presented his Ice Breaker, “The Real Impact of Mentoring on a Life,” evaluated by Cheryl.

Erin spoke about a new veterinary diagnosis technique for “foot and mouth” disease. Her speech was evaluated by Craig.

Charnaie’s speech gave helpful tips about preparedness, based on her training and experience as a Red Cross volunteer. “When Disaster Strikes” was evaluated by Anne-Marie.

Kay presented “Evaluate to Motivate” from the Toastmasters’ Successful Club Series. The speech was evaluated by Arun.

The General Evaluator was Tom. He commented how much he enjoys our meetings, and how much fun they are. He praised the evening’s Toastmaster, Michael O’Brien, for the meeting’s theme and excellent preparation.

The technicians were Murali (Timer), Jen (Grammarian), and Sally (Ah Counter).

Guest comments: Jackie said the meeting was everything she expected, and more. She was very glad she came.

Amanda said that she expected to come back again.

Steven found it enjoyable, said he liked it a lot, and hoped to be back.

Kay gave Ice Breaker candies to Michael Nicastre, with well deserved congratulations.

Craig was presented with his “Half CC certificate” for having completed five speeches. Congratulations, Craig!

The meeting concluded by 9pm.

Please advise any errors or omissions.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary

July 22 Meeting Notes

2010-07-28T08:24:00.002-04:00

Hello, Toastmasters! I think we might be able to describe this past Thursday’s meeting as “record breaking”. We had eight guests, seven guests participated in our Table Topics session, we had four Ice Breaker speeches, and four guests joined after the meeting. I’m sure there has to be at least one club record broken in there somewhere!

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Jennifer Cimilluca, Walter Diaz, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Pam Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Eric Roise, Rob Schaff, Jeannette White.

Guests: Anthony Elder, Erik Jarboe (a former member), Cristina Johnson, Frances Ocansey, Fred Payen, Amanda Roczniak, Jose Sanchez, Gary Torello. After the meeting, Anthony, Cristina, and Gary joined (and Erik rejoined) the club!

Business Meeting: Charnaie gave an overview of our club’s 2010-2011 theme, “Branch Out” and explained the Distinguished Club Program. Our club has earned DCP status in each of the last five years, and we have two points already so far (out of a possible ten).

Our next meeting (August 12th) will be held at the Village at South Farms, 645 Saybrook Road. August 26th’s meeting location is Luther Ridge at 628 Congdon Street West. We will be back at Middlesex Community College on September 9th.

On September 9th, we will have a special guest speaker. Jerry Theodorou, a trained opera singer, will be giving us techniques on how we can more effectively use our voices.

Our new coordinator of the mentoring program, Pam, spoke on the revitalized mentoring program. Anyone interested in assisting her on the mentoring committee, being a mentor, or being mentored, should see Pam.

Kay was our Toastmaster for the evening. She spoke about the Competent Communicator manual, which has ten speech projects that can be completed in any order. She mentioned some of the obstacles that we face in completing the manual, and offered tips to overcome them. If the obstacle is shyness, taking on other roles (Ah Counter, Timer) can help. If time is the obstacle, take a few minutes each day to prepare a speech. If choosing a topic is the obstacle, bounce ideas off your spouse, family member, a colleague, or a more experienced club members. Many thanks to Kay for these excellent suggestions. She also reminded us that taking a role in the fall contest can be used for credit in the Competent Leadership manual.

Siva presented the Word of the Day, “profligate”, which means wildly extravagant and wasteful.

In her invocation, Pam reminded us how privileged we are to have this time to improve ourselves through public speaking.

Our guest Humorist, Anthony, gave us three hilarious stories that really got us laughing.

Our Table Topics Master, Cheryl, gave “Getting to Know You Questions” to Erik, Cristina, Fred, Amanda, Gary, Jose, and Frances. It was really great to have so many guests participate in Table Topics!

Prepared Speeches: Four out of our five speeches were Ice Breakers and they were incredible! Eric’s speech was evaluated by Charnaie, Jeanette’s was evaluated by Pam, Siva’s speech was evaluated by Rob, and Walter’s was evaluated by Tom. Murali gave his 8th speech, and was evaluated by John. Two more speeches and Murali earns his CC!

The General Evaluator was Ramesh. Jay was our Timer, our Grammarian was Sally, and our Ah Counter was Michael.

Guest comments: Anthony said he was “glad to be here”
Frances said she “will be coming back”
Jose said he “had a good time; makes me want to come back”
Fred said he “will be back”
Amanda said it was “interesting” and that she “liked the Table Topics”
Cristina also said she enjoyed Table Topics
Gary said it was “educational, entertaining, will be back”
Erik said he was “happy to be back”

Kay gave Ice Breaker candies to Eric, Jeanette, Siva, and Walter, and congratulated them again on their excellent speeches.

The meeting concluded at 9:10pm.

Please advise any errors or omissions.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Club Meeting July 8, 2010

2010-07-14T10:13:00.001-04:00

Hello, Toastmasters! We began the new Toastmasters year with another exciting meeting on July 8th.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Jennifer Cimilluca, Walter Diaz, Siva Digavalli, Ashley Gasper, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Erin Mulhern, Pam Mulready, Deborah Nason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Eric Roise, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, Jeannette White.

Guests: Anthony Elder, Sharon Roth (VPE, Cheshire Toastmasters).

Our President, Charnaie, presided over the club business portions of the meeting. Walter and Michael Nicastre were presented with new member pins and officially welcomed to the club.

At our last meeting, Cheryl wowed us with a recap of the club’s amazing results in 2009-2010. On Thursday, Charnaie presented the theme for the new year, “Branch Out”. She also reviewed the Distinguished Club Program and reported our progress – one week into the new year, we have two points already (thanks to Cheryl’s DTM and AL Silver!)

Our next meeting will be held at Luther Ridge at 624 Congdon Street West (July 22nd). On August 12th, we will be back at the Village at South Farms, 645 Saybrook Road. August 26th’s meeting location is TBD. We will be back at Middlesex Community College in September.

Last year, the club and club members gave a $200 contribution to Middlesex Community College as a “thank you” for the use of the meeting space. We are going to do another collection this year. Any members interesting in donating can see John.

It has been suggested that newer members wait until they have given 2 or 3 speeches (as a rule of thumb) before starting to give evaluations, as the more evaluations we have received, the better equipped we are to give evaluations.

Pam has volunteered to lead the club’s mentoring program going forward.

Arun opened the meeting as Toastmaster.

Jay presented the Word of the Day – “sanguine” meaning confident, optimistic, or upbeat. Our Invocator, Tom, presented a reflection on Independence Day. Our Humorist, Pam, offered us the choice of something she found in a book, or an absurd story from her own day. Since she gave us the choice, Pam’s book was not opened that night!

Our Table Topics Master, Erin, gave us statements from her GRE preparation that we would either agree with or disagree with. Answering her questions were John, Sally, Eric, Pete, Kim, our guest Anthony, Jen, and Jeannette.

After the break, Kim took over the Toastmaster duties as Arun was called away from the meeting.

Prepared Speeches:

Ramesh’s speech, “Expectant Dad’s Experience”, was an emotional rendering of the day his daughter was born. His speech was evaluated by Sharon.

Rob’s speech, “Good Times Never Seemed So Good”, told us why the Red Sox always play “Sweet Caroline” at their home games (and how many of us have wondered that!) and was evaluated by Ashley Gasper.

Deborah spoke about “Someone Else’s Normal”, which got us thinking about and appreciating the diversity we encounter in our daily lives, and in our club. Her speech was evaluated by Murali.

Charnaie spoke on “Money Magnetism”, reminded us to be grateful for what we do have already, told us to visualize what we want to have, and gave an action plan for going forward. Her speech was evaluated by Cheryl.

The General Evaluator was Michael O’Brien. He thanked Kim for stepping in as Toastmaster, and others who stepped into meeting roles at the last minute. He praised Erin for her Table Topics session and that so many were able to speak. He recommended reading the question first, then selecting a speaker. That would require everyone to think about the question, and give the chosen speaker an extra moment to frame an answer. He also suggested that each prepared speaker send an introduction to the Toastmaster, or enter it into the club’s website, as the introduction can help set up the speech. He commended Sharon, Ashley, Murali, and Cheryl for their evaluations.

Many thanks to our Timer, Michael Nicastre; our Grammarian, Kay; and our Ah Counter, Siva.

Our guests, Sharon and Anthony, were asked their thoughts on the evening and each said they would be back. Anthony said that he was delighted that he came and that he was “put on the spot” (for Table Topics).

Sally thanked the club for the feedback she received before giving a speech at the Cromwell High School graduation. She spoke in front of 2,000 people that night!

Our VP Education, Kay, spoke about the new Competent Leader completion record that was devised and would be emailed to us. Each member should bring the CL manual to each meeting. Completing that manual is an ongoing process, and every meeting could provide an opportunity to complete a task. Any members with questions about the Competent Communicator or Competent Leader manuals should see Kay.

There will be a hiking event planned for September, with Tom taking the lead on organizing the day (tentatively set for September 12th or 18th, more details to follow).

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

June 24 Club Meeting

2010-06-30T08:20:00.001-04:00

Hello, Fellow Toastmasters! We had another terrific meeting on June 24th. The tone was set by Cheryl and Ashley Mason, who brought a wonderful assortment of snacks and beverages to celebrate the last meeting of the Toastmasters year.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Richard Graniero, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Pam Mulready, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Rob Schaff, Jeannette White

Guests: Ute Brinkmann (2009-2010 Area Governor C1, 2010-2011 President, Eagle Toastmasters Wallingford, Ashley Mason, Udaya Neelam (2010-2011 Area C5 Governor), Sharon Roth (2009-2010 District Webmaster, 2010-2011 VPE, Cheshire Toastmasters).

Business Meeting: Cheryl began the business meeting with a recap of the 2009-2010 year, highlighting educational awards achieved by club members, special events through the year, visitors and new member counts, and much more. Outgoing officers Cheryl, Charnaie, Michael, Kay, Dianne Olsen, John, Pete, and Rob have much to be proud of, with the club once again achieving President’s Distinguished Club status! Cheryl called up all of this year's officers to the front of the room, thanked them, presented them with a gift and officially discharged them. Charnaie and Kay were presented with Outstanding Toastmaster awards—well deserved recognition, to be sure.

The 2010-2011 officers were inducted: President, Charnaie Gordon; VP Education, Kay Jeyapalan; VP Membership, Murali Pemmaraju; VP Public Relations, Rob Schaff; Secretary, Jen Cimilluca; Treasurer, John Keppler; Sergeant at Arms, Ramesh Padavala.

Our July meetings will be held at the Village of South Farms at 645 Saybrook Road, Middletown (July 8th) and Luther Ridge at 624 Congdon Street West (July 22nd).

Cheryl was our Toastmaster for the evening.

Siva presented our Word of the Day, “Ebullience”, lively or enthusiastic expression. Charnaie was our Invocator, and gave us very powerful words on the power of words. Kay entertained us with a joke with landmines as the punchline (honest!) and a moral, “Behind every man is a smart woman.” John was our Table Topics Master, with questions for Tom, Jeannette, Rich, Rob, and Udaya.

Prepared Speeches:

Richard presented his Icebreaker, and shared his life story from the Army to medical school, to today. His speech was evaluated by Ramesh.

Jay also presented his Icebreaker, and told us how he hiked the Appalachian Trail (all 2,000+ miles!) in 2003. His speech was evaluated by Tom.

Pam told us all about her “Misadventures with Moe” (her car) in a speech using vocal variety, evaluated by Rob.

Murali’s speech was entitled “Using our Brain”, with the objective “Research Your Topic”. His speech was evaluated by Michael.

The General Evaluator was Jennifer Cimilluca. Other roles were filled by Ute (Timer), Sharon (Grammarian), and Kay (Ah Counter).

Sharon gave us a Two-Minute Tutorial on “Setting a Goal and Reaching It in 10 Easy Steps” (see attached).

Meeting Closing: Charnaie presented Richard and Jay “Icebreaker” candies in recognition of giving their Icebreaker speeches. Murali was presented with his official Half CC certificate. Congratulations, Richard, Jay, and Murali!

There will be an Executive Meeting on July 13th. The meeting is open to club officers only, but members with feedback or suggestions can bring them to any officer for discussion at the meeting.

We will have a special guest speaker on September 9th. Jerry Theodorou, a trained opera singer, will be giving us techniques on how we can more effectively use our voices.

Dianne and Tom have done an excellent job with our Club Mentoring program, and volunteers are needed for the new year. Anyone interested should see Kay, Charnaie, Tom, or Dianne for more information.

Charnaie presented Cheryl with a card and plaque in recognition for all of her hard work and dedication in making the club so successful in the last year. Kudos to Cheryl!

Kay announced that the Fall Speech contests will be on September 23rd. Contestants, timers, and judges will be needed for the Humorous and the Evaluation contests. Anyone interested can see Kay or sign up on the website.

The meeting was concluded by 9pm.

Please advise any errors or omissions.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca
Secretary, Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

2010-06-16T23:38:00.002-04:00

Meeting, Thursday, June 10, 2010 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Hello, Toastmasters!

Once again, we had a great meeting on June 10th!

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Ashley Gasper, Charnaie Gordon, Lawrence Gore, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Erin Mulhern, Pam Mulready, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Ramesh Padavala, Eric Roise.

Guests: Pat Lee (visiting from the Pflying Toasters Toastmasters/Pfizer club in Groton), Michael Nicastre, and Bill Pinckney (who is a professional speaker).

Business Meeting: Vice President Education Charnaie Gordon presented new members Siva Digavalli and Ashley Gasper with their membership pins to officially welcome them to the club.

A ribbon for our banner has arrived in recognition of the “Talk Up Toastmasters” award—and, our new banner stand has also just arrived.

Our July meetings will be held at the Village of South Farms at 645 Saybrook Road, Middletown (July 8th) and Luther Ridge at 624 Congdon Street West (July 22nd).

Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) Training will be held on June 26th from 9am – 1pm in Manchester, for club officers and any other interested members. More information can be found at the District 53 website http://www.district53toastmasters.org/

Jennifer Cimilluca was the Toastmaster for the evening. Erin Mulhern did double duty right from the start, introducing our word of the day “Regale”, and telling a humorous story about a mishap at the ATM. Our invocator Murali Pemmaraju brought us a very thoughtful story about Mahatma Gandhi, a young boy, and sugar, and how Gandhi wouldn’t give advice that he couldn’t follow himself.

Table Topics were presented by Anne-Marie Cannata, who gave Eric, Pat (our guest), Lawrence, Ashley, Bill (another of our guests), Sally, Siva, Murali, Erin, and Ramesh questions to answer about “LOVE”.

Prepared Speeches:
Sally Nicastre gave us the speech she will be giving to the Cromwell High School Class of 2010. There was a roundtable evaluation immediately following Sally’s speech, and her speech was formally evaluated by Erin Mulhern. Best of luck with the speech, Sally!

Ashley Gasper presented her Icebreaker, evaluated by Pam Mulready. Ashley did a great job, and we look forward to hearing more from her!

Lawrence gave an energetic and well-presented speech on the library and the many resources we can all find there. His speech was evaluated by Tom Alvord.

Rob Schaff gave a speech from the “Better Speaker Series” on beginning our speeches (see the handout, attached). Anne-Marie evaluated Rob’s speech.

The General Evaluator was Kay Jeyapalan, who commented how much she enjoyed Anne-Marie’s Table Topics, and the meeting overall.

Other Roles:
Timer: Michael O’Brien
Grammarian: Anne-Marie Cannata
“Ah Counter”: Pamela Mulready

Member Announcements: Tom Alvord announced that the art gallery at Luther Ridge will be presenting an exhibit called “Echoes from the Past” from now until July 16th, in honor of our veterans.

Meeting Closing: Charnaie presented Ashley with “Icebreaker” candies in recognition of giving her Icebreaker speech.

We will have a special guest speaker on September 9th. Jerry Theodorou, a trained opera singer, will be giving us techniques on how we can more effectively use our voices.

The new officers for the 2010-2011 Toastmasters year will be inducted at our next meeting, on June 24th.

One of our guests, Pat, commented that it was a “fantastic meeting.” Her club organizes their meetings differently, presenting Table Topics after the prepared speeches. Another guest, Bill, stated that he will be back on the 24th!

The meeting was concluded by 9pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

May 27 Meeting

2010-06-02T08:52:00.001-04:00

Greetings, Toastmasters!

Last Thursday, we had a terrific meeting.

Members Present: Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Erin Mulhern, Deborah Nason, Sally Nicastre, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Peter Plotica, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Arun Sodani.

Guests: Siva Digavalli, Rich Graniero, and Mike Nicastre (Siva and Rich joined by the end of the evening).

Business Meeting: President Cheryl Mason opened the meeting by presenting our newest member, Jay Broderick, with his membership pin. Welcome, Jay!

The District 53 Spring Conference was held on Saturday, 5/22 at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield. Eight Middlesex County Toastmasters were present, which Cheryl thought was likely the most of any club at the Conference. Though it was a long day, the educational sessions were excellent (the best ever, Rob added) and the contests were great!

Our club was recognized at the Conference for achieving “The Talk Up Toastmasters” award and Distinguished Club status. Cheryl also had quite a day, presenting the invocation at the evening’s dinner, and was elected Division C Governor for 2010-2011 (Congratulations, Cheryl!)

Our July meetings will be held at the Village of South Farms at 645 Saybrook Road, Middletown (July 8th) and Luther Ridge at 624 Congdon Street West (July 22nd).

We will be having a walk at Wadsworth Falls State Park on Saturday, June 5th, from 10am – 12pm. You can sign yourself up, along with any guests you would like to bring, on the club website.

The 2010-2011 Middlesex County Toastmasters Officers were elected. Area Governor and MxCT Immediate Past President, Rob Schaff, nominated the following slate:

President: Charnaie Gordon
VP of Education: Kay Jeyapalan
VP of Membership: Murali Pemmaraju
VP of Public Relations: Rob Schaff
Secretary: Jen Cimilluca
Treasurer: John Keppler
Sergeant at Arms: Ramesh Padavala

These officers were elected as nominated, and will serve from July 1, 2010 until June 30, 2011. They will be inducted at our last meeting of the year, on June 24th.

Kim Price was our Toastmaster for the evening, and it sure was lively!

Our humorist was Charnaie Gordon, following by an invocation on thought by Anne-Marie Cannata, with quotes that were themselves thought provoking. An abbreviated Table Topics session was led by Rob Schaff, who asked Arun, John, Pete, Kay, and Mike on their thoughts about their terms as club officers, and what advice they had for those officers newly elected.

Prepared Speeches:
Murali Pemmaraju, Mother Theresa (evaluated by Ramesh Padavala)
Anne-Marie Cannata, A Quick Lesson on the Law of Attraction (evaluated by Erin Mulhern)
Erin Mulhern, Practice Safe Baking (evaluated by Anne-Marie)
Jen Cimilluca, Umbrellas (evaluated by Michael O’Brien)

The General Evaluator was Cheryl Mason.

Other Roles:
Word of the Day: Charnaie Gordon (“moxie”)
Timer: Peter Plotica
Grammarian: Deborah Nason
“Ah Counter”: Sally Nicastre

Member Announcements: Pete Plotica announced that the art gallery at Luther Ridge will be presenting an exhibit called “Echoes from the Past” from now until July 16th, in honor of our veterans.

Anne-Marie announced that speech practice opportunities are available at the Buttonwood on Monday nights. Open mike starts at 8pm with sign-ups beginning at 7:30pm.

The meeting was concluded by 9pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

2010 Club Elections

2010-05-28T13:19:00.001-04:00

At last night's meeting, we held elections for our next club officers. Congratulations to our incoming officers!

President: Charnaie Gordon, ACB, CL
Vice President Education: Kalyani Jeyapalan, CC
Vice President Membership: Murali Pemmaraju
Vice President Public Relations: Robert A Schaff, ACB, ALB
Secretary: Jennifer M Cimilluca
Treasurer: John F. Keppler, ATM
Sergeant at Arms: Ramesh Padavala

District 53 Spring Conference

2010-05-24T17:11:00.003-04:00

We had a great turn-out at the District 53 Spring Conference on Saturday at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield. Eight Middlesex members attended: Rob Schaff, Tom Alvord, Cheryl Mason, Charnaie Gordon, Michael O'Brien, Kay Jeyaplan, Murali Pemmaraju, and Ramesh Padavala.

Middlesex County Toastmasters was recognized during the business meeting for achieving President's Distinguished Club status, and then recognized again during the dinner banquet for our outstanding Open House event.

Our Club President, Cheryl Mason, was elected to the very important post of Division C Governor for 2010-2011. Congratulations, Cheryl!

Cheryl was also invited to give the invocation for the dinner banquet, in front of all 170 or so attendees, and she did a tremendous job.

The Top 3 District Officers for next year are:

Dave Wheeler, District Governor
Richard Peck, Lieutenant Governor Education & Training (LGET)
Jeff Sobel, Lieutenant Governor Marketing (LGM)

Dave announced next year's district theme: Have fun... and get it done!

The speech contest results:

Tall Tales Contest - Jim Kenney, "My Pet" (Air Line Trail TM)
International Contest - Nana Danso, "Light One Candle," (BI Toastmasters)

Nana will go to the Toastmasters Regional Speech Contest on Thursday Aug 12 in Palm Desert, CA .

The educational sessions, the food, and the Toastmasters networking were all great this year. The next conference will be November 20, 2010, in East Fishkill, NY.

2010-05-16T23:34:00.004-04:00

Meeting, Thursday, May 13, 2010 - Middlesex Community College, Room 630, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

It was an exciting meeting in our former room at the MXCC. There is no question why we had to permanently move to a bigger room – we had a full house!

Members present:, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jen Cimilluca, Craig Fresher, Charnaie Gordon, Lawrence Gore, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason (Area Governor), Pam Mulready, Deb Nason, Sally Nicastre, Dianne Olsen, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Eric Roise, Rob Schaff (Area C 5 Governor), Arun Sodani, and Jeanette White.

Guests: Bruce Bowker, Jay Broderick, Walter Diaz, Cristina Johnson, and Eddie Roman.

President Cheryl Mason began the meeting by presenting Charnaie Gordon with a certificate Triple Crown Winner, ACB 04/28/2010, CL 03/26/2010, cc 09/01/2009. Wow! Congratulations to Charnaie for her great accomplishment!

Jeanette White was presented with a new member Welcome/Pin. Welcome to the Club, Jeanette!

Our Club earned the “Talk Up Toastmaster Award” for adding five new members. We received a ribbon for our Banner and we will get money off from our next Toastmaster order. Congratulations to all!

Other business:
· Our June meetings cannot be held at the college. Instead we will meet:
o June 10th at The Village at South Farms, Middletown
o June 24th at Luther Ridge, Middletown
· Saturday, May 22, Spring Conference, Tall Tales and International Contests, St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield

Area Governor, Rob Schaff has been in charge of nominations for our next Club election, to be held at our next meeting. The proposed nominations are:

President Charnaie Gordon
VP Education Kay Jeyapalan
VP Membership Murali Pemmaraju
VP Public Relations Rob Schaff
Secretary Jen Cimilluca
Treasurer John Keppler
Sergeant at Arms Ramesh Padavala

Rob noted that anyone can still nominate themselves or someone else before the elections. Be prepared to tell the Club a few sentences on why you want to fill that position.

VP Education, Charnaie Gordon also handed out awards. Pam Mulready and Murali Pemmaraju both received a certificate for completing ½ CC (they have completed 5 out of 10 speeches). Congratulations to Pam and Murali!

We need a drum-roll for the next award that went to Cheryl Mason. Cheryl was a 2X Triple Crown Winner! She has earned 7 Educational Awards in one year: ACB, LDREXC, CL, ACB, ALB, CL and ACG!! She has done an amazing accomplishment. Congratulations Cheryl!

Charnaie was our Toastmaster for the evening. She kept the meeting flowing.

Table Topics Master was Murali Pemmaraju. Murali led us with a variety of challenging Table Topics. Kim, Arun, John, Jeanette, Eddie (guest), Pete, and Dianne all participated.

Speakers:
Sally Nicastre, CC Project 1, The Ice Breaker”
Deb Nason, CC Project 8, “Driving Down Your Career Path”
Craig Fresher, CC Project 5, “Slow & Steady Prevails: Economics/Politics”
Ramesh Padavala, CC Project 4, “Change Your Beliefs and Change Your Life”

Evaluators:
Cheryl Mason for Sally
Murali Pemmaraju for Deb
Pam Mulready for Craig
Rob Schaff for Ramesh

General Evaluator was Kim Price. Thank you Kim for taking on this big role at the last minute. (Cheryl mentioned how nice it was that when someone was needed to fill a role, members willingly raised their hands.)

The speeches and evaluations were all informative and very well presented!

Other Roles:
John Keppler: Word of the Day, “esoteric,” an elite group or people with an advanced degree.
Invocation: Jen Cimillluca
Humorist: Rob Schaff
Timer: Dianne Olsen
Grammarian: Eric Roise
“Ah” Counter: Jen Cimillluca
jbroderick@yahoo
Other announcements:
Club Event, June 5th, 10:00 a.m., 2-hour hike (approx. 3.3 miles), at Wadsworth Falls, Middletown

VP Education Charnaie called Sally up at the end of the meeting to present her with Icebreaker candy for giving her Ice Breaker speech this evening. Great speech Sally!

Comments on our meeting made by our guests:
Cristina, “…had no expectations…but was very impressed…joining…”
Bruce, “…very interesting…enjoyed it…”
Eddie, “…inspiring…definitely joining…”
Jay, “…3rd [visit to our] meeting…gets better every time…”

Respectfully,
Dianne Olsen, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

2010-04-27T20:54:00.007-04:00

Meeting, Thursday, April 22, 2010 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Members present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Lawrence Gore, Kay Jeyapalan, Jonathan Martin, Cheryl Mason, Erin Mulhern, Deb Nason, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Pete Plotica, Eric Roise, and Rob Schaff.

Guest: Siva Digavalli

Our Sergeant-at-Arms, Peter Plotica called the meeting to order with a Pledge of Allegiance.

President Cheryl Mason started the meeting with the announcement of Tom Alvord and Charnaie Gordon competing in the Division C Contest held on April 20, 2010 in Marlborough, CT, and CONGRATULATING both participants

Cheryl presented Charnaie with flowers for winning the second place in the International Contest.

Cheryl brought a homemade cake (so delicious!) and other refreshments to celebrate Tom’s and Charnaie’s participation in the Division C contest and Charnaie’s accomplishment of winning the second place. A “GREAT BIG THANKS” to Cheryl.

Our Toastmaster for the evening was Anne-Marie Cannata. This was her first time being the Toastmaster of the club and she did an excellent job with a touch of humor.

Charnaie Gordon was the Table Topics Master with a theme fitting the anniversary of Earth Day. She read the topics first and asked the audience to volunteer. Deborah, Ramesh, Emily, Jen, Siva (our guest), Pete and Kim took the challenge and did a great job of impromptu speaking.

Speeches
Five wonderful speeches were given as follows:

#1 – Erin Mulhern, “Ice Breaker” evaluated by Rob Schaff.
#2 – Jonathan Martin, “Ice Breaker” evaluated by Charnaie Gordon.
#3 – Lawrence Gore, “Ice Breaker” evaluated by Deborah Nason.
#4 – Murali Krishna Pemmaraju, Speech # 5 of CC, “Climbing up to the Crown of Statue of Liberty” evaluated by Kay Jeyapalan.
#5 – Rob Schaff, Speech # 3 of CC (second round), “Toastmasters Club Officers” evaluated by Ann-Marie Cannata.

All the speeches and evaluations were fabulous. The speeches were either informative or informative and humorous. Our Past President, Rob Schaff, did a great job of educating everyone about the roles each officer plays and pepped up all to volunteer for next year.

Murali has now completed five speeches in the Competent Communications Manual to be entitled for his half CC certificate.

Our General Evaluator for the night was Tom Alvord.

Other Roles:
Invocation: Ramesh Padavala
Humorist: Eric Roise
Word Master: Peter Plotica. Word of the Day, “Wastrel” (it is a noun) idler, good for nothing, or spendthrift
Grammarian: Erin Mulhern
Ah-counter: Deborah Nason
Timer: Pete Plotica

Charnaie Gordon, VPE, recognized Erin, Jonathan, and Lawrence for breaking the ice by presenting the mints.

Other announcements:

· 5/13 - Our next meeting will be held at MXCC, Room 630
· 5/27 - Election of Officers for the upcoming year
· 6/10 - Regular Meeting
· 6/24 - Last meeting of the Toastmaster Year 2009-2010
· 5/2 - Jennifer announced that the Food share 27th Annual Walk will go on in spite of the fact that she will not be able to attend
Contributions can be made online www.foodshare.org
· 6/2 - Charnaie announced that the picnic will be at the Wadsworth Park, more details to follow
· 5/22 - District 53 Spring Conference, International & Tall Tales Contest, St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield

Anne-Marie asked our guest, Siva, to speak of his opinion about our club. Siva said that this is the best club of all the ones he has attended to date and his scouting search is over.

Anne-Marie Cannata thanked all who stepped up at the last minute to fill in the roles: Eric, Ramesh, Charnaie, Deborah, Pete, Tom, and Kay.
She ended the meeting at 8:55 p.m.

Great job Anne-Marie with all the 11th minute changes.

Kay Jeyapalan, VPPR

Area C5 Contest Report

2010-04-11T15:36:00.000-04:00

Middlesex County hosted the Area C5 Speech contest on April 8. We had a great turnout, with 28 people in attendance, including representatives from all 5 area clubs. Division C Governor Nathan Jaycox and District 53 Photographer Don Logie were among the guests.

Special thanks to:
- Kay Jeyapalan, Contest Master
- Michael O'Brien, Chief Judge

Here are the results:

Tall Tales Contest
1st - Joseph M. Katucki, Eagle Toastmasters
2nd - Tom Alvord, Middlesex County Toastmasters
3rd - Dave Foster, Cheshire Toastmasters

International Contest
1st - Charnaie Gordon, Middlesex County Toastmasters
2nd - Andy Cravalho, Holy Apostles Toastmasters
3rd - Udaya B. Neelam, Eagle Toastmasters

Also competing, Sharon Roth (Cheshire) and Joe Lenart (Cromwell).

The winners from last night's contest will be competing at the Division C contest:

Tuesday, April 20, 7-9 PM
Fellowship Community Church
24 South Road, Marlborough, CT

2010-04-10T22:51:00.005-04:00

April 01, 2010 (Extra Meeting held at The Village of South Farms)
Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Members present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Charnaie Gordon, Lawrence Gore, Kay Jeyapalan, Cheryl Mason, Pam Mulready, Deb Nason, Sally Nicastre, Dianne Olsen, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, and Arun Sodani.

Other Guests: Don Logie (District 53 Photographer) and Mike Nicastre (Sally’s husband).

President Cheryl Mason started the meeting with business by giving 2 of our newest members their Toastmasters pins. Congratulations to Lawrence Gore and Sally Nicastre!
Other news:
· 3/26 – Charnaie Gordon has completed her Competent Leadership Manual!
· 3/30 – Kay Jeyapalan has completed her Competent Communicator Manual!
· 4/01 - Our Club has already reached all 10 of the 10 goals required (and beyond) for Distinguished Club Status 1st! What an outstanding Club we have under the direction of these great leaders: Cheryl, Charnaie and Kay!

Toastmaster Tom Alvord was a terrific host for the evening.

Dianne Olsen was Table Topics Master with a theme fitting for April Fool’s Day. Participants were asked to respond to a quote about a fool or a joke. Taking a try with their wit were: Arun, Pam, Don (guest), Murali, Ramesh, Lawrence and Sally.

Speeches
Four superb speeches were given as follows:
#1 – Deb Nason, Research, “The Sleeping Giant Wakes Up”
#2 – Pam Mulready, Your Body Speaks, “Moving”
#3 – Anne-Marie Cannata, Entertaining Tale, “The 3 Menehune of Ainahou”
#4 – Cheryl Mason, Storytelling Advanced, “A Folktale from India”

Evaluators
General Evaluator: Kay Jeyapalan
Evaluators:
Anne-Marie Cannata for Deb’s speech #1
Deb Nason for Pam’s speech #2
Charnaie Gordon for Anne-Marie’s speech #3
Don Logie for Cheryl’s speech #4
There was a noticeable difference in the progress of our evaluators after our “coaching” by Jerry Aiyathurai at our last meeting. Terrific job by all!

Other Roles:
Invocation: Charnaie Gordon
Humorist: Anne-Marie Cannata
Word Master: Anne-Marie, “grok”, to intuitively understand or understand profoundly
Grammarian: Murali Pemmaraju
Ah-counter: Kay Jeyapalan
Timer: Ramesh Padavala

Other announcements:
· 4/8 - Our next meeting will be held at MXCC, we are hosting the Area C5 International & Tall Tales Contests
· 4/20 Division C International & Tall Tales Contest, 7-9 p.m., Fellowship Community Church, 24 South Road, Marlborough
· 5/2 – Foodshare 27th Annual Walk, Jen Cimilluca is forming a team of our Toastmasters, see Jen for more details
· 5/22 – District 53 Spring Conference, International & Tall Tales Contest, St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield

Respectfully,
Dianne Olsen, SecretaryMiddlesex County Toastmasters Club

2010-03-13T17:17:00.006-05:00

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

2010-03-06T15:11:00.003-05:00

Meeting, Thursday, February 25, 2010 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

We held our last meeting on February 25, 2010 with 14 members and 3 guests! Members present: Amy Alvord, Tom Alvord, Ann-Marie Cannata, Jen Cimilluca, Kay Jeyapalan, Cheryl Mason, Emily O’Brien, Mike O’Brien, Dianne Olsen, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Arun Sodani. Guests: Jay Broderick, Erin Mulhern, and Eric Roise.

President Cheryl Mason presented the business:
· Upcoming District Events:
o Spring Contests – Tall Tales & International
o Saturday, May 22, 2010, St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, CT
· Upcoming Club Events
o March 11, 2010 - Club Speech Contest – Tall Tales & International
o March 25, 2010 - Open House with Guest Speaker Jerry Aiyathurai
o April 1, 2010 – Extra Meeting – Village at South Farms
o April 8, 2010 – Area C5 Contest, Middlesex Hosting

Our Toastmaster was Kay Jeyapalan. You can really see that Kay has grown by leaps and bounds!

Table Topics Master, Jen Cimilluca presented her Table Topics in pictures projected on a screen from her laptop computer. Kim commented on how different it was to speak about displayed pictures. Nice idea, Jen! Participating in Table Topics were Pete, Ann-Marie, Kim, Tom, Michael, Murali, Arun, Erin, Emily, Amy, Rob, and our guest: Jay.

It was a night for our veteran members who gave the speeches, evaluations and general evaluation!
We had 3 excellent speeches by:
Cheryl Mason, (Make Them Laugh), “The Believer”
Rob Schaff, (Organize Your Speech), “Breaking the Rules”
Ann-Mare Cannata, gave an impromptu speech, (Storyteller), “The Scott Story”

General Evaluator was Kim Price and evaluators were:
Arun Sodani for Cheryl
Ann-Marie Cannata for Rob
Tom Alvord for Ann-Marie
Other Roles:
Invocator: Michael O’Brien
Word of the Day: Murali Pemmaraju, “Sedulous”, involving great care and effort
Humorist: Michael O’Brien
Grammarian: Dianne Olsen
Ah Counter: Peter Plotica
Timer: Emily O’Brien
A terrific job done by all. One could say it was a sedulous meeting!

Comments by our guests:
Eric: “My first impression was, is this a cult?...Everybody was so outgoing…I’ll be back!”
Erin: This was her second visit and she has decided to join. She loved “all the stories…the themes seemed to relate to me!”
Jay: “The meeting was very friendly…I will be back…there was a lesson to each speech!”

The following people have signed up to bring food to the Open House on March 25th:
Murali – Chips
Kay – Cookies
Emily – Soda
Kim – Water
Tom - ?
Jen – Fruit
Dianne - ?
We need your help. If you have not already signed up, please contact Dianne and let her know what you can bring. Her address is olsend@wcsu.edu

2010-02-22T08:44:00.001-05:00

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

Our last meeting was held on February 10, 2010 at Middlesex Community College. It was a full house and a very exciting meeting!

Members present: Amy Alvord, Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jen Cimilluca, Craig Fresher, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Pam Mulready, Deb Nason, Dianne Olsen, Kim Price, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, and Rob Schaff. Our guests were: Bob Briggs, Monica Lozano, Erin Mulhern, and Sarada Pemmaraju (Murali’s wife).

Two memorable events have recently occurred for two of our members. Kim Price had his 2nd grandchild and Ramesh had a baby girl born on Valentine’s Day! Congratulations to both of you!

President Cheryl Mason led the meeting with announcements:
· Snow cancellations: We follow the MxCC College class cancellation policy. If classes are cancelled, we will not meet. The Web site features a red bar that will appear on the home page when the determination is made to close classes. http://www.mxctc.commnet.edu/
· Amy Alvord is our newest member! Welcome Amy!
· Bowling Event: our Club recently had a bowling event and 5/6 lanes were filled! High scorers were: Tom, Jen, and Barry (Charnaie’s husband).
· Our Club has achieved 8/10 goals for the President’s Distinguished Club status
· Saturday, May 22, will be the District Spring Conference, St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, CT
· Rename the District 53 Yankee Activator Newsletter! All toastmasters are invited to submit a new title by March 31st. The winner will be awarded a $25 gift credit to the Toastmasters store and a $20 gift card to Borders Bookstore. For more info: http:www.district53toastmasters.org/index.php/district-newsletter or http:www.district53toastmasters.org/file_cabinet/YA/YA10_winter.51.46.pdf

Vice President Charnaie Gordon also had announcements:
· Congratulations to Deb Nason for receiving a district awarded certificate for completing ½ of her CC manual!
· March 11 – Club Speech Contest – International & Tall Tales – please sign up for a role!
· March 25 - Open House will be at Middlesex Community College, room 808 A&B. We will have a guest speaker, Jerry Aiyathurai, and are looking for past guests to come. If you know any that you would personally like to invite, please do so. We also need people to help out with refreshments.
· April 8th – Area C5 Contest, International & Tall Tales, hosted by Middlesex at MxCC.

Area Governor Rob Schaff was our Toastmaster for the evening. He did an excellent job, managing to fit 5 speeches in and still have Table Topics!

Table Topics Master, Pam Mulready had a variety of questions she pulled off the Internet, and prospective speakers pulled them randomly out of a bag. John, Kay, Anne-Marie, Craig, Amy, Tom, Kim, Pete, and 2 of our guests, Erin and Monica, all participated.

Five very different and wonderful speeches were given as follows:
Jennifer Cimilluca – (Persuade with Power) - The Mission of Mercy
Deborah Nason – (Vocal Variety) - Putting It Out There
Dianne Olsen – (Research Your Topic) – The Germs Lurking Around You (This was Dianne’s 10th and final speech in the CC manual!)
Murali Pemmaraju – (Get to the Point) – Global “Warming”, or is it “Cooling”?
Kay Jeyapalan –(Vocal Variety) – One Memorable Day of the Past

General Evaluator for the evening was Anne-Marie Cannata. Anne-Marie graciously volunteered for this role at the last minute and did a terrific job! Fantastic evaluations were done by the following:
For Jen: Tom Alvord
For Deb: John Keppler
For Dianne: Craig Fresher
For Murali: Charnaie Gordon
For Kay: Kim Price

Other roles:
Wordmaster: Pete Plotica – “Ubiquitous” – being or seeming to be present everywhere.
Ah-Counter: Amy Alvord
Grammarian: Pam Mulready
Timer: Cheryl Mason

At the end of the meeting, our guests were asked if they had any comments to make. They summed it up very nicely with these “ubiquitous” comments
Bob – “the meeting was interesting;”
Monica – “people learn to express themselves;”
Sarada – “it was very good, Table Topics was really nice;”
Erin – “pleasantly surprised.”

2010-01-29T16:53:00.001-05:00

Meeting, Thursday, January 28, 2010 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

The roads were pretty slippery tonight with the light snow coming down, so understandably a number of people were unable to make it to the meeting.

For those of us that did, it was a GREAT meeting! We played "fill in the roster" with all kinds of changes from our original program, and had lots of fun nonetheless.

Meeting Theme: Properly Set Goals Aid Success

We had 10 members attending: Amy A., Tom A., Ana B., Craig F., John K., C. Mason, Murali P., Pete P., Kim P., Rob S.

Toastmaster: Cheryl Mason

Opening Remarks / Business Meeting:

Welcome to Amy Alvord, our newest Middlesex Member! Amy was presented with a Toastmasters pin and a warm round of applause.

Cheryl talked about some of the highlights from the District 53 Jan Jam event in Hartford last weekend, including the fun music (our own Tom Alvord provided entertaining performances -- check these links to see more!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzqH1o9HlTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3x-Pkuxb0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2S351BzGtQ
Mary Cheyne gave her International Speech Contest speech as well as a motivational 45-minute speech about her journey to the international stage as well as some very useful lessons she learned along the way.
Flyers were provided for the District 53 Spring Conference, & DTM guide (will bring copies again next meeting).

DCP Status -- Middlesex Club has earned 8 of 10 Points (2 remain, and are quite achievable -- we need only 1 more new member and 2 more CCs!)

Upcoming Club Events:
Feb 2nd - Officer's Meeting (feel free to send any comments or suggestions to any of the club officers, for discussion at the meeting).
Feb 6th Bowling Event (sign up using the on-line roster)
March 11 - Club Speech Contest, March 25 - Open House with Guest Speaker Jerry A.

Upcoming District Events: May 22, 2010 Spring Conference, St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, CT

Table Topics - Craig Fresher. Table Topics were related to the goal oriented meeting theme and were lots of fun.

Word of the Day - Pete Plotica, curmudgeon, a difficult, bad-termpered person, a grump!
Invocator - Tom Alvord
Humorist - Murali Pemmaraju
General Evaluator - Pete Plotica
Timer - Pete Plotica
Grammarian - Kim Price & Amy Alvord
Ah Counter - Amy Alvord

We had 4 excellent speeches given:

Speaker 1 - Tom Alvord, "Shet" -- A Truly Captivating Story about a Man's Best Friend
Speaker 2 - Ana Bowman, "The Family Map" -- Informative Speech About Technology & How It Helps Her Family
Speaker 3 - Rob Schaff, "Goal Setting & Planning" -- a Leadership Excellence Series Speech, Given With Practical Tips
Speaker 4 - Kim Price, "Grampy" -- All About The Great Experience of Welcoming Baby John Michael Chapin, His Grandson Born Yesterday Morning. CONGRATULATIONS, KIM!

Speech Evaluators:

Evaluator 1 - Kim Price
Evaluator 2 - John Keppler
Evaluator 3 - Craig Fresher
Evaluator 4 - Tom Alvord

Everyone did such a great job being flexible and adjusting the agenda, including Tom & Kim who agreed to give speeches tonight, John and Tom who jumped in as Speech Evaluators, Amy who helped to cover both Ah Counter & Grammarian roles, and Craig who put together engaging Table Topics! It turned out to be a great meeting.

Meeting ended approx. 8:45 p.m.

2010-01-29T16:51:00.001-05:00

Meeting, Thursday, January 14, 2010 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Our 1/14 meeting was the first one of the new year at Middlesex College, and was well attended and lots of fun!
The room dividers were down, so we had a very large meeting space to work with. We set up the large round tables close to back wall, and acoustics were not a problem at all. It was a nice change.

Meeting Theme: Creating an Extraordinary Career Path

We had 20 attendees.
Members attending (12) - Tom A., Ana B., Jennifer C., Craig F., Charnaie G., John K., C. Mason, D. Nason, M. O'Brien, Murugan P., Kim P., Rob S.
Visitors attending (8) - Amy A., Seth G., Jay B., Sharon R., and from Mass Mutual: Michael L., wife Virginia, Jon Toner, Richard Chang

Mass Mutual visitors participated in the meeting and successfully captured gavel Drew from our Club.

Toastmaster: Charnaie Gordon

Opening Remarks: Given by Cheryl Mason, included comments about the successful Speech-a-Thon held on 1/7 at the Cromwell Town Hall, which was an event that combined both the Middlesex & Cromwell Community Toastmaster Clubs. At the Speech-a-thon, speeches were given by Charnaie G., Pam M., Ron Reeve, Murali P., Rob S., and Murugan P. The event was very successful, and Cheryl gave thanks of appreciation to Charnaie Gordon for all her efforts with coordinating the event.
DCP Status -- 4 officers attended training in December, Middlesex Club has now earned 8 of 10 Points (2 remain, and are quite achievable -- we need 2 more new members and 2 more CCs!)
Upcoming District Events: Jan 23rd is the Jan Jam, and our own Tom A. gave us some info about the event, and he will be performing!
Upcoming Club Events: Feb 6th Bowling Event (sign up using the on-line roster)
March 11 - Club Speech Contest, March 25 - Open House with Guest Speaker Jerry A.

Charnaie led the meeting with inspriational thoughts related to the meeting theme, and introduced each of the roles for the meeting. At the end of the meeting, one of our guests commented that he really enjoyed her opening remarks!

Table Topics - Tom Alvord. Table Topics were related to the Career theme, and questions involved many of our guests, a great way to encourage their participation and (hopefully) future involvement with our club!

Word of the Day - Kim Price, who provided lots of entertainment with his unveiling of the special word
Invocator - Michael Lavery
Humorist - Jon Toner
General Evaluator - Jon Toner
Timer - Craig Fresher
Grammarian - John Keppler
Ah Counter - Murugan P.

We had 4 excellent speeches given:

Speaker 1 - Craig Fresher, "Energy Game Changers"
Speaker 2 - Jennifer Cimilluca, "When Molasses Ran Fast in January"
Speaker 3 - Deborah Nason, "Perfect Pitch"
Speaker 4 - Michael O'Brien, "First Day on the Job"

Speech Evaluators:

Evaluator 1 - Rob Schaff
Evaluator 2 - Ana Bowman
Evaluator 3 - Richard Chang
Evaluator 4 - Cheryl Mason

Meeting was ended promptly at 9 p.m.

Gavel handover to our visitors from Mass Mutual concluded the meeting.
Click here for the picture and story on the D53 website!
http://www.district53toastmasters.org/index.php/traveling-gavel/travelin-gavel-news

2010-01-17T15:39:00.003-05:00

Winter Speech-A-Thon was a Great Success Packed with Humor!

Middlesex and Cromwell Toastmasters joined together for a Speech-A-Thon on January 7, 2010 at the Cromwell Town Hall. The Speech-A-Thon meeting format is a variation of the standard meeting format, and is organized from time to time by toastmasters’ clubs around the world to facilitate the completion of speeches by members so they can achieve their educational goals.

There were 7 well-prepared, entertaining speeches given by 7 ebullient speakers. Humor overflowed in speech after speech. The audience was greatly entertained by each of the fascinating, personal stories told. Speech topics were varied, and included unique vacationing experiences with the in-laws, being trapped in a chimney, the day Neil Diamond Called, the challenges of communication between women and men, time management, and an inspirational informative speech titled "That's the Spirit" among others. All speakers captured the audience by the powerful use of real-life stories in their speeches, and also received constructive feedback from other toastmasters that served as their evaluators.

Be a guest at an upcoming club meeting and explore your communication and leadership potential! Visitors are always welcome.

2009-12-13T18:30:00.002-05:00

Meeting, Thursday, December 10, 2009 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Another Great Meeting!!

Middlesex Toastmasters held our final meeting of 2009 last night.
As usual it was full of growth, leadership and inspiration.
Our theme was "THE SPIRIT OF GIVING"!
In spite of the fact that our last meeting was just a week ago and members are busy preparing for the holidays twelve members and one guest attended:

Amy Alvord (guest)
Tom Alvord
Ana Bowman
Anne Marie Cannata
Craig Fresher
Charnaie Gordon
John Keppler
Cheryl Mason
Pam Mulready
Ramesh Padavala
Murali Pemmaraju
Pete Plotica
Arun Sodani

Everyone had a chance to participate:

Our able SAA Pete opened the meeting on time and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance
President Cheryl inspired us with humor, a pep talk and announcements.
VP Ed Charnaie Gordon enlivened us with details of upcoming events and
Toastmaster Arun Sodani introduced everyone, kept the meeting moving in his famous well organized style and shared his friendly smile with all.
As the invocator Arun also got us started with a wonderful message in keeping with the giving theme: that "we are blessed by our history"

Our Wordmaster Cheryl introduced us to the Word of the Day: LACONIC which was used by four people during the meeting.

Table Topics Master Craig had us all talk about giving and receiving

Humorist Tom had us laugh about a goat.

We were treated to outstanding Icebreakers from two of our newest members.
Ana Bowman presented "Sweet Potato Pie" about growing up with her big family and surviving and thriving as the only girl among 9 brothers and Murali Pemmaraju fascinated us with his stories of growing up in India , his thrill at being accepted as a Mechanical Engineering student at Texas A & M, designing meat processing machines at Jarvis in Middltown, and his joy that he doesn't have to see the meat since he is a vegetarian.

Charnaie treated us with her speech about the competition between her two favorite loves: dog and husband. (Which is first? She didn't say)

Cheryl inspired us with her third Ice Breaker about valuable insights she gained from an interview with a young woman who came to her for advice.

As General Evaluator Pam Mulready lead us through reports and evaluations:
Craig evaluated Ana's Icebreaker
Pam evaluated Murali's Icebreaker
Cheryl evaluated Charnaie's speech
Pete evaluated Cheryl's Icebreaker

Pete provided the Grammarian report, Charnaie the Ah counter report and Ramesh was our Timer.

Arun invited our guest Amy to comment on the meeting and she said it was the best one of the four she's attended.

A great time was had by all!

Upcoming events:
· Dec 24 - The 4th Thursday of December - Christmas Eve - no meeting.
· January 7 - Speech-a-thon with Cromwell Community Toastmasters Club.
· February 6th Bowling – Use the duty roster to sign up!
· Club Contest: March 11
· Open House: March 25

Tom Alvord – substitute secretary December 11, 2009

2009-12-04T15:38:00.001-05:00

Meeting, Thursday, December 3, 2009 - Luther Ridge, 628 Congdon Street, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Our meeting last night was held at Luther Ridge in Middletown; all were warmly greeted and welcomed by the staff. A hearty thank you to Tom Alvord for making this arrangement possible for our club!

Members in attendance: Ana Bowman, Ron Brunelle, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyaplan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason (Area B2 Governor), Pam Mulready, Deb Nason, Dianne Olsen, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Rob Schaff (Area 5 Governor), and Arun Sodani. Guests: Paul Randolph (C2 Area Governor and member of the Air Line Club in Colchester), and Paul Rice (a friend of member Ann-Marie Cannata).

President Cheryl Mason began our meeting with the introduction of “Drew” the traveling gavel, which was recaptured Wednesday at the Stag Club Meeting in downtown Hartford by Charnaie, Cheryl, Michael O'Brien, and Arun.

Other announcements by Cheryl:
· Saturday, December 12th will be the Officers’ Training in Manchester
· Take a look at our Middlesex club website, freetoasthost sites have had new formatting changes.
· Take a look at the District 53 website; there have been changes made in the format giving it a new look and feel

Vice President of Education, Charnaie Gordon also mentioned some upcoming announcements:
· Our Club is holding a Speech-A-Thon in conjunction with the Cromwell Club on Thursday, January 7th from 7-9 pm. We currently have 5 speakers from our club signed up. Pizza will be served (a small donation will be asked).
· The Club Speech Contest (International and Tall Tales Contest) will be held March 11th. Speakers, evaluators, judges, etc. will be needed
· Club Open House Event will be Thursday, March 25th at Middlesex Community College. Keynote Speaker will be Jerry Aiyathurai, winner of the District 53 Fall Conference.

Meeting
Kay Jeyaplan was the Toastmaster; her theme was “Unleash Your Potential.” She inspired us with readings and quotes taken from the book, Good to Great, by Jim Collins.

TableTopics Master, Charnaie, led us with the theme, “Maximize Your Potential.” Mini speeches were given by Kim, Arun, Ana, Pam, John and Ramesh. In addition, both of our guests, Paul Randolph and Paul Rice also participated.

Speakers
It was wonderful to listen to the speeches and see the development of all the speakers.
Rob Schaff did an unusual “off the cuff” speech in which he submitted a list of 5 possible speeches he could do and his evaluator randomly chose one of them at the beginning of the meeting. He did one entitled, “Time Management.”
Deborah Nason spoke on “A Day Trip to France”, with a descriptive speech that made you feel like you were there.
Ron Brunelle spoke with authority on “Our Economic System, does it work?”
Cheryl Mason let her body speak out with her speech “Tuesday Afternoon.”

Evaluators
General Evaluator, Arun Sodani
Speech evaluators were as follows:
Dianne Olsen for Rob (her first evaluation)
Cheryl Mason for Deb
John Keppler for Ron
Ana Bowman for Cheryl (her first evaluation)

Arun Sodani gave an exceptional overall evaluation of the meeting. John commented that it was the “most complete general evaluation” ever done at our Club.

Other Roles
Invocator: Charnaie
Humorist: Murali
Word of the Day: Pam, “MNEMONIC”
Grammarian: Pam
Ah Counter: Deb
Timer: Pete

Toastmaster, Kay, made a final comment on an article that was in the December Cromwell/Middletown Chronicle about Cheryl receiving the Triple Crown at the District 53 Conference! If you get a chance, read it!

President Cheryl closed by asking our two guests to give us their impressions of the meeting, and they provided very positive feedback. We hope to see them again! The meeting was closed on time.

Gavel Drew back at Middlesex

2009-12-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

Drew, the Division D Traveling Gavel, has been captured from the Stag Toastmasters Club #2908! Four members of the Middlesex County Toastmasters Club participated in the Stag Club Meeting on Wednesday 12/2 at noon in downtown Hartford. The meeting was a lot of fun!

Shown here l to r: Charnaie Gordon, Cheryl Mason from Middlesex, Christina Dzenyuy from Stag, Michael O'Brien, and Arun Sodani from Middlesex.

2009-11-16T16:48:00.003-05:00

Meeting, Thursday, November 12, 2009 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Our next meeting on December 3rd will be at a special location in Middletown (details forthcoming, check website).

Greetings Fellow Toastmasters!

As usual we had a full house at our meeting last night. However, Toastmaster Jennifer Cimilluca led us through an evening that was anything but ordinary. Her theme of “Giving Thanks” resounded throughout the night as people gave testimony of the fellowship, growth and support of the club members. It was a room filled with aficionados (word of the day)!

In attendance: Tom Alvord, Ana Bowman, Ron Brunelle, Ann-Marie Cannata, Jen Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jeff Lagasse, Cheryl Mason, Emily O’Brien, Mike O’Brien, Dianne Olsen, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Arun Sodani.

Guests/Visitors: Nadine McKeown (signed up as our newest member tonight!), Louis Nizet, and Dimple Padavala (Ramesh’s wife).

President Cheryl Mason began our meeting by giving Rob Schaff, our Area Governor, the Award of Excellence ribbon for completing another CC manual. Congratulations Rob! DCP – this latest award now puts the club at 7 points, Select Distinguished Club Status! This is something for all of us to be very proud of! Other news:
· Dianne Olsen received a Certificate of Appreciation for singing in the Variety Show held last month.
· The Spring Division Contest will be held in Bloomfield on May 22nd.
· Officer Training will be held on December 12th in Manchester. There will be a make-up training in January.

Vice President of Education, Charnaie Gordon had several announcements to make.
· She presented Kay and Ramesh a “Panice to Power” disc for being “first timers” at the Fall Conference in Saratoga Springs in NY, November 7th. Our club had six members in attendance, the most of any club there!
· Ron Brunelle received his “1/2 Certificate” for completing 5 of his speeches in the CC manual. Congratulations Ron!
· Mike, Cheryl, Arun and Charnaie will be going to Hartford to confiscate the “Traveling Gavel” that their club took from ours. If anyone else would like to attend the meeting at Stag in Hartford, it will be on Wednesday afternoon, December 2nd from noon to 1 pm.
· Our club Speech-A-Thon will be held January 7th, from 7-9 pm. Location to be determined.
· We will have a Club Speech Contest on March 11th. This will be for the International and Tall Tales Contest.
· Due to bad weather the hike tomorrow at Wadsworth Falls has been cancelled.

Toastmaster Jen changed the usual format of the evening. Mike O’Brien gave a speech on “How to Give a Toast” and then brilliantly went right into his role as TableTopics Master. Mike’s theme? How to give a toast! And there were some toasts! The most exciting one was when Ramesh stood up and made a toast to his “beautiful wife.” He then proudly told the audience they were expecting their first baby; a baby girl due on February 12th! Congratulations Ramesh and Dimple!

Dianne gave a thought provoking speech titled, “When Enough is Enough.” Her objective was to Persuade with Power over the controversial Die with Dignity Act.

From there the club enjoyed the rest of the meeting “at the movies.” Mike brought in a DVD of the winning speeches held at the 2009 International Convention, International Speech Contest. There was only time to watch five of the speeches and members had a chance to write their own evaluations, and then see how the judges at the conference actually placed the contestants. But the contests were not all that was enjoyed; snacks, of pop corn, potato chips, a fruit tray, cider, and more were brought in by some of the members to nibble on while everyone watched the “movie.” What fun!

Evaluators:
Arun Sodani and Tom Alvord evaluated Mike and Dianne respectively. Cheryl was the General Evaluator. Our veteran members Arun, Tom and Cheryl were great role models for the club with their expertise in giving evaluations.

Word of the Day: Murugan Pachaiyappan
Ah Counter: Emily O’Brien
Grammarian: Charnaie Gordon
Timer: Jeffrey Lagasse

Sargeant at Arms: A special thanks to Pete Plotica who could not attend our meeting tonight. He still came here ahead of time to secure our room, bring the banner, set up all the equipment for the movie showing and leave some refreshments. Pete went above and beyond the line of duty! Also, a big thank you to Tom for filling in for Pete at the last minute and to Arun for being equipment manager!

The meeting adjourned on time.

2009-11-16T16:42:00.001-05:00

Meeting, Thursday, November 5, 2009 - Russel Library, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Here are some highlights from the Middlesex Club meeting this past Thursday, 11/5

It was an excellent meeting at the Russell Library, a different location, different start time, and lots of fun. It was great to see some members that haven't been able to attend in awhile. Thanks to everyone that helped to make the meeting such a success!

Attendance -- total of 18

Members: Tom A., Ana B., Ron B., Anne-Marie C., Jennifer C., Craig F., Charnaie G., Kay J., John K., Cheryl M., Pam M., Deborah N., Murugan P., Ramesh P., Murali P., Peter P., Arun S.
Guests: Ira Y. – who joined and is now our newest member!

Meeting Began: 6:30 p.m. promptly started by our SAA, Pete P. who lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance

Business Meeting

We welcomed new member, Murali, to our Middlesex Toastmasters Club by presenting him with a Toastmasters Pin.

Distinguished Club Program: 6 points earned to date, top in the District!

A special thank you and certificates were presented by Cheryl to Ron B. (and to give to his wife Eva) for their performances at the October 15th Variety Show at the Village at South Farms.

Officers Meeting Was Held Tue, Nov. 3rd
Agenda items: Accomplishments to date (1st third of the year), Special Events Planning, Marketing & PR, and Mentoring.
Also brainstormed ideas for improvements, which will be discussed at upcoming meetings.
Suggestions and ideas from all members are always welcome!
Upcoming Events:
Sat., Nov. 7 – District Conference, Saratoga Springs
Thu., Nov 12 7 p.m. Movie Night – Video of the top speakers from the Aug. International Speech Contest
Sat., Nov. 14, 1-3 p.m. Club Outing – Hike at Wadsworth State Park, Middletown, all are welcome

Toastmasters Magazines – any copies you no longer need, please bring them and give to Kay for use as Marketing / PR material

****************************
Meeting

Our toastmaster for the evening was Craig Fresher, who enthusiastically volunteered to fill the role when Arun was delayed.

Invocation: Tom
Humorist: Murugan
Word Master – Murali – ameliorate (to make better, improve)
Ah Counter: Jennifer
Grammarian: Cheryl
Timer: Pete
General Evaluator: Kay

Speaker 1: Murugan (Ice Breaker, Along With an Inspirational Message)
Speaker 2: Deborah (Tweet Tweet, Information About Twitter))
Speaker 3: Ramesh (Topic – Powerful Meditation)
Speaker 4: Ron B. (About Alfred Nobel & The Nobel Prizes)

Table Topics: Ana, Presented Awards that the Table Topics speakers were able to accept or decline. Very creative topics and responses to go along with them!

Speech Evaluators: Charnaie, Pam, Craig, Jennifer
General Evaluator: Kay

Meeting Adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

******************************************************

2009-11-02T10:59:00.003-05:00

Meeting, Thursday, October 22, 2009 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Here are some highlights from the Middlesex Club meeting this past Thursday, 10/22.
It was a great meeting, and thanks to everyone that helped to make it a success!

Attendance -- total of 17

Members: Tom A., Ana B., Jennifer C., Charnaie G., Kay J., John K., Cheryl M., Pam M., Emily O., Michael O., Murugan P., Ramesh P., Michael P., Pete P., Rob S.
Guests: Nadine (Ana's friend), Murali (Ramesh's friend) – and Murali is now our newest member!

We started the meeting with sparkling cider and a toast to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of Toastmasters!
Candy corn and costumes also helped to make the meeting festive.

A special thank you and certificates were presented by Cheryl to the performers of the Variety Show held on October 15 at the Village at South Farms: Tom, Charnaie, Ramesh, Kay, (missing – Dianne, Ron)

****************************

Our toastmaster for the evening was Tom Alvord, who led us through a very well planned meeting, with a dual theme: Halloween Ghosts and Goblins, and Toastmasters 85th Anniversary.

Invocation: Ramesh – inspirational quotes
Humorist: Ana – those friends that climbed 75 flights of stairs together were quite funny!
Word Master – Michael P. – disillusioned
Ah Counter: Kay
Grammarian: Pete
Timer: Murugan
General Evaluator: Michael O.

We had four prepared speeches:

Jennifer – CC Speech #5, Believing Without Seeing
Captivating story about some happenings that made her a "believer" !
Charnaie – Entertaining Speech, What I Wish I'd Have Known About The Future
Clever story about some things you just don't know when you're a kid!
Rob – The Leadership Excellence Series, Motivating People
Presented with Toastmasters handouts, and Rob's personal insight
Cheryl – CC Speech #9, Changing the Course
Stories and a message about when to get involved and help someone else

Table Topics were given by Pam, with a fun theme: ZOBMONDO! – Outrageous book of bizarre choices

Speech Evaluators: Kay, John, Pam & Michael O.

GE Comments: Michael O.,

· Great meeting quality – people put a lot of time and energy into the meetings, and it shows
· Favorable that everyone got to speak at the meeting, Table Topics Master (Pam) included others that didn't otherwise have speaking roles
· Suggest calling on guests to provide their comments and introduce themselves at the end of the meeting (rather than at the beginning, so they've had a chance to experience the meeting and get more comfortable)
· Suggest more consistency with applause for various technicians serving in the meeting roles
Business News:

Nov 3 Club Officer’s Meeting 6:30 - 8:00 pm, Location: Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown, CT (Only club officer’s need to attend this meeting, however, anyone can submit ideas for consideration)

Nov 5 Meeting 6:30 - 8:15 pm, Location: Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, Middletown, CT

Nov 7 Fall 2009 District 53 Conference, Holiday Inn - Saratoga Springs 232 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY (Note: If you have never been to a Toastmasters conference before, I urge you to go…it’s a wonderful experience. Please visit the website for more information and the registration form: http://www.district53toastmasters.org/conferences.html)

Nov 12 Meeting (Movie Night) 7:00 – 9:00pm, Location: Middlesex Community College, Chapman Hall Upper Level, Room #808D (Note: This will be a regular meeting but we will watch the DVD from the Toastmasters International Convention the last part of the meeting. This will be the last meeting we have during the month of November.)

November 14 Hike at Wadsworth State Park, 1:00 – 3:00pm. Note: Please see the attached flyer for details.

*****

2009-10-09T17:52:00.003-04:00

Meeting, Thursday, October 8, 2009 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Hello Fellow Toastmasters!

We had quite an exciting meeting last night! Kevin Wortman, of the Danbury WestConn Club delivered an outstanding educational presentation on “Speaking of Speaking for Evaluations.” Last summer our club filled out a survey on what people thought was most needed for our Club development, and most people responded: help with giving evaluations. President Cheryl Mason answered that call and asked Kevin to come and help us with that development. It was obvious to everyone in the room that Kevin was the best of the best!

The room was filled with 20 people. Members present: Tom Alvord, Ana Bowman, Ron Brunelle, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jen Cimilluca, Craig Fresher, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, Cheryl Mason, Emily O’Brien, Mike O’Brien, Dianne Olsen, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Ramesh Padavala, Mike Perlman, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, and Rob Schaff. Our Guests were: Bill O’Donnell and Kevin Wortman.

The meeting started off with President Cheryl making announcements:
· Two new members received a pin, Ana Bowman and Mike Perlman. Congratulations and welcome to the Club!
· Tom and Jen were recognized for their achievements in the recent contests. Tom went all the way to the districts competing in the Evaluations Contest. Congratulations Tom! This was Jen’s first time competing in a competition and she went to the Area Contest for her humorous speech. Congratulations Jen!
· Everyone got their dues in on time – putting our Club on record for Distinguished Club. Our next goal is 4 new members. Tonight we welcomed two of them!
· The District 53 Fall Conference will be held on Saturday, November 7th at Saratoga Springs, NY. There are at least 5 people going from our Club to date.
· Tom is putting together a Variety Show to be held at The Village At South Farms on Thursday, October 15th. So far 9 people have volunteered to do a variety of entertaining such as: sing, recite poems, play instruments and/or give a speech. If you haven’t already signed up, contact Tom and join in the fun. There will also be a sing-a-long for audience participation – so we need you!
· Charnaie is organizing the Club Outing.
o She recently took a survey and most people responded that they would like to go on a local walk or hike. Charnaie is looking at 2 Saturday dates, October 17th or November 14th. A vote last night ended in a tie-breaker, so Charnaie will have to get back to us on the actual date.
o There will be a “Movie Night” planned for our November 12th meeting. Mike has a video of the 2009 International Speech Contest and he will share it with us. Please volunteer to bring in refreshments on this evening.
o On November 5th we will hold a special meeting to replace our meeting that falls on Thanksgiving Day. It will be held at the Russell Library.

Our Toastmaster was Area Governor, Rob. His theme of “Improvements: Getting Better” carried throughout the evening. There was plenty there to benefit everyone.

Cheryl was the TableTopics Master. Her topics appropriately carried the theme and we heard a variety of humorous and heartfelt mini speeches; void of any “raffish” remarks. Even our 2 guests, Kevin and Bill participated!

In addition to the presentation that Kevin gave on evaluations, we also had two great speeches given by Dianne and Craig. Dianne’s speech was “Autumn Flashbacks” and she told us about different experiences she did when leaf peeping. Craig gave an informative speech on “Health Care Reform – For or Against, Know the Points.” He gave the audience plenty to think about on this national topic.

It was tough for the Evaluators to come forth after Kevin’s dynamic speech. But they all made us proud! Charnaie did a great job as General Evaluator and the evaluators followed suit. Pete evaluated Dianne and Mike evaluated Craig.

Invocation: Jen, she recited a poem by Mother Theresa
WordMaster: Ana, “raffish” means crudeness or rowdiness
Humorist: Murugan
Ah Counter: Jen
Timer: Kay

Cheryl presented Kevin with a certificate and then closed the meeting on time.

2009-10-06T17:13:00.002-04:00

Meeting, Thursday, September 24, 2009 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Hello Fellow Toastmasters!

September 24th meeting with the theme (provided by Charnaie Gordon) Back to School was “abundantly” attended by many guests and members.

Members present: Tom Alvord, Ron Brunelle, Jen Cimilluca, Craig Fresher, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Dianne Olsen, Cheryl Mason, Michael O’Brien, Murugan Pachaiyappan, Ramesh Padavala, Pete Plotica, and Rob Schaff.

Guests: Anna Bowman, Ashley Mason (Cheryl’s daughter), Maureen McHugh, Hero Man (friend of Charnaie), and Chozhan and Chezhiyan Pachaiyappan (both sons of Murugan).

It was Pete Plotica’s first time as Toastmaster but he lead the meeting like a veteran! It was well-structured and on time. In keeping with the theme, Pete brought a bag of apples to share with everyone!

President Cheryl Mason began her announcements with a warm welcome and pin to our newest member: Murugan Pachaiyappan. Congratulations Murugan! Other announcements:
· In addition to the $50.00 allotted from our budget to Middlesex Community College Foundation, members gave additional donations totaling $200.00. Very nice Toastmasters!
· If anybody has any old Toastmasters magazines lying around, please to bring them in so she can share them with visiting members
· PLEASE send your dues to John ASAP so he can send them into headquarters by the due date!
· At our next meeting, Kevin Wortman from the WestConn Club in Danbury will be speaking on evaluations
· District Conference will be held in Saratoga Springs on Saturday, November 7th at the Holiday Inn

Area Governor Rob Schaff brought us a new ribbon to hang on our banner. This is the first time our Club ever won the “Training Excellence” ribbon for having all seven of our officers present at the training in Manchester! Rob also announced that the Area Club Contest will be held Wednesday, September 30th at the Aetna Club in Middletown. Please come out and show your support for Tom and Jen!

Tom Alvord gave a reminder for the Variety Show which will be held on Thursday, October 15th at the Village at South Farms. Since they allow us to hold our meetings there all summer, this will be a way for our Club to do something for them. So far those participating will be Kay, Tom, Dianne, Charnaie, Ron & his wife, and Ashley (Cheryl’s daughter). If you would like to participate please contact Tom. And if not, please come anyway because we will need people in the audience to “move” the crowd along.

Charnaie Gordon was the Tabletopics Master and she awarded “Superlatives” to different members. It was fun! One of our guests, Maureen McHugh even came up and gave it a try!

We had 4 super speeches! Ron Brunelle, “Made in the USA,” very useful information about what’s made in the USA; Dianne Olsen, “A Vacation of Opportunity” all about her experience at the International Convention; Rob Schaff “Van Halen and the Brown M&M’s” and the cool cat passed m&m’s out to everyone; and Michael O’Brien, “One Bite At A Time” based on the book Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink. There was a lot of information and good humor!

Kay Jeyapalan gave her first try at General Evaluator! She was calm and relaxed and was a natural at it! Evaluators for the speakers were as follows: Craig Fresher for Ron; John Keppler for Dianne; Tom Alvord for Rob; and Ron Brunelle for Michael. Great job evaluators!

Other roles:
Ah Counter: Cheryl (and Ashley)
Grammarian: Jen Cimilluca
Timer: Craig
Invocator: Charnaie – she recited a nice poem on education to go with our theme
Humorist: Ramesh told 2 jokes!
Word of the Day: Ramesh: “abundantly”

In keeping with our theme, “Back to School” Ashley went around and gave everyone a fun sticker at the end of the meeting!

2009-09-14T10:21:00.009-04:00

Meeting, Thursday, September 10, 2009 - Middlesex Community College, Room 808 D, Middletown, CT Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Our September 10, 2009 meeting was held in our "new room" at Middlesex Community College. Even with the bigger room we still had a full house for our Fall Speech Contest. Charnaie Gordon, Vice President of Education, was the Contest Chair. She did an excellent job organizing the event! Kay Jeyapalan was the Contest Master, for the first time and she did a superb job running a smooth meeting! Arun Sodani was the Chief Judge and he did an excellent job as well!

Members present: Tom Alvord, Ron Brunelle, Jen Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Pam Mulready, Emily O'Brien, Michael O'Brien, Dianne Olsen, Ramesh Padavala, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Arun Sodani. Udaya Neelam was visiting from the Wallingford Eagles Club with his two children, Pooja and Sain. Other guests were: Chris Dubey, Alumnus of Middlesex Community College, Mike Perlman, who had previously belonged to the Groton Club, and Murugan Pachaiyappan, first time visitor.

Charnaie started the meeting with an announcement that the theme for our September 24th meeting will be "Back to School." Members are encouraged to bring their children.

October 8th Kevin Wortman of the WestConn Club will be a guest speaker to speak / teach us about improving speaker evaluations. Kevin has been a Toastmaster for 16 years, and is a member of Westconn TM Club 599 in Danbury. On Saturday, June 27th, he lead a training session about "Evaluations, Speaking of Speaking" at the Manchester TLI Officers training. He is also the D53 Spring 2009 Table Topics winner. Big thanks to Cheryl for arranging this speaker as well as this topic of "Improving speaker evaluations." This will be of great benefit to all the members of the club.

On Novemeber 5th an "extra" meeting will be held at the Russell Library.

An "extra" meeting is also being planned for December.
These "extra" meetings are to make up for lost meetings over the holidays.

Visiting guest Udaya Neelam was the Target Speaker for the Evaluation Contest. His speech was "Are you Listening." Competing Evaluators were Michael O'Brien, Tom Alvord, and John Keppler. The two contestants for the Humorous Contest were John Keppler, "Be Careful What You Wish For You Just Might Get It!" and Jen Cimilluca speech was "To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected!"

The winners for the Evaluation Contest were 2nd runner-up: John Keppler; 1st runner-up: Michael O'Brien; and 1st Place Winner: Tom Alvord! Congratulations Tom and to the first 2 runner-ups. For the Humorous Contest, John Keppler came in as 1st runner-up and 1st Place went to Jen! Congratulations to both of them! Tom and Jen will be able to compete in the Fall Area Contest! In the event Tom will not be able to go, then Michael would take Tom's place and in case Jen will not be able to take part in the Humorous Contest, John will go.

Area Governor, Rob Schaff informed us that the Fall Area Contest will be held on Wednesday evening, September 30th at the Aetna, Middletown Club. They need judges, ballot counters, and support! Be come and support our Club winners and also give the Middletown Club a hand and volunteer!

Treasurer, John Keppler made the announcement that Club dues are due on October 1st. He is asking all members to get their dues in on time so that we can earn points towards our club goals. The dues are $33.00, $27.00 goes to International Headquarters and $6.00 goes towards our Club expenses. John will send everyone his address so they can mail him a check as soon as possible.

Kay, Vice President of Public Relations, graciously brought in several copies of the Chronicle so members could see the article that was written about our Club. Long time member John Keppler commented that this was "by far the biggest newspaper article ever" written about our Club.

President Cheryl Mason made closing comments. Charnaie was presented with a ribbon for completing her Competant Communication Manual. Charnaie completed all 10 speeches in just 5 months! Congratulation Charnaie, you are a super role model! Cheryl also announced that the Club was making a donation of $50.00 to Middlesex Community College for their years of allowing us to hold our meetings at the college. If any members would like to make an additional tax-free donation please notify Cheryl.

Delicious and refreshing refreshments for the contests were provided by Cheryl, Kay, Pete, Dianne and Charnaie!

2009-09-10T15:43:00.002-04:00

Meeting, Thursday, August 27, 2009 - Village at South FarmsMiddletown, ConnecticutMinutes of the Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Here are some highlights from the Middlesex club meeting Thursday, 8/27.
It was a great meeting, and thanks to everyone that helped to make it a success!

*****

Attendance -- total of 16

Members: Charnaie G., Craig F., Tom A., Cheryl M., Emily O., Jennifer C., Rob S., Pete P., Pam M., Ramesh P., John K., Kay J., Ron B.
Guests: Kristen Chenette (Editor of the Chronicle), Amy (Tom's daughter), Francis (Charnaie's mother-in-law)

We hope our guests will consider joining! A visitor info packet (including a TM application) was provided to each one of the guests (thanks, Michael!)

Special thanks to Kay for arranging for Kristen Chenette to speak at our club!

Our toastmaster for the evening was Craig Fresher, a first-time Toastmaster, who did a superb job and lead us through a very well planned meeting, which included 5 prepared speeches!

Humorist: Ramesh P. (Ramesh told 2 very funny jokes!)
Ah Counter: Tom A.
Grammarian: Emily O.
Timer: Jennifer C.
General Evaluator: Cheryl M.

We had five prepared speakers:

Charnaie - Inspire Your Audience Speech #10: Defining Your Purpose to a "T"
Inspirational speech, included challenges to "design your destiny," "fulfill your purpose; what is it?"
Kristen - After describing her background as both a radio news anchor and editor of the Chronicle,
Kristen talked about the role of community newspapers with a local level focus,
and she included an informative Q&A session with us at the end
Pete - Speech # 4 Deja Vu, The Speech You May Think You've Heard Before
We learned lots of information about Deja Vu experiences!
Pam - Speech # 3 The Benefits and Detriments of Taking the Circutious Route Between Point A and Point B
Pam shared the secrets of getting her father distracted, and how to "not get to the point" !!!
Ron - Speech # 3 Government Foolishness
Ron gave a thought provoking speech; where has all that stimulous money gone?

Table Topics were given by Kay, with a fun theme of giving introductions for the esteemed fruits and vegetables she brought along!

Excellent speech evaluations were given by Rob, Charnaie, John and Tom

Our guest, Kristen Chenette's commented at the end of the meeting that she was impressed that the speech evaluations were such high quality, and that the group was very supportive and respectful of one another. (Guess we made a great first impression) !!!

We also received very positive comments from Amy and from Francis.
We do hope our guests will attend again!

** Congratulations to Charnaie for completing her 10th speech and finishing the CC manual!
She did this in 5 months, and included speaking "outside her comfort zone" by speaking at other clubs in the area.

If anyone else is interested in speaking at other clubs, please let me, Charnaie, Tom, Rob, or Michael know -- we have a number of contacts at other clubs and can help facilitate the process. Rob mentioned that the Aetna club in particular is looking for experienced prepared speakers to visit their meetings! This is a great way to earn credit in the manuals as well as gain valuable experience.

Business News:

* Our Fall meeting location is at MxCC Chapman Hall Room 808D -- starting NEXT MEETING
When you enter the building, proceed up the stairs (either side, left or right). Once at the top of the stairs, proceed through the doors down the hall as far as you can go. The rooms you pass on the left are all meeting rooms that are part of one big open space, or with the floor-to-ceiling partitions in place, create separate rooms (808A, B, C, D). 808D is the last meeting space at the end of the hall on the left.

* Giving Back to Middlesex Community College:
At our Aug. 10th executive committee meeting, we discussed ways of giving back to the college to show our appreciation for having such a great meeting location for our meetings! A $50 donation to the college from our club treasury was approved. Through Kim's contacts and Dianne and John's follow-up, we have been referred to Greg Kline, the Director of Institutional Advancement and Staff Liaison to the MxCC Foundation. Greg provided this information: "The Middlesex Community College Foundation, a non-profit organization, is the vehicle whose mission is to raise support for students and programs at the college. An unrestricted donation sent to the foundation would give the college the most flexibility to assist students, including emergency situations. We appreciate your thoughtful support!"
We are proceeding with a $50 donation to the college, along with any small contributions that any individuals would like to make. We will collect small donations at the next meeting. John K. suggested individuals can write a check to the Foundation, so there is a record of the tax deductible contribution. John will consolidate all our contributions and send them to the Foundation by mid-Sept.

* Our NEXT MEETING is the Sept. 10th club contest, Evaluation & Humorous. Our target speaker will be Udaya Neelam from the Wallingford Eagles Club. Volunteers are needed to help with contest role(s)! Please let Charnaie or me know if you can fill a role or have any questions.

* A Fall Variety Show on Oct. 15 is planned for the Village at South Farms -- please let Tom know if you can help with anything such as coordinating light refreshments, reading a short poem, providing some other entertainment. Looking for volunteers to help!

* Oct. 8 Guest Speaker: Kevin Wortman, Speaking of Evaluations. We are very much looking forward to Kevin's visit!

* Nov 7th - District 53 Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY

* Nov & Dec club meeting schedule will include an extra meeting early in the month, since the holidays will supersede our normal 4th meeting. More info to follow.

2009-09-10T15:36:00.001-04:00

Meeting, Thursday, August 13, 2009 - Village at South FarmsMiddletown, ConnecticutMinutes of the Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Highlights the Middlesex club meeting Thursday, 8/13

Attendees: Tom A., Cheryl M., Emily O., Michael O., Craig F., Jennifer C., Ramesh P., Charnaie G., John K., Kay J.

Our toastmaster for the evening was John Keppler, who lead us through a great meeting.

Humorist: Emily O'Brien
Word Master: Jennifer Cimiluca, "kudos"
Ah Counter: Ramesh Padavala
Grammarian: Craig Fresher
Timer: Charnaie Gordon
General Evaluator: John Keppler

We had four prepared speakers:

Kay - Inspire Your Audience Speech #10: The Choice is Yours
Inspirational speech with references from the book, "The Power of Attitude" by Mac Anderson
Tom -- Thou Shalt Not Steal
Thought provoking speech, taking a pen might clearly be considered stealing, but other scenarios might not be so clear!
Michael - Ice Breaker Speech # 1: The Extra Mile
Speech describing Michael's walking sanctuary and where we might see him on a clear summer night
Cheryl - How to Say It Speech # 4: A New Experience
Speech describing Cheryl's recent volunteer experiences at the TI conference

Table Topics were given by Tom, with a fun summer theme

Speech evaluations were given by Craig, Jennifer, Cheryl & Tom

Business news:
* Cheryl brought two slides shown by Dave Wheeler, LGET, at the District officers meeting on 8/9 -- both are exciting for Middlesex.
First: Middlesex Club is #1 in DCP standings across the entire district!
Second: Middlesex Club has earned a banner ribbon for having 7 officers trained during the summer training sessions
* Charnaie brought the signup sheet for Sept. 10th club contest -- and is recruiting volunteers to help with contest role(s)!
* Tom discussed the Fall Variety Show on Oct. 15 that is planned for the Village at South Farms -- please let Tom know if you can help with anything such as coordinating light refreshments, reading a short poem, providing some other entertainment. Looking for volunteers to help!

2009-07-29T10:56:00.003-04:00

Meeting, Thursday, July 23, 2009 - Village at South Farms
Middletown, Connecticut
Minutes of the Middlesex Toastmasters Club #8340

Present were Club Members: Cheryl, Emily, Jennifer, John K., John V., Kay, Kim, Mike, Pam, Pete, Ramesh, Rob, Ron, Tom

Guests: Christina Dzenyuy, President Stag Toastmasters
Judith Chambers, Stag Toastmasters
Susan McNamara, VPM, Stag Toastmasters
Kathy, who accompanied her daughter Christina
Ute Brinkmann, Wallingford Eagles

Our special guest for the evening was Christian Mysliwiec, a freelance reporter for The Chronicle, arranged by the club Vice President of Public Relations, Kay Jeyapalan. Stay tuned for the September issue of The Chronicle (Middletown/Cromwell).

Cheryl Mason, the Club President, started the meeting with the announcement of our special meeting on July 30, 2009 at Russell Library in Middletown and John Keppler will be the Toastmaster for this meeting. Cheryl presented two of our new members Ron Brunelle and John Venduras with Toastmaster pins to welcome them to our club. Kim Price announced that Room 808 D has been arranged with Middlesex Community College for the club to meet beginning in September 2009 through June 2010. This room is bigger than the old one and will hold about 30 people.

Michael O'Brien was our Toastmaster for the evening and he tied the whole meeting with the theme of 40th anniversary of astronauts landing on the moon.

Other roles played by our club members and guests:

Timer - Emily
Ah Counter - Kathy
Grammarian - Jennifer
Word of the day - John V.
Invocator - Susan
Humorist - Pam

For Table Topics, Jennifer presented us some challenging and sagacious subjects intertwining the theme of the 40th anniversary of the astronauts landing on the moon.

Four ebullient speeches were given -

Ron Brunelle spoke on Alternative Energy evaluated by Cheryl - very informative with colorful phrases as mentioned by Cheryl. Cheryl pointed out the phrase, "Clean Environmental Power Source."

John Keppler gave a talk on the History of the Middlesex Toastmasters Club evaluated by Rob Schaff - members found it very interesting to hear that the original founders retired from the club in the same room we had our meeting last night. Rob, in his evaluation, mentioned the special connection of the club to the "Pub" room at the Village at South Farms. History of the club will be posted to the club's website soon!

Christina Dzenyuy gave a speech titled "Purity, Valor and Vigilance on the Sea of Tranquility" tied to the theme of our Toastmaster for the evening and she indeed brought History to Life. She captured the audience with the introduction of the precise time it took the astronauts to accomplish the mission. Kim Price in his evaluation of Christina's speech highlighted her introduction.

Ute Brinkman's speech titled "Acoustic" on Vocal Variety was evaluated by Tom as, "Ute left us with a WOW." Ute encouraged us to practice voice projection at home.

We enjoyed the 10 minute of break with delicious brownies, fruits, and drinks. Thanks to Cheryl and Pete who brought the snacks and drinks.

Our General Evaluator was Judith Chambers. Judith pointed out that we need to applaud more for our table topics as this is not a prepared speech and warrant more encouragement. Judith and all of our guests mentioned a couple of excellent qualities of our club that we should be proud of –

(1) Ours is a very welcoming club, and
(2) They felt comfortable participating.

Cheryl Mason closed the meeting by saying a few words about the traveling Gavel, Drew. Drew has been with our club for a year. Cheryl handed over Drew to our guests from the Stag Club in Hartford. We said Good Bye to Drew to send him away to live in Hartford with the Stag club till he decides to move to another home. Ute was responsible for designing and implementing the entire Traveling Gavel Program throughout District 53. She produced all six of the traveling gavels and designed the stand. Middlesex Toastmasters Club held three of these traveling gavels once.

To All: You did an excellent job whether you took a role or helped out during and after the meeting!

It was another exciting evening filled with information and laughter!!!

I am leaving you with the quote from our guest Susan McNamara, invocator for the evening -

"Learn from yesterday,
Live for today,
Hope for tomorrow."
Albert Einstein

Meeting July 9, 2009 - Village at South Farms

2009-07-11T23:00:00.004-04:00

Middlesex Toastmasters # 8340

Happy New Year!
This was our first meeting of the new Toastmasters year (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010).

We celebrated in style with festive hats, blowouts, balloons, and lots of yummy snacks and drinks! We were also treated to a wonderful homemade chocolate cake in the shape of a bicycle to match our District 53 theme for the New Year . . . thanks to Ute.
A special thanks to everyone that contributed to the festivities!

Meeting Attendees:
Charnaie, Craig, Deborah, Pete, Rob, Michael, Emily, Nancy, Jennifer, Tom, Rose Rita, Kim, Ron, Tom, Ute, Cheryl, Ashley

Guests
Rose Rita Riccitelli (past member of Middlesex)
Ute Brinkmann (past member of Middlesex)
Ashley Mason (Cheryl's 11 year old daughter)

The meeting theme was carried throughout the evening – thoughts of a New Year, a time of renewal, new challenges, resolutions, etc.

Business Meeting

Cheryl presented a vision for the club, focusing on member success and club excellence.
"Foster Aces" is the vision for the New Year. Stay tuned for more to come . ..

Also noted upcoming events – see below.

Cheryl brought "Drew" to the meeting before it gets captured! (see below)

Kim was presented with a ribbon "Award of Excellence" for his recent achievement of Advanced Communicator Gold, ACG. Way to go, Kim! He wore the ribbon on his pocket throughout the evening and it matched his pink party hat rather nicely!

Already we are making great progress toward "Distinguished Club Program" DCP goals!

Tom presented the idea of a "Variety Show" at the Village at South Farms to provide the residents there with entertainment as a way of giving back. They have been very accommodating with providing us a club meeting location during the summer and at other times when we've requested.

Calling all volunteers!

You are invited to . . .
sing a song, play an instrument, recite a poem, present a magic trick, give a 1-5 minute talk on a subject of your choice for which you may receive credit in your manual, present some photos, illustrate your hobby, tell a story, or come up with your own idea!
Most presentations will be 1-5 minutes in length.

The date will be sometime in October, specifics are being finalized. It may be held on a Thu. evening when we don't have a regularly scheduled meeting.

Please contact Tom Alvord tabangoman@yahoo.com and offer your support!

Charnaie handed out "Member Interest Survey" forms so that we can all provide feedback regarding goals, interests, and any suggestions for improving our club.
Charnaie was first-time Toastmaster, and the planning and organization that went into the meeting was apparent. She also brought professional looking laminated role cards that were used by those serving in roles. Charnaie provided remarks about the New Year theme and transitioned between the various parts of the meeting very nicely (as mentioned by our GE!)

Charnaie also encouraged us to try to challenge ourselves, try out new roles, and push ourselves out of our "comfort zone."

Nancy provided our Invocation (tied in nicely with our theme)
Ron provided us with a humorous story (we were picturing that horse!)
Craig provided the word of the day, "dogmatic," meaning rigid, unbending, fixed
Emily provided excellent Table Topics, involved members and guests, and tied the topics in nicely with our theme for the evening. There were thought provoking questions, and interesting
responses!
Deborah was our Grammarian (pointed out noteworthy phrases, word structures, etc.)
Craig was the Ah Counter
Cheryl was the Timer
Tom was our General Evaluator

Four excellent speeches were given –

· Rob had us in "stitches" with his humorous speech about teenager communications, all with a "hopeful" tone!

· Jennifer used awesome gestures with her speech, "to Whom Much is Given, Much is Expected"

· Deborah enlightened us with her "Human Tuning Fork" speech
· Ron broke the ice with his very first speech – and demonstrated great presence at the podium!

Our evaluators, Michael, Pete, Kim, and Rob all did a great job providing thoughtful feedback regarding the speeches.

Tom provided thorough feedback as General Evaluator, commenting on things that worked well with the meeting, as well as areas for improvement.

A few points:

Suggest that each person filling a role be prepared to give a short mini-speech regarding their role regardless of whether there are any guests in the audience or not, use it as an opportunity for "stage time"

Consider dropping the "objectives of the speech" given by the evaluator before each speech. Several other members agreed that this seems awkward and doesn't always fit nicely with the flow of a speech introduction. We will consider dropping this practice.

Ron was presented with a very nice "Ice Breaker Mints" medallion to wear around his neck by our VPE, Charnaie (see picture).

Meeting agenda was quite full, and Charnaie kept us moving along; we ended right on time at 9:00 p.m.

Upcoming Events: -

July 23rd – Guests from Stag Toastmasters are coming to "capture" Drew, a gavel we have had for the last year!
July 30th – Extra Club Meeting at Russell Library
August 10th – Club Officers Meeting at Russell Library
August 12-15 – Toastmasters International Convention, MGM Grand, Foxwoods Casino
September 10 – Club Contest - Humorous & Evaluation
October 8 – Guest Speaker Regarding Speech Evaluations - Kevin Wortman
October (specific date tbd) – Variety Show for Village at South Farms
November 7 – District Fall Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY

Meeting 6/25/2009

2009-07-06T14:52:00.001-04:00

Fellow Toastmasters!

It was an eventful evening at our Middlesex County Toastmasters Club meeting as we celebrated the Induction Ceremony of our newly elected officers, the President gave an award, and the theme for the evening was “Toastmasters Tributes.”

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Ron Brunelle, Jennifer Cimilluca, Craig Fresher, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Pam Mulready, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Dianne Olsen, Alex Piccinni, Peter Plotica, Rob Schaff, and Sreeni Voleti. Guests: Jason Andrade, Janice Colandrea, and John Venduras.

The Induction Ceremony began with Tom Alvord introducing the current officers ending the year 2008/2009. There was a big round of applause for all the outgoing officers (present and not present) for their service over the last year! Then President Rob Schaff, who will be the new Area Governor, swore-in this coming year’s officers. They are: President: Cheryl Mason; Vice President Education: Charnaie Gordon; Vice President Membership: Michael O’Brien; Vice President Public Relations: Kay Jeyapalan; Secretary: Dianne Olsen; Treasurer: John Keppler; and Sergeant At Arms: Peter Plotica. Congratulations to our newly elected officers for 2009/2010!

President Rob Schaff presented Cheryl with the Middlesex County Toastmasters President’s Award for Outstanding Member 2008/2009! Congratulations Cheryl for this very well-deserved, prestigious award! For other business Rob commented that we had 19 new members this year! Wow!

Dianne Olsen was the Toastmaster. She led the meeting with the theme of “Toastmasters Tributes” honoring our servicemen for putting their lives on the line so that we can enjoy our freedom as it is today and also honoring all the members of our club for their participation in earning us the President’s Distinguished Club! This is the fourth year in a row our club has been a President’s Distinguished Club and much of that has been driven by the dedication of Rob Schaff and Cheryl Mason. As Uncle Sam says, “We need you!” We need you this year to help us win that award for the fifth year in a row!

For Table Topics, Michael O’Brien interestingly tied in our theme with questions to better our club, based on the book, “Good to Great” by Jim Collin. Several members participated as well as guest: John Venduras.

Our speeches were as follows: Charnaie Gordon, “The 30-Second Commercial”; Tom Alvord, “Independence Day”; Pam Mulready, “EMDR Therapy”; and Cheryl Mason, “Evaluate to Motivate.” Evaluating them were: Sreeni Voleti, Michael O’Brien, Craig Fresher, and Peter Plotica, respectively. Super speeches and evaluations by all our speakers! John Keppler, General Evaluator, did a wonderful job commenting on all the meeting, evaluation speeches and roles: Invocator, Cheryl Mason; Humorist, Kay Jeyapalan; Word Master, Pam Mulready; Grammarian, Charnaie Gordon; Ah Counter, Alex Piccinni; and Timer, Emily O’Brien. Great job everybody and that’s no “trope!”

Before closing, Vice President of Education, Cheryl Mason presented Charnaie Gordon with her ½ CC Completion Award. Charnaie has already completed half her Competent Communication manual and has only been with us since January. That’s determination at its best! Congratulations Charnaie!

Reminders:
Our meetings for July and August will be held at the Village At South Farms (it is now a yellow building), 645 Saybrook Road, Middletown.

Dianne Olsen went to the volunteer training and gave a quick talk about becoming a volunteer at the International Toastmaster Convention at Foxwoods, August 12 – 15. The best speakers from 80 different countries around the world will be presenting in our own state! This may never happen again in our lifetime! For volunteers they need greeters, monitors, reception areas, luncheons, registration, flag ceremony, dance, airport greeters, information desk, and on and on. Go to http://tm2009volunteers.wetpaint.com You don’t want to miss this opportunity!

Respectfully,
Dianne Olsen, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club

Meeting Notes - May 28, 2009

2009-05-29T07:55:00.001-04:00

Fellow Toastmasters:

We had 18 participants in our meeting last night - 17 members and one guest. Attending members: Beth, Charnaie, Alex, Kay, Mike, Emily, Jennifer, Tom, Anne Marie, Ramesh, Arun, Tawana, Rob, Sreeni, Pamela, and Craig. Our guest was Ronald Brunelle, a first-time visitor who was interested to find out more about Toastmasters.

Arun was our Toastmaster for the night. Charnaie led us in a challenging Table Topics, requiring us to assume the role of an author explaining his new book. We heard 3 prepared speeches: an Ice-Breaker from Craig, and speeches from Kay and Jennifer. Our evaluators did an excellent job of providing supportive evaluations, while pointing out areas to work on.

Our next meeting is on June 11, and we will hold our club elections at that meeting. See you there!

May 14 Meeting Notes

2009-05-15T10:29:00.001-04:00

We had 14 members at our meeting last night: Rob, Cheryl, Mike, Emily, Jennifer, Kay, Deborah, Kim, Arun, Charnaie, Pete, Sreeni, Craig, and Pam.

Cheryl was our Toastmaster, and she did a great job getting the roster filled. Thanks to everyone who stepped up at the last minute to fill a role. Everyone participated on Table Topics, and we heard a lot of creative speaking on food, led by Deborah as Table Topics Master.

We had 4 prepared speeches, from Rob, Sreeni, Mike, and Kim. Sreeni let us know that he is actually an alien, and Mike gave a dramatic reading of Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Our next meeting is May 28, and we gave 4 more exciting speakers lined up. See you there!

2009-2010 Area Governors

2009-05-01T16:35:00.002-04:00

Two Middlesex County Toastmasters will be serving as Area Governors for the 2009-2010 club year.

Rob Schaff, our current club President, will be the new Area Governor for our area, C5. He will be taking the reins from the current AG and Middlesex member Tom Alvord.

Cheryl Mason, our current Vice President of Education, will be the Area Governor for Area B3, the area which includes Cheryl's StanleyWorks club.

Congratulations Rob and Cheryl!

2009 Talk Up Toastmasters Award

2009-05-01T14:16:00.001-04:00

Middlesex County Toastmasters has achieved the 2009 Talk Up Toastmasters Award, by adding 5 new members in February and March. We received a nice ribbon for our banner, and a free module from the Better Speaker Series.

Special thanks to Jennifer Cimilluca, Pam Mulready, Emily O'Brien, Mike O'Brien, and Leslie Strovas - the five members that joined during this time period.

April 23 Meeting Notes

2009-04-27T10:49:00.002-04:00

Last night’s meeting was another full house of 19 members and 5 guests, all exhilarating lots of energy around the room! Visiting from area clubs were: Ute Brinkman, Wallingford Club; and Peter Carpenter and Bill Sullivan, both from Aetna, Hartford. We also had 2 other guests: John and Michelle Syc.

The meeting began with President Rob Schaff pinning Emily O’Brien. Kim Price was a lively Toastmaster for the evening. Dianne Olsen led Table Topics with a challenging game of Jeopardy, giving speakers 6 categories to choose from. Our 4 main speakers were: Jen Cimilluca, guest: Ute Brinkman, Charnaie Gordon, and Rob Schaff. Ute’s years of experience as a speaker, left many in awe over her speech about her violins.

Speech evaluators were: Nancy Green, Beth Legnani, Craig Fresher, and Deborah Nason. General Evaluator, Arun Sodani, then summed up the meeting, bringing it to a smooth closure. As an outsider, one might think Toastmasters would be much to “moil.” However, we have a club full of eager members, always willing to step up to the plate and fulfill roles. This makes our enriched club an easier and more enjoyable experience for all.

Rob’s timely speech of encouraging members to run for officer’s positions was a prelude to our upcoming elections to be held on May 28. Our next meeting will be at The Village at South Farms, May 7th. You don’t want to miss this Speech-A-Thon!

Respectfully,

Dianne Olsen, Secretary

April 9 Meeting

2009-04-20T08:55:00.001-04:00

We had 17 members attend our last meeting on April 9, 2009.

At the beginning of the meeting our President, Rob Schaff, handed out pins to our newest members: Tawana Bourne, Craig Fisher, and Leslie Strovas. Rob commented how the club ordered an abundance of pins this last year and we have had so many new members we need to reorder! We are the only club in District 53 to date that has reached President’s Distinguished Club status this year!

John Keppler was our excellent Toastmaster for the evening. As Table Topics Master, Cheryl Mason presented a theme that was inspired by recent contests, keeping participants thinking on their feet. Prepared speakers were Charnaie Gordon, Pam Mulready, Dianne Olsen and Kay Jeyaplan. Nothing was “feckless” about the speeches or the evaluations led by General Evaluator Peter Plotica, Jeff Lagasse, Charnaie Gordon, Sreeni Voleti, and Ramesh Padavala.

Rob asked Anne-Marie Cannata to speak to the group about her winning experience with her recent speech contests. For anyone thinking about giving a speech contest a try, next time around, she would be a wonderful mentor for it.

Reminders:

April 25th, District 53 Conference
May 7th, Our club Speech-A-Thon

Dianne Olsen, Secretary

March 26 Meeting

2009-03-27T15:42:00.001-04:00

Last night our meeting was a full house once again! There was some talk we may need to relocate to a bigger room to accommodate our large, successful meetings! We have been averaging at least two new members a meeting, for the last few meetings. Last night was no exception! We welcome three new members to our club: Jennifer Cimilluca, Greg Fresher, and Tawana Bourne. Congratulations to you all for joining and participating so quickly in Table Topics!

We had a total of 18 members in attendance, including the three new members! Tom Alvord was outstanding as Toastmaster, leading the group with scintillating energy! As TableTopics Master, Arun did a fantastic job raising it to another level. Speeches were given by: Beth Legnani, Rob Schaff, Erik Jarboe, and Dianne Olsen. Evaluators were: General Evaluator: John Keppler, Kay Jeyapalan, Cheryl Mason, Mike O’Brien, and Anne-Marie Cammarata. The speeches and evaluations were all enjoyed by the audience!

Tom Alvord and Dianne Olsen have been working together the last two months to give our mentoring program a little more structure. They introduced the new program last night as one of the presentations. Our club is growing by leaps and bounds! With the growing pace of new members, if we are to continue the level of excellence the club has today, we can no longer rely on the same few people to do all the mentoring for new members.

All of us want to continued to be mentored as we reach different levels in Toastmasters, yet, we need to do a better job of involving more club members as mentors for new members. Members who have been in the club for 6 months and more can qualify to mentor new incoming members. Tom and Dianne will be personally contacting qualified members to consider mentoring a new member. That way, we will be able to use our “more advanced” members to mentor our “intermediate” members and allow our club to continue to grow in numbers and successes.

Reminders:

Come out and support Anne-Marie Commarata on April 2nd, for the Division Contest in Newington. Tom Alvord has forwarded directions.

April 25th, District Conference, Norwich

Our own club Speech-A-Thon will be May 7th at the Village at South Farms (we will not be meeting at MXCC that week).

Respectfully,

Dianne Olsen
Secretary, Middlesex County Toastmasters

Anne-Marie Sweeps Area Contest

2009-03-17T14:03:00.001-04:00

The Middlesex County Toastmasters Club was a great hit last night at the Area C5 Contest in Wallingford. Eleven of our members went and supported Anne-Marie Cannata as she competed in both the Table Topics and International Speech Contests. She was amazing in both her speeches and it was no surprise when she won First Place, again, in both contests! Anne-Marie’s father was in the audience, too, beaming with pride.

Anne-Marie is eligible to compete in the Division Contest which will be held April 2nd in Newington. The winner of that contest will compete at the Spring Conference in Norwich on April 25th. The winner from the conference will compete in the Region 6 Contest on June 6th in Canada. All Regional finalists will be eligible for the International Conference at Foxwoods Resort & Casino, August 12th – 15th.

Thank you to all the members who were able to attend last night’s event. Congratulations Anne-Marie!

Respectfully,

Dianne Olsen