Meeting Notes - July 12, 2012

This was the first meeting of the year, and was held at the MiddleOak building. Meetings during July and August will be held here, and not at Middlesex Community College.

The theme for this meeting was “New Beginnings.”

Past President Kay Jeyapalan was the Toastmaster for the evening.

There were sixteen members present, including new member Will Harovas, who also gave his IceBreaker speech.

Members Present: Patricia Alston, Jay Broderick, Jennifer Cimillica, Sonia Dean, Siva Digavali, Helena Grey, Will Harovas, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Monica Lozano, Daniel Moran, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Robert Schaff, and Judy Thompson.

Meeting

President Jonathan Herron, and Past Club President Kay Jeyapalan installed new officers Jennifer Cimilluca (Vice President-Education) and Jay Broderick (Treasurer). Helena Grey was recognized with an Enthusiam award. Kay was presented with a plaque in appreciation of her service. The plaque was presented by the past officers.

Jennifer Cimilluca was the Table Topics Master.

Prepared speeches:

There were four prepared speeches this evening, three of the four were iceBreaker speeches:

IceBreaker-Pat Alston-“Living the Dream”

IceBreaker-Will Harovas-“Three Interesting Things”

IceBreaker-Monica Lozano, ”Making Friends with Fear”

CC #8 Get Comfortable with Visual Aids-Siva Digavali, “Best Friends Forever”

Roger Arnold will be the guest speaker at the 8/9 meeting. The Humorist Contest will be held on September 27th.

The next meeting will be held on July 26, at the MiddleOak building.

Respectfully submitted,

Pat Alston

Meeting Notes - June 28, 2012

The Middlesex County Toastmasters celebrated their last meeting of the club year in style on Thursday, June 28, at Middlesex Community College. We had 18 members and 4 guests in attendance for a meeting focused on recognition and leadership.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Patricia Alston, Jay Broderick, Sonia Dean, Ryan Dolan, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Daniel Moran, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Judy Thompson

Guests Present: Richard Peck, Ute Brinkmann, Marsha Kiley, and Caroline Herron

Meeting

Club President Kay Jeyapalan used her last meeting as club president to recognize this year's team of officers and other outstanding members. It was a great club year, with many outstanding guest speakers and our 7th consecutive Presidents Distinguished Award. Thanks again to Kay for all of her efforts on behalf of our club.

Cheryl Mason was our Toastmaster for the evening. Jay Broderick was the Humorist. Ramesh Padavala was the General Evaluator, and was supported by Sally Nicastre (Ah-counter), Judy Thompson (Grammarian), and Jonathan Herron (Timer).  Patricia Alston provided the Word of the Day ("lethologica", the condition of temporarily forgetting a word), and the word was used a surprising number of times throughout the evening.

Tom Alvord was the Table-Topics Master, and his theme was Toastmasters leanings and experiences.

Prepared speeches: All three of our prepared speeches centered on the theme of Leadership.

• Rob Schaff gave a speech from the CC manual entitled "Sharing the Vision," relating the power of inspiring a share vision when leading a team. His speech was evaluated by Michael O'Brien.
• Ute Brinkmann's speech was entitled "Leadership Lessons I learned From My Double Base." Ute used her instrument to organize and punctuate her speech about fundamental leadership lessons. Her speech was evaluated by John Keppler.
• Former District Governor Marsha Kiley gave a speech on her leadership journey through Toastmasters. Her title was "The Ripple Effect." Her speech was evaluated by Kim Price.

Outgoing District Governor Richard Peck addressed the club at the end of the meeting, and congratulated Middlesex County Toastmasters on their continued success and sustained energy. He even confided that we were his wife's favorite club!

This meeting was the last club meeting for members Mike and Sally Nicastre, who are departing for an extended trip to Europe. Bon voyage, Mike and Sally!

Our next meeting will be Thursday, July 12, at the MiddleOak building in downtown Middletown. Please sign up for a meeting role. See you there.

New Club Officers

New Officers for Year 2012-2013 from R to L: Jonathan Herron (President), Chris Sullivan (VP-Membership), Helena Grey(VP-Public Relations), Patricia Alston(Secretary) and Daniel Moran(Sergeant at Arms) being installed by Kalyani Jeyapalan (President 2011-2012)

Meeting Notes - May 24, 2012

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, May 24, at Middlesex Community College. We had 21 enthusiastic attendees, including 17 members and 4 guests. The meeting has highlighted by our club elections and 4 prepared speeches.

Members Present: Patricia Alston, John Bell, Jay Broderick, Jennifer Cimilluca, Sonia Dean, Ryan Dolan, Charnaie Gordon, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Daniel Moran, Michael O'Brien, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Chris Sullivan.

At the business meeting, Club President Kay Jeyapalan mentioned a concern about the number of empty roles at recent meetings. Please take this opportunity to sign up for speaking slots and other meeting roles on the club website.

Club Elections

We held elections to establish our club officers for next year. The club year runs from July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013. Our next set of officers will be:

• President: Jonathan Herron
• VPE: Jennifer Cimilluca
• VPM: Chris Sullivan
• VPPR: Helena Grey
• Secretary: Patricia Alston
• Treasurer: Jay Broderick
• Sargent at Arms: Daniel Moran

Congratulations to all of the incoming officers, and thank you for volunteering to help keep this great club going strong.

Meeting

Newly-elected VPE Jennifer Cimilluca was our Toastmaster for the evening. Jacqueline Kirwan provided the invocation, and Jay Broderick was the Humorist. President-elect Jonathan Herron was the General Evaluator, and was supported by John Keppler (Ah-counter), Ryan Dolan (Grammarian), and Charnaie Gordon (Timer). Kay provided the Word of the Day ("egg on", urge on; cause to act).

Murali Pemmaraju was the Table-Topics Master, and got many members and guests involved with questions about special days in the month of May.

Prepared speeches:

• Sonia Dean gave her first speech at this club, speech #2 from the Competent Communicator Manual. Her speech was titled "Glossophobia", and was evaluated by Michael O'Brien.

• Rob Schaff gave speech #5 from the Competent Communicator Manual, called "Fear of Jumping". His speech was evaluated by Kim Price.

• Kim Price gave a speech entitled "Gestures", demonstrating how gestures and body language are used during sales presentations. His speech was evaluated by the club in a round-robin format.

• Kay Jayapalan gave a speech about the DCP program and what it means to the success of the club. Her speech was evaluated by Rob Schaff.

The positive feedback from our guests shows that our club continues to make visitors feel comfortable and welcome at Middlesex. Our next meeting will be Thursday, June 14. Please sign up for a meeting role. See you there!

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB

Club Elections

Middlesex County Toastmasters held their club elections last night. The club officers for the 2012-2013 club year will be:

President: Jonathan Herron
VPE: Jennifer Cimilluca
VPM: Chris Sullivan
VPPR: Helena Grey
Secretary: Patricia Alston
Treasurer: Jay Broderick
Sargent at Arms: Daniel Moran

Congratulations to all of the incoming officers.

Meeting Notes - May 10, 2012

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, May 10, at Middlesex Community College, for a meeting featuring a special guest speaker. We had 25 attendees, including 19 members and 6 guests.

Members Present:

Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Jennifer Cimilluca, Sonia Dean, Ryan Dolan, Charnaie Gordon, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Monica Lozano, Daniel Moran, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, Kirti Sodani, Chris Sullivan, and Judy Thompson.

Special guest: Carmine Coco De Young

Meeting

Jacqueline Kirwan was our Toastmaster for the evening. Charnaie Gordon provided the invocation with a Mother's Day theme, and Kirti Sodani was the Humorist. John Keppler was the General Evaluator, and was supported by Chris Sullivan (Ah-counter), Charnaie (Grammarian), and Jonathan Herron (Timer). Sonia Dean provided the Word of the Day ("quixotic", exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical). Ramesh Padavala was the Table-Topics Master.

Prepared speeches:

• Judy Thompson gave speech #5 from the Competent Communicator Manual, Your Body Speaks, with a speech called, "Fore! Run For Your Life". Her speech was evaluated by Michael O'Brien.

• Carmine Coco De Young was our guest speaker. Her speech was entitled, "The Total Effect". Carmine's speech had an inspirational message about the power of words, and she augmented her speech with a Q&A session.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, May 24.

Respectfully submitted,

Rob