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
Monday, August 23, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
July 22 Meeting Notes
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
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
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Club Meeting July 8, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
June 24 Club Meeting
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
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
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
May 27 Meeting
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
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
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