Middlesex County Toastmasters Strike a Fun Filled Afternoon

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

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

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

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

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

Meeting Notes - January 13, 2011

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