A Celebration of Sleep and Dreams

Nathan led our meeting as Toastmaster of the Day. He chose the theme "Sleep: The Lost Third of your Life" and sprinkled in some interesting facts, weird phenomena, and helpful advice throughout the meeting to encourage us to appreciate and respect our nightly slumber.

The theme of sleep was also incorporated by our Word Master, Stanley, who chose the word "siesta." This was also reinforced by our Table Topics Master, Don Glovan, who had all the table topic participants speak "progressively," coming to the front simultaneously and talking about a continuous dream, picking up from where the last person left off.  

We had two speakers. Speaker 1 was Hoyt Griffith who's project was called Speaking to Inform. He tackled a very difficult subject: Universal Basic Income. He focused on both the economic and emotional benefits of having a UBI and helped us visualize a near future where a UBI could redefine work, leisure time, and humanitarian progress.

Speaker 2 was Ron Climer. Ron filled in as speaker this week on short notice, and his speech was on the importance of Toastmasters in his life.  He gave a number of tips on how to get the most out of the Toastmaster experience.  He specifically encouraged us to volunteer often and on short notice to get the most out of our Toastmasters experience - both for our personal and professional lives.

Our speech evaluators were Don Emon and Judy Groff. Our Eyes and Ears team included  Stan Coss, grammarian; Don Groff, timer; Amy Sahf/Betty McCallister, ah-counter. Our Joke Master was Melinda Lowrance.

Our General Meeting and Table Topic Evaluator was Jeanne Resen. Thanks to our guest, Diane Emon, for coming back to see us. We concluded our meeting with 5 minutes for chit chat followed by our monthly officer meeting (see at very bottom).

Members present: Don 1, Don 2, Don E, Michael, Margaret, Brad, John, Karla, Judy, Nathan, Betty, Amy, Hoyt, Sally, Ron, Melinda, Stan, Stanley, Jeanne, Michael, Karen

Melinda commanded attention as Sergeant at Arms in her brightly colored clothing, and Nathan led the meeting in his eye shades.

The purpose of this stand up officer meeting, first of the 2018-2019 year, is to share take aways from the TLI training in July or tell about a goal you have for the year. Each officer had one minute which Judy put on a timer.

Sally, VP Education, said her take away from TLI is what she is doing as of last week. That is filling in the role slots on the schedule then allowing members to change if they have a problem. A member who changes has to find his replacement. Sally also reported that all new members have assigned mentors.

Jeanne, VP Membership, said her goal is to double membership. Specifically, she hopes to engage members to recruit a member so that 20 becomes 40 over time.

Karla, VP Public Relations, said she intends to approach both the Rotary  and Kiwanis clubs in Hendersonville and get on their program schedule with one of our Toastmaster speakers. Ron Climer did a great speech for such an opportunity.

Nathan, Secretary, said he intends to continue posting club meeting reports on the blog and will be adding who is present at each meeting. He also is going to promote posting the TM blog on personal Facebook sites.

Melinda, Sergeant at Arms, is going to include a humorous activity or quote at the start of each meeting to get members focused. She also is going to develop a flyer and make it available to post on bulletin boards and distribute.

Stan, Treasurer, has developed a budget and made us aware that our account balance is currently $401.74, with future expenses of rent and the Chamber at up to $400 and income from dues at, hopefully, over $300 in September.  Expenses will need further discussion.

Brad, member in the wings reported that a suggestion of a possible venue to use for a special occasion or a meeting that he and Jackie Branscum discussed is a meeting room at the Appalachian Coffee Company on Fifth Avenue. Their charge is $25.00 per hour.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 am