Tribute to Don Emon

Toastmaster Melinda Lowrance chose the befitting theme of a tribute to Don Emon, a beloved member who'd passed away on April 25th.  She introduced Don to newer members with an acronym and the word "exuberant," a word many members used to echo their memory of him.

President Susann Swan had faith the meeting would take on a decidedly international flavor, as she announced the hope that a prepared speaker from India would join us (Raj popped in at 8:03) and maybe a visitor from Jamaica (not until 9:08 came Jallee).  As joke master Susann spoke of that foreign entity we've become so familiar with, Zoom, and how a club in Texas was conducting meetings in a non-intentionally humorous way.

Speaker Sally spoke on "Good Deeds."  Instead of an after-dinner speech, she offered that her speech would be after-breakfast.  She shared four stories of good deeds, expanding on the last one  that involved "Love Packages," the spiritual literature she collects to distribute overseas.  She concluded with the challenge to do good deeds, acts of kindness, in this time of COVID-19.  Karen Alexander was her evaluator.

Raj (Prithiviraj Saminathan), the Toastmaster president of the vTALK club in Bangalore, India, spoke on "Thumbs up, Seven Up, Never Give Up."  He told two stories of his friend Kevin.  One was as an encourager for Raj's romantic missives to a disinterested young lady, and the other was as a hospital patient fighting for his life.  Kevin miraculously recovered from being paralyzed, in part because his friends would not give up in being attentive to him and encouraging him.  Judy Groff was Raj's evaluator. Raj had said our club was the 20th he'd given this speech to, including 15 in India, two in Sri Lanka, and two others in the U.S.  He said he was open to making revisions and anxious to get feedback.  He thanked Judy for her astute observations that he'd not heard before.

Susann as Table Topics Master raised a glass of wine and made a toast to Don Emon, a toast she addressed to his wife in the Zoom audience, Diane.  She then opened the floor to other Toastmasters that had known him and they came in a steady stream: 1) Judy appreciated his poems, hugs, and the chance to get rejuvenated in his presence; 2) Ron enjoyed his jokes, including one of using a jumper cable as a required tie in a restaurant; 3) Betty had been gladdened by his enthusiasm and his sharing the smiles of him and his wife; 4) Hoyt had been encouraged to try Toastmasters through his friendship and his start-up of the Hemlock Society; 5) Sally admired his whole-hearted participation; 6) Karen remarked on his positive nature and grasp of nuclear energy; 7) Jeanne was impressed at his tenacity, his never giving up.

The Eyes and Ears Team gave its report: Jeanne as Word Master with Tenacious; Blanca Sanchez as Grammarian; Ray Daley as Ah Counter; Don Glovan as Timer.  Stan Coss was the GE and TTE.

Members attending were the following:  Karen Alexander, Ron Climer, Stan Coss,  Ray Daley, Brad Dienst,  Don Glovan,  Hoyt Griffith, Don Groff, Judy Groff, Sally Jones,  Melinda Lowrance, Betty McCallister, Danielle Messer, Jeanne Resen, Blanca Sanchez, and Susann Swan.

  

As had been brought up, the poem was one sharing of Don's that stood out.  The formula really works (as Caleb, my 15-year old son, can attest).

A business meeting was then held by President Susann.  A slate of officers was announced tentatively, and will be confirmed at the next meeting.  A secretary to do the Pathways tracking was the main gap to fill.  Karen, the President-Elect, volunteered to take on the role of recording minutes in order to learn more about blogging.  Melinda offered that she'd ask at the next board meeting of the Interfaith Assistance Ministry if FSTM could begin meetings at that great facility in July. (It had been the site of two successful speech contests over a year ago.)