Longevity and a Quality of Life that Matters

Toastmaster Brad Dienst gave interesting insights and interludes into longevity, and Word Master Susann Swan supported the theme with "venerable."  Joke Master Betty McCallister incited laughter with a teenage son whose father with the wisdom of Solomon withheld driving privileges:  if Jesus and others of his time had long hair, that did not mean the teen could forego cutting his hair and still get a car to drive.  Jesus and others also did not have motorized vehicles.

Speaker Stan Coss converted his back pocket speech before another club two weeks ago into a Pathways project that emphasized body movement.  His title was "These Black Lives, especially, Mattered."  He explained how three people gave lessons in a life that mattered.

      Truth be told, the slide used above, along with the mule, was much smaller than Stan recalls.  The mule at times had to pull a rubber-tired wagon loaded with green tobacco leaves, not just through the tobacco field rows but at greater distances to the barn.  Plus, the primers worked both sides of the tobacco rows to put in their long tobacco leaves, a row on each of the two sides of the slide.  The barn, though, is authentic, originally a fire-burning kiln used before aluminum bulk barns cured with propane.  Tobacco was the big money crop that allowed farmers and share-croppers to survive.  Other crops were only peanuts in comparison.  If you want to die healthy (as Jeanne coined the phrase), don't smoke or chew tobacco!  However, hanging, looping, or priming is healthy exercise.

      Waverly was the mule-driver that epitomized hard work.  His "Giddy-up, Mule" began the race to determine who would soonest take a break:  the primer crew or the looper and hanger crews.  His "Whoa, Mule" signaled that another slide had arrived and no hangers or loopers could take a break.
      Lightning is not pictured above.  That's his cousin Douglas Ragland that Stan also counted a friend.  Stan could not find Lightning in his yearbook, but he'll remember, always, his intervening with the bully and his offer to help in a job that certainly paid better than a Hardee's cashier (and probably better than a school teacher).  What mattered was a friendship that crossed over color lines.
      John Paul was the student and then comrade at Polk County High School that took on Driver's Ed as an extra assignment.  Respect, as in respecting the rules of the road, was John Paul's contribution.
       All these ideals made a life that mattered.  Don Groff was Stan's Evaluator.

      Jeanne Resen led with longevity prompts for the table topics.  Many responders gave substantial, high quality responses, like Melinda Lowrance with her Gigi at age 95 who was kind, wore pearls, and had a drink of tonic before bed time; Danielle Messer with her staying in the scriptures and doing crossword puzzles, Hoyt Griffith with his living a life free of stress at age 86; Dick Miley with his supposition that Americans had  lived longer lives than in many countries due to good health care and a stable government, at least in the past;  Ron Climer with his love of danger in visiting Portland and Seattle, in his dreams.

      Judy Groff called out numerous offenders with "and's, so's, ah's, and you know's" as ah-counter.  Sally Jones discovered effective language use as grammarian.  Danielle Messer gave the timer's report.  Carole Kitchen gave the GE and TTE.

      Three matters of business were brought up near the meeting's end:   1) About seven members present had interest in a t-shirt with a Toastmasters insignia or wording to help promote the club, with a dozen being the minimum; 2) Melinda said the Interfaith Assistance Ministry may have a verdict on our club's using that wonderful facility that she could report next Friday; 3) speakers were encouraged to email a PDF of their Pathways evaluation to help out their evaluator:  https://toastmasters.csod.com/catalog/CustomPage.aspx?id=20000486  (This gives the link to access all the different evaluations for all the Pathways.)