FS Toastmasters

Our very first club contest away from "home" was at a great facility called Interfaith Assistance Ministry or IAM at   310 Freeman St, Hendersonville, NC 28792.  Freeman St. is what Thompson St. (from Lake Pointe) becomes when you go past Taco Bell and through the Four Season Blvd.   It is on the left side as you go down the hill past Mattress World and KFC.  Plan to attend there on a Saturday morning in late February or early March when we hold the Inspiration Speech Contest. Sixteen were in attendance and heard a very entertaining set of speeches.  First place winner in humor was Nathan Garnett; Second Place went to Karen Alexander; Third Place went to Hoyt Griffith.  First place winner in table topics was Don Groff; Second Place went to Judy Groff; Third Place went to Karen Alexander.  Melinda Lowrance ran the show as Contest Master.

This week, we're debuting a new component of our blog called Member Spotlight. Certain weeks throughout the year, we're going to be featuring a member of our club and learning about why they joined Toastmasters and what they've gotten and hope to get out of the organization. Our Member Spotlight this week is Susann Swan. Susann joined Toastmasters briefly in the Mid 90's because at that time she was interested in becoming a Franklin Quest Trainer and thought Toastmasters could help with that pursuit. 20 years later, after retiring and moving to Hendersonville, she found her way back to the organization. One of Susann's interests in retirement is Nameology, which is the science of what our names can teach us about ourselves. She hopes Toastmasters will help her with her presentation skills as she plans to give presentations on this topic for civic groups and organizations around town. We're glad you found your way to Four Seasons Toastmasters...

Our meeting today, despite it's theme of Habits and Routines, was anything but habitual and routine. We debuted a new Toastmaster of the Day and heard about cute, furry animals doing hard drugs.  Amy led our meeting for the first time, sprinkling facts, anecdotes, and inspiration about habits throughout the meeting.  Don 2 shared a joke about a rabbit, a giraffe, heroin, and cocaine. There's nothing like a great premise to hook an audience. Judy was our first speaker and gave her Ice Breaker speech for Pathways. She focused on why she got into Toastmasters, what she's gotten out of Toastmasters over the last 5 years, and shared that there are still things she'd like to gain such as improving her storytelling and humor skills. It goes to show there are always areas to improve. Don 1 was our second speaker, and he gave his revised version of his Summer Jobs speech as part of his Evaluation and Feedback Project. Don focused on 3 jobs in particular: being a...

Michael took his first stab at leading our meeting this morning and did a great job. He excelled at using his theme - Summer Equinox - throughout the meeting and even ended the meeting with a short fact about the Sun's effect on leaves. The word of the day was "Celestial."  Michael debuts as Toastmaster of the Day. Melissa's joke about 2 trouble-making boys in church got a big laugh before we heard from our two speakers. Karen challenged us to identify those taking us in the wrong direction. Karen gave an inspirational speech titled "Directionally Challenged" which she will be giving again this weekend. Using two personal examples, she inspired us to stay close to the people who are helping us move in the right direction in life and keep our distance from those who aren't. She was later evaluated by Judy who's glows included organization, flow, and delivery and her one grow was to work on clarity at the beginning.  ...

It was a great meeting that can only be described as agog. Everyone was agog to be there and agog to participate in their respective roles.   Margaret really hit it out of the park today with her Word of the Day: Agog, meaning excited. Just about every single person used it at least once during the meeting.  Don One did an excellent job leading our meeting. The theme he chose was Transitions which was echoed later by our Table Topics Master, Betty.   Before our two speeches, Nathan shared with us a humorous tale about a tourist, the Empire State Building, and an alcoholic version of Superman.  Stanley is on double duty expertly counting Ah's and timing speeches Our first speech was given by Hoyt who spoke about the company Great Courses which allows you to take college courses in a convenient and inexpensive way. He specifically highlighted a course on public speaking which he thought would be of interest to us Toastmasters, and he highligh...

Brad led an excellent meeting this morning and chose the theme of Memorializing: Remembering Those Who've Touched Our Lives. Nathan tied into that theme by choosing the word "Quintessential" as the Word of the Day, describing his grandfather as the perfect or typical, quintessential grandfather. Margaret brought a dose of humor to the group with a joke about maple syrup, putting authentic Maple that she sells in samples instead of "putting awful on your waffle."  Karen gave her Ice Breaker speech, although this wasn't exactly her first speech. She has been a part of Toastmasters for 25 years, serving as a District Governor and earning the top designation as Distinguished Toastmaster. Her speech focused on the pursuit of happiness and sharing the best of yourself. Nathan gave our second speech titled "Show Me the Money" and used that opportunity to practice a speech about his long-term care insurance business that he will be givin...

Hoyt served as Toastmaster on the theme of "State Fairs."  He fared well in recruiting two members to very capably fill in at the last minute: Don Emon with a speech on squatter rights and Don Groff with being joke master.  "Concessions" was John Glover's word of the day. Don E. conceded that you need to keep watch of any property that you have.  A squatter may encroach within a 10-year period and take hold if not discovered.  Jeanne Resen planted herself firmly with a mostly glowing evaluation. Ron Climer gave his storytelling with a moral project.  He said from age 13-15 as a Floridian he helped load up watermelons in the field at the end of each row.  His task was to heave up the watermelon about seven feet for the foreman to catch and stack.  Unfortunately, his summer's work was made more difficult as the double axle tractor became in vogue.  It could pull a flatbed with a heavier load, which meant his seven foot heave became only fi...