FS Toastmasters

Brand new Toastmaster, MaryBeth Dallman, shows her love for a Table Topic.   Toastmaster of the Week, Sally Jones;  Theme, Planting; Wordmaster, Hoyt Griffith; Word of the day (Ballyhoo); Grammarian, Don Groff; Ah Counter,  Carole Kitchen; Timer,  Randy Dunn; Joke Master,  Stan Coss; Speaker#1, Susann Swan; Speaker #2,  Betty McCallister;Table Topics Master,  Melinda Lowrance; Speaker # 1 Evaluator, Ron Climer; Speaker #2 Evaluator,  Jeanne Resen; TT Evaluator,  Judy Groff; General Evaluator,  Don Emon. Stan gave the joke of the day about a surgery in another hospital besides Pardee. All of the toastmasters had a role in reading the punch lines. Susann spoke about “5G: What It Can Do for Us and to Us?” She discussed the concept of 5G, what it can do, how it will be deployed, and potential health risks to us.  She urged Toastmasters to do their own research as well. Betty ‘s topic was  “13 Things th...

Toastmaster Judy Groff really practiced flexibility, last Friday's theme, in keeping the meeting fluid.  Here's a quick line-up: Wordmaster: Stan Coss (Word of the day: Frontier); Grammarian: Stan Coss Ah Counter: Sally Jones; Timer: Don Groff; Joke Master: Don Emon; Speaker#1: Jeanne Resen Speaker #2 Joseph Girmann; Table Topics Master: Don Groff; Speaker # Evaluator: Karen Alexander Speaker #2 Evaluator: Judy Groff; General and TT Evaluator: Don Emon. Judy invited Jeanne to induct Susann Swan as a member of FSTM, after the membership had voted to admit her formally as a member of the organization. This was followed by the election of officers for the new program year beginning July 1. The new officers are as follows: President: Susann Swan; VP Education: Karen Alexander; VP Membership: Caitlin Owens; VP Public Relations: Karla Reese; Secretary: Stan Coss; Sergeant at Arms: Melinda Lowrance, Don Emon stepped in to give the joke of the day about a young Cherokee...

Jeanne Resen, VP Membership, conducted the induction ceremony.  Jeanne was in the light; those not "in the light" in this and other pictures may seem a bit fuzzy.  But we can be flexible until the light bulbs are replaced (flex or flexible was the word of the day).  Michael Thompson, too, can be flexible, as he is a veteran member but was only now officially inducted.  Toastmaster Don #1 presided over the meeting with the theme of changes.  The Grammarian was Amy, Ah-Counter was Hoyt, and Timer was Karen. Don Emon presented a joke of changes, from one for the money to two for the show to three to get ready and for to go. Karla was the get ready part as table topics evaluator and GE.   But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Table topics featured seven members as there was just one prepared speaker, Stan Coss, with his "Love Potion" from the first project of the Humorously Speaking Manual. Sally Jones evaluated his speech....

Toastmaster  Karen Alexander dealt with the theme of challenges, encouraging members to empathize with the challenges that others were up against. Don Emon as joke master took on the challenge of positioning, placing his hand three times on the "scruples" sign to accentuate its meaning, the word of the day from Judy Groff. Other members of the Eyes and Ears team included G rammarian, Jeanne Resen; Ah Counter,  Don Groff (shadowed by Randy Dunn); Timer, Melinda Lowrance (shadowed by Vicki Balson). Toastmaster Karen Alexander related challenges to anniversaries of a number of incidents this week, such as the shootings at the high school in Columbine, CO, at the Boston Marathon, as well as the Oklahoma City bombing. She introduced Michael Thompson, who spoke about persistence.  He noted how a famous Winston Churchill quote served him throughout his life and how he was inspired to become a lawyer.  He ended by referencing an inspiring quote from ...

Toastmaster Stan Coss, based on Judy Groff's aim to educate new members, conducted the meeting by having role-takers sum up their roles, beginning with his as Toastmaster.  Word master Ron Climer followed with his word of the day (tutelage); grammarian, Amy Sahf; ah counter, Michael Thompson; timer, Sally Jones. Joke Master Hoyt Griffith gave advice about how to create jokes and sources for  inspiration and segued into a dog joke. Stan gave Jeanne's introduction that included her objectives for the icebreaker speech, titled “Who Am I?” She described her family statistics and showed the audience the three books that she has written. She also showed the audience one of her paintings. Stan introduced Susann Swan who explained the role of the table topics master.  Her responders were the following: Don Groff revealing his favorite teacher and coach; Amy Sahf, describing the music classes that she used to teach at Blue Ridge Community College and the sales class sh...

Despite construction delays in traffic for members along Highway 191and adjusting to a new location, the Four Seasons Toastmaster meeting began on time at 8 am at our new location in the video conference room at Pardee Hospital. Stan Coss convened the meeting for a few minutes before Toastmaster Judy Groff arrived. Judy spoke about today’s theme: Taxes. She described different types of taxes, such as: income, sales, luxury, excise, vehicle, and inheritance. She also mentioned celebrities with tax fraud problems naming Al Capone, Pete Rose, Willie Nelson, O.J. Simpson, and M.C. Hammer.  Joke Master Jeanne told a tax joke, in keeping with the theme, about a goldfish granting the finder a villa. Judy introduced Speaker #1, Ron Climer. Ron presented the speech, “Some Things I’ve Learned,” which he will be delivering in the District speech contest on April 6 in Asheville. Joseph gave his icebreaker speech, describing the phases of his life, his military experience, ...

It was the first meeting that resonated with its new location.  Toastmaster Karla Reese spoke on the theme of renewal, letting things go, exercise, breathing Audrey Hepburn, and people needing to be revived and restored more than things. The Grammarian and Word Master was Sally Jones.  The word of the day was: restoration Joke Master Michael gave a tale of a genie that was not restorative but retributive, based on the wishes of an ex-wife.  The Ah Counter was  Jeanne Resen and the Timer was Don Groff. 22 people attended this meeting; 18 members have now officially paid up for the April-September cycle. Judy welcomed the members and visitors.  Today was the last of a series of end-of-the month meetings held at the orientation room of Pardee Hospital.  Next week, on April 5, we will begin our official relocation to Pardee to hold our meetings at 8 am on Fridays at the adjacent video conference room. Don Emon and Mel...