FS Toastmasters

From L to R, Wendy Whitaker, Nick Ronningen, and Josh Gravley read the new member pledge under the direction of Caitlin Owens, the VP of Membership. Carole Kitchen as Toastmaster led us on a rollicking good time.  She introduced and transitioned with information on fairs, which was the theme.  Word Master Mary Beth Dallman introduced the superb "rollicking" word, and Danielle Messer read us a joke as Joke Master. Shortly after his new member induction, Josh Gravley introduced himself in a memorable ice-breaker.  It was in the tradition of a stand-up comedian, with great humorous content and smooth delivery.  Betty McCallister was the evaluator. Don Emon gave a speech on his "Cancer History." It traced his continual misdiagnosis and some heroes that persisted in pinpointing the cause and treatment needed.  Don said the lesson was to "be your own hero."  Sally Jones was the evaluator. Table Topics Master Judy Groff reinforced the "f...

a Starring Jeanne Resen and Ron Climer, with a supporting cast including Melinda Apple, Mary B. Gardner, Hoyt Zone,  Karen Cake and Countess Danielle Messer.  Director Sally Jones, Executive Producer Susann Swan, Grammartographer Molly Garnett, and Timarian Don Groff. Sally Jones opened with the theme of fall and gave Carole Kitchen the role of  Joke Master and that of Word Master to Stan Coss.  It was a "delightful" meeting up until the end when Susann Swan had to play casting director for the next meeting.  Filling roles can be so much easier if members would simply go online and sign themselves up! Jeanne Resen's leading role was to speak in a persuasive and credible way about a topic.    She did use the "delightful" word of the day at the opening but then focused her content on a somewhat unsavory subject: food that may not be good for our bodies to process.  She had on  display nicely packaged snacks and cereals. (Insert disclai...

The Evaluation Contest was won by Molly Garnett, a relative newcomer.  Former Toastmaster Nathan Garnett would have been especially proud to see his mom speak so eloquently, and that after just five minutes of preparation time!     Veterans Judy Groff and Karla Reese also performed very ably, winning second and third place respectively.  Two other relative newcomers, Carole Kitchen and Caitlin Owens, also evaluated effectively in the short time frame allowed.  Unfortunately, one had to be disqualified in running just short of the time minimum of 90 seconds.     Karen Alexander acted as Contest Master, orchestrating all the various movements and directing all the supporting players into one smooth-flowing composition.     Chief judge was Susann Swan. Sergeant at Arms was Sally Jones. Timers were Don Glovan and Don Groff.  Ballot-counters were Melinda Lowrance and Stan Coss. The test speaker was Area Director Bryan Smith.  He d...

Two amazing ice-breakers were given by two young Toastmasters that would have inspired a global audience.  Sadly, just the Four Seasons audience was available at the time.  But what a time it was!  Toastmaster Stan Coss had chosen the theme of "evaluation," and both speeches were aglow with glows and had very few grows. Hoyt Griffith had us all "ponder" on using his word of the day.  Vicky Balson gave a very nicely paced, well-described joke that drew immediate laughs at the punchline. Ice-breaker Caitlin Owens spoke on "Networking- the Uncomfortable Key to Success."  She said the keys to making a connection and building community were to have confidence, intuition, and communication.  Evaluator Judy Groff gave numerous glows, saying Caitlin had "nailed it."  She did suggest Caitlin cut down on the movement or pacing. Danielle Messer, whose three images emblazon this site, broke ice about topics of her past, present, and ...

The title and feature photo, using Sally's theme, Susann's verb, and Don Groff's table topics, capture today's meeting.  Toastmaster Sally Jones took a phrase from a Toastmaster Magazine to say that "if you're not changing, then you're not growing.  Don Emon started the humor going with his joke using  jumper cables.   Judy Groff continued on with great energy as the sole prepared speaker on communication styles.  One anecdote dealt with her wanting to get things moving but stepping back to let scheduling unfold with Mary Beth's great offer of the classroom and the alternate conference room.  Stan Coss gave an evalution that included praise for her organization and a tip on transitioning.    Don Groff continued on Toastmaster Sally's tag team using the "change" theme.  His table topic prompts  enabled seven members and two guests to be put on the spot. Jim Jones, Sally's husband, is an occasional guest and super ho...

Table Topics Master Karla Reese delivered with ten prompts for members, from “the best summer vacation” to “what gives your life meaning?”  Toastmaster Judy Groff developed the theme of the “dog days of summer.” Sally Jones spoke from an advanced manual with captivating stories of travel.  These included flying across the Atlantic, catching a freighter to New York from Ireland, and a trip to Camp Lejeune.  Judy gave her a glowing evaluation and a grow about repetitive gestures. Melinda was joke master, Wendy Whitaker was grammarian, Don Groff was word master, Caitlin Owens was ah-counter, and Vicky Balson was timer.  Karen Alexander was the GE and TT evaluator. In attendance were the following members:  Judy and Don Groff, Don Emon, Karen Alexander, Wendy Whitaker, Vicky Balson, Danielle Messer, Karla Reese, Caitlin Owens, Carole Kitchen, Sally Jones, Melinda Lowrance, and Molly Garnett.  Guest: Josh Gravley.

If you were not present at today's meeting, you may have hurried here, but you will just have to wait to find out what this visual is all about.  Toastmaster Judy Groff conducted the meeting with just one speaker but plenty of time remaining for Karen Alexander's "Member Survey" of goals.  That left plenty of time, still, for table topics on the same theme with Carole Kitchen as Table Topics Master. You can never get enough Don's at Toastmasters.  One Don was absent, as were many other members on this day.   But that still left Don Groff to deliver a joke with much animation.  Don Emon wished to take on another table topic prompt as he has so much else he'd like to do. Stan Coss openly admitted to bombing on his last power point, so he was anxious to test out his remote on his laptop in the same setting.  Having a full 15 minutes of set up time before the meeting made a world of difference, and he advanced the slides flawles...