Simply Speaking Minutes

July 12, 2012

We had another great meeting with Lori Bibeau filling in as Sergeant-at-Arms calling the meeting to order & leading us in the pledge of allegiance. 

The Toastmaster was Peter Hazlet and the theme was “Summertime”. The word of the day, which was used frequently, was “vacation”.

Inspirator Anne Tacznosky asked us to close our eyes, imagine ourselves at a very young age, hugging someone tightly. When she told us to open our eyes she asked “What can be more inspiring than to be loved”. Great job, Anne!

Our first speaker, Alan Swartz told us about herbicide resistant weeds and how to counteract them. Weeds, just like bugs and bacteria, can become resistant to herbicides over time and the best way to counteract them is to use different types of herbicides and to make better choices in weed control.

Second speaker Kathy Fortune presented us with the type of sermon she would deliver if she was a minister. Her purpose was to adapt a play for interpretive reading, a job she did quite well by posing as a young Jesus being questioned at the temple. She also informed us that Bathsheba was named that because she liked to take baths.

Table Topics was presented by Connie Akins. Asked to cover at the last minute, she posed some great questions to our Table Topics participants. Participants were Diane Nuss, Lori Bibeau, and our two guests: Leo Chen and Cliff Long.

General Evaluator Sherry Thomas noted that the meeting started on time and Toastmaster Pete kept things moving smoothly. She also had some great suggestions such as late comers waiting until the speaker is done speaking before entering and placing baskets on the tables for collecting the ballots.

First evaluator Deborah Frauenfelder (filled in for Deneen Stone, who was at home taking care of a sick child) noted how Alan made something as technical as herbicides interesting. He broke it all up in to modes and used handouts to help us follow along. She did suggest that he could start it out with a story to make it more interesting, but he was very effective in his presentation. 

Second Evaluator Felicia Arambula was impressed with Kathy’s costume and she spoke with a lot of emotion. She suggested a little more variation between the characters by concentrating on voice variations, but it was a very effective and humorous speech.

Ah counter Dale Jenkel kept track of the “ahs & ums” while Grammarian Connie Akins kept track of our grammar. Tom Marrs was our quizmaster, checking our listening skills.

Best Table Topics: Leo Chen
Best Evaluator: Deborah Frauenfelder
Best Speaker: Kathy Fortune

Members present included Connie Akins, Alan Swartz, Lori Bibeau, Deborah Frauenfelder, Pete Hazlet, Sherry Londo-Thomas, Dale Jenkel, Anne Tacznosky, Kreg Lyles, Diane Nuss, Tom Marrs, Felicia Arambula, and Kathy Fortune.

Guests included Leo Chen and Cliff Long.