Sept 23, 2003
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Designated Toastmaster Gets Caught Up in Travel Theme
Our last meeting was spearheaded by intrepid Toastmaster
Rose Lane, DTM, who stepped in at the last minute to cover for Arnold Arch, who is
always reliable and yet,
didn't show up. Extremely concerned about his sudden
evaporation, we learned a few days later that he had boarded a plane to Florida
to handle a family crisis. Our heartfelt condolences to Arnold, in the loss of his father.
Maisie Lee led the Topic segment on Travel with a thoughtful series of user-friendly questions that evoked thought-provoking quotes among the folks who spoke. We really liked Maisie's style, which didn't have too many curve balls. David DeFore took home top Topics honors with a recounting of world travels in Italy, Greece, Africa, and Ira -- well, suffice it to say he's circumnavigated the Earth several times, the lucky devil.
And Diana Shulman, CTM, proved that she is the most intellectual of joke masters when she pondered some of the capricious habits of human nature with jokes that were never meant to be "funny". But they delighted our audience nonetheless.
Our superb line-up of speeches included
John Graves'
"Help me With My Math Problem", which took a searingly prejudicial
look at numbers vs. letters, from the California Lottery to the ever-increasing speed
of your computer. Bob Steward, among our best-appreciated newer
members, wowed us with his persuasive 
fundraising skills
and seemed to believe we were all neurologists, but no matter, it was a
beautifully delivered speech.
And Marsha Hunt, CTM, took the lectern and then abandoned it to share what happened when Shaq showed up unexpectedly to save the day for her sports news team. Marsha's speech was among the most spontaneous and off-the-cuff speeches we've seen in a long time. She seemed to be winging it, but landed squarely on both feet with the best speaker ribbon. All it took was a prayer and a few hoops to rescue a news budget.
Brian Archibald triumphed in the evaluation segment with his review of Marsha's speech. Do it again, Brian!
By the way . . . an important message for our sponsor (you)
Annual dues in the modest amount of $36 are now due to Toastmasters International. Please flex our club's muscles and help us meet our obligations. Thanks!
Full
House
OH, and on Saturday, September 21, the white elephant boldly went where no auction has gone before, namely, trammeling into Joe Weisenfeld's accommodating backyard with pool. Even the house was up for sale!
Congratulations Helen Wax and Rose Lane for your superb behind-the-scenes work -- it couldn't have happened without you! And thanks to our members for an inspiring fundraising effort, great food, and good times!
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Toastmasters,
As I am writing this, I’ve got red sauce on the stove, Italian sausages baking and bread cooking. I’m
getting ready for our party today. This is always an exciting day.
I’m sure we will all be talking about it at our next meeting. This meeting
on the 25th will be particularly fun. Our own personal wine connoisseur, David DeFore,
will be putting the "Toast" back into "Toastmaster" with 
a presentation on wines. The
meeting will end at 9:00 but the festivities will go on as David continues his presentation,
actually pouring the wines for tasting he was showing us during his speech. Boy,
aren’t we a cultured group! This meeting should be really fun. And in my personal life it can’t come a moment too soon.
You guys are all my friends, so I will share this with you. I actually need a personal wine connoisseur
right now because I just got the shock of my life. My daughter Lindsay and her boyfriend
Phil told me on Wednesday night that they are getting married. Suddenly, I find myself planning a wedding. It felt like
that scene in “Father of the Bride” when Steve Martin’s daughter told him she
was getting married. The camera flashed on a little five-year-old girl talking. That is what I felt like. So, David, I will be paying very close attention
to every word you say.
As you can all see from our Calendar for the next meeting, We need to fill in a few slots also. So tell Joe or me or Our Toastmaster for the evening, Bob
Steward, what slot you would like to fill. If you would like to give a speech, there is still more room for speakers.
Also, our Halloween meeting is only two meetings away. I would like to nominate Larry Blackford
as our "Ghostmaster". Also, let's make this an official "Guest" night. It should be a very fun meeting, so
let's start planning on bringing a guest, and ALL plan to be there.
That brings me to another point. We all need to get on track to get our CTM'S and ATM’S and DTM’s. So let’s all start thinking about how many
speeches we can get in before the end of 2003 and also by June 30, 2004. We are
ABSOLUTELY the BEST club in the Toastmasters organization. We KNOW it and lets SHOW it.
I will see you at the Party at Joe's today. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Have fun, Marsha
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