February 18 meeting

President Glenn Lewis opened the meeting at 1:03 p.m., and introduced the invocation leader, Susan EngPoole. She read a selection on “harmony” from the Daily Word. Glenn led the Pledge of Allegiance. He welcomed guests (including Gary Warren - pictured below) and invited them to introduce themselves.

Glenn then opened the business part of the meeting. Betsy Blocker made a motion that the minutes for the February 4, 2009 meeting be approved as written. The motion was seconded and approved.

Glenn announced that there would be a meeting of Peace Speakers officers Tuesday, February 24, from 1–2 p.m. Betsy Blocker said she would reserve a conference room.

Treasurer Ada Middleton announced that membership dues are due to Toastmasters International by the end of March. She said she would send out invoices by the end of the week and would like to receive payments ($30) from everyone by March 4.

Perry said the PC(USA) Human Resources department had asked for a list of the people attending Toastmasters meeting. He suggested that the officers discuss this request.

Glenn introduced Toastmaster Eric Darnell (pictured below), who invited members of the Evaluation Team to explain their responsibilities: Table Topics—Betsy Blocker; Speech Evaluator—Perry Chang; Timer—Becki Moody; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Eva Stimson; Vote Counter—Glenn Lewis

Eva Stimson introduced the word of the day: indulge
1. to give free rein to
2. to take unrestrained pleasure in; gratify
3. to yield to the desire of; humorto treat with excessive leniency, generosity or consideration

Eric introduced speaker Ada Middleton (pictured below), who gave her “Project #3: Get to the Point” speech from the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership program. Her topic was “Yoga Has Shaped My World.”

Betsy Blocker then led Table Topics, inviting four people (including Susan Engpoole - pictured below) to speak on topics related to the theme of Yoga and other ways to relieve stress.

Betsy asked those present to vote for the best speech on the slips of paper provided.

Eric called for reports from the evaluation team. Speech evaluator Perry Chang said Ada Middleton’s speech was very good, and praised her for speaking in a conversational tone and not relying too much on notes. Commenting on the structure of the speech, he said it might have been better if Ada had left out the list of benefits at the beginning, and focused on personal experiences.

Timer Becki Moody reported the following times:
Ada Middleton’s speech 7:38
Perry Chang’s evaluation 2:13
Table Topics:
Susan EngPoole 55 seconds
Glenn Lewis 59 seconds
Deborah Hoff 1:06
Joelle Anderson 49 seconds

Ah Counter/Grammarian Eva Stimson reported that she counted 16 space fillers, 2 unfinished sentences, and no major grammatical errors. Ada Middleton did not use any space fillers in her speech. The word of the day was used 3 times (plus 2 more times following this report).
Vote Counter Glenn Lewis announced the Table Topics winner: Deborah Hoff (pictured below).

Betsy gave Deborah a prize and the trophy to keep until the next meeting.

In his closing remarks, Toastmaster Eric Darnell talked about changes, including the upcoming change of seasons from winter to spring. He turned the meeting back over to President Glenn Lewis, who closed with a story and a reminder that people are watching what you do, particularly young people.

Glenn announced that the next Peace Speakers Toastmasters meeting would be at 1 p.m. March 4 in Conference Room B. Glenn adjourned the meeting at 1:40 p.m.

-- Eva Stimson