April 15 meeting

President Glenn Lewis opened the meeting at 1:04 p.m., and introduced the invocation leader, Susan EngPoole. She read the Lord’s Prayer, as translated from Aramaic.

Glenn led the Pledge of Allegiance and welcomed members to the meeting. He announced that there would be an officers’ meeting April 21, from 1–2 p.m. in room 1050 at the Presbyterian Center. He said the officers would be discussing the appointment of a nominating committee to prepare a new slate of officers for the next club year. New officers need to be in place by June 30. Glenn encouraged all members to consider serving as officers.

Glenn then opened the business part of the meeting. Susan EngPoole made a motion to approve the minutes for the April 1, 2009 meeting as written. The motion was approved.

Eva said Treasurer Ada Middleton had asked her to tell club members to disregard any e-mail they may have received from the national offices about dues not being paid. Ada checked on this and was told the e-mail was sent out by mistake.

Perry reminded members about the Toastmasters International District 11 spring conference in Indianapolis, April 17–18, and encouraged anyone interested to attend.

Susan EngPoole invited members to attend programs by speaker Byron Katie April 22 and 23. She distributed a CD and booklet by Katie to everyone.

Glenn introduced Toastmaster Eva Stimson, who invited members of the Evaluation Team to explain their responsibilities: Speech Evaluator—Betsy Blocker; Table Topics—Joelle Anderson; Timer—Eric Darnell; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Patricia Longfellow; Vote Counter—Kim Kaberle. ers of the Evaluation Team to explain their responsibilities: Speech Evaluator—Betsy Blocker; Table Topics—Joelle Anderson; Timer—Eric Darnell; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Patricia Longfellow; Vote Counter—Kim Kaberle.

Patricia Longfellow introduced the word of the day, trepidation (noun). Etymology: Latin trepidation, trepidatio, from trepidare to tremble, from trepidus agitated, probably akin to Old English thrafian to urge, push, Greek trapein to press grapes. Date: 1605. Meaning: A fearful state; a state of hesitation or concern. Example: Timorous, uncertain agitation—trepidation about starting a new job.

Eva introduced Becki Moody, who gave her Project #4 “How to Say It” speech from the Competent Communication Program Manual. The topic of her speech was “When Love Goes Wrong” (domestic violence

Eva introduced Joelle Anderson to lead Table Topics. She invited six people to speak on topics related to the Kentucky Derby.

Eva then called for reports from the evaluation team. Speech Evaluator Betsy Blocker said Becki’s topic was very appropriate and her speech was informative. She used simple, clear words and made good use of examples. She said Becki seemed a lot more comfortable speaking then when she gave her first speech.

Timer Eric Darnell reported the following times:
Becki Moody’s speech 9:15

Table Topics:
Gary Warren 1:14
Perry Chang 1:34
Kim Kaberle 1:03
Susan EngPoole 1:46
Glenn Lewis 1:33
Patricia Longfellow 1:31

Speech evaluation 1:17

Ah Counter/Grammarian Patricia Longfellow reported that the word of the day was used 5 times. She also counted 16 space fillers and 3 sentence shifts.

Vote counter Kim Kaberle reported that Patricia Longfellow received the most votes for best Table Topics speech. Joelle presented her with a prize and trophy to keep until the next meeting.
Following closing remarks, Eva Stimson turned the meeting over to President Glenn Lewis. He announced that the next Peace Speakers Toastmasters meeting is at 1 p.m. May 6 in Conference Room B. He adjourned the meeting at 1:49 p.m.

-- Eva Stimson

Best wishes

Best wishes to Susan Engpoole, for her upcoming three-month (June 1-August 31) out-of-town sabbatical, and to Becki Moody, with her upcoming medical procedure (May 18) and six- to eight-week medical leave following that.

-- Perry

May 20

The May 20 meeting has been cancelled because most Prebyterian Center employees will be on furlough that week and the Presbyterian Center will be operating with limited staff. Peace Speakers will meet next on Wednesday, May 6, and Wednesday, June 3 - both at 1 p.m. in Conference Room B, at the Presbyterian Center, at 100 Witherspoon Street, in downtown Louisville, a couple of blocks from the waterfront. Normally, the club meets from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, at the Presbyterian Center.

Welcome, Gary!

New member Gary Warren has the distinction of bleeding both red and blue. He’s got master’s degrees from both the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. Gary is a long-time local librarian and runner and lives in the South End. Welcome to Peace Speakers!

-- Perry

Suggestions

Toastmasters International encourages clubs to have someone always standing at the lectern during club meetings (except if a prepared speaker or the Table Topics master stands in front of the lectern or wanders around the room a little or perhaps if a Table Topics Master finishes up Table Topics and then we’re giving people time to vote). People done with what they have to do at the lectern should wait for the next person to come up. Except sometimes with the invocation, we should clap during lectern exchanges and the people exchanging the lectern should shake hands with each other.

When serving on the evaluation team, we’ve also traditionally stood when we’re explaining our responsibilities and when we’re presenting our reports. Timers have also turned on the green light, then turned it off and turned on the yellow light, and then turned it off and turned on the red light. In my opinion, there should not be multiple lights on at once.

-- Perry

April 1 meeting

President Glenn Lewis opened the meeting at 1:05 p.m., and introduced the invocation leader, Joelle Anderson. She offered a prayer by the Trappist monk Charles de Foucauld, called the “Prayer of Abandonment.”

Glenn welcomed members and guests, and invited first-time visitor Damon Ford to introduce himself. Glenn then led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Glenn then opened the business part of the meeting. The minutes for the March 18, 2009 meeting were approved as written. Glenn announced that Joelle Anderson and Deborah Hoff had officially joined Toastmasters since the last meeting.

Treasurer Ada Middleton congratulated everyone for paying their membership dues on time. She was able to send a check to Toastmasters International before the April 1 deadline. She said Patricia Longfellow, whose membership has lapsed, hopes to return to meetings and pay her dues soon.

Glenn called attention to a handout about the Toastmasters International District 11 spring conference in Indianapolis, April 17–18. He encouraged members to visit the Peace Speakers blog (http://peacespeakers.blogspot.com/) and leave comments.

Glenn, who was also serving as Toastmaster for the day, invited members of the Evaluation Team to explain their responsibilities: Speech Evaluator—Eva Stimson; Timer— Ada Middleton; Ah Counter/Grammarian—Susan EngPoole; Vote Counter— Deborah Hoff.

Susan EngPoole introduced the word of the day, genre (noun: jon-rah): (1) a category of artistic, musical, or literary compostition characterized by a particular style, form, or content (2) kind, sort (3) painting that depicts scenes or events from everyday life, usually realistically. Example: Music can be divided into genres in many different ways.

Glenn introduced Eric Darnell, who gave his Project #3 “Get to the Point” speech from the Competent Communication Program Manual. The topic of his speech was “Morel Mushrooms: Elusive Prey.”

Glenn then introduced Becki Moody to lead Table Topics. She invited four people to speak on topics related to April Fools day. Each topic was a famous quote containing the word “fool.”

Glenn then called for reports from the evaluation team. Speech Evaluator Eva Stimson gave Eric Darnell high marks for presentation, for moving out from behind the podium and speaking without notes, and for using visual aids, gestures and body language effectively to help make his points. She liked his humor and conversational style. She thought his conclusion was a little abrupt, and the speech would have been improved by stating the “specific purpose” more clearly at the beginning.

Timer Ada Middleton reported the following times:
Eric Darnell’s speech 8:31

Table Topics:
Eva Stimson 1:53
Susan EngPoole 1:26
Kim Kaberle 5:57
Deborah Hoff 1:49

Speech evaluation 2:31

Ah Counter/Grammarian Susan EngPoole reported that the word of the day was used two times. Susan also counted 21 space fillers.

Vote Counter Deborah Hoff reported that her own Table Topics speech received the most votes. Becki presented her with a prize and trophy to keep until the next meeting.

In his closing remarks Toastmaster and President Glenn Lewis pointed out the flying penguins photo on the day’s program, explaining that this was an April Fool’s joke. He announced that the Peace Speakers Toastmasters officers would meet Tuesday, April 21, from 1–2 p.m. at the Presbyterian Center. The next Peace Speakers Toastmasters meeting is at 1 p.m. April 15 in Conference Room B.

-- Eva

Prayers for Ada

Those of you who pray might pray for healing for our club treasurer, Ada Middleton, who was involved in a serious car accident this past Wednesday afternoon (during Holy Week). The driver of a minivan apparently fell asleep, and his minivan hit Ada’s car, ultimately sending three people to the hospital. Ada was diagnosed with a concussion and an ankle injury and given a splint for her ankle and pain medication. Her car was totaled. Ada nevertheless returned to work today.

Also working with health care providers this week is Becki Moody, our vice president for membership. Becki continues to explore possible responses to her own health problems.