Historical Events in May

      Toastmaster Alicia Hughes had us “flip our slides” for an interesting journey down memory May lane.  Members had individual mini-print-outs and Alicia had us look at a set of photos as she provided introductions and transitions.  These past May events included the Hindenburg airship disaster of May 6, 1937; the Supreme Court ruling unanimously that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional on May 17, 1954; the founding of the American Red Cross  by Clara Barton on May 21, 1881.

      The eyes and ears team was composed of the following:  Stan Coss, ah-counter; Alicia Hughes; grammarian as well as being “agog” as word master; Tony Kombol, timer.

        John Bowen’s speech was titled “I Hate this Speech.”  His entrance was a pugnacious one that included foot stomping, hand banging, and a kicked chair: just the sort of response a school system gets in requiring teachers to write down multiple student accommodations the minute they are given.  Brand new science teacher John Bowen was on the verge of quitting.  Enter Nancy Coe, John’s mentor in high school.  She calmed him down with a checklist and a mantra:  keep the power.  They, the school administrators, have the power, but it’s your choice if you become miserable.  John then applied this to Toastmasters International that has the power to impose its Pathways structure and sequence, but individual Toastmasters still have the choice on pursuing what brought them to a love of speaking in the first place.  Keep the power!

      This was John’s last project of level two, an Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring, the Pathway of Presentation Mastery.

     Kathleen Klawitter’s speech was titled “Direct Hit.”  It dealt with the resiliency of the brain when recovering from trauma. Kathleen recounted being on a golf course about 20 years ago when she was struck on the head by a golf ball from the 9th tee.  It left her crumpled in a heap, her entire life, as she knew it, shattered.

       Kathleen is in the process of writing a book on her experience, and we were treated to parts of two chapters.  Her first ten years after the accident involved an initial two years of rest and then about eight years of intense therapy.  She talked of the neurological training and reprogramming and then getting on the “brain train.”  She conducted some exercises with “BM’s”: breathing, movement, and sound.  These practices help overcome stress and get the blood circulating.

       After nearly 20 years, she finds she is still recalibrating.  You “mourn it and move on,” she said.  Her speech ran 25 minutes when the audience questions were tallied in.  It was from an advanced manual like “Professional Speaking,” and addressed the keynote speech.

       Katherine Alford as Table Topic Master gave two drawings for a card of a song title and musical group.  Each respondent was to combine the two or choose one.  “Love Will Keep Us Together?”  (Stan stands corrected: the Captain and Tennille did stay together for a long time, 39 years, though Tennille in her autobiography does says it wasn’t for love. . . .);  Tim dealt with Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” and said we respect others more when we learn what they’ve been through.  John took Aerosmith’s “Dream On” and applied it to youthful thinking that the world was going to be a better place.  Tony tossed both his cards and expounded on a performance of a song he’d seen in person using drums:  “In the Garden of Life.”  Phyllis says that she was “Born to be Wild” as a Toastmaster.  Alicia said “Don’t Stop Believing” because believing is what it’s all about.

Here's one of the truly greatest May events in recorded history:  chartering of ATA!

The General Evaluation was given in the form of grows suggested by members.  One was that it could be best to combine the smaller roles in this club, like the ah-counter, with a role like grammarian, rather than have the Toastmaster take it on.

The slate of officers was voted on by the quorum of eight members to elect the following:  President, Tres Magner; VPE, John Bowen; VPM, Phyllis Kombol; VPPR, Katherine Alford; Secretary, Glenda Teams-Edwards (with Rei as back-up); Treasurer, Rei Fuller; Sergeant at Arms, Alicia Hughes.

In attendance were the following: Stan Coss,  Alicia Hughes, John Bowen, Tony Kombol, Phyllis Kombol, Kathleen Klawitter, Katherine Anne Alford, and Tim Edwards.

The link for our club’s website is the following:   https://6988955.toastmastersclubs.org/

The next meeting will be on June 15th.  It is to be a “backwards meeting,” according to the Toastmaster of the event, Tim Edwards, but that is getting ahead of ourselves.

Minutes submitted by Secretary Stan Coss