Thursday, December 17, 2009

Hello Toastmasters Family,

The last club meeting for 2009.  A good time was had by all!  We started early to accommodate a holiday party after the official meeting.

Our friend Dave Pollard took a few minutes to address the club as this was his last opportunity to attend an OPS Club meeting.  Dave's job is transferring him to Georgia.  He hopes to find a Toastmasters club as vibrant as ours.  What a nice complement to our club!

Four speakers.  Joanne Fletcher as Speaker #1 informed and entertained while discussing 'what you wear determines attitude and how people treat you'.  Stacey Wallace talked about useful guidelines to stick to the upcoming new year's resolutions.  Stay committed, set achievable goals, and visualize your end result.  Speaker #3, Juan Martinez Alvez, discussed things he does to have fun and learn while doing.  Even with a Masters Degree, learning for him is to see other aspects of life.  Stan Dalziel gave his speech #10 the final speech to complete the Competent Communicator Manual.  Speech #10 is the inspirational one.  Stan certainly inspired everyone to continue with Toastmasters.  Toastmasters provides variety.  It helps change up routine.  Stan says "enjoy the life you have" and "it is all about the choices you make".  Congratulations, Stan, on finishing the CC Manual.  Additionally, Stan inspired most of us to vote for him to receive Best Speaker ribbon.

Rick Boyer provided holiday themed subjects as the Table Topics Master.  Sandy Peterson talked about her favorite Christmas Carol.  Jessica Ledbetter gave her favorite Christmas memory.  Mike Yaskowski shared his favorite winter activity.  Dave Pollard shared his best Christmas gift.  Adam Queen talked about the best gift he has given.  Tim Williams told us if he could spend Christmas anywhere in the world it would be skiing in Switzerland.  Jessica received the ribbon for Best Table Topics.

John Harman served as General Evaluator.  Evaluators were Nancy Hogg (speaker #1), Scarlett Minto (speaker #2), Frank Connelly (speaker #3) and Lois Boyle (speaker #4).  Frank Connelly received the ribbon for Best Evaluator.

There were 28 in total attendance.  The two guests were Sumit Arora and Shane Peng.

Our holiday 'Chinese Gift Exchange' was a ton of fun!!  Alcohol seems to be a popular choice to keep you in the exchange fun.  Lots of laughter and general good cheer kept the party going.   There was a very nice "treats" table as well.

Next meeting:  Thursday January 7, 2010.  (Can you believe it ???  2010 ??)
January 16, 2010  Winter Leadership Training - Richmond, 9 am.  www.district66.org

Sign up for future club roles:
http://ops.freetoasthost.info/members/roster.cgi

Happy Holidays!
Happy New Year!

Nancy Hogg
Club Secretary
Oyster Point Speakers

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Hello Toastmasters Family,

'We are Family' was the guiding theme for the night.  Our toastmasters club does provide an inclusive, friendly atmosphere much like an ideal family.

Adam Queen filled the role of Toastmaster of the Evening and General Evaluator.  Double duty!

Three speakers presented their projects in the prepared speech portion of the meeting.  Wade Miner's speech was from an advanced manual.  His topic: "The Comfort Zone".  Wade discussed why 'that zone' is so comfortable and keeps us stuck where we are.  We need to use the power of our thoughts and shape our self image to get beyond the comfort zone.  Maritsa Alger gave her 'Icebreaker' speech.  Maritsa credits her parents for her success.  Even though their options had been limited, they pushed education as the way to a better life.  As a school principal, she shares her experiences to inspire her students to see beyond the valley of current circumstances.  Stan Dalziel distributed M&M's to all as a prop to his speech #9 - Persuade with Power.  The snake oil salesmen are still out there and the placebo effect is as powerful as ever.  If you think it is going to be bad; it will.  If you think it will be good; it will.  What you think determines the outcome.  Focus on positive thought!  Maritsa received the Best Speech ribbon for the evening.

Danita Fox was the Table Topics Master.  Holiday and family provided the topics.  Nancy Hogg, Lois Boyle and Tim Tonkovic were the speakers.  Lois Boyle received the Best Table Topics ribbon.

Evaluators for the manual speeches included guest Rob Jones, Area 6 Governor.  Rob evaluated speaker #1. Nancy Hogg was evaluator for speaker #2.  Rick Boyer was evaluator for speaker #3.  Rick Boyer took home the Best Evaluator ribbon.

There were nineteen in attendance including seven guests.  The guests were: Robert (Rob) Jones, Area 6 Governor; Phil Pedersen, Matt Phillips, Tim and Tim Alger (Maritsa's husband and son), Magda Brugos and Javier Gonzales.

Remember! December 17th meeting will start at 6:15!  Holiday hours!

For upcoming meetings:
 sign up:  http://ops.freetoasthost.info/members/roster.cgi

Happy holidays!
Nancy Hogg
Club Secretary