The mission of a Toastmasters club
is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in
which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral
communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster
self-confidence and personal growth.
Blogger's note: Members, please read the visitor's paragraph at the end of my blog as well. There's a link for you to enjoy.
Ada, President of Peace Speakers, ushers in thoughts on spring by sharing this poem:Spring is in the air!
It is almost time for halter tops, T-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops if you dare.
Humidity may cause one's hair to show signs of frizz...
But enough of those long winter nights of watching show biz.
No matter how hot summer days may be...
I'm just happy to see greener grass and even the weeds.
Spring, you have taken so long to come...
But now our energies have been renewed...
Because winter has come and gone!
Ada welcomes 2 visitors to our club this afternoon. Megan is returning for her second visit and joins our Peace Speakers club as a new member this very day. Yeah!!! And Connie is a new visitor who admits that English is a second language for her. She's looking for a safe space to improve her English, and we think our club is that place, Connie!
An official vote is taken to welcome 2 new members into Peace Speakers, Kerri and Megan. This vote is a formality that is required by Toastmasters, and we knew their acceptance would be 100%. Thank you for trusting us, Kerri and Megan, and for being willing to grow and share yourselves with us!
Robin, our Vice President of Education, looks ebullient, our Word for the Day meaning happy and full of energy. She's sharing the news that the Executive Director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency loves our winning Peace Speakers video and wants to visit our club in the future. We are certainly looking forward to her arrival!
Note to everyone: Robin exudes ebullience more often than not...so this look isn't atypical.
INVOCATION LEADER
Fred, who leads our Invocation today, shares a heartfelt prayer:
"Teach me to be a better listener. Soften my heart so that I may receive
counsel willingly and with gratitude. When I stumble or make a mistake, give me
the humility to accept Godly correction so that I may grow in understanding. As
I learn to be a good listener, I pray that you would bring me the blessings of
spiritual maturity.”
I am struck by the fact that listening, really listening, is an art that not only brings us spiritual blessings but helps us as Peace Speakers as well. When we practice the art of listening, we may gain inspiration for our next speech and most certainly learn from each other, helping us grow and change in positive ways.
JOKE MASTER RIDDLES US
Catherine, our Joke Master for the Day, expresses ebullience as she shares several riddles:
What flowers grow on faces?
Tulips (two lips)!
When do monkeys fall from the sky?
During Ape-ril showers!
Why did the bird go to the hospital?
It needed tweetment!
Why is everyone so tired on April 1st?
Because they just finished a long 31-day March!
PREPARED SPEECH/TOAST FOR THE DAY
PREPARED SPEECH/TOAST FOR THE DAY
Perry, our prepared speaker for the day, completes Project #4, "Presenting an Award" from the Advance Communications Manual - Special Occasions Speeches. These are the remarks Perry made at the Good-Bye Event for Phil Lloyd-Sidle, outgoing Pastor of James Lees Memorial Presbyterian Church. He's holding a picture of Phil below as he begins his toast.
I’m Perry Chang, from
Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church. I bring greetings for our pastor, Jane
Larsen-Wigger, who is out of town and unable to be here today. For the entire
10 years I’ve been in Louisville,
and at Crescent Hill, Phil and Tricia and their kids have been listed in our
church directory. If I understand it right, that’s because Phil and Trish were
involved in Crescent Hill before they came over to James Lees. We still claim
part of them.
One way in which Crescent Hill folks and Phil have stayed in touch
is through our shared involvement in the joint English language learners
education ministry –English classes for immigrants – run by Crescent Hill,
James Lees, and – at different times – Covenant Community and 2nd
Presbyterian Church – with support from the presbytery, the James Lees
Spanish-language worshiping community, and the 1741 Frankfort Avenue
collective.
For all of our five years, the ELL ministry has had an informal
leadership team. Different people have been on the team at different times, but
Phil has always been at the center of it, all the more so during our first year
and during this past year. Phil has emailed folks, developed agendas, run
meetings, taken notes, answered the phone, and served as Treasurer Liaison.
But Phil has also done many other things for the ministry, some of
it more unusual than others. He’s designed flyers, he’s taught an English class
for one term, he’s torn up and laid flooring for rooms we needed to use, he’s
shop-vac-ed flooded floors in the dining room, and he’s run out to buy chicken
when no food arrived for supper.
More than any of this, however, Phil has been the emotional center
of the ministry. Last fall he described me
as the “heart and soul” of the ministry. As soon as I heard that, I said to
myself – I might be one of the junior heart and souls, or vice heart and soul,
but Phil really should be describing himself! Phil has served as a kind of pastor for the
ministry – getting to know every student, teacher, and other volunteer,
checking in with us, bouncing ideas back and forth with us, and supporting us.
It’s in this role that I suspect Phil will really be irreplaceable.
The ELL ministry has a tradition on the last day of each term of
ending class early and returning for dessert and a little “graduation”
ceremony. Among other things, we hand each of our students certificates
honoring them for their participation, hard work, and achievement in that
term’s classes. As Phil “graduates” from our ministry, it seems only
appropriate that we should give him a certificate as well. Allow me read what
the certificate says:
 |
| Perry gives the award to Fred (Phil) |
“The Crescent Hill
Presbyterian Church-James Lees Memorial Presbyterian Church-Covenant Community
Church English Language Learners Education Ministry honors Phil Lloyd-Sidle for
leadership of the English language learners ministry between 2009 and 2014.” It is signed by Frances Taylor, one of our
site coordinators. Phil – Congratulations on your
graduation, we love you, we’ll miss you, and we hope to see you again
periodically.
SPEECH EVALUATOR
Bethany, today's speech evaluator, found Perry's toast to Phil very enjoyable. Included were lots of interesting details about the person Perry was toasting and ample reasons as to why Phil deserved the accolades. Using no notes, it was obvious that Perry knew his subject well, and Bethany could tell he had a real affection for Phil. He was relaxed and expressive as he shared all the reasons why he appreciated Phil. The only thing Bethany might have wanted to hear more of was other anecdotes about Phil.
TABLE TOPICS MASTER THINKS SPRING!
Everyone seems to be on the same page this meeting. With spring's arrival tomorrow after one of the longest and snowiest winters we can remember, Kerri decides all of her prompts for Table Topics will relate in some way to spring.
Kerri asks for volunteers to draw first, and each question allows the speaker 1-2 minutes to respond accordingly. This is a fun time when we learn so much more about our members and visitors, if the latter decides to participate.
What is your favorite spring flower and why?
Mulling this one over, Eric admits that bright yellow dandelions come to mind, which remind him of his backyard that has not been maintained. Being an active outdoors person, he associates the dandelion with parks and mountain bike trails. It also reminds him of clover, a companion plant that he likes seeing among all the dandelions at the onset of spring.
What is your favorite outdoor activity in spring and why?
Robin really enjoys heading to the park or the zoo with her children. She loves taking walks with her family around the reservoir as well. She also uses running to clear her head and plan for accomplishing personal goals. She associates spring with running the mini-marathon race, but she won't be involved this year. She looks forward to entering the race again another year, though.
Do you have a favorite spring
fruit/vegetable? If so, how do you like it prepared?
Connie, a visitor to our club today, was willing to take a prompt. She smiles and admits that she really doesn't have a favorite fruit or veggie. She loves fruit, though, much more than vegetables and sometimes eats them 3 times a day. She has to work harder to get veggies into her diet, though, and knows that this is important.
Connie, a visitor to our club today, was willing to take a prompt. She smiles and admits that she really doesn't have a favorite fruit or veggie. She loves fruit, though, much more than vegetables and sometimes eats them 3 times a day. She has to work harder to get veggies into her diet, though, and knows that this is important.
What are some of your favorite
(and least favorite) “spring cleaning” chores?Kay (moi) admits that she really doesn't have any favorite spring cleaning chores. She's not into sweeping, mopping or dusting. The only time she remembers cleaning her home and really enjoying it was when she put on Madonna CD and kept repeating to herself, "It's an honor and a privilege to clean my home." Normally, she has help cleaning her Victorian home, but she and her husband sent their cleaning help back home to Alaska to be reunited with his family. So the next time Kay cleans, she'll have to crank up the Madonna music again.
What are some of your favorite
activities to do inside when “spring showers” are happening
outside?Ada shares that she prefers playing spa music over Madonna's songs while at home since it keeps the atmosphere mellow. That allows her time to think, to be still, to meditate, and to do yoga. She also enjoys watching the rain showers and the puddles form. She loves seeing how the earth responds to the rain with all of its springtime growth and greenery.
When the vote is taken for the favorite Table Topics speech, Kay is awarded the trophy. Thank you, Kerri, for your thoughtful spring-time questions. Maybe spring will pay attention to our interest and finally come on board! We'll all feel ebullient at spring's onset after the weather truly goes warm.
If you're a visitor to this blog, come to one of our meetings and experience Toastmasters for yourself. Who knows...as a member of our club, opportunities to grow your communication skills could end up enhancing
your
professional and personal relationships! And that would bring a feeling of ebullience! On that note, if you want to be happy and full of energy (ebullient), then head to this link for Pharrell William's "Happy" song, which was up for an Oscar recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM
We are an open Toastmasters club,
so please pay us a visit!
OUR NEXT FEW 2014 MEETINGS:
APRIL 2 - Conference Room B
APRIL 16 - Conference Room B
Peace Speakers Toastmasters Club
Presbyterian Center
1st and 3rd Wednesdays (usually)
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
100 Witherspoon Street
Downtown Louisville, KY
Respectfully submitted,
Kay Chambers
VP of Public Relations for Peace Speakers
To access our previous blogs, here are the links:
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